Hobby Beekeeping

Transferring a nuc into a standard hive within the beehouse was an enjoyable experience—updates on this new project and a beekeeping myth that is hurting our bees.

Maybe things will work out after all.

We take the month of June and refrain from touching our hives. It's tough, as we want to go in and look at things. Here's why we leave them alone with some split and swarm updates.

We have three different swarms that have chosen to live with us on the farm so far this year. Here are some hive updates and some thoughts about IPM.

Some of my 2 frame splits worked, many did not. What happened, what I did wrong, plus a new question and answer live session tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

What happened when I checked out the mouse hive and an update on the progress of our other hives.

Here's a strategy I use and discovered by accident, that is ideal if you only have a few hives and want a split strategy that only takes a minute or two.

It took 150 years for health care professionals to wash their hands between patients. How long will we delay using proven practices to save our bees?

This morning, the temperature hit -5 C, with a wind chill of -10 C. Yesterday, some bees were flying at 7-9 C. What could this mean?

Under the Darwinian black box selection technique I'm supposed to let them die. But this isn't an easy thing to do. I talk through my thinking on this and ask you what would you do?

It's important to watch the hive entrance at this time of year to signal if the hive may be ready for splitting. Here are some of my plans, plus the problem with having a good winter survival rate.

Although the research proves that these strategies could help not sure why we don't do them.

How these 2 frame nuc's will help with sustainability.

Possibly the most futuristic, but helpful this strategy would be a no brainer for me to initiate if I were starting with bees today.

It was talked about some time ago, but should we not consider it today? The other important point is to ask the right questions when investigating the current issue with hive loss. This could help.

Here are two more hobby beekeeping strategies I would use if I started today. Splitting twice a year I think is the most important.

With the bees flying at 12 C, it was a good time to assess who had made it. We are at 14 out of 15 hives making it through the winter so far, and here's what I think happened.

I discuss the importance of knowing the type of hive you are getting to start your beekeeping career and some beginning steps for setting your goal of sustainability.

It was time for a name change to bring us all together to share regardless of how we keep bees. Here's the short explanation of why the name change.

Commercial beekeepers report this number of losses as they attempt to pollinate almonds in California. What is happening with those of us keeping bees for non-commercial reasons and how we can help better understand this problem.

Reports have circulated that 80% to 95% of bees have died. What could be causing this? What are the first two strategies for beginning beekeepers?

If I were starting today, here are the 10 things I would do to help my bees survive. I made all these mistakes, hoping you can avoid those as you get started.

It took 100 years or more for healthcare providers to wash their hands between seeing each patient routinely. When there are new findings in our beekeeping world, how long does it take us to try it seriously? I discuss this and why I think our new AI Hive Tool as we call it may help.

Pleased to announce that the app available at aibeehealth.ca is now available for use with Iphone and cell phone pictures or video.

The science is precise. If we stop opening our hives down to 4 times a year, we can increase honey production by 9 kgs. How can we start to do that?