Beekeeping at FiveApple

This has been a test year in my bee yards, to see if my old treatment-free methods that worked so well for 16 years in an isolated bee yard would hold up in areas with more beekeepers. Answer: Nope.[Deep sigh and regroup. ]I now feel so lucky to have learned a hybrid system that still allows me to work on my long term project of stock selection towards mite resistance–while also utilizing organic...

Today it's about the bee's most awful behavior: ROBBING. I found a tip on reducing robbing while doing inspections and it works great!!The PerfectBee.com website I mentioned. The article was from their email newsletter but here's a link to an article on robbing on their blog. BetterBee's article on robbing and preventionRusty of HoneyBeeSuite.com on robbing and another post on preventing it.May...

Today Episode:July bee yard updateWilliam's tips on honey harvest (see Williams letter here) Tip on making bee boxes last longer "painting with glue" — this whole presentation is well worth watching! ( YouTube Link)Invitation to see Julia Mahood present on drones (see below for info) Reminder to take care in the heat with electrolytesThoughts on "Chasing Sourwood" and the impacts on stationary...

UBO, PKB, FKB, mite washes, Harbo assays... It's an alphabet soup out there of ways to test your bees for hygienic traits and resistance to varroa. You may be testing to find out when to apply mite treatments or a brood break to a colony and in that case a simple mite wash is usually enough. But you may be testing to find out your very best genetics you have to raise next years queens for your...

In this episode I share my own process for getting honey from the hives to the jars. It's quirky but it works for me and I'm hoping you might find ideas for your own process or just enjoy hearing how someone else does it. That's what I did when researching this episode!For supporting patrons, I've also collected a few videos (with video summaries included) you might enjoy and for newer...

So you have a caged mated queen and a colony that needs requeening, how to make that happen (so that your special queen actually survives the process!) is what we cover today!As a thank-you, Patrons got this episode a day early and also get a bonus portion covering the vertical requeening methods that Ryan mentioned last episode plus tips and resources on introducing virgin queens. Supporting...

Something special today! This interview with Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farm of Virginia has been the one where I learned the most. He is a full time beekeeper selling local nucs and honey, but who also specializes in offering VSH queens from tested breeders he raises himself.We start off with how he got into the bee biz and just got to talking between beekeepers and ended up in full geek mode...

Ep157 More Springtime Tips: Keeping bees in the boxes, avoid the honey dome, get more comb drawn, know if your hive is queenright or queenless. In case you missed it:Ep156 Spring in the Bees! Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina SebestyenEp 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI⬆️ available wherever you listen to podcastsPatron Exclusives:Patron exclusive show notes on Ep 155...

Today it's a ramble through things going on in the bee yard as Spring has taken over and the bees won't wait! Doing some quick splits to save the day, still aiming for more data-driven stock selection and whose swarm is this in my equipment?In case you missed it:Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina SebestyenEp 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI⬆️ both of these also...

I ask Tina about the Miller (graftless) method of Queen rearing and her recent articles in ABJ, then we wander into chat between bee friends of goings on in our apiaries, things we want to try this year and more. Enjoy!-LeighSupporting Patrons, view your exclusive show notes here. Patron exclusive detailed show notes include:What is the Miller Method? More info and how-to from Tina’s on the...