Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Beekeeping New Years Resolutions (107) Jan 05, 2023

Show notes

It's the beginning of a new year and Jim and Kim are thinking about New Year's Resolutions. Almost everybody makes a few Resolutions every January – even beekeepers, but many times resolutions are made and never achieved.

Kim wants to do better with the bees this season, take better care of the garden, and read a bee book a month this year. Jim also wants to do better with his bees, run fewer colonies, and be better at responding to email he gets from podcast listeners and readers of his journal articles.

On today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss what you can do to actually hit your New Year's resolutions and fulfill your beekeeping goals this season.

How are your resolutions for this year?

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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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

Bears in the Bee Yard (106) Dec 29, 2022

Show notes

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 about bears in the bee yard and how, no matter what… it is always a surprise - especially when your bees are in an area where there are "no bears".

When encountering bears, this saying may come to mind, as you climb out of your vehicle: "If it's black, fight back. When it's brown, lay down, when it's white, say good night'.

Have you encountered bears in your bee yard? Lost equipment? If so, Jim would like to hear from you!

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

Our Genesis Stories in Beekeeping (105) Dec 22, 2022

Show notes

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 plants they needed for bees to visit for a pollination study on soybeans.

So how did you get started? A family hobby or business? A neighbor who invited you in? An interest in plants and pollination? Perhaps gardening? Almost every beekeeper has their own story to tell and every one of them is a good story to listen to.

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

Beekeeper Record Keeping Considerations (104) Dec 15, 2022

Show notes

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 from making repeated mistakes.

Historical information will help you fine tune your honey bee management.

On today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss record keeping. No matter what means you employ to keep those records: hive top, inner cover, notebook(s), computers - or the recording tool used, brick position, pencil, magic marker, cell phone, tablet or spreadsheet... there are some basics you need to capture. Then... you must actually refer the information you've captured to make this entire exercise useful!

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

Building Your Own Bee Equipment (103) Dec 08, 2022

Show notes

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 of building your own equipment? Why should you even try?

On today's episode, Jim Tew invites Jeff Ott from Beekeeping Today podcast to the show to talk about building your own beekeeping equipment. They both have done it. Are they doing it still?

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

Managing Winter Colony Die-Offs (102) Dec 01, 2022

Show notes

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 killed colony is a time, financial and frustrating thief of bees and honey and equipment.

In today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss Winter Die-Offs and how to inspect the colony remains to determine what may have gone wrong. By finding out what went wrong and why, you can make plans on what to do next year so you have live colonies, move money, more honey, lots and lots of bees, and bragging rights for getting all your colonies through next winter.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

Consumer Honey Challenges (101) Nov 24, 2022

Show notes

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 your customer who brings you or asks you about granulated honey in the jar? How you answer this may make the difference between a lifelong customer or someone who never buys honey again.

How one addresses this is as varied as there are people who eat honey. From stove tops, to microwave ovens (don't do it), to electric blankets and even sawing the plastic bear in half (don't do this either…). Kim and Jim discuss it all.

They're not talking about five gallon buckets or barrels of honey, but consumer's plastic bears, mason and queenlike jars. What is the best message for your customers so they don't needlessly throw away good honey?

Listen in to the discussion. What do you you tell your customers? Let them know in the comments below!

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

5000 Years of Beekeeping in 24 Minutes (100) Nov 17, 2022

Show notes

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, and mistakes, along with some of the people behind it all.

Come along as we go from bees in trees, skeps, boles, boxes, hives, back to boxes and finally, back to trees. There's lots to learn and lots to entertain.

All in 24 minutes!

We hope you enjoy the trip.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

Winter Reading: What's On The List? (099) Nov 10, 2022

Show notes

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 read all winter.

Along with the new books, they have their preferred "old standby" books they rely on for information on a particular topic to see how management approaches have evolved (or not) over the years. Beekeeping has evolved over the years and they like to compare then with now.

How do you look for a find a new bee book for your winter? Today, you have to consider how you like to read, because just as beekeeping is evolving, book formats are also evolving. Your choice is not only hardcover and all paper, it now includes electronic formats for reading on an iPad/tablet or audible for listening.

Finally, how do you actually evaluate a book before your read it? Start with the author. Are they known or unknown? How about the publisher? Do they publish lots of books on the subject or is this the first one? And finally, what about the quality of the information in the book? Is it in line with standard beekeeping or is it a novel way of approaching a problem or idea. You can also check the ratings of the book online.

No matter what, spend some time reading this winter. It will do you and your bees some good.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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

Colony Winter Water (098) Nov 03, 2022

Show notes

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 explore the uses of water by winter bees and where they collect it. Kim and Jim also explore aspects of ventilation, or lack thereof, in the winter. Should a beehive have lots, some or none? Industry experts continue to research.

Is too much water in winter a bad thing? If there's no ventilation, what happens to all the moisture laden air in the hive? Lots and lots of questions, maybe some answers. Listen in and see.

We hope you enjoyed today's episode. Please follow or subscribe 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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