Beekeeping at FiveApple

UBO, PKB, FKB, mite washes, Harbo assays... It's an alphabet soup out there of ways to test your bees for hygienic traits and resistance to varroa. You may be testing to find out when to apply mite treatments or a brood break to a colony and in that case a simple mite wash is usually enough. But you may be testing to find out your very best genetics you have to raise next years queens for your yar...

In this episode I share my own process for getting honey from the hives to the jars. It's quirky but it works for me and I'm hoping you might find ideas for your own process or just enjoy hearing how someone else does it. That's what I did when researching this episode! For supporting patrons, I've also collected a few videos (with video summaries included)  you might enjoy and for newer beekeeper...

So you have a caged mated queen and a colony that needs requeening, how to make that happen (so that your special queen actually survives the process!) is what we cover today! As a thank-you, Patrons got this episode a day early and also get a bonus portion covering the vertical requeening methods that Ryan mentioned last episode plus tips and resources on introducing virgin queens. Supporting pat...

Something special today! This interview with Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farm of Virginia has been the one where I learned the most. He is a full time beekeeper selling local nucs and honey, but who also specializes in offering VSH queens from tested breeders he raises himself. We start off with how he got into the bee biz and just got to talking between beekeepers and ended up in full geek mode o...

Ep157  More Springtime Tips: Keeping bees in the boxes, avoid the honey dome, get more comb drawn, know if your hive is queenright or queenless.  In case you missed it: Ep156 Spring in the Bees!  Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina Sebestyen Ep 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI ⬆️ available wherever you listen to podcasts Patron Exclusives: Patron exclusive show notes on E...

Today it's a ramble through things going on in the bee yard as Spring has taken over and the bees won't wait! Doing some quick splits to save the day, still aiming for more data-driven stock selection and whose swarm is this in my equipment? In case you missed it: Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina Sebestyen Ep 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI ⬆️ both of these also avail...

I ask Tina about the Miller (graftless) method of Queen rearing and her recent articles in ABJ, then we wander into chat between bee friends of goings on in our apiaries, things we want to try this year and more. Enjoy! -Leigh Supporting Patrons, view your exclusive show notes here .  Patron exclusive detailed show notes include: What is the Miller Method?  More info and how-to from Tina’s on the...

Today I share some great tips shared by Greg Rogers of Haw Creek Honey when he presented to our local club. Then we work through swarm prevention strategies (starts at 16:25) that are especially important when it's too early in the season to make splits due to drone availability. Patrons, you will find your exclusive detailed show notes here . Today's notes include: Greg's favorite YouTube channel...

Today I interview James Lee, president of the Sustainable Beekeepers Guild of Michigan about the goals and offerings of this important virtual education hub for beekeepers interested in increasing the genetic work towards reducing the need for treatments in hives. We talk about his work in creating the Northern Queen Initiative to provide locally raised Northern adapted queens as well as his own a...

This is a hefty episode that reviews some of the many, many ways knowing bee biology will directly affect the decisions you have to make as a beekeeper in every season of beekeeping. It's long because it affects nearly everything and this is just a sampling! Beginners: take the details you need and just roll with the stuff that you haven't learned yet, but please note how important learning all th...

It's that time of year as beekeepers that we find out how we did — how we did all the way back to the summer before. Some years it can be a tough report-card to get! As all things in bees there are many ways to understand what happened. The good news even if it was a bad year is this: we can do better in the coming season. In this episode I encourage you to do just that, while also acknowledging i...

Ep 150: Lifecycle of the Bees (and the beekeeper) for Newbees So this is a version of the talk I'm giving at my local club's bee school this year, telling the story of the bees' yearly cycle. There's nothing else more important to learn as a basis for beekeeping imo. Because whenever we enter the hive, it only makes sense if we understand what the bees are already doing in that season of their cyc...

A full overview for beginners of starting with your first nucleus colony. Things to know, things to learn, things to watch out for. Experienced beekeepers: I've asked for your help in creating a TIP SHEET to share with the patrons of this show on starting with nucs. Send me your best tips and I'll include them on the pdf I'm creating for new beekeepers. It will be available *next week* on the patr...

