Beekeeping Today Podcast

We first met the Regional Beekeepers back in May of 2020. Then twice a year since, we've made a point to catch a chat with them to talk about their bees, their challenges, their successes and plans for the next six months. This time, we move from west to east. First we meet Paul Longwell from Olympia, WA. A master beekeeper. He maintains AŽ Hives, Long Langstroth hives, and standard Langstroths. N...

Happy Earth Day… week . Earth Day is this Friday, April 22… and in recognition of that day, we've invited Dr. Jonathan Lundgren back to the show to talk about his work at Blue Dasher Farm and with the Ecdysis Foundation's research on regenerative agriculture and soil conversation. We first learned of Jonathan in the Peter Nelson film, The Pollinators . If you have not seen it, do yourself a favor...

This week, Kim is back and we talk with Dr. Erica Shelley.  We find out what her research organization, Best For Bees , Ltd. does, and learn about their latest discoveries that will make your bees safer than you can imagine. Best for Bees  performs beekeeping field work for honey bee researchers. Their latest project is working with Dr. Peter Kevan in developing equipment that will successfully ma...

Dr. Andony Melathopoulos, an entomologist with the Oregon State University Agricultural Extension Service, returns to Beekeeping Today Podcast to talk to us about pesticides and how beekeepers can help mitigate the risk to their bees by understanding label on a pesticide container. The first challenge is to actually see and read the fine print. The second is to understand the fine nuances of the w...

This week, we invite Geoff Williams and Mikayla Wilson from Bee Informed Partnership to talk with us about their 2022 Loss and Management Survey! It kicks off in April - in just a few days! The Bee Informed Partnership was started in 2007 by the Apiary Inspectors of America as a non-profit organization with the goal to improve honey bee colony health and survivorship in the United States. The Colo...

On today's episode, we invite back friend of the podcast, James Wilkes to talk about the latest updates and changes to the  HiveTracks: the Beekeeper's Companion , which has grown beyond being just a great hive management application for your mobile device. We also talked about the exciting new international program he and our other two guests, Laura Becker and Sarah Denton are working on to local...

Today, we invite back Brian Peterson-Roest from Bees In The D . Bees In The D is a non-profit organization whose mission is to create a cooperative effort between residents, schools, organizations, and businesses in the city of Detroit and Southeast Michigan to contribute to both the health of honey bee colonies and native pollinators, and the education of their importance to our environment. Bria...

What should a beekeeper be doing this time of year - end of winter and the beginning of spring? What is different between the southern and the northern tier of States? Where do you start? What do you look for? What can you do?  In today's episode, we invite long time Ohio State University extension beekeeper and educator and cohost of the Honey Bee Obscura Podcast , Dr. James Tew , to talk with us...

This week we welcome back to the podcast Hailey Scofield and Nathan Oakes. They joined us back in November, 2019, when they were nominated as the one of the 18 finalists in the Empire State Development and Cornell University's Center for Regional Economic Advancement for "Grow-NY" – a food innovation and agricultural technology business challenge. They introduced us to their 'bee laser' for the au...

In today episode, we welcome back Friend of the Podcast, commercial beekeeper, and longtime industry advocate, John Miller, to share with you his perspective of the 2022 almond pollination season. We caught up with John while he sat in the cab of his pickup at a stop in Central California. On John's last visit to the podcast, he talked with us about his plans for indoor wintering. Today, we asked...

In this episode, we welcome Nicola Bradbear to the podcast for the first time. Nicola is the Director of Bees for Development . Bees for Development uses bees to reduce poverty through sustainable beekeeping and increase biodiversity. One of the most overlooked aspects of using beekeeping as an income source in developing countries, is that the beekeeper does not need to own land. In 1993, Nicola...

On today's episode, we are joined by Randy Oliver. If you don't read Randy's ABJ column and don't check in on his Scientific Beekeeping website,  you've been missing some of the most up to date news on breeding mite resistant bees, and the newest, best mite treatment discovered so far. Randy discusses his breeding program producing honey bees that are totally resistant to varroa, mostly, but he's...

