How To Episodes

March 23, 2023

Dealing with Old Frames (118)

So, you take a quick look at that top box this spring, and it’s pretty much empty and you don’t need the room for a bit, so remove the box. Then you take a look at the frames, to see …

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March 16, 2023

Should You Paint Your Hive? (117)

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 ) …

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March 9, 2023

Preparing for the First Nectar Flow (116)

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 …

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March 2, 2023

Managing The Small Colony (115)

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 …

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Feb. 23, 2023

Considering Atypical Bee Yards (114)

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 …

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Feb. 16, 2023

Finding Bee Yards (113)

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 …

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Feb. 9, 2023

Spring Bees: Are Nucs A Good Deal? (112)

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 …

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Jan. 12, 2023

Dealing With American Foulbrood (108)

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? …

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Jan. 5, 2023

Beekeeping New Years Resolutions (107)

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 …

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Dec. 15, 2022

Beekeeper Record Keeping Considerations (104)

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, …

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Dec. 8, 2022

Building Your Own Bee Equipment (103)

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 …

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Dec. 1, 2022

Managing Winter Colony Die-Offs (102)

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 …

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Nov. 24, 2022

Consumer Honey Challenges (101)

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. …

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Sept. 29, 2022

Liquifying Crystalized Honey (093)

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 …

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Sept. 15, 2022

Extracting Honey (091)

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 …

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