But of course there's beekeeping stuff you can do in winter! :-) Listen in to get ideas about what tasks need doing (check in on your bees food stores!) as well as thought on how to get ahead for the upcoming bee season. Along the way: an idea for setting up a 'learning nuc' and thoughts on record keeping, bee school and more. This is the video I mention: https://youtu.be/BEqikrm9PRY?si=ag51ZJt2fV...

The gifts we get from spending time with the bees, learning about the bees and learning from other beekeepers are so amazing. This episode is a reflection on just some of the beauties and realizations that come with beekeeping in good years and even in not so good beekeeping years. I'd love to hear what gifts you got from your bees this year. It's the last episode of 2025 and already I look forwar...

What makes a perfect winter home for 60,000 bees? This episode explores Dr. James Tew's look at the architecture of the winter bee nest. You'll discover what scout bees look for when house hunting, what propolis really does, and why the entire colony functions as a single super-organism. A Radio-reader edition of The Honey Bee's Winter Nest" by Dr. James E. Tew, Bee Culture magazine, October 2023....

Ep145 Organic? Treatment-Free? Chemical-Free? Natural Beekeeping Terms Explained in this ABJ article Ever get confused by all the "natural beekeeping" terms floating around? In this episode I'm discussing an article (Oct 2023 ABJ) that breaks down three approaches that sound similar but are actually pretty different: organic beekeeping, treatment-free beekeeping, and chemical-free beekeeping. They...

Some surprise late autumn deadouts in the yard, something I've never experienced before in summer or fall. I break down the likely reasons and what I plan to do different next year. Also, happier seasonal updates around the bee yard about the other hives going into winter. kind regards to you all! Leigh Patrons: if you are listening here on the public channel, remember to check out the detailed sh...

Today's episode is an overview and discussion of prepping hives for winter. For supporting Patrons, I've also made a checklist (and printable PDF) as well as compiled several links for more info on the issues and the methods. Not a supporting patron yet? Please join us below!   kind regards, Leigh -- https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Not a supporting patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a...

Some days you just need some amazement and that's what I found in learning about what researcher Karl von Frisch demonstrated in the first half of the 1900s about how bees see, how they navigate (!) , and what they are telling each other (!!) with the dances they do. Equally fascinating is how he managed to design experiments to confirm and prove it all! Hope you enjoy as much as I do! Patrons: De...

Today's episode starts with a rambling overview of how things are around here in the beeyard from hive beetles to one year mark from the WNC floods. Then a discussion of a YouTube interview with the legendary Vermont beekeeper for 50 years, Michael Palmer who says being "near row crops" is seriously hurting his beekeeping in a severe new way. Then a related article I happened to find on how neonic...

In today's podcast, how a backyard experiment led me to find a bunch of research to back up that Vit C added to bee syrup can make a difference for bee health! Plus what's up in the bee yard, wonderful email from listeners, and the usual wandering tangents that somehow all relate to bees! kind regards, Leigh PS. Patrons: watch for your exclusive post this weekend with extensive links on the resear...

Hope you enjoy this podcast geek out on pollen and its uses in the hive and how critical it is to the colony's success. Patrons: If you have any portions you would enjoy knowing more about, just let me know and I'll share the links to the sites and presentations I used to research this episode! Wishing you all a beautiful Fall season, a generous fall nectar and pollen flow in your area, and fat be...

Today I'll tell you the unfortunate bear story and how the hives are doing...then, the full episode continues on Patreon with the bonus audio I've promised patrons:  an explainer on how the age distribution in a colony (the topic of the last ABJ article I read to you) impacts your beekeeping and the health of the hive, including some important August tasks in the bee yard as a result. It's a way I...

It's my least favorite month of beekeeping, August, aka Grumpy Bee Month. Here are some tips to help you and the bees get through it the best we all can. Kind regards to you all and patrons, you keep this all going: Thank you! --Leigh   -- Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon to join the folks who make the podcasts possible and keep it advertising-fr...