Everything you wanted to know about the queen bee and more! How she's made, what she does in the hive, and why there's only one.

One of the best ways you can help the bees isn't by being a beekeeper, it's by planting food for the bees! Claire Jones, a garden designer and beekeeper, joins me on the episode where we talk about what to plant to make the biggest impact possible, why bees need flowers and some great bee-friendly plants. Claire also explains what grows well in containers, other places you can plant flowers other than your backyard and more.

What's it like to keep Africanized bees? Is it still fun working with bees when they're so aggressive? Can you cross-breed Africanized bees with European bees to get a more docile bee?

Ever have that hive with a queen that you can never find? In this episode, I talk share the queenspotting tips my former employer and 4th generation beekeeper shared with me.  I used to give 2 beekeeping tours a day, 5 days a week for 3 years and these tips worked for me every time except twice!

What are the bees trying to do and how can I help them accomplish what they're trying to do? That's Michael's take on the role of the beekeeper.  In this episode I talk with Michael Bush, author of The Practical Beekeeper (as well as other books), and discuss his lazy beekeeping techniques, developing an intuition with your bees, treatment free beekeeping, how he got started, bee fever and more! Michael's website > http://bushfarms.com/bees.htm All of his books can be found on Amazon...

I wanted to take a break from the science of bees and beekeeping and share with you the story of one of the most well known and influential writers about beekeeping, Eva Crane. The Eva Crane story starts at 21:45.

Randy Oliver from scientificbeekeeping.com talks with me about his work breeding varroa resistant bees that are calm & gentle at his farm in CA.

This is my second year using a flow hive. My first year I didn't like it, but then I figured out some tricks to harvesting that made me appreciate its convenience. Why is it so popular? Who is it definitely NOT for? What tips do I have for those with a flow hive? These are all the things I address in this episode.

There are over 19,000 different kinds of bees and 30% of them live in a tunnel or cavity. You can help these tunnel-nesting pollinators out by providing a place for them to call home. I'm not sure where the name came from, but kids these days are calling it a bee hotel.  Making a bee hotel is a fancy way of saying you're collecting hollow tubes, putting them somewhere and leaving them alone all Spring and Summer. A bee hotel won't get you honey or beeswax, but some of the common...

You should take the old, dark comb out of my beehive, but then what?  If you enjoy my podcast or have found it helpful, leave a review! I would really appreciate it.

What do people do with their frames of honeycomb after they extract the honey out?  That's a big question that few people have a good answer for. You have insects and small animals that will want to eat it and make a home out of it if you don't keep it safe. Luckily, I have a few options for you. I explain what I do, what large apiaries do, and the extra options you guys in cold weather states can do. Check out our YouTube video that goes along with this episode. Go to YouTube and search...

It's honey harvesting time. Yay! But you have a box with thousands of bees in it. How do take the honey and leave the bees behind? I explain three options for you: • the recommended option for hobbyists • what many commercial apiaries do when working with thousands of hives • some gadgets that claim to do the work for you

Butterflies! You've seen these beautiful creatures flying around and maybe even tried to catch one as a kid, but how much do you really know about them? Unlike honey bees, they're not great pollinators and they don't produce delicious food for us to eat. None the less, images of butterflies are everywhere - on cards, notebooks, mugs. They add beauty to the world and are a source of food for many animals. In this episode, I talk with Jessica McAtee, a butterfly expert, so we can learn all...

As I record this episode today, we are under a hurricane watch and dealing with other Summertime issues like robbing, bearding, high temperatures and dearth.    I'll explain what all of these things are and what beekeepers and bee-lovers can do to help the bees when it's super hot out. Just for the fun of it, I'll also talk about honeydew honey (honey made from bug poop) and what to do if bees are visiting your pool.    As always, for photos, links to learn more and other fun stuff, check out...

Before starting my own bee farm I worked for two other apiaries. One was a small farm and the other had 3,000 hives. I cared for bees, gave tours, bread queens, and was told I couldn't be a beekeeper because I was female. In this episode I tell the stories from my 7 years with these companies and witnessing Hawaii go through a terrible collapse of the bee population when the varroa mite arrived.  See my photos & videos of the farms & moving the bees...

For most people, the last thing they want is for a swarm of 10,000 bees flying by their house. But if you're a beekeeper, it's the best day ever because it means free bees! This episode is about swarms, why bees swarm, and how to lure a swarm of bees to your swarm trap.  Happy keeping!

"Beekeeping! Let's give it a try." That's what a lot of people said when COVID-19 forced a lot of people into quarantine.  I'm not dissing beginner beekeepers, but its causing problems for current beekeepers. In this episode I talk about: How to prevent swarming Small tasks to do now so you don't have a ton of bee things to do late summer How to prevent a mini heart attack when you realize it will take 6+ weeks for supplies to arrive What to do if you can't care for your bees as often as you...

Ever wondered what it would be like to keep bees on the rooftops of buildings in NYC? In this episode I talk with author, and urban beekeeper, Andrew Cote, about his childhood growing up as a 4th generation beekeeper, his non-profit Bees Without Borders, why he tells people his profession is truck driver and all the work that goes into keeping bees in a big city (don't forget you have to pay the meter!).  Check out Andrew's new book, Honey and Venom, Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper. It's...

There's a surge in people wanting to get started keeping bees right now. Although people get into beekeeping for the right reasons, often hobby beekeepers, especially their first and second year, hurt the bee population more than help it. This is because people don't realize how much work it is to keep bees. Because of pests and harsh winters, it is common for a hive to perish over the winter if you're not fully prepared and learn how to keep bees from an experienced beekeeper. Learn the...

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. This episode is about who makes the decisions in the honeybee hive. There is a queen, after all, but by now you probably know that she isn't in charge. So, who decides when it's time to swarm? How do the bees know what their job is in the hive because there are a lot? And when do they decide to replace the queen? Who, then, is supposed to kill the queen?! Honeybees do a great job of making decisions that benefit the entire hive and we could...

Some myth busting about the Asian Giant Hornet & why it could potentially cause a lot of harm to the honey bee population. Then, I talk about all the dumb things I've done over the years as a beekeeper - why wearing fuzzy pants is a bad idea, how being a cheap beekeeper has led to a lot of these problems & why I've had to pull over on the side of a highway to let bees out of my car.  If you're just getting started keeping bees or are thinking about it, I hope these stories encourage...

People are running to the store to stock up on food and other necessities, but what are they doing to become more self-sufficient? With just the five products you can harvest from a beehive, you can produce a sweetener, cough medicine, lotion, an immune boosting elixir, and protein-rich food. You can also create your own wood stain and furniture protector and make fabric water resistant. In this episode, I talk about the many things you can do with the products harvested from the beehive...

Royal Jelly! What an amazing substance - or so they say. It can help with fertility, it can lower cholesterol, it adds collagen to your face and is a supplement that boosts your immune and gives you energy!!  BUT, it's also harvested by killing baby queen bees. Is this substance ethical? You decide for yourself. In this episode I talk about what royal jelly is, how it's harvested, its uses, how expensive it is and what's in it. I'll also give my take on whether I think it is ethical or...

I try to keep this podcast about topics that beekeepers & non-beekeepers can both enjoy, but this was a topic I thought deserved its own episode. Sorry non beekeepers. Oxalic acid is a popular treatment for varroa mites, but was only approved to be used in the U.S. in 2015. This episode talks about what oxalic acid is, the different methods it's used in the hive and my experience using it. Since my bees are in Hawaii where the weather is always warm and there is always brood present in...