The Hive Jive - Beekeeping Podcast

Today John is joined once again by Miss Tara Chapman from Two Hives Honey.  Tara teaches us about honey crystallization, what it means, and the four main factors that contribute to this process.  This is key knowledge to help you better understand the process, how you can use it to your advantage, and how to better educate the end consumer about your honey.  The pair also catch up on current life...

This year’s honey harvest has come and gone, and it is leaving a few tears in its wake.  John discusses how the main apiary did this year, or rather, how much it didn’t do at all.  The bizarre weather patterns have definitely taken their toll on the nectar flow and John gives a few stark examples of how much of an impact it will have on this year’s honey sales.  If you’re feeling the strain this s...

This episode coils up and strikes at the heart of a slippery subject… Snakes in the bee yard.  There are all kinds of different critters out there that we often don’t notice as we go about our bee business, focused on what has become a habitual process of tasks.  But that doesn’t mean that those critters don’t notice us as we go about our work.  Some of these critters might cause us to do way more...

Recently the gang got together to host a LIVE Natural Beekeeping question and answer session.  Nathalie and John answer questions ranging from keeping survivor stock, to doing brood breaks, and even hive inspection frequency.  Tune in now to hear this and more for this months Natural Beekeeping Corner.

In this episode the guys discuss some of the challenges this season has presented with some areas having a sparse nectar flow and the decisions that beekeepers might be faced with because of those circumstances.  John gives a reminder on colonies shutting down brood production during periods of extreme heat and periods of dearth, and a thought experiment in possible queen issues.  Plus, its time f...

In this round of listener questions we hear from Mike B., Jared M., Ben I., and Connor S.  Topics include how to not go broke doing removals, bees not drawing wax on foundation, using all deep boxes, insulating hives for winter, and open feeding.  Tune in now for a smorgasbord of beekeeping information!

The guys have some corrections they need to make regarding speculations that were made in last week’s episodes.  It turns out not all of the pertinent information was provided regarding Ken’s recent HopGuard III experience and this omission completely changes the outcome of that conversation.  John then proceeds to carry that same message through the rest of the episode to try and drive the point...

In this very extended episode, the guys go back and cover a few items that they had meant to include in previous episodes but kept forgetting.  Ken is up to his old tricks of pulling things out of left field which will keep everyone on their toes, and John discusses how the bees will backfill into the brood nest this time of year and what that means.  Plus, it is the first episode for July, which...

Today the guys are prompted by Jacob to discuss some important questions you should ask if you are considering buying used equipment.  Ken has a question about swarm traps and direction the entrance should be facing.  Plus, it is time for another edition of Ken’s Cooking Corner.  So tune in now to hear these topics and a few other tidbits in your weekly dose of Bee infotainment.

John and Ken talk about potentially relocating some of Ken’s swarms out to his remote property and implementing some selective breeding and re-queening.  John tells the story of a recent hive relocation due to the bee's extreme defensive behaviors.  Ken has also had a swarm move into a two-inch thick Topbar hive that he had setting outside his house and his wife says it needs to move… so the guys...

A lot of drama has happened in the social media version of the beekeeping world while John was lost on a plane, so he gives us an update on the current backlash being experienced by a certain TikTok influencer.   The guys also address a couple of listener questions from Ryan in Indiana regarding building pollen feeders and mowing near your hives.  And there is some random info in here regarding di...

In this fourth installment of the Natural Beekeeping Corner Nathalie takes us on a tour of “The Peoples Hives.”  What is this you ask?  Well, tune in now to find out what hive style this might be and why Nathalie believes it is the hive of the future and can allow anyone to be a beekeeper.

In this episode John elaborates on a recent listener question about queen math.  This leads into some discussion about queen rearing and a few tips and trip on using the Nicot queen rearing system.  The guys also discuss some of the challenges that can be encountered by the queen on her nuptial flights that might reduce the chances of her successfully making it home, as well as some recent trends...

The guys discuss a recent news article about “Millions of Bees” dying after “being left in a UPS truck for weeks.”  Like many beekeepers our there, John and Ken have both had their own run-ins with shipping related issues, and if you keep bees long enough, you likely will as well.  This topic leads to other ways that shipping can cause issues for your beekeeping business and what things you might...

World Bee Day is coming on May 20th.  Join the gang as they speak with Jonna Sanders to learn more about the history of World Bee Day and Slovenian beekeeping.  If you were not already aware, World Bee Day is the brainchild of the Slovenian Beekeeping Association, Čebelarska zveza Slovenija. Slovenia is doing some truly revolutionary work in honeybee science and education.  Tune in now to learn mo...

In this episode, John discusses the concept of excess drawn wax comb creating a hoarding desire in the bees.  This is where generating extra drawn frames during your first two to three years of beekeeping starts to come back into play and can allow you to greatly increase your honey harvest.  Keep in mind though, the tactics discussed in this episode will only work if your colony is strong enough...

In our third installment of the Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie walks us through the differences between commercial beekeeping practices vs the urban backyard beekeeper.  She also covers the benefits of local genetics of bees vs imported genetics, as well as how to do sustainable splits of your existing colonies using the two into three method. 

In this special edition of The Hive Jive, John takes us through the history of “Telling the Bees.”  For centuries, cultures the world round have had their version of telling the bees about significant life events within their family.  Most times, this act especially applied to notifying the bees of a death within the family.  However, bees were also told of other events in the family such as marri...

Ever been in the situation where you desperately need to find a queen in order to do a split or because you are trying to re-queen a colony and you need her gone, but can’t find her no matter how hard you try?  Well in this episode John details a few hail-Mary tricks that you can use if you absolutely must find an elusive queen who has been eluding you thus far.  The guys also discuss the use of O...

This week the guys are joined by Tara Chapman of Two Hives Honey to discuss the uses of propolis.  Most beekeepers have a love-hate relationship with this dark sticky substance as it gets on everything and it does not ever seem to come back off.  Despite being a sticky pain for some beekeepers, hopefully we all realize the great importance that it plays in the lives of the bees and how it helps to...

Sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where you might need to do a split, but you don’t really want to increase your total number of full-sized colonies.  Or, perhaps you often find yourself where a few of your colonies always seem to need a boost.  Well, this is where the beauty of creating a Nuc as a resource hive can come in handy.  Tune in now as the guys discuss these concepts, as...

It is the first episode of April and Ken seems to be missing in action.  Could it be a delayed April Fool’s day joke?  John does a quick recap of the topics from the first part of this year, and touches on the key aspects to be focused on as Spring unfolds.  Plus, its time for our second Natural Beekeeping corner and Nathalie breaks down the concepts of the Integrated Pest Management process, or I...

Spring is finally starting to show its beautiful face, despite the calendar stating it should have started a few weeks ago now.  The flowers are finally starting to bloom, albeit not in the quantities that Central Texas has seen in Springs of the past few years.  But at least the blooms are coming, and the bees are happily bringing in natural pollen once again.  This sparks an unplanned conversati...

Ken is making plans to finally move some of his Langstroth colonies to his property located several counties away from his home apiary.  But, since beekeeping is typically a weekly event at this time of year, how does one go about trying to manage a growing colony when you are several hours away and likely will not see your colonies but maybe once a month?  John and Ken talk through some of the in...

Today the guys are joined again by Steve Jimenez with Hives for Heroes to discuss all of the amazing progress the organization has made over the last year.  Hives for Heroes exists to help empower veterans thru beekeeping and they have managed to grow their organization to now represent all 50 of the United States in North America.  This is quite the impressive feat and a massive influx of growth...