Management Episodes

Towards the end of the season, it’s a good idea to take a look at the equipment and other management tricks you’ve been using all summer while it’s still fresh in your mind. Today, Jim and Kim talk about how well the veils they use worked this...

How much honey do you leave for the bees this winter? Like lots of things in beekeeping, it depends. Since “all beekeeping is local”, it is good to start in your own backyard. Do you live in the south? Midwest? North? Far north? When are you...

It’s hot out there and it looks like it isn’t going to cool off for most of us for awhile. Also, since mite treatments should be starting now, getting honey off in the heat is the rule of the day. So how do you stay cool when it’s hot out there?...

If you have a colony of honey bees, chances are, at some point, some year, that colony will become queenless. If you do not realize it and the bees are unsuccessful at re-queening themselves, there is a pretty good chance, your colony will end up with...

Swarm season is fun and exhilarating. Much has been written about swarms. They’ve been studied, photographed, pursued and just… watched. But what does the beekeeper do with the parent colony the next day? What do they do with the swarm after...

On today’s episode, Jim and Jeff Ott (from Beekeeping Today Podcast), discuss the value and use of the ‘love it or hate it” piece of equipment, the Queen Excluder. Queen excluders are included in almost every “Honey Producer Starter...

After you get through the winter, spring buildup, swarming season and the ever present varroa, you can sit back and smell the flowers, right? You’re a beekeeper! There is no time to rest! Jim has a question for you… “Where are your bees getting...

Pretty much every beekeeper, at one time or another, ends up with a queen that’s not doing what they think she should be doing or - not doing what all the rest of your queens are doing. So, what is happening and can you do anything to get her going?...

It doesn’t take long after getting into beekeeping and then repeatedly, as long as you have beekeeping equipment laying around or stacked neatly, until you have to deal with small furry pests. Mice, rats and other critters love the shelter, warmth,...

Jim’s beeyard is the center of attention this week, because his bees were bothering his wife and a very patient, longtime neighbor. That’s not a good thing. So, exasperated, Jim asks Kim for his ideas about all that was going on and to help figure...

Package season is about over for 2022. Perhaps thankfully too, depending on where in the country you live. Installing packages does not always go well or as depicted in bee books or Internet videos. Sometimes, the weather just does not cooperate. In...

What are the important considerations for finding a new bee yard? There are a whole lot of right answers to this question and Kim and Jim explore almost all of them. For starters, year-round access, locked gates, dangerous animals, safety, and...

If your colonies make it through the winter, or if you simply purchased more bees as a package or nuc, their next challenge is making it through the changeable spring weather. (Especially this year, it seems.) Your management challenge is deciding...

A good rule when raising a few queens is to keep it simple. And not having to graft larvae from one cell to another is as simple as could be. So, how can that be done? The Hopkins method is one way, where you simply put a frame with eggs and larvae in...

It’s early February and it’s winter. But winter in northern Ohio is a lot different than winter in the south, where bees are flying, foraging and raising brood. And where it’s cold, you can’t be doing things with your bees, but you can be...