Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Should You Paint Your Hive? (117) Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

You've spent lots of money on your woodenware and you want it to look good, last many years, and be safe for your the honey bees and the environment. What are your options?

In today's episode, Jeff Ott (from Beekeeping Today Podcast) joins Jim Tew to discuss the topic of what to paint your hive with before your bees arrive. You have many options: latex, enamel, stain, beeswax and resin... or nothing at all. Jim and Jeff discuss these and share their experiences and preferences.

What do you do? How do you protect your investment in woodenware? Listen today and compare your answer to ours!

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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

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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

Preparing for the First Nectar Flow (116) Mar 09, 2023

Show notes

It's early March, bees are flying every few days, early maples are blooming. Are you asking yourself, "Are my bees ready for the nectar flow?"

On today's episode, Kim and Jim look at what's going on in their hives now that spring is starting to get serious. What should the colony be doing, what should you be seeing, and just for giggles, what should you be doing to stay a half step ahead of the bees?

One thing for sure is that you've got to take a look inside the hive. While we're at it, how is your mite control? Assuming that you have them under control, is there space in the hive for bees to place nectar to dry? Is there space to store capped honey? Where is the brood nest? If you do need room for nectar and honey, where do you put that empty super? Just above the brood box, or way up on top? These are the questions Jim and Kim toss around today.

Are you ready for the spring nectar flow?

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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

Managing The Small Colony (115) Mar 02, 2023

Show notes

The more colonies you have, the more you will notice differences between them throughout the year. On today's episode, Kim and Jim talk about what do you do when you open one of your colonies and it seems 'smaller' than the other colonies around it. Is it something that should concern you? What do you look at first? Pests? Pesticides? Failing queen? Inadequate food supplies? Do you try to fix it?

Listen in as Kim and Jim discuss this sometimes perplexing topic that pesters all beekeepers, one time or another!

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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

Considering Atypical Bee Yards (114) Feb 23, 2023

Show notes

There's lots of places you can keep bees that aren't the typical backyard. Today Kim and Jim take a look at a couple of these places.

The first is in an unused single car garage. The hive boxes sit on a bench inside the garage for easy access and he doesn't need a cover, just a board over the top. These bees can be worked any time of day or in any weather and he uses a lot less smoke when working them.

Another placed discussed is up on the roof. There are some special concerns here you need to be aware of.

Listen today as Kim and Jim discuss Atypical Bee Yards.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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

Finding Bee Yards (113) Feb 16, 2023

Show notes

It happens to most beekeepers are one point, where you have to find someplace else to keep your bees. A new, different beeyard.

Where do you start? Whether you have too many in your backyard and need to put more someplace else, or the world changed and you can't keep them in your backyard any more, you need to find that place.

First off, what does a beeyard need to have to work for you? Access, definitely - year-round access. Gates, overflowing streams, unplowed roads, vandals, bear, cattle, and more – all pose potential problems.

First, check with your local club members or, drive around. Find a spot that meets all the requirements and find the land owner. Now how many hives can you keep there? Are there limitations on when you can visit them? Can the landowner notify you if they spot a problem with pests or people and let you know?

Having to find a beeyard may never happen, but if it does, know what to look for, what problems can arise and make sure your bees (and you) stay safe.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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

Spring Bees: Are Nucs A Good Deal? (112) Feb 09, 2023

Show notes

There are a lot of good reasons to start a new colony in your beeyard using a nucleus (nuc) colony, consisting of a mated queen, brood and drawn comb rather than buying a package of bees. But there are some issues to pay particular attention to also.

How old is the queen? How much of all kinds of brood are already there? What condition is the beeswax comb in? Does it come in it's own box, what about frame exchange and how are you going to get it home?

If you're just starting out it really pays to have an experienced beekeeper with you when you go and get the nuc to ask the right questions and if possible evaluate what's inside.

Check out how Jim and Kim handle these issues, and point out the how's and why's of Starting with a Nucleus Colony this spring.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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 Management on Warm(ish) Winter Days (111) Feb 02, 2023

Show notes

It's going to be 50 degrees tomorrow. Kim and Jim are going to have to check their bees for the first time this very early spring. So what do they do, how do they examine a colony this time of year way up north?

The beekeepers in the warmer parts of the country are already adding supers, there's pollen coming in and the year has begun, but for those of us up north, there's still a month of winter left. But this 50 degree day is a bonus and we can get in early, check for food, see if the bees are close to food, clean off the bottom board and determine if the weak colonies can be saved.

It's going to be 50 degrees tomorrow. Time to get to work.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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 Package Queens (110) Jan 26, 2023

Show notes

The queens that come with packages today seem to be different that those we could get five or ten years ago and we think that points to some changes need to be made regarding a simple concept – Patience.

It would appear that it's taking a bit longer for the worker bees in the package to become accustomed to this new queen, and patience in every aspect of introducing them in their new home is a good idea. There are many possible reasons for this… the environment in the colony she was living in has changed, the colony she is being moved to isn't the same and the presence of the many viruses that bees may have is having an influence. In a word, patience for this is a very good thing.

Listen in as Jim and Kim explore these changes, and what you can do to reduce the chance of failure in getting her up and running.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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

Considering New Honey Bee Queens (109) Jan 19, 2023

Show notes

This is the time of year to think seriously about the queens you have in your colonies, or the queens you had in your colonies last season. If replacement is on the table, what should you be looking for? The simple and probably best answer is… a good queen.

But what makes a good queen? Population production, mite resistance, gentle, the right color, honey production? All have some level of importance and it depends more on the beekeeper than what the books say, mostly, usually. It's even more important when bees put food on your table.

Kim and Jim talk about these attributes in queens, how to measure how much of each is present in the colonies. There's a lot about queens in this session. Listen closely.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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 American Foulbrood (108) Jan 12, 2023

Show notes

American Foulbrood is in the news lately… and for a good, positive reason. But what does it mean if you determine or a state apiarist determines you have a case or two or more of AFB in your bee yard? A vaccine is not a cure. It is a means for prevention.

In today's episode, Jim invites Beekeeping Today Podcast's Jeff Ott on to talk about American Foulbood, the stigma attached to AFB and the go-to recommendation of burning all contaminated equipment, bees and wax is not one you want associated with your operation.

Not withstanding the recent news, AFB has dropped from the attention of today's beekeepers - replaced by the devastation and losses caused by Varroa. But before varroa, there was American Foulbrood. It is likely many new beekeepers today have never seen AFB and would not recognize it, attributing a colony's demise to Varroa. To complicate and obscure things even greater, a colony today with AFB will inevitably have Varroa.

Ignoring American Foulbrood is mistake that has deadly consequences. This is one disease you need to continually monitor for, especially in your weak and dead colonies.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow today and leave a comment. We'd love to hear from you!

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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

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