Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Midnight in the Bee Yard - A Halloween Special (097) Oct 27, 2022

Show notes

Without a doubt, some of the most peaceful places on Earth are bee yards. Tranquil, serene and quiet with only the soft hum of the bees fanning the air through their hives floating on top the silence…

Peaceful, except when it is not.

Have you ever worked in a distant bee yard, late at night, away from home, cell service, friends, and family? What did you hear? See anything… strange? Did anything go "bump" in the night? How'd it all go for you?

On today's episode Jim and guest co-host, Jeff Ott, sit in the Honey Bee Obscura bee yard and talk about scary moments working bees. Jim has had several… moments, to share. What would you do? What did you do?

They're not certain if telling scary stories, long after dark in a bee yard is the best idea they've ever had, but since it IS the season, they invite you to join them… If you dare.

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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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

Winter Is Coming - Winter Prep (096) Oct 20, 2022

Show notes

When you've been keeping bees for decades, sometimes you do things because that's the way you've always done them, right? But the world continues to change. It has to keep up with whatever is going on wherever it's happening. And because the world is changing, every minute of every day, doing the "same ole same ole" just because that's what you've always done isn't for maybe isn't the best choice.

Beehive insulation is one of those things that maybe bees need, or don't. And what about insulation for a summer hive? If they need insulation in the winter to keep warmer, why don't they need insulation in the summer to help stay cool?

If you are going to insulate, what do you use? How much, and when do you apply it? And if you aren't going to insulate, do you do anything to make winter better for the bees inside? Cool and damp may be the way to go say some honey bee researchers. Warm and dry say others.

If you are losing bees each winter, you've got to change what you are doing and when you are doing it to give your bees a chance to make it to next spring. Food, water, ventilation, insulation, varroa control. All are important in a changing world, and in a changing beehive.

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

How Phenology Can Help Your Manage Bees (095) Oct 13, 2022

Show notes

Does your state Agriculture Department have a bulletin they share with everybody on the phenology, or bloom dates, of the wild flowers, trees and shrubs that grow in your state?

Today Kim and Jim discuss the chart used by Ohio beekeepers. Ohio's chart shows what is blooming each month, the adult and larvae bee population in a hive, and what beekeepers should be doing relative to space management in their hives.

It's a great tool to have for beekeepers in your state so they can know ahead of time what they should expect relative to bloom and room in a hive.

A phenology chart is a good guide, but bloom dates are affected by temperature, moisture and photo period. Knowing that, a beekeepers should be keeping track of the microenvironment his or her hives are located to see if the chart is accurate where they are. A phenology chart is a good tool to help guide your management plan.

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

Living With Your Smoker (094) Oct 06, 2022

Show notes

Beekeepers have a love/hate relationship with their smokers. Beekeeper families don't have split emotions… they tend HATE smokers and their lingering 'perfume'. How beekeepers manage their smokers impacts more than their bees. In today's episode, Kim and Jim talk about smokers.

Arguably more so than a veil, the quintessential identifier of a beekeeper is a smoker. It is in the hand of every trope, every caricature of a beekeeper. In fact it is so emblematic, you can go into many antique shops and pay as much or more for an old, rotten, rusted smoker than you can buy a new one, made of stainless steel!

How do you manage your smoker when you are in the bee yard? Do you just keep it on the top of a hive? Or do you keep it in its own box to prevent accidental fires in the bee yard or while in transport to and from? What is your favorite smoker fuel? Kim and Jim have seen it all. Listen today. They are not just blowing smoke

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

Liquifying Crystalized Honey (093) Sep 29, 2022

Show notes

Jim has pails of crystalized honey, but only wants enough liquid honey for his oatmeal this morning. How does he get that to work?

Kim has a lot of good ideas. There are pail blankets, band heaters, boxes and more to warm a pail to liquid honey on the market, including our sponsor, Betterbee. Kim's his friend Buzz, who made a warming box out of foam insulation, a lightbulb and a couple nails to hold it together. Cheap, easy, and it works.

This is the time of year that liquifying honey comes home. And as always, there is the opportunity for too much heat and spoiled honey, or even fire. Listen today for some good ideas on how to get enough liquid honey for your oatmeal tomorrow.

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

Bee Suits and Protective Clothing (092) Sep 22, 2022

Show notes

One of the first pieces of equipment a new beekeeper buys is a bee suit. If they don't buy a bee suit, they will at least buy a veil. Stings on the face are not only painful (and memorable to all who see it), they can be dangerous if it is directly to one's eye or around the eyes. In today's episode, Jim Tew and Jeff Ott, from Beekeeping Today Podcast, talk about the different types of protective clothing available to beekeepers today.

New beekeepers should at the very least, start with a veil. Even though there may be times in the future when you feel safe opening a colony without a veil, when you are starting out, you will want a veil. Most bee supply companies sell a variety of veils from which you can select.

Often beekeepers like to purchase a veil that is integrated with a light jacket. Not only does this provide an additional layer or protection to your upper body but also keeps the grime, dirt and stickiness from your shirt.

Every beekeeper has at least one full bee suit - basically a coverall with an attached veil or coveralls to which you can add your own hat and veil. This is especially desirable when there is a need to inspect multiple hives, move colonies and especially when moving colonies at night.

Finally, a set of dedicated bee-gloves are desired for that occasional, especially defensive hive or when moving colonies when gentle, delicate movements just are not feasible.

Now you are set. Go enjoy your bees!

Thank you for listening. Let us know what you like!

Also, make sure to check out all the great bee suits and protective clothing available from our sponsor, Betterbee!

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

Extracting Honey (091) Sep 15, 2022

Show notes

Moving boxes full of honey is usually a lot of work. The bees aren't happy, the boxes are heavy, it's hot and you have all your gear on to be safe. The one sure way to make this easier is to use devices that have wheels. Two-wheelers, carts, your truck, all make moving boxes of honey less work.

Once the supers are off and the bees out, you need to get them to your honey house, whether it's a garage for storage until extraction, your kitchen (for probably the last time) or an specially built honey house. And once they get there, you have to keep the bees out, the mice out and the dust out. Honey is a food, and you have to make sure it stays clean enough to feed to your family.

Kim and Jim have figured out how to do this and share some adventures, some mistakes and some good advice how to keep your honey clean, bee free, extracted and get it ready to sell.

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

Removing Honey (090) Sep 08, 2022

Show notes

Harvesting your honey crop isn't about keeping bees, in fact, it is hard work. It's when you start questioning your spring decision to expand your number of colonies. On the other hand, it's a good measure of how well you kept bees during the season. And there are a lot of ways to convince the bees they should share what they have made this season, mostly due to your stewardship.

Removing well capped, honey filled frames can be complicated but easy, or uncomplicated and a lot of work. The uncomplicated techniques only require a bee brush, hive tool and a container that you can store your now bee-free frames. You start by removing a frame, brush the bees back into the hive body and place the frame in a container that the bees can't enter.

Or, you can use bee escapes, fume boards or and of the blowers out there to accomplish the same thing. The trick is to take the supers of honey back to your extraction area with as few bees as possible or none, if you're good. Today Jim and Kim explore all the ways you can make this work for you, and, of course, all the things that can go wrong.

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

Rim, Feeding Rim or Spacer (089) Sep 01, 2022

Show notes

So, what's that thing you put between two supers to give additional space between top bars below and bottom bars above so there's room for…something you want to add to the hive. Is it a spacer, a rim, or what?

Kim has always called it a 'rim' and thought he had one until this week. Because it's getting time to think about winter feeding, and he always used a rim to make room for the pollen patties he feeds, couldn't find it. He looked in a few catalogs, but could not find them listed.

Jim simply calls it a 'feeding rim', not just a 'rim' and you can find those, he says. In fact, they are easily made!

So what else are rims, or spacers used for in a beehive? Turns out there are lots of uses with just minor tweaks here and there! Listen today to learn what Jim and Kim find out about something as simple as a rim or feeding rim or spacer.

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

Dealing With Wax Moths (088) Aug 25, 2022

Show notes

Post-harvest time is a good time to look for wax moth in your colonies. Believe it or not, wax moths are around pretty much all of the time. On today's episode, Kim and Jim discuss wax moths!

Strong colonies keep them pretty much under control, but weak colonies sometimes can't keep up and soon they'll have more wax moth larvae than honey bees.

Stored equipment is another challenge. Some beekeepers will freeze supers after harvest to kill any moth larvae before storing them away for the winter. If you have unheated winter storage you can pretty much avoid problems – if it gets below freezing before the wax moths take over. But if you have mild winters, you need to stack your supers so they get fresh air and light all the time. Fresh air and light are a moth's worst enemies, so keep your combs exposed.

There are control products you can consider and use, too.

Moths can be beneficial. They can quickly clean up old comb for you! Plus, the larvae are great fish bait!

Wax moths are a natural part of the bee ecosystem. Learning how to work with them is a part of beekeeping.

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, Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus, original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

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