Honey Bee Obscura Podcast
174 episodes - English - Latest episode: 14 days ago - ★★★★★ - 100 ratingsShort, in-depth, plain talk discussions of all things honey bees, with Dr. Jim Tew
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Episodes
Plain Talk: Honey Bee Eggs (173)
April 04, 2024 10:00 - 21 minutes - 30.2 MBIn this episode, Jim Tew takes listeners on an intricate journey into the life of a honey bee egg, uncovering its quiet but highly active existence. Despite the challenge of discussing such a microcosmic topic, Jim eloquently demystifies the complexities surrounding the initial stage of a bee's life cycle. From the difficulties beekeepers face in spotting these tiny, almost ethereal eggs, to the importance of eggs as indicators of a queen's presence and health, this episode provides a deep d...
Observing Queen Anomalies with Anne Frey (172)
March 28, 2024 10:00 - 20 minutes - 27.8 MBIn this intriguing episode, Jim Tew and Anne Frey delve into the unexpected and often perplexing world of queen bee behavior and physiology that diverges from the norm. This episode explores the rare but fascinating occurrences that beekeepers might encounter with their queens, ranging from fainting queens during marking to queens with anatomical abnormalities. The hosts share their personal experiences and the lessons learned from handling queens that don't always follow the script, highlig...
Plain Talk: Spring - Help, Don't Hurt Your Bees (171)
March 21, 2024 10:00 - 18 minutes - 26.1 MBIn this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim takes beekeepers through the critical period of late winter and early spring, emphasizing the delicate balance between intervening in the hive and letting bees be. Drawing from his observations during an unseasonably warm day in Northeast Ohio, Jim shares his insights into the significance of weather for beekeeping and the implications of seasonal changes for bee activity. He delves into practical advice for beekeepers on how to conduct inspections w...
Managing Nucs with Anne Frey (170)
March 14, 2024 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.5 MBIn this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, we dive into the intricacies of nurturing nucleus colonies (nucs) with beekeeping expert Anne Frey from Better Bee. Jim and Anne discuss the benefits and methods of working with nucs, emphasizing their role in sustainable beekeeping practices. Anne shares her extensive experience, focusing on the use of double nucs and their construction, management, and advantages for beekeepers, especially when it comes to overwintering. This insightful discussion c...
Plain Talk About Division Board Feeders (169)
March 07, 2024 10:00 - 20 minutes - 29 MBIn this episode Jim discusses the obscure world of division board feeders, exploring their history, evolution, and practical use in beekeeping. These feeders, which replace a frame inside the hive, have undergone significant changes over the years, from simple molded plastics to modern versions with top doors, gates, and valves. Jim shares his personal experiences, emphasizing the importance of a rough interior to prevent bee drownings and the need for a float to ensure bees can safely acces...
Talking With Kids About Bees (168)
February 29, 2024 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.3 MBIn this enlightening episode, Jim invites American Bee Journal editor, Eugene Makovec, to the podcast to chat about their experiences and insights on how to engage young minds with the fascinating world of beekeeping. They delve into the joys and challenges of presenting beekeeping to children, from kindergarteners' innocent inquiries to the more sophisticated questions of fifth graders. Through anecdotes and practical advice, Jim and Eugene illustrate the importance of adjusting communicati...
Dealing With Heavy Hives with Anne Frey (167)
February 22, 2024 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31 MBIn this episode, Jim Tew and Anne Frey tackle a common yet often overlooked challenge in beekeeping: managing the heavy weight of hives. They delve into practical solutions and innovative ideas to make beekeeping tasks more manageable, emphasizing that this issue impacts beekeepers regardless of age, gender, or experience level. They both stress the importance of adapting beekeeping practices to accommodate individual capabilities and limitations, suggesting that small adjustments can lead...
Sampling Varroa Mites (166)
February 15, 2024 10:00 - 24 minutes - 33.7 MBJoin Jim Tew and David Peck in a critical conversation about Varroa mite management in beekeeping. This episode demystifies the process of counting mites, offering practical advice and insights into the importance of monitoring mite levels for the health of bee colonies. Discover various methods for assessing Varroa populations, from alcohol washes to powdered sugar shakes, and learn why accurate monitoring is essential for effective beekeeping. Whether you're a long-time beekeeper or just s...
