Hobby Beekeeping

Thoughts on the heat, missed treatment because of it as well as thoughts on perhaps missing a survivor hive?

Placed the first treatment on the swarm hive today. Took about a minute to do. Nope, didn't do any alcohol wash to kill some bees, just looking for ways to help them. The idea of 3 hives as a hobby beekeeper is a lot of fun.

This year's project is to see if I can be sustainable with just 3 hives. I have one swarm that moved in, as well as two nucs. Here's the story and the challenges. Will this work?

As a hobby beekeeper we often have swarms move into our empty hives. This one on the farm is strange to say the least. How do they choose the home and what should I do next?

Swarms are arriving and it's getting to be that time to make decisions on how to work with them. Some ideas and challenges as I move forward with my hobby beekeeping.

In looking at helping the bees I realized that the ApiLiveVar is open to heat issues. So what about this new oxalic acid treatment? Is it helpful for hobbybeekeeping?

This Science has been around for over 30 years, but this way to help honeybees with natural organic compounds wasn't something I talked about. I simply didn't know. I feel pretty stupid, but I am going to change what I do in this one important way. You may think about doing it too.

Back from the Edge? After I opened it up about a month ago and saw it was only two frames of bees, with no later activity, I gave it up. Didn't open it up again, but now the camera caught this. Orientation flight? Queen survived? At first thought it was just scouts, but now thinking I got lucky. What should I do now?

Farm updates with thoughts on survival. Planning strategies for 2026 and more insight into hive loss. Is hobby beekeeping even possible without treating?

Cutting the dried wildflowers gives me a chance to think about how I want to keep bees as a hobby beekeeper. The 95% loss has been amazing for research, but not so great for hobby beekeeping. Here are some thoughts on forward planning, and some preliminary ideas on what killed the hives.

I go through the painful task of opening and cleaning out the dead hives. It's likely the worst part of hobby beekeeping. What did I find and what did I learn?

At first, it is tough to see that all but one of our hives on the farm have died, but it's actually an incredible opportunity. Here's the story and some ideas on how likely, when your hives fail it's not what you think that killed them.

As hobby beekeepers, we all face the losses from the winter this time of year. Here are some ways to get through it with practical strategies, and the dangers of listening to a single solution.

Pleased to announce that our new tool, which helps with understanding Hive Swarm Risk, is now available. How to use it and how it helps is the focus of this podcast. You can sign up for the free 30-day trial at aibeehealth.ca.

The risk of listening to others or experts who seem to think they know what may have killed our bees is a mistake. In this podcast, I discuss why, in hobby beekeeping, knowing your microclimate and your bees is all that matters. How does this model likely better explain hive loss?

Stupid is Stupid does. I totally messed up and killed my Nova Scotia Bees. Here is the story.

As hobby beekeepers, we consider the changing environment in which we introduce our bees to be important. Do we choose to treat or not? Finding a beekeeping philosophy that fits with our internal belief system is helpful. Here is part 2 of my interview.

Part one of a two-part interview with a hobby beekeeper who has bees in Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada. What are the challenges and what philosophy of beekeeping makes sense.

Knowing when a hive is starting the first steps in possible swarming can be very helpful to hobby beekeepers. It may also signal when it's time to consider splitting a hive. I explain a new statistic using our AI platform that may be helpful.

As a hobby beekeeper, I wonder about the scientific evidence that shows bees choose to live far apart in nature. We know that drifting, robbing, and general dislike of each other make hives choose to establish far apart. If we believe this, why do we put them together?

Someone asked me a few questions about starting beekeeping as a hobby today, so here is my short list. I also talk about the need to interact with bees that make sense to YOU.

Hard to believe but true. Here in Canada, if you take your bees from your home to a cottage that may be in another province, you could be fined $10,000 and serve up to 6 months in jail. The rules are based on faulty science that supports provincial tariffs and border fees in Canada. It contributes to the escalated costs that hobby beekeepers face today.

In a new study, Drones are reported to transmit gut microbes to queens during mating. It opens up a whole new world and appreciation in understanding why, likely, we hobby beekeepers need to leave drones alone.

Hobby beekeeping is more than working with bees. It's a way to understand all of the things that can connect to our passion of bees and as well nature. In this unique interview, I sit down and talk with the founder of Green Goop, and how keeping or being around bees can lead to very different results.

Beekeeping used to be a relaxing hobby where it was a safe place to off load some weight or pressure. Now keeping bees seems to add to that weight. I'm deciding to do less in 2026, not more and make sure I protect the sanctuary of my experience.