Beekeeping Today Podcast

Brian Peterson and Brian Roest are beekeepers and educators in the Detroit, Michigan area. They created "Bees in the D"; a 501c3 non-profit organization whose mission is to create a cooperative effort between the residents, schools, organizations and business in the Detroit area to "contribute to the health of honey bee colonies and the education of their importance to our environment." The Bees i...

Dr. Kirsten Traynor joins Beekeeping Today Podcast in this episode to talk about her new quarterly publication, 2 Million Blossoms . 2 Million Blossoms is dedicated to "protecting our pollinators - both wild and managed, before they disappear." 2 Million Blossoms (first issue in January 2020) will offer short and long form articles exploring how bees, birds, butterflies and bats enhance the world...

In the last episode of Beekeeping Today Podcast, Kim announced that he was stepping down his post of 30+ years at Bee Culture and handing over the reins of the world class publication to Jerry Hayes.  Jerry has a a long history in beekeeping and is well respected in the industry. In this episode, Jerry and Kim talk about the transition, Jerry's direction for Bee Culture, his move to Ohio and what...

Joining this episode is a team representing one of the 18 finalist in the Empire State Development and Cornell University's Center for Regional Economic Advancement for " Grow-NY ". Grow-NY is a food innovation and agricultural technology business challenge focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster in the Central New York, Finger Lakes and Southern Tier re...

Every two years, beekeepers from around the globe swarm to a chosen city for a week to discuss the honey bee: The latest research, latest products, the latest gadgets, and the must have knowledge for all those interested in the honey bee and honey business. It is called: Apimondia . This year Apimondia was held in Montreal, Canada. Kim was able to attend and provide the story for this episode. Kim...

When Xander and Samantha met several years ago, the thought they'd end up owning and running a winery in Carnation, Washington, was not even a germ of an idea. In fact, the thought that they'd be running 15 colonies and producing honey at that winery was even further from consideration as Xander had no love of flying, stinging insects. Flash forward to today, past Xander's nearly three years in th...

Dr. Steve Pernal is a research scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (the Canadian USDA), located at the lab in Beaverlodge, Alberta, CAN. When he isn't working with the bees in the fields of canola, clover and alfalfa of the norther plains of Alberta, he is heading up the Programs Committee for the 2019 Apimondia in Montréal, Canada. This year's 46th Apimondia Congress (September 8-12)...

Dr. Tammy Horn Potter started her professional life with a PhD in American Literature. Today, she is State Apriarist for Kentucky. Along the way, she's taught English and literature at several universities in the Southeast, helped her grandfather - a sometimes cantankerous man with his bees and in doing so, fell in love with them. She became involved in the reclamation of strip-mine land and mount...

Rich Morris is a beekeeper and electrical engineer whose passion and career combined to produce Broodminder.  Broodminder is a set of battery powered sensors and scale that provide insights to beekeepers on the changes within their monitored hives. The sensors include separate devices for temperature, temperature and humidity, and weight and (external) temperature.  While this is interesting infor...

We continue our celebration of the A. I. Root Company's 150 anniversary we started in Season 1, Episode 17 with Brad Root. In this episode, we pick up about 1920 and continue to the 1980's.  Brad relates several of the key events in the history of the A.I. Root Company from the end of the WWI through the Great Depression, WWII, the 50's and 60's. It is a fascinating look back at the company from t...

  In this Season One wrap-up, Jeff and Kim talk about how the show got started, talk about some of the guests on the show. Kim also interviews Jeff during the show. Who is Jeff and why is HE on the podcast? They also discuss some of the history behind some of the podcasts including the sale of the A.I. Root beekeeping equipment business. This is a casual review of the year and a look forward to so...

Adam Allington is the producer and host of the Bloomberg Environment podcast, The Business of Bees.  Adam joins Jeff and Kim on this final podcast of the 2019 Pollinator Week series. Business of Bees is a six-part podcast series that introduces the listener to the business though in voices of those in the industry, including several you've heard here ( John Miller, BTP #002 and Dr. Samuel Ramsey,...

