The Hive Jive - Beekeeping Podcast

While Ken is out for a medical procedure John is joined by the beautiful vocal stylings of Katherine, all the way up from Australia, and Nathalie, who is fresh out of the Congo. Exotic accents abound as the group discusses the recent issues for Australia, recent work being done in Africa, and compare and contrast the differences of beekeeping amount the three continents.

In this listener question episode we get an update from Downunder, talk about the mystery of a queenless colony that isn’t queenless, ponder the details on potentially placing hives at a business or retail establishment, and tackle a few questions about a Long Lang style hive.

Sometimes bad things just happen. And, sometimes it is because bad people cause them to happen. Every year when almond pollinations comes around, the news of hive thefts starts popping up across the country. But, sometimes this string of thefts is driven by other factors, such as the natural disasters that Australia recently experienced with the bushfires. In both cases, some people out there see...

You have survived your first season of beekeeping, and you are almost through your first winter, congrats! Now it is time to start considering what you want to do in your second year of beekeeping. This episode will provide you with the initial checklist of items to start working on as your second season approaches.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to take ALL of the Listener Questions from over the holiday break all the way up through now, and answer them all at once. This will be the first, and likely last, nearly TWO HOUR episode! Take your time, break it up, digest it slowly. There is are plenty of tidbits of information spread throughout.

The guys are finally back in the studio to kick off the second season in rare form. There are a lot of big announcements to be had, some catching up to be done, and laughs to be had along the way. However, as promised, they do eventually get around to talking about feeding solid sugar to your bees as emergency winter food rations.

The guys have taken all the scraps left over from 2019 and stitched together one last, final, final episode for your listening pleasure. Buckle up, this ones gonna be a long one! We'll see you again in 2020. Happy New Year Everyone!

The guys sit down for their final episode of 2019. A few gifts are exchanged, and Ken finds justification to his Award Winning labeling. We hear a listener question from David regarding a late split that didn’t make it, and the guys break down the reasoning as to why. Tune in now to finish out a great first year with the guys and ring in the holidays.

The guys recap the Podcast stats up to this point and discuss a variety of topics from food and honey, to painting hives and calculating the average daytime temps to know if you can still be feeding in a liquid form.

John and Ken welcome Dr. Ferhat Ozturk into the studio for this very special episode. Learn the nuances of honey and how it can be used for medicinal purposes. Tune in now to find out the relation to certain types of honey and hydrogen peroxide; the complexity and depth of darker honey; and how buckwheat honey may have some redeeming qualities.

Despite their best intentions, this episode never stood a chance. The guys talk about bandages, Ken’s ongoing obsession with ordering packages, phallic stings, dropbears, and other animals that shouldn’t exist. Surely there’s bees in there somewhere…?

Tara Chapman rejoins the guys for a fun talk about her recent experiences at the first US based Honey Sensory training program. Join us to learn some of the nuances that can be attributed to honey tasting, as well as interesting aspects regarding honey crystallization. Plus, Tara and John try to find the humor in recent developments within their respective lives.

In this episode, John and Ken recap on their recent screening of The Pollinators documentary, and John has just returned from the Texas Beekeepers Convention and shares some of the Highlights. Plus a listener question from Frank in Wales! Tune in now to catch up on the recent events.

In this episode, John and Ken recap a few of the more important aspects of winter prep for people living in the southern states. However, the simplification of this might catch you off guard. The warmer the climate you live in, the less preparations need to be done. You’ll see a big detour from what was covered in the northern states episode.

Join us as the guys tell you some scary bee stories about things that go BUZZ in the night... to fill your Halloween with a little fun and fright.

As John and Ken are alone in the studio attempting to tackle your latest listener questions, some strange occurrences take place in the building! Very distracted, and a bit paranoid, the guys attempt to power through in order to get some answers out to Sue, Tanya, and Ann. Enjoy!

Its time for a quick refresher on some of the basic beekeeping terms. Join John as he gives Ken an impromptu terminology quiz.

Desperate times bring out desperate bees, and the late fall periods do just that! When no other food is naturally available, and winter is fast approaching, all of nature desperately seeks out the last few morsels of food as it could be their saving grace that helps them survive the winter. This can be seen in yellow jacket colonies that are rushing to raise the new queens that will overwinter and...

The listener questions just keep on coming, so the guys keep the answers coming. Tune in now to catch up with Ken's hives and get your own questions answered.

These guys have no concept of time when recording, and Ken is a master at derailing a topic right off into left field. Thanks to all these factors, we present to you another assortment of random clips that were cut from previous episodes due to topic or time constraints. Enjoy!

Ken has been getting a lot of requests for bee related things as people start to learn that he has taken up the hobby. Now, he has encountered his first real moral dilemma that can come with the territory. Tune in now, and help Ken determine what the best course of action would be in this situation.

Ken just can't seem to help himself when it comes to buying things. He recently found a deal where a local beekeeper was looking to sell two complete 10 frame hives, and naturally Ken jumped on the opportunity.

What happens when you have a couple of colonies that both seem just so-so and winter is approaching? Well, one option might be to combine the two weaker colonies to create a colony strong enough to potentially survive the coming winter. In this episode John and Ken discuss how you can consolidate colonies to improve their chances at winter survival.

In this episode John and Ken speak directly to those of you who reside in the northern United States… Winter is Coming! This episode will, hopefully, help lead you in the right direction when preparing your hives to survive your first northern winter. At the very least, it will give you a lot to think about, and a lot more to look up! Are you prepared for winter?

They are those little black bugs that we try desperately to smash every time we see them. People panic the first time they see them in their colony, and even blame them for colony losses… It’s the one and only hive beetle! Come join us for this bonus episode to learn a little bit about what all the stink is over these little black beetles.