Hobby Beekeeping

In the United States since 1997 and Canada since 2000, Russian Bees are reported to be resistent to mites and other diseases. Is it time to add them to the farm?

I take a look at this new opportunity to introduce new bees to the farm. Would you consider them to be treatment free?

Things are getting close for splits, the wildflowers and clover thriving.

Censorship appears to be alive and well in the Beekeeping Industry. Here are the three types of censorship we face and some strategies to help.

In this podcast I review the book by Mel Disselkoen and his OTS Queen Rearing Technique. It's a must read for those wanting to better understand ways to help our bees in a more natural way.

Inversion is a term popularized by Charlie Munger the great investor from Berkshire Hathaway. You look at a problem by going in reverse. Instead of saying what can I do to help my bees survive, ask, what can I do to make them fail. By engaging in that type of thinking a real solution may come to you. I go through this exercise and how it is helping me move on in the recovery stage here on the farm...

It's a sad day to accept that 80% of your hives didn't make it. What caused this and what to do next.

A brief discussion on the hive beetle life cycle and other happenings around the farm.

It's the goal not the process. Is it ok to use treatments for mites when you get started? It may surprise you to know that many successful strategies do start with some limited mite treatments including the Darwinian black box technique.

Bee's are often placed for reasons that have nothing to do with the food available within a 2 mile circumfrence of their home. Maybe this idea could help?

Something strange is going on in the hive. Bees are carrying out some objects that look like mites. I discuss this rare event as well as updates on the model to predict hive survival or failure.

What impact will this have on the bees and I look at planning hives for this year.

Some 900 or so years ago, Aborginal cultures began making decisions based on the outcome that would impact their people and planet, some 7 generations into the future. The 7th Generation Principle has been interpreted many different ways since then. Can we adapt this wise Principle to Beekeeping?

As I prepare for this coming year, I wonder if queen excluders are harmful or helpful to bees. I know they seem to help with the honey harvest. What are your thoughts?

It can be a tough decision if you think your bees are running out of food because of the cold weather. What should we do?

Most of us today want to help natural bees, honeybees and nature. Here is a breakdown of the 3 different types of beekeeping that likely you are doing.

In this recently released study, I discuss the incredible finding of what happens to honeybees when microbiota from children with autism is placed in the gut of honeybees. What are the lessons we can take away from this for our own physical health and that of the honeybee hives.

Raising bees without treating them for mites has been happening for many years in the UK. Over 3,000 beekeepers and counting. What a great discovery and helps me wonder why aren't we doing this in Canada and the US?

For years I've been trying to understand how new drones know where to go to be able to find a drone congregation area and hook up with queens. This recent research solves that puzzle.

This latest research points to the fact that if we have booming hives in the spring or even fall they are more likely to fail when compared to weak or medium ones. What could be going on? This new study gives us some ideas and may guide what we do this spring.

We were able to complete our first research paper and through our experience and the science, this new model is born. I explain it a bit and urge you to go and read the article and give us your comments. You can find the article here. http://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.31126.73283

It's simple to do but most of us don't do it. How this strategy is guarantted to help you increase your hive survival.

Pesticides in and outside of your hives impact hive survival. This latest research and our farm experience help explain the problem.

With the extended warm fall, the stronger bees are taking down the weaker. Here's my discussion of this part of nature that is tough to watch.

The hostile takeover in late summer has lead to the death of this hive. What do you think?