Eating Honey (165)
February 08, 2024 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.4 MBDiving into the sweet yet challenging world of honey consumption, this week’s episode of Honey Bee Obscura delves into the nuances of enjoying honey—without the mess. Jim discusses the inevitable sticky spills that occur no matter how careful you are with honey. Whether it’s a drop missing the target or the complexities of enjoying comb honey and dealing with the leftover wax, Jim covers it all. Jim also explores the best ways to store honey, debating glass vs. plastic containers, and addr...
Colony Collapse and Varroa, Plain Talk with Dr. David Peck (164)
February 01, 2024 10:00 - 23 minutes - 32.6 MBIn today's episode, Jim is joined by Dr. David Peck, an expert in varroa mites, to delve into the critical issue of honey bee colony collapse linked to varroa infestation. This topic is different from Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), focusing instead on the impact of varroa mites and the diseases they introduce to both adult bees and larvae. The episode addresses a common frustration among beekeepers: the collapse of their strongest and most productive summer colonies. These hives, characte...
In Class with Jim: "Supering" (163)
January 25, 2024 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.6 MBIn this episode we delve into the concept of "supering," a term unique to beekeeping that has emerged over the past century. To those outside the beekeeping community, the term might sound like something out of a superhero comic, but for beekeepers, it's a crucial aspect of hive management. Jim, guides listeners through the history and significance of supering in beekeeping. But what exactly is supering? It involves adding boxes, known as supers or honey supers, to the hive. These are desi...
Mentoring Young Beekeepers (162)
January 18, 2024 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.1 MBIn today's episode, Jim and Becky Masterman (co-host of Beekeeping Today Podcast) delve into the challenges and joys of mentoring young beekeepers, with a special focus on family dynamics. Jim shares his recent experience of being asked to mentor his grandson, who lives four hours away in a different state, adding a layer of complexity to the mentoring process. Mentoring within the family brings its unique pressures, but it also offers an invaluable chance for seasoned beekeepers to revisi...
Colony Confinement (161)
January 11, 2024 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.4 MBBeekeepers must often confine their bees to the hives for long or short periods of time, whether it be to move them from one yard to another, or if pesticides are to be used in neighboring fields and even transporting home package bees or nucs in the spring. Have you ever considered the effects this confinement may have on the colony? On today episode, Jim and Becky Masterman, PhD, discuss the ramifications of confining bees to their hives on bee health and even queen viability. In the wil...
Hive Inspections: When, Why and How Often (160)
January 04, 2024 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31.2 MBHive inspections are essential in the beekeeping, serving as the cornerstone for effective colony management. Through these inspections, beekeepers gain crucial insights that guide their decisions for immediate and long-term hive care. In this episode, Jim is joined by Anne Frey, an EAS Master Beekeeper from Betterbee, to delve into the intricacies of hive inspections. Anne shares her expertise on the timing, frequency, and methods of conducting thorough hive inspections. She emphasizes th...
Keeping Small Colonies (159)
December 28, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.1 MBIn this week's episode, Jim is delighted to welcome back David Peck from Betterbee. In this intriguing discussion, they explore what Jim calls, "Reverse Beekeeping," a unique approach that focuses on maintaining smaller bee colonies. Traditionally, beekeeping has been all about growing large colonies for honey production and pollination. This has led to bee breeders selecting for traits that encourage large and rapid brood development and has influenced the design of beekeeping equipment, ...
Repetition Beekeeping (158)
December 21, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBPractice makes perfect, as the old adage says. This really rings true in the bee yard and working with honey bees. This week, Jim invites Betterbee’s EAS Master Beekeeper, Anne Frey, to the podcast to discuss how experience, gained by doing something over and over, is the basis of becoming a better beekeeper. Experience is needed for confidence. Lighting and maintaining a smoker, finding a queen and even managing stings become more intuitive with each repetition. Experience isn’t just abou...
Downsizing Your Bee Operation (157)
December 14, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.4 MBThere comes a time for many beekeepers when they realize they have more colonies than time to properly work them - with “work” being the operative word. If they’ve been keeping bees long enough, they may decide that hefting ten-frame hive bodies full or honey or bees just too difficult. The beekeeper decides to downsize. In today’s episode, Kim and Jim discuss the considerations and options available to the beekeeper when dealing with unwanted hive bodies and frames. Beekeepers do all sort...
Queen Isolation Cages (156)
December 07, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 33 MBIn today's episode, Jim and David Peck, PhD, delve into a fascinating topic that rarely gets any ‘air time’ unless you are interested specifically in raising queens: Queen Isolation Cages. For beekeepers, the queen bee is the heart of the hive, responsible for laying eggs and maintaining hive order. Queen Isolation Cages are ingenious tools that allow beekeepers to temporarily isolate the queen from the rest of the colony. This technique can be applied in various scenarios, from performing...
Winter Chores: Culling Combs (155)
November 30, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 26.8 MBIn this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Kim and Jim delve into several important maintenance tasks that beekeepers can undertake during the winter season to ensure the health and productivity of their hives. Winter might seem like a downtime, but it's a critical period for preparing your hives for the upcoming spring. One key task they discuss is culling old comb. This task is near and dear to Kim. It involves removing combs that are over three years old or show signs of disease, pest infest...
Archive Special - Preparing Your Hives for Winter! (154)
November 23, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.4 MBHappy Thanksgiving!! Join Kim and Jim in this special archive episode from late October 2021, where they delve into the critical task of preparing your hives for the winter season. This episode is particularly crucial for beekeepers in colder climates. Are you comfortable in shorts outdoors during this time of year? If yes, then wrapping your colonies for winter might not be a necessity. However, if a brisk step outside in shorts sends shivers down your spine, this episode is tailored fo...
Browsing Bee Books (153)
November 16, 2023 10:00 - 16 minutes - 22.5 MBAs the leaves fall and the bees nestle in for winter, many beekeepers find themselves next to a warm fire, a cup of tea in hand, flipping through the pages of their cherished bee books. Have you ever looked at your shelf brimming with bee books and wondered, 'Will I ever read all of these?' You're not alone. In this cozy episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Kim rejoins Jim in the studio to delve into the fascinating world of beekeeping literature. They explore the shelves of their personal librar...
Rothenbuhler's Legacy (152)
November 09, 2023 10:00 - 17 minutes - 24.7 MBIn today’s episode Jim invites Becky Masterman to discuss the lasting impact of Dr. Walter Rothenbuhler’s seminal research on honey bee hygienic behavior. His work, which has been a bedrock in the field of apiculture, sheds light on the genetic foundations of disease resistance among honey bees, particularly against threats like American Foulbrood. Jim provides a unique inside perspective to Dr. Rothenbuhler as Jim personally knew and worked with him at The Ohio State University bee lab. ...
Transfers and Cutouts (151)
November 02, 2023 10:00 - 18 minutes - 25.6 MBBeekeeping is not always as straightforward as hive inspections and honey extraction. When bees decide to set up shop in places beyond the traditional hive box, it requires specialized techniques and knowledge to safely and ethically relocate them. When beekeepers set up plain boxes (not the standard Langstroth hive with moveable frames) then move them to a standard hive, it is often called a 'transfer'. When honey bees are removed from a structure, such as the wall of a house, it is calle...
Dealing With Quirky Queens (150)
October 26, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.3 MBIn the intricate realm of beekeeping, the queen bee reigns supreme, yet she remains a mysterious figure for many beekeepers. Join Jim as he welcomes Anne Frey, the head beekeeper of Betterbee, to delve into the fascinating world of Queen Quirks: Unusual Phenomena in Queen Bees. Jim and Anne share their wealth of experiences raising queens, offering invaluable insights into the enigmatic quirks that queens can exhibit. Together, they explore a variety of intriguing situations, including dea...
Honey Bees and Native Bees (149)
October 19, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 30.7 MBIn this episode, Jim, is joined by guest, Eugene Makovec, the editor of The American Bee Journal, to dissect the emotionally charged debate that's capturing the attention of beekeepers everywhere: Do honey bees harm native bees? This intriguing question unfolds as a complex ecological issue, lacking a clear-cut victor or vanquished party. The verdict depends on a multitude of factors, including the context, location, and intricate dynamics of ecosystems. Recent research underscores the impor...
