Episodes

What would you do if you received a call from a neighbor saying that your bee equipment was scattered across multiple yards? What would be YOUR first thought? In today’s episode, Jim invites Beekeeping Today Podcast’s Jeff Ott to the show to talk...

Not a lot of people start keeping bees without some outside influence. A relative, neighbor, college class, or getting a job in bees. Jim started out with a college class, to fill electives. Kim got a job working for the USDA because he could grow the...

Knowing what you did or saw, added or removed from a colony is useful. Whether that happened earlier in the day or the prior season. Keeping track of what, how why and when you did something in the bee yard, for a specific colony will help keep you...

What beekeeper hasn't nailed together a hive body and thought, "Heck, I can cut these boards myself and it'd be cheaper!" Especially if they already have a wood shop with a table saw and a few other tools. But is it really? What are the pros and cons...

It’s winter time and sure as the sky is blue (or grey – as the case may be), there will be many dead colonies out there next spring. If not in as early as in the few weeks. Winter kills in the US are running something like 40+% right now. A winter...

On today’s show, Kim and Jim discuss the most common ‘complaint’ a beekeeper who sells honey encounters. This is true whether you are selling from the back of your truck, at a roadside stand or even a local farmer’s market. What do you tell...

Honey Bee Obscura celebrates its 100th episode with this release! Jim Tew and Kim Flottum invite, Beekeeping Today Podcast’s Jeff Ott to join them to take a look at 5,000 years of beekeeping history, sorting out some of the highlights, discoveries,...

Winter tends to have a bit more time inside than outside and one way to spend that time inside is to catch up on your reading. Jim and Kim talk a bit about the books they read, the authors and publishers they like and where they get the books they...

Why on earth would honey bee foragers go out on a freezing day in winter to collect water? Ice and snow everywhere, but there they are, trying to get a drink and bring some home for their sisters. Why? Kim and Jim explore some of the reasons why. They...

Without a doubt, some of the most peaceful places on Earth are bee yards. Tranquil, serene and quiet with only the soft hum of the bees fanning the air through their hives floating on top the silence… Peaceful, except when it is not.  Have you...

When you’ve been keeping bees for decades, sometimes you do things because that’s the way you’ve always done them, right? But the world continues to change. It has to keep up with whatever is going on wherever it’s happening. And because the...

Does your state Agriculture Department have a bulletin they share with everybody on the phenology, or bloom dates, of the wild flowers, trees and shrubs that grow in your state? Today Kim and Jim discuss the chart used by Ohio beekeepers. Ohio’s...

It's Not What You Think!

Jim has pails of crystalized honey, but only wants enough liquid honey for his oatmeal this morning. How does he get that to work? Kim has a lot of good ideas. There are pail blankets, band heaters, boxes and more to warm a pail to liquid honey on the...

One of the first pieces of equipment a new beekeeper buys is a bee suit. If they don’t buy a bee suit, they will at least buy a veil. Stings on the face are not only painful (and memorable to all who see it), they can be dangerous if it is directly...

Moving boxes full of honey is usually a lot of work. The bees aren’t happy, the boxes are heavy, it’s hot and you have all your gear on to be safe. The one sure way to make this easier is to use devices that have wheels. Two-wheelers, carts, your...

Harvesting your honey crop isn’t about keeping bees, in fact, it is hard work. It’s when you start questioning your spring decision to expand your number of colonies. On the other hand, it’s a good measure of how well you kept bees during the...

So, what’s that thing you put between two supers to give additional space between top bars below and bottom bars above so there’s room for…something you want to add to the hive. Is it a spacer, a rim, or what? Kim has always called it a...

Post-harvest time is a good time to look for wax moth in your colonies. Believe it or not, wax moths are around pretty much all of the time. On today’s episode, Kim and Jim discuss wax moths! Strong colonies keep them pretty much under control, but...

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...

Have you ever thought much about the hive stands you use? On today’s episode, Jim and Kim take a long look at the hive stands they use and why they favor them. They also look at a lot of other choices available to beekeepers – all based upon...

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...