The Walrus and the Honey Bee

Steve Donohoe gives a quick review of the beekeeping season, then plunges into the topic of non-treatment beekeeping, that is , not treating colonies for varroa mite infestation. He tries to understand why so many beekeepers are following this trend, and sounds a warning. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Whether you are raising queen honey bees or just dealing with colonies that have swarmed or superceded, the success of the mating of the new queen is a matter of some importance. Steve Donohoe talks about what can go wrong, and some strategies for increasing your success. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Some of the many things that can and do go wrong when beekeeping, and what to do about them Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Steve Donohoe discusses the beekeeping season so far, as well as some beekeeping myths, and ideas on intensive versus extensive farming methods. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Some strange and unexpected things can happen in beekeeping - here are some of them Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

A little about how much honey you might lose if your bees swarm, and some ways to prevent swarming or reduce the honey lost. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Steve Donohoe walks through his method for making the best queen cells he has ever seen. It's the same method as used by Brother Adam, back in the day, and by Mike Palmer, and others. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

A balanced and detailed look at the science surrounding the issue of non-treatment of honey bees, including a comparison between the two main approaches: selective breeding and using survivor stock. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

From Steve Donohoe's blog post of the same title, this covers all of the important beekeeping things that matter during the springtime. It covers feeding bees early on, then providing space, dealing with colonies of different sizes, equalisation, reversing boxes, difference between drawn comb and foundation, and even a little nod towards early queen rearing. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Faceb...

Taken from a chapter in Steve Donohoe's book, Interviews With Beekeepers, this covers a conversation between Steve, Jolanta, and Murray McGregor in 2017. Jolanta is the head of the queen rearing unit at Denrosa Apiaries, and she explains how she makes her queens. Denrosa is the largest commercial beekeeping operation in the UK. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Imogen reads from Steve's blog post, in which sets out his latest learnings and understanding of this sometimes tricky subject. How to introduce a new queen into a colony that has lost it's own. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

As we move from winter into spring here in England, Steve Donohoe discusses over-wintering success, feeding colonies, and plans for once the season kicks off. Bluesky Threads Instagram YouTube Facebook

Intro 00:25 New book by Dorian Pritchard on conservation of native bees 01:10 Argument for conservation of native bees, legally protected areas should be created 02:40 Is the black bee really the best bee for all people? I think not, but each to their own.  04:40 Sue Coby's New World Carniolan project could be a template to follow 05:00 Examples of human interference in nature to domesticate wild...

Intro including reference to Ian Steppler YouTube video just posted on varroa treatments, using Randy Oliver spreadsheet model. https://youtu.be/Z2FLoAq6LDc 02:20 Recent apiary inspection of nucleus colonies 03:50 What causes swarming?  06:40 Impossible to eliminate, but we can influence 07:10 Genetics, personal experience, Paul Horton's bees, sub-species 11:25 Queen pheromones, age of queens 12:3...

00:30 Importance of both good queens and low mite levels 01:40 How Steve's thinking on varroa treatment regimes evolved from 2 times per year to three. 02:20 Alcohol wash on all colonies as per Randy Oliver, treatment threshold 03:15 What to do with infested colonies in summer when supers are on, what causes outlier colonies with more mites than the others, benefits of winter oxalic acid treatment...

0:00 When oilseed rape (OSR) first arrived in the UK 00:50 The UK has moved from being a net exporter to net imported of rapeseed oil, costing the UK economy £1 billion 01:10 List of the main cooking oils ranked by healthiness 03:10 Rapeseed oil is the most consumed oil in the UK 04:00 OSR is useful to arable farmers as a rotation crop 04:40 OSR downsides, cabbage stem flea beetle, neonics 05:20 T...

Based on post of 19 November 2024 on thewalrusandthehoneybee.com 01:30 The damage caused by varroa mites - leading cause of colony losses worldwide 03:30 Learning to keep bees alive  04:00 Current trend among hobby beekeepers for going treatment-free 06:00 USA honey bee colony losses, deformed wing virus 07:45 Using an alcohol wash to monitor mite infestation 09:00 Randy Oliver spreadsheet model 1...

Intro and reasons for not using an AI reader. 01:30 Reasons for making queens 02:35 Importance of being organised, knowing timings, mindset - sometimes things go wrong 03:19 Breeder queens, Steve's three breeder queens in 2024 and why these were selected 06:45 Keeping breeder queens in nucleus hives 07:40 Drones, open mating, using drone comb 08:20 Using BeeBase 09:20 Re-queening poor colonies 10:...

Imogen reads from Steve's blog post of 1st September 2024 00:53 Queens The importance of the queen in a honey bee colony cannot be overstated 02:37 Gruff Rees reviewed "Healthy Bees, Heavy Hives" by Paul Horton and Steve Donohoe, calling it "the best beekeeping book ever". We'll take that.   02:40 Comparison between colonies headed by my normal queens and four which contained queens made by Ivan N...