Dealing With Fall Equipment (148)
October 12, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.3 MBAfter all of the nectar has flowed, the honey spun and you’re just waiting to put the bees to bed for the winter, you might look around at the clutter of equipment in your bee yard, bouncing in the back of your bee truck or shoved aside in the bee hut. Is there a better way to store that equipment so it is ready to use come Spring? In this week’s episode, Jim invites Beekeeping Today Podcast’s Jeff Ott to sit in for Kim to talk about dealing with equipment in the fall. How do you protect y...
Barrel Hives with Jerry Hayes (147)
October 05, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 27.9 MBThis week, Jerry Hayes sits in with Jim while Kim is out. In this episode, Jerry talks about one of the most unusual hive designs he's ever built and worked with... a hive made out of a old 55-gallon drum. We know honey bees will build their nests just about anywhere... but is this practical? Useable? Find out by listening today! What is your most unusual hive? ______________________ Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper...
Archive Special: Dealing with Yellowjackets (146)
September 28, 2023 10:00 - 17 minutes - 24.1 MB(This Archive Special first released, September 2, 2021.) Beekeepers are very often asked to help friends or neighbors that have “bee” problems…. honey bees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets, hornets, bumblebees and the like. But most of us aren’t exterminators. We don’t have the tools, the experience, or the time to help. But “can’t you just get rid of them for me?” lets you know they think you know how to do this… and are ‘glad to help.’ Sometimes they are your bees. A colony swarms and...
Listener Emails: Cutting Down Supers and Dealing with Propolis (145)
September 21, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31.7 MBIn this episode, Jim invites Beekeeping Today Podcast's Jeff Ott, to sit in for Kim to help answer a couple of recent listener emails. In response to a recent episode where Jim talks about dealing with heavy 10-frame, deep supers, a listener sends in a suggestion and a question. Jim gives this recommendation thoughtful consideration and discusses the pros and cons. In a second letter, a listener states that they have a jar full of propolis and wasn't quite sure what he could do with it. ...
Moving Honey Supers in the Fall (144)
September 14, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.3 MBThis week, we continue with the theme of Fall management. Kim is out so, Jim invites Jeff Ott, from Beekeeping Today Podcast to join him to talk about dealing with heavy honey supers that remain and prepping the colonies for the coming Winter. Jim uses all 10-frame deep equipment, including his honey supers. It is just the way he’s always done it. But now, moving all that weight is a challenge to get to the brood boxes below to check on the queen and do proper mite level checks. What are y...
Prepping for Fall and Winter (143)
September 07, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 26.5 MBWhat do you do when the honey is all harvested, but it is still warm and not quite time to button up the colonies for Winter? On today's episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim has invited Beekeeping Today Podcast's Jeff Ott, in to discuss what he does to prepare the bees for Fall. There are many different things a beekeeper could do, such as extracting the honey they've harvested, maybe clean some old equipment, check on feed levels, and feed if necessary, are just a few. Is there any one th...
How to Deal With Broken Frames (142)
August 31, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 30.9 MBThis is honey harvest time of the year, for the majority of the beekeepers in the Northern Hemisphere. Undoubtedly, you will end your uncapping and extracting time with frames with broken end bars, bottoms or even the foundation punched through or out. Do you save it? Replace it? Or... something different. In today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss what a beekeeper can do to keep these old and/or broken frames going. Bees can fix many mistakes the beekeeper makes with the uncapping knife or ...
Uncapping Honey (140)
August 24, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 30.2 MBAfter building your colonies up in the spring, managing them through the early summer, collecting them out of the trees and out of the bushes after they swarm and all the effort maintaining their health… your goal as a beekeeper is to harvest honey. You’ve lifted the supers of honey from the hives, get it to your garage, shed or even kitchen and you pull a frame of pure honey out… and now what?!! This is the meaning of all that time, effort and money. So, how do you get the honey out from ...
