The Hive Jive - Beekeeping Podcast

109 - Ken's Conundrums

John and Ken talk about potentially relocating some of Ken’s swarms out to his remote property and implementing some selective breeding and re-queening.  John tells the story of a recent hive relocation due to the bee's extreme defensive behaviors.  Ken has also had a swarm move into a two-inch thick Topbar hive that he had setting outside his house and his wife says it needs to move… so the guys discuss the best method and timing needed in order to accomplish that.  Plus, Ken has been reading online and thinks a colony might have had American Foul Brood.  Could this be possible?  Tune in now to find out.

108 - The Sting of Being Negligent

A lot of drama has happened in the social media version of the beekeeping world while John was lost on a plane, so he gives us an update on the current backlash being experienced by a certain TikTok influencer.   The guys also address a couple of listener questions from Ryan in Indiana regarding building pollen feeders and mowing near your hives.  And there is some random info in here regarding different painful stings that the guys have experienced between bees and wasps, as well as a couple of little bugs that you cannot see until you do see them.  Wait. What?

107 - Natural Beekeeping pt 4 - The Peoples Hive

In this fourth installment of the Natural Beekeeping Corner Nathalie takes us on a tour of “The Peoples Hives.”  What is this you ask?  Well, tune in now to find out what hive style this might be and why Nathalie believes it is the hive of the future and can allow anyone to be a beekeeper.

106 - Queen Conundrums

In this episode John elaborates on a recent listener question about queen math.  This leads into some discussion about queen rearing and a few tips and trip on using the Nicot queen rearing system.  The guys also discuss some of the challenges that can be encountered by the queen on her nuptial flights that might reduce the chances of her successfully making it home, as well as some recent trends where new queens are immediately superseded by the colonies.  Tune in now to learn more!

105 - The Perils of Shipping

The guys discuss a recent news article about “Millions of Bees” dying after “being left in a UPS truck for weeks.”  Like many beekeepers our there, John and Ken have both had their own run-ins with shipping related issues, and if you keep bees long enough, you likely will as well.  This topic leads to other ways that shipping can cause issues for your beekeeping business and what things you might want to take into consideration.  Tune in now to learn more!

104 - World Bee Day Origins

World Bee Day is coming on May 20th.  Join the gang as they speak with Jonna Sanders to learn more about the history of World Bee Day and Slovenian beekeeping.  If you were not already aware, World Bee Day is the brainchild of the Slovenian Beekeeping Association, Čebelarska zveza Slovenija. Slovenia is doing some truly revolutionary work in honeybee science and education.  Tune in now to learn more!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/world-bee-day-tickets-142278297217?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch 

103 - Extra Comb and Hoarding

In this episode, John discusses the concept of excess drawn wax comb creating a hoarding desire in the bees.  This is where generating extra drawn frames during your first two to three years of beekeeping starts to come back into play and can allow you to greatly increase your honey harvest.  Keep in mind though, the tactics discussed in this episode will only work if your colony is strong enough to guard the additional space, and your nectar flow is in full swing.  John also touches on the timing for adding boxes intended for cut comb or ross round honeycomb.  Tune in now to learn more!

102 - Natural Beekeeping Corner pt 3

In our third installment of the Natural Beekeeping Corner, Nathalie walks us through the differences between commercial beekeeping practices vs the urban backyard beekeeper.  She also covers the benefits of local genetics of bees vs imported genetics, as well as how to do sustainable splits of your existing colonies using the two into three method. 

101 - Telling the Bees

In this special edition of The Hive Jive, John takes us through the history of “Telling the Bees.”  For centuries, cultures the world round have had their version of telling the bees about significant life events within their family.  Most times, this act especially applied to notifying the bees of a death within the family.  However, bees were also told of other events in the family such as marriages, births, and new household members coming to live with the family.  As John takes us through this history, he weaves in his own recent experience with this old-world tradition.

100 - Elusive Queens

Ever been in the situation where you desperately need to find a queen in order to do a split or because you are trying to re-queen a colony and you need her gone, but can’t find her no matter how hard you try?  Well in this episode John details a few hail-Mary tricks that you can use if you absolutely must find an elusive queen who has been eluding you thus far.  The guys also discuss the use of Oxalic Acid vaporization and its proclaimed effectiveness, as well as a brilliant idea that Nathalie has come up with for transferring a Langstroth Nuc into a Topbar Hive.  Plus, its time for another edition of Ken’s Cooking Corner where he gives us his experimental Honey Cake recipe.  Tune in now to get your weekly dose of Hive Jive!