Gene Brandi is a West Coast beekeeper, based out of Los Banos, California. Gene is is a great spokesman for the beekeeping industry having spent over 40 years in the business. Gene is Past President of American Beekeeping Federation , has served as the Chair of The National Honey Board , Chair of the Almond Board of California , and served in committees of both organizations... along with other re...

Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she focuses her time on honey bee health, pollination and as the State's Extension Service apiculturist. Prior to her current position, she was the apiculturist for Clemson University. Her research includes honey bee foraging behavior, behavioral resistance to mites, genomic imprinting and pesticide e...

Davey Hackenberg is a second-generation of beekeeper following in the steps of his father, Dave Hackenberg, in the honey and pollination business. Davey lives in Lewisberg, PA where he and his family run Hackenberg Honey, home of Buffy Bee Honey! In this candid interview, Davey talks openly about the year-round challenges he and other pollinators face as they travel the country taking their bees t...

Pollinator Partnership is the organization responsible for bringing us Pollinator Week, so it is only fitting "P2" leads off our special week of podcasts! In 2007, Congress unanimously declared a week of June as National Pollinator Week. Pollinator Week has now grown into a international celebration of the invaluable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. In thi...

Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk and Dr. David Firth from the Univerisity of Montana are working together on a new application for beekeepers called Bee Health Guru .  The application uses artificial intelligence (AI) to listen to the sound and based upon complex algorithms and learned history, can provide a diagnosis of the colony's health. Simply amazing. Jerry and David join Jeff & Kim on this episode to...

Dr. Geoff Williams is an assistant professor at Auburn University. He is in charge of the Bee Lab and is on the Board of the Bee Informed Partnership . Selina Bruckner is a PhD student in entomology at Auburn and working on the Annual Colony Loss and Management Survey. The Bee Informed Partnership Colony Loss and National Management Survey is now in its 13th year and BIP is able to use the wealth...

Meredith May is a beekeeper, journalist and author who grew up in the Big Sur area, along the central California coast. Her mother withdrew from Meredith's and her brother's lives following the breakup of her marriage. The Honey Bus is Meredith's memoir of growing up in her grandparent's home and helping her grandpa with the beekeeping chores. He helped her find structure, rhythm and stability dur...

Dr. Jonathan Lundgren is a former USDA-ARS soil scientist, having received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004. Today he is Director of ECDYSIS Foundation and CEO of Blue Dasher Farm . He has also recently contributed to Bee Culture magazine! ECDYSIS Foundation is focused on researching and finding new ways (sometimes finding new, 'old' ways) for producers to grow food, c...

Peter Nelson is a filmmaker, director and beekeeper. This combination of skills and passions lead to a documentary film about the business and lives of pollinators - both the two legged and six legged kind!  The documentary, The Pollinators is currently making its rounds through the film festivals where it has been well received and enjoyed by all audiences. In this podcast episode, Peter joins Je...

Eric Wenger is the Chairman of True Source Honey, LLC - an organization created through the efforts of multiple honey companies and honey industry participants who collectively working to provide a way consumers and customers from the problems associated with unlawfully sourced honey 'dumped' on the USA market - specifically Chinese honey. The efforts are designed to help maintain honey's reputati...

In this episode, Jeff and Kim talk with Dr. Reed Johnson. Reed got his start in research beekeeping while looking for a summer job in his hometown,  Missoula, Montana. He knocked on the door of Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk at the University of Montana, was offered employment, and was quickly drawn into the world of bees and their biology.  Reed went on to receive a Ph. D. in Entomology from the Universit...

Dr. Tom D. Seeley is a Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University where he teaches courses on animal behavior, specializing in understanding the social life of honey bees. His scientific research focuses on the phenomenon of swarm intelligence, which is defined as the solving of cognitive problems by a group of individuals who pool their knowledge and process it through social interac...

Welcome to our first podcast of 2019! Well, to kickoff the year, Kim is enjoying the sights and sounds of the AHPA annual meeting and convention in Phoenix.  Late in the evening, Kim gave Jeff and call and provided this report. Join them as they discuss the new and the old on the vendor floor and the hottest. Beekeeping is changing and the best place to see that is at a national beekeeping convent...