Category: Articles
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Smokers and Smoker Fuel
By: David MacFawn (Click on photos to enlarge) What size smoker and fuel you use can have a large impact on the beekeeper’s satisfaction. Large smokers are generally easier to light and stay lit for a longer time. Smokers with a finger guard are more comfortable to use. What type of fuel you use also…
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When Beekeeping Feels More Stressful Than Satisfying: How to Fix It
Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! By: David Burns (Click on photos to enlarge) Most of us probably started beekeeping because it was an exciting and attractive hobby. Beekeeping is adventurous, a bit mysterious and very surreal to the…
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Part 1 – Take the Temperature of Your Colony
Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! Queenright Status and Brood Rearing By: Theresa J. Martin In this four-part series, we will explore how temperature sensors provide the beekeeper with actionable information that improves colony outcomes. We will review four…
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The Auburn Series
Tracking Colony Losses: A Collaborative Effort Through Time By: Agostina Giacobino1 & Nathalie Steinhauer2 (Click on images to enlarge) At the time of writing, the Auburn University Bee Lab, along with the Apiary Inspectors of America, are diligently preparing to launch the 2024-2025 US Beekeeping Survey: Colony Loss and Management by the 1st of April.…
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Three Things for Bees
By: Zachary Lamas I was recently asked by a beekeeper what would be three things I would encourage new beekeepers to do if I could only suggest three things to focus on? This was such a good prompt. They asked it at the end of a talk, that was on disease ecology of honey bees.…
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This is the Year
Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! By: Stephen Bishop I’m a firm believer that farm animals exist primarily to torment farmers. The fact that we eat livestock feels like rightful payback for all the trauma these creatures inflict during…
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Thriving Hives: A Matter of Science or Mere Chance?
Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! By: David Burns (Click on photos to enlarge) Coming out of Winter sometimes feels like playing the lottery. Instead of scratching off numbers, we are opening lids to see which hives survived the…
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Some Common Principles of the Spring Management of Bee Colonies
Click Here if you listened. We’d love to know what you think. There is even a spot for feedback! Read along below! Giving it Your Best Guess By: James E. Tew As I write for you, my Winter tally of Winter-killed colonies is still unknown, but I can predict that it will be disappointing. I…