The Evolution of Beekeeping (141)
August 17, 2023 10:00 - 23 minutes - 32.7 MBWhat’s changed in the past 150 years or so? For some of us who have been around awhile, it seems like a lot. Most honey is still produced in the boxes Langstroth put together. Size and shape maybe different now, but it is all still, moveable frames in a box. Hive tools, smokers, veils and the rest of our tools remain nearly unchanged. Now designs, new material to make them with, but basically the same. Who keeps bees now as to then? It used to be a man’s world, but the population of who is...
What To Do With Cappings (139)
August 10, 2023 10:00 - 20 minutes - 28.4 MBIt seems that everyone talks about managing bees and selling honey. There's also a lot of discussion about extracting honey - such as: removing bees from the supers, what kind of extractor works best, uncapping and even bottling. But what about all those wet wax cappings laying around? Hopefully, they're mostly in some sort of pan, tray or tank. But just what do you do with those cappings? In this episode, Kim and Jim talk about the cappings and how a hobbyest can process and melt them dow...
Considering the Bee Yard Habitat (138)
August 03, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBContinuing their discussion on the micro and to some extent the macro environment of a beeyard, Kim and Jim take a long hard look at what do bees need to eat, and how much should there be. They look at the weeds in the apiary, areas around the beeyard, and areas further away that may be a plus because what’s growing out there. They also look at the work beekeepers and other groups are doing to provide additional forage for all pollinators, in an effort to slow the loss of habitat to due dev...
Dealing with Harvesting Headaches (137)
July 27, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 30.7 MBEvery season, it seems, is different than the last, making it difficult or at least challenging. Honey harvesting is no different: what and when and how and where to harvest a honey crop. Deep south beekeepers went through this a month or more ago, but the northern half is now dealing with unpredictable late season honey flows, late summer increased varroa populations and all making good winter bees! Will this winter be as cold as this summer was hot? Do you still leave as much honey as la...
Dealing With Summer Robbing (136)
July 20, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31.1 MBIt’s the time of year when summer is nearly over, but the fall flow hasn’t started. Colonies are big, there’s lot of foragers, and not much to forage on, yet. A colony that is ripe for being robbed is usually small, weak, and not able to defend itself. When the beekeeper starts working these colonies, foragers from other nearby colonies may find them, harvest a bit of honey, head home and tell everybody what you just found. “Come on girls, there’s lots of food right over here. Let me waggl...
Beehive Life (135)
July 13, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31.9 MBWhat else is in a beehive other than... honey bees? If you stop and look closer the next time you are in your beeyard, you will in all likelihood begin to notice all manner of living creatures sharing the beeyard space with you and your bees. Some, most in fact, are not a problem for your bees and in fact, many are actually beneficial to your bees. These ‘pests’ clean up the messes from your bees. Once you look inside the hive, you may find even more of these creatures making a home al...
Managing Mid-Summer Splits (133)
July 06, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31.4 MBIn this episode, Kim and Jim discuss the pros and cons of mid-summer splits. Are they good or are they bad? It can go both ways. Mid-summer splits are used to divide a colony for swarm prevention, colony expansion, or the equalization of colony populations going into Fall and Winter. However, you have to weigh factors such as reduced late summer or fall honey collection for both the bees and beekeeper, how to queen the the split (let them raise their own or purchased) and the risks and tim...
Dealing With Seasonal Bee Management Fluctuations (132)
June 29, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.5 MBHow does a beekeeper deal with the seasonal population shifts, weather and resulting needs of the honey bees in their care. How does a beekeeper balance the needs of the colony with the needs of the beekeeper? The middle of that Venn Diagram is a very small slice of common interests. Mostly, the bees and the beekeeper are at odds of what that intersection should include. In today's episode, Kim and Jim examine this conundrum of needs and expectations - the balance-point of which changes co...
Summer Replay - Hot Summers & Hot Bees (131)
June 22, 2023 10:00 - 16 minutes - 22.8 MBListeners, Kim and Jim are busy in the bee yard this week and have chosen this episode from the archive, for your listening pleasure. Thank you for listening! It’s been hot in Ohio so far this summer (and a lot of other places too) but it’s also been wet. Hot and wet can make keeping bees a lot harder than normal. Kim and Jim talk about hot summers and their bees. Kick the air conditioner down a couple of degrees, pour yourself a glass of your favorite beverage and listen in. Jim is ...
