Episodes

Oct. 12, 2023

Dealing With Fall Equipment (148)

After all of the nectar has flowed, the honey spun and you’re just waiting to put the bees to bed for the winter, you might look around at the clutter of equipment in your bee yard, bouncing in the back …

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Oct. 5, 2023

Barrel Hives with Jerry Hayes (147)

This week, Jerry Hayes sits in with Jim while Kim is out. In this episode, Jerry talks about one of the most unusual hive designs he's ever built and worked with... a hive made out of a old 55-gallon drum. …

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Sept. 28, 2023

Archive Special: Dealing with Yellowjackets (146)

(This Archive Special first released, September 2, 2021.) Beekeepers are very often asked to help friends or neighbors that have “bee” problems…. honey bees, carpenter bees, yellow jackets, hornets, bumblebees and the like. But most of us...

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Sept. 21, 2023

Listener Emails: Cutting Down Supers and Dealing with Propolis (145)

In this episode, Jim invites Beekeeping Today Podcast's Jeff Ott, to sit in for Kim to help answer a couple of recent listener emails. In response to a recent episode where Jim talks about dealing with heavy 10-frame, deep supers, …

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Sept. 14, 2023

Moving Honey Supers in the Fall (144)

This week, we continue with the theme of Fall management. Kim is out so, Jim invites Jeff Ott, from Beekeeping Today Podcast to join him to talk about dealing with heavy honey supers that remain and prepping the colonies for …

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Sept. 7, 2023

Prepping for Fall and Winter (143)

What do you do when the honey is all harvested, but it is still warm and not quite time to button up the colonies for Winter? On today's episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim has invited Beekeeping Today Podcast's Jeff …

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Aug. 31, 2023

How to Deal With Broken Frames (142)

This is honey harvest time of the year, for the majority of the beekeepers in the Northern Hemisphere. Undoubtedly, you will end your uncapping and extracting time with frames with broken end bars, bottoms or even the foundation punched through …

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Aug. 24, 2023

Uncapping Honey (140)

After building your colonies up in the spring, managing them through the early summer, collecting them out of the trees and out of the bushes after they swarm and all the effort maintaining their health… your goal as a beekeeper …

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Aug. 17, 2023

The Evolution of Beekeeping (141)

What’s changed in the past 150 years or so? For some of us who have been around awhile, it seems like a lot. Most honey is still produced in the boxes Langstroth put together. Size and shape maybe different now, …

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Aug. 10, 2023

What To Do With Cappings (139)

It seems that everyone talks about managing bees and selling honey. There's also a lot of discussion about extracting honey - such as: removing bees from the supers, what kind of extractor works best, uncapping and even bottling. But what …

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Aug. 3, 2023

Considering the Bee Yard Habitat (138)

Continuing their discussion on the micro and to some extent the macro environment of a beeyard, Kim and Jim take a long hard look at what do bees need to eat, and how much should there be. They look at …

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July 27, 2023

Dealing with Harvesting Headaches (137)

Every season, it seems, is different than the last, making it difficult or at least challenging. Honey harvesting is no different: what and when and how and where to harvest a honey crop. Deep south beekeepers went through this a …

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July 20, 2023

Dealing With Summer Robbing (136)

It’s the time of year when summer is nearly over, but the fall flow hasn’t started. Colonies are big, there’s lot of foragers, and not much to forage on, yet. A colony that is ripe for being robbed is usually …

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July 13, 2023

Beehive Life (135)

What else is in a beehive other than... honey bees? If you stop and look closer the next time you are in your beeyard, you will in all likelihood begin to notice all manner of living creatures sharing the beeyard …

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July 6, 2023

Managing Mid-Summer Splits (133)

In this episode, Kim and Jim discuss the pros and cons of mid-summer splits. Are they good or are they bad? It can go both ways. Mid-summer splits are used to divide a colony for swarm prevention, colony expansion, or …

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June 29, 2023

Dealing With Seasonal Bee Management Fluctuations (132)

How does a beekeeper deal with the seasonal population shifts, weather and resulting needs of the honey bees in their care. How does a beekeeper balance the needs of the colony with the needs of the beekeeper? The middle of …

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June 22, 2023

Summer Replay - Hot Summers & Hot Bees (131)

Listeners, Kim and Jim are busy in the bee yard this week and have chosen this episode from the archive, for your listening pleasure. Thank you for listening! It’s been hot in Ohio so far this summer (and a lot …

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June 15, 2023

Getting Your Bees Through Droughts (130)

Summer is in full force in most of the country now. Nectar flows are on and the honey is starting to ripen in the supers. It is the time of year beekeepers have been planning for all winter long! Summer …

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June 8, 2023

Learning To Deal With Stings (129)

All beekeepers must one day, cross a threshold: dealing with bee stings. For some, it is a small, hardly seen threshold. For others, it is a major challenge that takes time to overcome. On today's episode Jim and Jeff Ott …

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June 1, 2023

Replacing The Queen (128)

Replacing a seemingly good queen can be a difficult decision to make. If her brood pattern is good, the colony temperment is nice, they've produced a good crop... and the only fault against her is that she is last year's …

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May 25, 2023

Vanishing Swarms: Now You See Them, Now You Don't! (127)

If you've been a beekeeper for any length of time and especially, after your first year in your own bee yard, you've seen a swarm, looked away to pick up something - maybe your camera, turn around and they're gone! …

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May 18, 2023

Bee Trailers - The Portable Bee Hive (126)

Anyone who's moved more than one hive, more than once in a season has considered... a simpler way of getting the job done. We've all see photos and videos of beekeepers moving around an orchard of some sort, using BobCats …

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May 11, 2023

Memorable Stings (125)

If you’ve been keeping bees for a bit, you probably already have a couple of stories about that “one time in a beeyard”, or honey house, or somewhere that gave a whole new meaning to the word “sting”. Teaching a …

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May 4, 2023

Well... It Depends - Swarms (124)

A lot of times, when somebody asks us a bee question, the best answer we can give them is, “It Depends.” In today’s episode, Kim and Jim explore the topic of Swarms. Where did it come from? Where do you …

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