We have a special treat this week because Kim Lehman has come for a visit. Kim is an educator at heart and works with children of all ages. She started her regular column, All The Buzz In Bee Kids Corner , for Bee Culture over 20 years ago, and every other month offers puzzles, quizzes, drawings, educational bits and pieces, submitted photos and more aimed at grade school kids. She has a huge foll...

Today, we welcome James Watts from Whale Labs, in Australia. Whale Labs works on a variety of research projects, but today we talk with him about the honey bee venom collection and the commercial value of that venom. Whale Labs has developed a honey bee venom collector that is easy to use, does not harm the bees, and makes collecting bee venom fast, easy, safe and very profitable. Moreover, regula...

On today's show, we welcome back Jay Williams of William's Honey Farm and South Hall Farms . Right off, Jay, who was with us in December, talked about preparing and entering the Good Food Awards contest for Honey Has WON this very prestigious award for this year . You heard him here first! This time, Jay walks us through his beekeeping operation, looking at the products he sells, the marketing and...

This week we've invited Rich Morris, of Broodminder, to provide updates on what's new and what's improved with his Broodminder Hive Monitoring sensor collection. Broodminder has been in the hive monitoring business for many years and Rich states they are starting to design and release their second and third generations of products. For starters, Broodminder has completely reworked their mobile app...

This is the third time we've talked with Sven-Erik Spichiger about the Asian Giant Hornet in the state of Washington, and this time he shares some history, enlightens us with the discoveries they've made so far, what they managed to accomplish this past season, and what they plan for next year. All this to keep this pest, or better, get rid of this pest, before it becomes established in the Pacifi...

Hey everybody. Kim and Jeff are taking the week off and will be back next week with a new episode. For this week's Holiday Reply , we bring you our talk with Dr. Sam Ramsey from April, 2021. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Thank you for listening and Happy New Year! --------- Dr. Samuel Ramsey is back with us again, looking at all sorts of questions than bother beekeepers, and working with...

Happy Holidays Everybody! Come on along and listen in to Jeff and Kim and Kirsten and Jim when they get together around the virtual Christmas Tree and talk about the Holidays, the good and bad for last year and what they hope will be going on next year. Kirsten Traynor, and her 2MillionBlossoms podcast moved to Germany this year when she took a new job at one of the best beekeeping institutes in E...

Joining the podcast today is Stephanie Bruneau, co-author of the new book, "Common Sense Natural Beekeeping."  Stephanie Bruneau and our very own Kim Flottum, recently released this new book with Quarry Press. We talk with the authors about the basics of Natural Beekeeping and the role a beekeeper has to take to stay as natural as possible – all while aiding and guiding the colony so it stays heal...

Dr. Caydee Savinelli leads the Honey Bee Health Coalition's task force on Minimizing Pesticide Risk For Honey Bees. Caydee is a passionate entomologist and pollinators of all kinds are a big part of her life, so she has been very instrumental in helping the HBHC develop its best management practices for pesticide protection. Caydee stresses that both beekeepers and farmers need to understand the r...

Joining us is Bee Culture contributor and author, Ross Conrad. Ross is a commercial beekeeper in Vermont. He runs a small commercial operation running about 100 colonies and all are treatment free. He makes honey, does a bit of pollination and does a good bit of teaching. He is the author of Natural Beekeeping , a serious look at keeping bees without the use of disease or pest management chemicals...

In this episode, we invite Cliff Struhl on the show to talk about his company, Bee Smart Designs. Cliff actually got his start in manufacturing beekeeping equipment because his wife didn't want cinder blocks and 2x4's as hive stands in her very well-designed gardens around their home. Cliff, whose business is manufacturing plastic, blow molded sidewalk sign holders, figured out a way to make an ap...

Last year, we talked with The Good Food Foundation about their annual honey contest (S3, E14) . This year, we bring you four of the 15 finalists to talk about their entries and their beekeeping operation. Winners will be announced the week of the episode's release! Honey for the contest is entered and only compared to honeys from the region it is produced and it can be liquid, comb or infused. The...

We welcome back Dr. Brittney Goodrich, Assistant Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California, Davis. Brittney joined us originally on October 5, 2020 to talk about her research on the importance of Almond Pollination contracts . Today, she joins us to discuss just how the success (or lack thereof) of the almond pollination season impacts the rest of the nation's beekeeping for...