Getting Your Bees Through Droughts (130)
June 15, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.6 MBSummer is in full force in most of the country now. Nectar flows are on and the honey is starting to ripen in the supers. It is the time of year beekeepers have been planning for all winter long! Summer is pretty nice now, isn't it? Eventually, every location will experience a drought (especially with all the extreme weather events experienced by all parts of the country, and world). What do honey bees do during these periods of drought? What can a beekeeper do to lessen the stress on th...
Learning To Deal With Stings (129)
June 08, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 31 MBAll beekeepers must one day, cross a threshold: dealing with bee stings. For some, it is a small, hardly seen threshold. For others, it is a major challenge that takes time to overcome. On today's episode Jim and Jeff Ott talk about learning to overcome the fear (though, not the pain) of a honey bee sting, or two... or 10. Jeff from Beekeeping Today Podcast, joins Jim to talk about the Learning to deal with stings. Was learning to deal with stings a challenge for you? If so, or even if n...
Replacing The Queen (128)
June 01, 2023 10:00 - 22 minutes - 32.1 MBReplacing a seemingly good queen can be a difficult decision to make. If her brood pattern is good, the colony temperment is nice, they've produced a good crop... and the only fault against her is that she is last year's queen... should you replace her with a queen raised this year?! There are many considerations to factor in. Your goals as a beekeeper, the time of year, is she with an established colony or perhaps from a swarm? It can be difficult to make that call to seek her out, pull h...
Vanishing Swarms: Now You See Them, Now You Don't! (127)
May 25, 2023 10:00 - 24 minutes - 33.9 MBIf you've been a beekeeper for any length of time and especially, after your first year in your own bee yard, you've seen a swarm, looked away to pick up something - maybe your camera, turn around and they're gone! Just like that. Swarms are simply amzing and awe inspriring. We marvel at their role as pollinators, essential custodians of the delicate balance that sustains our ecosystems, sometime inspite of our own destruction of that same environment. Passing swarms are a testament to the...
Bee Trailers - The Portable Bee Hive (126)
May 18, 2023 10:00 - 26 minutes - 36.7 MBAnyone who's moved more than one hive, more than once in a season has considered... a simpler way of getting the job done. We've all see photos and videos of beekeepers moving around an orchard of some sort, using BobCats or other type of all terrain forklift, loading and unloading pallets of bees. Cool... but that's not practical for most beekeepers or those who need to move anthing less than... 400 colonies. On today's episode, Jim invites Jeff Ott, from Beekeeping Today Podcast, to the ...
Memorable Stings (125)
May 11, 2023 10:00 - 19 minutes - 27.1 MBIf you’ve been keeping bees for a bit, you probably already have a couple of stories about that “one time in a beeyard”, or honey house, or somewhere that gave a whole new meaning to the word “sting”. Teaching a beginner’s class is absolutely the best time to make sure your students know as much as possible when it comes to getting stung: The best protective gear to wear, when to wear it, and including how to act around colonies so you don’t upset them. All of these should probably be repe...
Well... It Depends - Swarms (124)
May 04, 2023 10:00 - 21 minutes - 29.8 MBA lot of times, when somebody asks us a bee question, the best answer we can give them is, “It Depends.” In today’s episode, Kim and Jim explore the topic of Swarms. Where did it come from? Where do you put it? What do you do with the queen? Should you feed them? As they explore how to manage this newly caught swarm, they realize there are no definitive answers, as there are so many answers based upon the circumstances and the beekeeper’s goals. It just depends. Listen today, and let t...
Marking Queens (123)
April 27, 2023 10:00 - 24 minutes - 33.9 MBOn today’s episode, Kim and Jim discuss all the pros and cons about marking queens. Lots of questions come up when you mention marking queens. For most of us it’s a no brainer. “Look, there’s that yellow spot, there’s the queen!” MARKING HER MAKES FINDING HER EASY, RIGHT? Yes, but how does that yellow spot get there? Mostly, or at least often we just buy them marked so we don’t have to do it ourselves. Actually marking a queen can be a stressful moment in her life, and yours. How do yo...