Beekeeping At Five Apple Farm Podcast

Taking the simple feeding of sugar syrup for hives you find too light to make it....and complicating it with things to tweak? Guilty. Part 1.

About that NC Journeyman test. Winter prep: building population vs adding weight.

Random items from the conference, geeking out on gut microbes...

Selections from Norman E Gary, chapter 8 of Hive & The Honey Bee (Dadant). Also: The observation hive I’m trying out: https://www.etsy.com/listing/19583341/indoor-full-size-bee-keeping-observation Michael Bush on Observation hives: http://www.bushfarms.com/beesobservationhives.htm

Gadget Garage with nice robber screen and other handy things (thanks Jeff!) https://youtu.be/xWA49Oy5Skw Photo of the Z fold hardware cloth robber screen similar to what I use — especially on all nucs: http://thebeehivejive.com/2017/02/22/make-simple-robbing-screens-now-get-ahead-summer/ Thanks for listening! Leigh

I’m happy to report good news on the two hives that had EFB. Also: Late summer is a critical decision/action window for your hives. Some things to consider, plan and prevent...

Top bars, natural comb, podcasting errors, hives without a Queen (apparently), queens from swarm cells — Listener Mail edition. First part recorded in the morning, 2nd part late at night....you may notice the different energy tone, haha! ;-) Thanks so much for listening! Leigh

Continuing with the reading of a selection on Summer and Fall bee plants.

Show notes and links to come.

Can you have too many new queens? Yes! But who can refuse the challenge to give it a try? Not me. Alternative title: Why my post office knows me by name....

European foulbrood is a bummer to discover in a hive. It could be worse though. Talking through some options.

Finally, a way to do a cut down split WITHOUT finding the queen! Thanks to Tina Sebasteyan in the May 2019 American Bee Journal.

Sorry about the poor sound quality on this one...   If you would rather just read this interesting article it's here:  https://www.naturalbeekeepingtrust.org/darwinian-beekeeping   Seeley interviewed on Science Friday. This is great! https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/beekeeping-tips-from-bees/  

Show notes to come.

———————————————————————————————————— Links mentioned in Episode 16: Mites. If you want live bees, you will need a plan to deal with mites. It does not have to be chemical if you are willing to develop other skills (and actually use them). But being aware and knowledgeable about the organic treatments may be what you need to know one day to save your hive (so that you can requeen with more disease resistant stock). Say hello at the Facebook page — Five Apple Farmhttps://www.facebook.com/5applefarm/ I’m now a super-fan of Dr. Meghan Milbrath of Sand Hill Bees (Michigan). When I eventually figure out how to do recorded interviews on this podcast she is on my short list to interview. Read/Watch/Listen to her presentations for some of the most understandable, science-based rationale on moving toward treatment-free beekeeping out there — well seasoned with reality. That last part is what makes her work really stand out imo. I probably could have skipped this whole podcast and just shared the links below with a bunc

This is a ‘radio reader’ episode of an online article “Requeening” by master beekeeper, queen breeder and author Larry Connor. More articles and his (excellent) books available at www.wicwas.com Link to this article: https://www.beeculture.com/requeening/ Clarification from last week (Thanks Chris!) This is the Bush bees I was referring to...link below. Tons of good info on his website and even though I’d read a lot of it there over the years, when I received his book “The Practical Beekeeper” as a Christmas gift I found myself reading it cover to cover and really enjoying it. http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm

Dealing with a hive that appears queenless / Figuring out if it is really queenless / Bush’s Panacea Cure / Queen cells from micro-breeders becoming more available. ( Mostly beginner but with intermediate bits too) About the podcast: Leigh started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, fully chemical free and without buying replacement bees since starting. When I mention Michael Bush in this and other episodes, this is the website which is a treasure trove of bee reading: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm (Thanks Chris!)

Preventing swarming after splits. Listener question: What advice would you now give your first year beekeeper self.