The bee yard is a familiar place during daylight. After midnight on Halloween? That's a different story. For this special episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew reaches back into the archives and invites Jeff Ott to join him once again for a few spooky—and very funny—stories about what happens when beekeepers find themselves working bees after dark.
Jim begins with an encounter in the attic of an old Ohio State farm building. Armed with a questionable flashlight and surrounded by forgotten beekeeping equipment, he discovers that the mysterious shape waiting in the darkness is a fully grown raccoon backed into a corner. The raccoon wins.
Then Jim recalls working alone late at night near an abandoned facility, preparing colonies for apple pollination. Nothing actually happens—which somehow makes the growing feeling that he isn't alone even worse. Eventually, Jim abandons the bee yard entirely, smoker and all.
Finally, there are southern bee yards, rattlesnakes, black widow spiders, watermelon pollination, and Jim's brother mistaking a vibrating phone on his belt for a striking rattlesnake.
No monsters. No ghosts. Just beekeepers, darkness, bad flashlights, overactive imaginations—and a reminder that a familiar bee yard can feel like an entirely different world after midnight.
Happy Halloween!
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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
We’d like to thank Vita Bee Health for supporting the podcast. Vita provides proven tools for controlling Varroa—from Apistan and Apiguard to the new VarroxSan extended-release oxalic acid strips—helping beekeepers keep stronger, healthier colonies.
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of Honey Bee Obscura. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.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; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott
Episode artwork created by Jeff Ott with ChatGPT by OpenAI.
Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC
