Beekeeping Today Podcast

Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda is an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, where she focuses her time on honey bee health, pollination and as the State's Extension Service apiculturist. Prior to her current position, she was the apiculturist for Clemson University. Her research includes honey bee foraging behavior, behavioral resistance to mites, genomic imprinting and pesticide exposure. Jennifer joins Jeff & Kim in today's Pollinator Week episode to discuss the work she is doing at her new role at the University of Tennessee, pollination gardens, honey bee photography and pollination in general. Websites and links mention in the podcast include: University of Tennessee Entomology Homepage: https://epp.tennessee.edu Tennessee Beekeepers Association: http://www.tnbeekeepers.org Pollination Partnership: (see episodes #1 and #27): https://www.pollinator.org Xerces Society: (see episode #2): https://xerces.org Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: https://www.wildflower.org Tennessee State Apiarist: https://www.tn.gov/agriculture/businesses/bees/state-apiarist.html University of Tennessee Bee Lab: https://ag.tennessee.edu/EPP/Pages/Bees%20and%20Beekeeping/home.aspx _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Dr. Tsuruda! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Davey Hackenberg is a second-generation of beekeeper following in the steps of his father, Dave Hackenberg, in the honey and pollination business. Davey lives in Lewisberg, PA where he and his family run Hackenberg Honey, home of Buffy Bee Honey! In this candid interview, Davey talks openly about the year-round challenges he and other pollinators face as they travel the country taking their bees to crops and orchards. If you want to become a pollinator or dream about walking away from your office job to become a full-time beekeeper, you just might want to listen to this Beekeeping Today Podcast to hear the good and the bad, the past and a glimpse of the future the commercial beekeeper. Keeping your business 'sideline' may be your best bet! Davey is also featured in Peter Nelson's The Pollinators movie. Jeff & Kim talk with Peter in Beekeeping Today Podcast (#022). Websites mentioned in the podcast: Hackenberg Apiaries: https://hackenbergapiaries.us Pollinator Week: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Davey! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Pollinator Partnership is the organization responsible for bringing us Pollinator Week, so it is only fitting "P2" leads off our special week of podcasts! In 2007, Congress unanimously declared a week of June as National Pollinator Week. Pollinator Week has now grown into a international celebration of the invaluable ecosystem services provided by bees, birds, butterflies, bats and beetles. In this 2019 Pollinator Week kickoff podcast, we've invited Kelly and Vicki on the show to discuss four of their 30+ programs to pollinators and pollinator habitats, including: Pollinator Week Mite-athon NAPPC Honey Bee Health Grants Bee Friendly Farming Kelly is the Director of Programs and Operations and responsible forPollinator Week, North American Pollinator Protection Campaign (NAPPC), and P2 grants and scholarships. Kelly received her Masters of Science in Environmental Management form the University of San Francisco. Vicki is the Research Director for P2 Canada. She holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy & Management where her graduate studies focused on understanding how native bees use gardens and habitats in cities. As Director she oversees P2 Canada's research programs, keeping on top of new and emerging pollinator issues and managing a program set that includes pollinator habitat conservation and landscape management assessments; understanding and enhancing agroecosystems; landuse and pesticide policy review; support for threatened and critical species; and ecosystem service assessments. Websites mention in the podcast include: https://www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week https://www.pollinator.org/miteathon https://pollinator.org/honeybee-health https://www.pollinator.org/bff _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Kelly and Vicki! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk and Dr. David Firth from the Univerisity of Montana are working together on a new application for beekeepers called Bee Health Guru. The application uses artificial intelligence (AI) to listen to the sound and based upon complex algorithms and learned history, can provide a diagnosis of the colony's health. Simply amazing. Jerry and David join Jeff & Kim on this episode to talk about the history of the technology and the ongoing research of the technology under-pinnings of the cell phone app. At the beginning of the podcast, you can hear Jeff listening to a audio clip of a 2-deep colony of bees at rest. Then suddenly, no... instantly, their tone changes. Could you tell what happened? The audio file was provided by Dr. Bromenshenk. In the recording, a colony of honey bees 'at rest' are given one (1) drop of toluene. The communication through the hive was instantaneous. Bees communicate more than we knew and the Bee Health Guru app hopes to help us translate just what they're saying! Links and websites mention in the episode: Bee Health Guru: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehealthguru/bee-health-guru-a-smartphone-app-for-beekeepers University of Montana Master Beekeeper Program: https://www.umt.edu/sell/programs/bee/ _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Jerry and David! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Geoff Williams is an assistant professor at Auburn University. He is in charge of the Bee Lab and is on the Board of the Bee Informed Partnership. Selina Bruckner is a PhD student in entomology at Auburn and working on the Annual Colony Loss and Management Survey. The Bee Informed Partnership Colony Loss and National Management Survey is now in its 13th year and BIP is able to use the wealth of data to start to understand how management practices are impacting colony mortality across the country. It doesn't matter how many hives you have: Whether you are a backyard beekeeper, a sideliner or a commercial beekeeper - your information can be helpful to everyone. The survey closes on April 30th, so please use the link below to take the survey online. Your personal identifying information is kept confidential, so you respond in confidence. Selina provide this poem during the podcast and has permitted us to post it here! You can download a copy by clicking on the link at the top of this page. Links and websites mention in the episode: The Survey can be filled out here: https://26.selectsurvey.net/beeinformed/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=LMS2019# A preview of the Survey can be found here: https://beeinformed.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/PREVIEW_2018-2019-Loss-and-Management-Survey-paper.pdf And results from previous years can be found here: https://bip2.beeinformed.org/loss-map/ _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Geoff and Selina! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Meredith May is a beekeeper, journalist and author who grew up in the Big Sur area, along the central California coast. Her mother withdrew from Meredith's and her brother's lives following the breakup of her marriage. The Honey Bus is Meredith's memoir of growing up in her grandparent's home and helping her grandpa with the beekeeping chores. He helped her find structure, rhythm and stability during a place and time when home life with her mother was anything but, by showing how the bees make order out of chaos. Grandpa was a plumber and sideline beekeeper, who kept his years for years around the Central California community. His honey house was in fact, an old Army bus he stripped down and converted to hold his honey extraction and bottling operation. This is a heartwarming story of perseverance, love and honey bees that has a message for everyone - beekeepers and everyone else. Join Jeff & Kim and they talk with Meredith about her book, her grandpa and her bees today. Links and websites mention in the episode: The Honey Bus website: http://thehoneybus.com _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Meredith! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Jonathan Lundgren is a former USDA-ARS soil scientist, having received his PhD in Entomology from the University of Illinois in 2004. Today he is Director of ECDYSIS Foundation and CEO of Blue Dasher Farm. He has also recently contributed to Bee Culture magazine! ECDYSIS Foundation is focused on researching and finding new ways (sometimes finding new, 'old' ways) for producers to grow food, conserve biodiversity and environmental health through independent and unbiased scientific support. Jon and his team are reimagining agriculture practices using ecological principals with independent, farmer-driven research. Blue Dasher Farm was established to demonstrate the feasibility of regenerative agriculture and to show case its many benefits for farmers, the community and scientists. Jon has stated, that for us to solve the bee problem, we have to heal the soil. Listen to the podcast and you will state the same! In this episode, Jeff and Kim talk with Jon about his work, the importance of the soil and how the solution to the problems we are facing with honey bees is literally, under our feet! He talks about how the neglect of the soils, the tilling and the tons of the chemicals applied has stripped the soil of its self-healing and cleansing abilities. This is an interesting discussion and one you will want to listen to! Websites and links mentioned in this podcast include: EDYSIS Foundation - https://www.ecdysis.bio Blue Dasher Farm - https://www.bluedasher.farm Jon's Bee Culture Article, November 2018, "Confessions of a Corn Entomologist" - https://www.beeculture.com/confessions-of-a-corn-entomologist/ Jon's Bee Culture Article, January, 2018, "Dicamba and Bees" - https://www.beeculture.com/dicamba-and-bees/ _______________ This episode is brought to you by A.H. Meyer & Sons. A.H. Meyer & Sons are a 4th generation family owned business serving beekeepers through their wax rendering and service, rent honey-packing, and manufactured pallet clips. Visit them today at https://www.meyerhoneyfarms.