Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Vanishing Swarms: Now You See Them, Now You Don't! (127) May 25, 2023

Show notes

If 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 marvels of nature, and the interconnectedness of our own lives with the natural world.

Sometimes we know where they came from, many times not. Often, all too often, they are gone way to quickly... leaving us to ponder the lives of bees and wishing them well on their journey and their new home.

On today's podcast, Jim invites Jeff Ott from Beekeeping Today Podcast, to talk about the Vanishing Swarm.

How was your swarming season. Let us know!

__________________

Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Bee Trailers - The Portable Bee Hive (126) May 18, 2023

Show notes

Anyone 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 show to talk about trailers and their use in beekeeping. What works and what doesn't? What do you need to consider when using a trailer. What kind of trailer works best.

Do you use a trailer in your bee operation? If so, what kind of trailer do you have? Have you modified it? Send us your bee trailer and we will add it to the show notes, so other beekeepers can learn see!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Some Bee Trailers we've seen!

Memorable Stings (125) May 11, 2023

Show notes

If 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 repeated time and time again BEFORE the first time your beginners enter a hive.

Jim and Kim have a couple of stories about their memorable stings. Faulty gear, no gear, unexpectedly dealing with a colony or swarm… all can and did, leave them with stinging stories.

Of course, part of this is that a brand-new beekeeper needs to know about bee sting allergies. They need to know the symptoms of a dangerous reaction; What to do if they have an allergic reaction, what NOT to do, and what to do RIGHT NOW to avoid a really bad day in the Emergency Room.

Memorable stings. All of us have one… or five. Listen today so you can learn from Kim and Jim's mistakes!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Well... It Depends - Swarms (124) May 04, 2023

Show notes

A 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 them know how you'd manage the swarm!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Marking Queens (123) Apr 27, 2023

Show notes

On 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 you pick her up? How do you hold her? What paint do you use? What kind of brush or pen do you use? What about those contraptions that hold the queen for you? What if you get paint on her eyes? What happens if she escapes and flys away? And isn't there some law or rule about what color you use this year as opposed to last year or next?

A marked queen makes keeping that colony happy, healthy, wealthy and wise is such a good idea. So this year, learn how. Here's a trick. Practice on a couple hundred drones before you mark your first queen. You'll be glad you did.

What do you think? Add your thoughts to the comments below!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

What About Those Springtime Bee Yard Chores (122) Apr 20, 2023

Show notes

Depending on where you live, spring chores were over a couple of months ago, or you'll be finishing them up about the time you check this podcast out, so we'll keep it short, sweet and important.

You can make a quick list with a couple of questions. Is there enough food? When was the last time you checked for mites? Do you need to treat? How old is the comb? Is it time to replace it? Do your bees have enough room to grow? Have you reversed brood boxes? Finally, just how old is that queen. Is it time to replace her before the summer nectar flows.

There's more of course. Listen today and see what Jim and Kim are up to when it comes to spring chores.

What do you think? Add your thoughts to the comments below!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Lessons Learned: Memorable Meetings (121) Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Are you a club president or in charge of planning meetings for your beekeeping organization? They always go well, don't they? No... of course not. They don't. What do you do when they don't?

In this episode, Kim and Jim discuss their most memoriable meetings where anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. What did they do in that situation? How did they adapt planning for future meetings?

Listen today to hear how they met the challenge. How would you do things differently? How can you change your plans to accommondate a similar situation.

What do you think? Add your thoughts to the comments below!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

What's This About Bees Eating Their Young? (120) Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

Jim got a call from a listener who had a question. She wrote, "I went out to my bees early this week, and in front of the hive and on the landing board I saw partially eaten larvae, larva skins and a mess, all over. What could cause that to happen?"

Today, Kim and Jim discuss they reason why adult bees eat the larvae. There has been some research on that subject but not much. Is it the lack of protein between pollen flows? Hygienic behavior, including the disposal of infected or varroa infested larva? Robbers eating larva as well as stealing honey?

Listen today and see if there are more reasons our Florida listener found partially eaten and completely eaten larvae in front of her hives in the first week of spring.

What do you think? Add your thoughts to the comments below!

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

What About That Pollen Flow (119) Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

It seems that pollen flows just don't get the respect that a good honey flow does, do they? And you've got to wonder why?

In today's episode, Kim and Jim take a kind of long look at pollen flows, trying to figure out how to tell there's a pollen flow going on in the first place. It's easy to see when a honey flow is going strong, but is a pollen flow?

Bees don't store much pollen compared to honey, and the way it's stored it's kind of hard to tell if it's pollen, or bee bread, or honey.

Find out what you should know about pollen flows and your bees. Without the pollen flows you have, you won't have the bees you have.

__________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Dealing with Old Frames (118) Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

So, you take a quick look at that top box this spring, and it's pretty much empty and you don't need the room for a bit, so remove the box. Then you take a look at the frames, to see what can be done with them, or, what should be done with them.

What you do, of course, it depends on the type of frames you have. Wooden frame, beeswax foundation, wooden frame, plastic foundation, all plastic frame and foundation in one piece.

In today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss changing out old frames: Why you should do it and the decisions you must make along the way.

___________________

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected