Hobby Beekeeping

An exciting project is helping us better understand how bees can help us with our understanding of the state of our environment and human health.  As hobby beekeepers can we help with this?

Just watching and learning.  Not much to do.

So I don't do any winter prep as a hobby beekeeper.  That's the bees' job, and likely, if I do what I'm told, I'll increase the chances of killing my bees.  Go ahead if you think you need to do something; I just don't, and here's why.  

It may sound strange, but successful investing is a lot like successful beekeeping. Here are the two key characteristics of successful investing and can you do this with your bees?

This time of the year the hives seem to be exploding with bees. As a hobby beekeeper what could this mean and is there anything I should do?

What were the two biggest mistakes I made when I started beekeeping? In this episode, I share two lessons that changed the way I manage my hives. The first is why I now believe an inner cover is essential for managing winter moisture. The second is less about equipment and more about thinking—why having a clear beekeeping philosophy before you begin may be one of the most important decisions you'l...

Looking at combining a hive opening with perhaps two tasks and updates on today's last day to sign up for the free class.

For one week, I'm making my complete $99 Beekeeping Class available free. If you've ever wanted to keep honeybees—or simply understand them better—this is a great opportunity to get started. Register at: https://TheThreeHiveMethod.com Use coupon code: FreePodcastClass You only need to enroll during the promotion. Once you're registered, you can complete the course whenever it fits your schedule. L...

The Hive Entrance Monitoring has revealed a stunning discovery. At night, some hives narrow or shut down their entrances while others do not. The second finding is that as soon as there is light, some hives break it up and return to normal quickly, while others take more time. Is this a sign of hive health or failure? I also discuss how my new way to be with bees is bringing me incredible hobby be...

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.