The Hive Jive - Beekeeping Podcast

In today’s beekeeper chat, John and Nathalie talk about the aspects of storage and space management and how it relates to both the type of hives you keep, as well as your own management practices. Can space management also equate to better time management? Tune in now to learn more! (Original Air Date: Dec 22, 2021)

In this latest edition of the Beekeeper Chats, John and Nathalie discuss the difference between individual bee immunity vs colony immunity and how these two aspects work together to help ensure the survival of the entire superorganism. (Original Air Date: Dec 8th, 2021)

What would beekeeping look like if it were done more from the perspective of the bee's natural preferences?  That is the concept of bee-centric beekeeping, where as many aspects as possible are lined up more in favor of what is best for the bee and not necessarily geared toward the convenience of the beekeeper.  Tune in now to learn more! (Original Air Date: Nov 25, 2021)

Based on a comment from a listener, today’s episode focuses on the ideals of treatment free beekeeping and whether or not those ideals can cross lines over into areas such as Anti-Vaccine. Though one might like to draw a parallel between the two subjects, they are actually very much perpendicular to one another and cannot be fairly compared. Is treating your bees the same as giving a human a life...

In this edition of our Beekeeper Chats, Nathalie and John tackle the subject of Honey Adulteration and the ethics that should be used when handling, marketing, and selling your own honey.   (Original Air Date: Nov 3rd, 2021)

For this week's beekeeper chat, Nathalie and John talk about the concept of moving/relocation an established hive to a new location.  Whether it is just a few feet, across your yard, down the road, to the next county, or out of state... planning is important when moving an established colony and there are a few key aspects that translate to all scenarios. (Original Air Date: Oct 27th, 2021)

In this beekeeper chat session, Nathalie and John discuss how important it is to always be striving to learn new aspects of your favorite hobby - beekeeping!  This includes ways to help you discern quality educational sources and information from all the other noise that is out there flooding our daily lives.  Knowing that your information is coming from a reputable source will help maximize your...

In today's beekeeper chat, Nathalie and John tackle the different wavelengths of a theoretical topic... the effects of EMF on Honeybees.  Do different frequencies have a positive or negative effect on bees?   Can an electromagnetic field doom the cognitive functions of bees?  Honestly, we have no idea.  But, it doesn't mean we can't apply our own experiences to the subject and theorize about it al...

For the 16th segment in our Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie sits down with John to talk about her latest Hybrid Hive style where she has combined a permanent Langstroth hive box onto a Topbar Hive body to give beekeepers the options of moving from one to the other, and gaining the best of both worlds.  Tune in now to learn more!

In this episode our beekeepers, John and Nathalie, discuss the value of late season swarms and the cost they could pose to a beekeeper.  However, could they also be put to other uses to help prepare for winter?  What other things should be considered when doing our fall preparations, and when should you combine hives?  Tune in to our beekeeper chat to learn about these topics and more! (Original A...

Join Nathalie and John as they dissect a theological social media post that they both feel was a bit presumptuous and more than a little uninformed.  Whether you agree or not, this is a great thought experiment for you to use to do some self-reflecting on how you view your direct impact and relationship to your bees.   (Original Air Date: Sept 22nd, 2021)

Its time for another Beekeeper Chat... Nathalie and John as they talk about the various aspects of what a beekeeping business might entail.  How can you make money with bees?  What aspects speak most to you and how can you use that to your advantage?  Tune in now to learn more about some of the basic revenue opportunities when working with bees. (Original Air Date: Sept 15th, 2021)

Join Nathalie and John and they discuss some common pitfalls that you will inevitably encounter while pursuing your beekeeping adventures. (Original Air Date: Sept 8th, 2021)

(Original Air Date: Sept 21st, 2021) Following the final episode of Season 3 of The Hive Jive, John and Nathalie sit down for an unscripted chat about their views on beekeeping and provide some advice for new beekeepers.  Welcome to the first of many Beekeeper Chats!

For the 15th segment in our Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie sits down with Bruce Rodriguez from Swarmstead Bees and Gardening to discuss catching swarms to increase his hive numbers, his process when catching swarms, and his views on natural beekeeping... Tune in now to learn more!

(Original Air Date: April 22nd 2021) Continuing over from the main segment episode where Tara taught us about the uses of Propolis, this bonus episode contains all the random tangents that the group got sidetracked with during the interview process. Needless to say, these were originally cut from the main episode in order to keep it under an hour long. So… tune in now to hear more about Tara’s bab...

(Original Air Date: April 15th 201) Today the guys talk about Ken’s Topbar that had a massive beard on the front. Could this be showing signs of swarming, or were they just trying to cool down? John discusses queen cups vs queen cells, and where they can be found for swarm purposes, as well as entrance discs being left on Queen Exclude. Ever heard of Drone Berries? Well, you will know what they ar...

(Original Air Date: Jan 21st 201) In this episode Ken and John discuss a few things to consider this mid-winter, as well as tackling a listener question about what to consider when looking to expand your apiary into multiple locations.  Tune in now to hear how the guy’s hives are doing and maybe you will find a thing or two that you can consider as well.

(Original Air Date: Dec 17th, 2020) Can you guess the theme of this episode?  John and Ken discuss bees using feces as a deterrent against giant hornets, they also discuss a bad book review, and have a brief talk about Ken's procrastination about combining colonies for winter prep.  Put on your wading boots, cause this one might get a bit messy.

(Original Air Date: Nov19th, 2020) John discusses the pros, cons, and potential pitfalls of laying the groundwork for a future notification system to beekeepers in the state of TX for when pesticides are going to be utilized in their area. Part of this comes back to hive locations technically being considered trade secrets, or proprietary information. Does volunteering to participate in such a lis...

(Original Air Date: Nov12th, 2020) The guys discuss more about bees being prone to robbing this time of year, as well as clearing up some confusion about which comb/bees should be used when doing mite checks.  Oh, and Hats are now a thing!

(Original Air Date: Nov 5th, 2020) In this episode John details how he "Almost" won the 2020 Honey Show with the exception of one small oversite.  Minor details are key, as are major ones when entering into a true honey show.  The guys also discuss a few more thoughts on their recent honey tasting, plus cautions about late fall robbing!

(Original Air Date: Dec 24th, 2020) Ken and John are joined by a surprise guest, Max Milam, Ken's Son!  (It was a surprise for Max as he had no idea he was about to be dragged into the show.)  The guys talk about some recent developments in their lives, and Max and John poke fun at Ken's front porch beekeeping.  Hope you have a very Happy Holiday Season!

(Original Air Date: Oct 22nd, 2020) In this episode John discusses how prolific honey adulteration really is in today's marketplace and how it affects us all.  It can be difficult for backyard beekeepers to feel like they even have a chance to compete with the prices they see in the supermarkets, but the key is to shift the focus and better educate your consumers... one at a time.  Ken also give s...

(Original Air Date: Oct 8th, 2020 with Updated Content from Dec 22rd, 2022) In the old school style of the season one bonus episodes, this segment covers a lot of ground...  The guys talk about their thoughts from their Honey Tasting episode, the challenges (or advantages) of open mated genetics and how they can influence the bee despite the queen type, how some social media people might be runnin...