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Dr. Jonathan Lundgren! Thank you, A.H. Meyer & Sons for your support of the Beekeeping Today Podcast! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Peter Nelson is a filmmaker, director and beekeeper. This combination of skills and passions lead to a documentary film about the business and lives of pollinators - both the two legged and six legged kind! The documentary, The Pollinators is currently making its rounds through the film festivals where it has been well received and enjoyed by all audiences. In this podcast episode, Peter joins Jeff and Kim to discuss the making of his documentary. Peter discusses his experiences following and filming the beekeepers, farmers, environmentalists and even world renown chefs as they discuss the importance of the honey bee to agriculture. The film also explores the dangers and struggles the honey bee (and all pollinators) face with the use/overuse and dependency of modern agriculture on herbicides, pesticides and fungicides. Listen to the episode and learn what you can do to help the pollinators! Websites mention in the podcast: The Pollinators: https://www.thepollinators.net To find a showing near you on the US National Screening Day - November 6, 2019 check out Demand Films: https://us.demand.film/the-pollinators/ To find a showing near you on the Canadian National Screening Day - November 11, 2019 check out Demand Films: https://ca.demand.film/the-pollinators/ To find a showing near you in Australia throughout the months of October and November, 2019 - check out Demand Films: https://au.demand.film/the-pollinators/ More about Peter and his work: http://peternelsondp.com The Dance of the Honey Bee: https://www.thepollinators.net/dance-of-the-honey-bee Dan Barber and Blue Hill Farms: https://www.bluehillfarm.com 350.org, a grassroots organization concerned protecting the environment through online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions: https://350.org _______________ This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this show with Peter Nelson! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Eric Wenger is the Chairman of True Source Honey, LLC - an organization created through the efforts of multiple honey companies and honey industry participants who collectively working to provide a way consumers and customers from the problems associated with unlawfully sourced honey 'dumped' on the USA market - specifically Chinese honey. The efforts are designed to help maintain honey's reputation as a high-quality, highly valued food. Eric is also Director of Quality and Honey Procurement with Barkman Honey, in Hillsboro, KS., and is a member of the National Honey Board, representing handlers. In this podcast, Eric talks about the origins of True Source Honey, why it was founded and formed. He also talks about the True Source Certification process and how these auditing procedures protects customers and consumers by assuring the honey's origin and source. Links mentioned in this podcast: True Source Honey: www.truesourcehoney.com True Source Certified: http://www.tshmember.com True Source Certified Standards: http://www.tshmember.com/standards.html UPDATED: Read Eric's article, "Keeping It Real" on page 47, in the May, 2019 Issue of Bee Culture. _______________ This podcast (#021) is brought to you by GloryBee. GloryBee is a family owner business serving beekeepers for over 40 years. They believe in providing high quality honey, sweeteners, spices, dried fruits, nuts and other quality ingredients to natural food manufacturers, bakeries and markets. (You've heard of HoneyStix, right! That's GloryBee!). Checkout everything GloryBee has to offer on their website, and when you talk with them, thank them for sponsoring this episode of Beekeeping Today Podcast! _______________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

In this episode, Jeff and Kim talk with Dr. Reed Johnson. Reed got his start in research beekeeping while looking for a summer job in his hometown, Missoula, Montana. He knocked on the door of Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk at the University of Montana, was offered employment, and was quickly drawn into the world of bees and their biology. Reed went on to receive a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he was involved in the honey bee genome project, then moved on to and a post-doc position at the University of Nebraska where he explored drug interactions between miticides in bees. Reed is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Entomology at The Ohio State University – Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center in Wooster, Ohio. His research focuses on determining how bees are exposed to pesticides and combinations and measuring the effect that toxic exposure has on the health of honey bees and other pollinators with the goal of promoting bee health in the context of modern agriculture. Additional information on Reed's research: https://news.osu.edu/culprit-found-for-honeybee-deaths-in-almond-groves/ https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/10/1/20/htm ____________________ We are happy to welcome Mann Lake Limited as a new sponsor to the Beekeeping Today Podcast. Mann Lake is the leading supplier of beekeeping supplies to commercial and hobbyist beekeepers nationwide. Order online or from their catalog. Find more information at: https://www.mannlakeltd.com ____________________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Tom D. Seeley is a Horace White Professor in Biology at Cornell University where he teaches courses on animal behavior, specializing in understanding the social life of honey bees. His scientific research focuses on the phenomenon of swarm intelligence, which is defined as the solving of cognitive problems by a group of individuals who pool their knowledge and process it through social interactions. Tom joins Jeff and Kim in this episode to discuss bee hunting (aka: bee lining). He also delves deeper into the topic of his article in the January 2019 Bee Culture on Darwinian Beekeeping. Tom is a author of several books related to honey bee biology and behavior, including: The Wisdom of the Hive, 1996 Honeybee Democracy, 2010 Following The Wild Bees: The Craft and Science of Bee Hunting, 2016 The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of the Honey Bee in the Wild, 2019 In the podcast, Tom references his video on the topic of Bee Hunting. You can find it On YouTube. ____________________ We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Welcome to our first podcast of 2019! Well, to kickoff the year, Kim is enjoying the sights and sounds of the AHPA annual meeting and convention in Phoenix. Late in the evening, Kim gave Jeff and call and provided this report. Join them as they discuss the new and the old on the vendor floor and the hottest. Beekeeping is changing and the best place to see that is at a national beekeeping convention. This is the first of several reports from the AHPA meeting. Upcoming episodes include interviews from the convention floor of legendary beekeepers and the vendors/suppliers who support us all. ____________ We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

The coming year, 2019, marks the 150th anniversary of the (AI) Root Company. On this episode, Brad Root - the great, great grandson of Amos Ives Root, joins Jeff & Kim on the podcast to discuss the first 50 years of the AI Root Company. When AI first came to Medina, Ohio, the home of the Root Company, he was jeweler in a building on the west side of the town square. It wasn't long before his many interests lead him to learn all he could about the honey bee, manufacturing and standardizing beekeeping equipment and writing about it all. Not only was AI the founder of the Root Company, he was the first editor of Gleanings in Bee Culture (now known as Bee Culture) as well as the first editor of the ABC & XYC of Bee Culture! This is the first of three episodes we will present in this 150th year covering the Root Company history, in 50 year blocks. ____________ This has been an exciting first year of the podcast and we want to thank all the guests to the podcast, Pierce Manufacturing and Wicwas Press for their sponsorship of different episodes. Last and definitely not least, we thank you, the listener of the Beekeeping Today Podcast. Without your interest in all things honey bee and beekeeping, this labor of love would not be possible... or enjoyable! ____________ We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Marina Marchese is a beekeeper and honey sommelier. She is the founder of the American Honey Tasting Society and is a frequent speaker and author on the topic of honey tasting and pairing. In this podcast, Marina joins Jeff and Kim to introduce the topic of honey tasting and that it is more than smearing honey on toast or dumping it into one's tea. Marina relates to tasting honey as a total sensory experience and one that must be learned and developed. Marina discusses how to discern the unique flavors and attributes of different honey varietals and pairing them with cheeses and other foods. Marina's ground breaking studies and experiences has lead to the book she co-authored with Kim, The Honey Connoisseur, speaking engagements and guest lecturer appearances. We welcome Marina to the Beekeeping Today Podcast and hope you, the listener, enjoy the conversation and set you off on your own honey tasting journey. You can read more about Marina in the December, 2018 BeeCulture Magazine. Sites Mentioned in the Podcast American Honey Tasting Society Red Bee Honey National Honey Board Marina and Kim's book, The Honey Connoisseur can be found on Amazon. We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Samuel Ramsey is a life long entomologist. His interests in all things insects started in his youth along with his parent's encouragement and his siblings displeasure! He continued his studies in college (Cornell) and just recently completed his PhD this year at The University of Maryland under Dr. Dennis vanEngelsdorp. Dr. Ramsey made headlines earlier this year with the publication of his doctoral research on the feeding behaviors of the varroa destructor mite on the honey bee. In this episode of the podcast, we discuss with Dr. Ramsey why he studied what was thought to be a closed subject and proved that the varroa was not feeding primarily on the bee's blood, but rather a liver-like organ called the 'Fat Body'. This is a fascinating discussion that all beekeepers should listen to. There are many interesting facts, that run counter to popular press and education. Following are the links mentioned in this podcast: 3-Minute YouTube Video on the Varroa Mite findings: https://youtu.be/Fyfyj-2O47Q GoFundMe site for Dr. Ramsey's new research on the Tropilaelaps mite in Asia: https://www.gofundme.com/fundhoneybeeresearch (Newly added) Sr. Ramsey's ground breaking research on the varroa, published in January, 2019: https://www.pnas.org/content/116/5/1792 For fun and diverse thinking, Dr. Ramsey's 'jazzy' departure from American Idol: https://youtu.be/UWwuxlkm7_4 Kim wraps up the show with his InnerCovered. This is a fun and enlightening conversation with Dr. Ramsey. We hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it. This episode is brought to you by Wicwas Press. Wicwas Press is the publisher of beekeeping how-to and scientific books. We thank Wicwas for their support of our podcast. We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Shane Gebauer is the President and Partner at Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, the catalog and online bee supply company based in Moravian Falls, NC. Shane has been keeping bees for many years and speaks nationally on beekeeping. You can also see Shane on several Brushy Mountain YouTube videos on various topics. In this Beekeeping Today Podcast, Shane, Kim and Jeff discuss the concept of 'treatment free' beekeeping, its challenges and applicability. This is an enlightening back and forth that is sure to fan the flames of everyone involved in this important and current debate. Today's episode also includes a listener's question and answer by Dan Conlon regarding defensiveness of Russian honey bees. Kim wraps up the show with his InnerCovered. This episode is brought to you by Wicwas Press. Wicwas Press is the publisher of beekeeping how-to and scientific books. We thank Wicwas for their support of our podcast. We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

For as long as he can remember, Dan Conlon has enjoyed and kept honey bees. When he was 50, he threw all in and went commercial with his Warm Colors Apiaries, in South Deerfield, MA along with his wife, Bonita. Today they sell honey, pure beeswax candles, and products using honey and beeswax. Along with Warm Colors Apiaries, Dan is the president of the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association. In this episode, Dan opens the door on the Russian strain, its varroa mite resistance, honey production, aggressiveness, swarming and more. The Russian strain has some great traits and perhaps some traits that will force beekeepers into different management practices. If you are looking to explore a new type of honey bee that has been researched by the USDA and genetically maintained by an association of dedicated breeders, this episode will wet your appetite! Today's episode also includes a listener's question and answer by Tom Theobald. Kim wraps up the show with his InnerCovered. This episode is brought to you by Wicwas Press. Wicwas Press is the publisher of beekeeping how-to and scientific books. We thank Wicwas for their support of our podcast. We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Bill Hesbach is a long time Connecticut beekeeper, an EAS Master Beekeeper and an University of Montana Master Beekeeper. In this episode, Jeff and Kim talk with Bill about the Connecticut Backyard Beekeepers Organization, the CBA "Bee Talks" informative gatherings and finally the Connecticut Queen Breeders Cooperative. We want to thank Bill for sharing his ideas on promoting beekeeping and education of beekeepers on this episode and hope you will find something that you can use locally. We also want to thank Pierce Beekeeping Equipment for sponsoring this episode. Pierce is the manufacturer of the often copied but never duplicated Speed King Electric Uncapping Knife. Check them out on their website or where ever quality beekeeping equipment is sold. Kim wraps up the show with his InnerCovered. We welcome your questions and comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. Warwick Kerr passed on 15-Sept, leaving behind a legacy that haunted him and changed beekeeping in the America's for years to come. In this episode, the podcast visits Dr. Jim Tew in his shop in Wooster, Ohio to discuss his work with the USDA Extension Service to learn about the Africanized honey bee and help prepare US beekeepers for their eventual arrival into the States near Hildago, Texas in 1990. Kim wraps up the show with his InnerCovered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

We've received questions regarding sponsorship of a Beekeeping Today Podcast episode. This is certainly possible! You can sponsor a single episode or multiple episodes. Listen to the sample here to hear how the introduction of your company's product or service will be used in the opening introduction and closing of a podcast. To find out more and/or to discuss your business' needs, contact Jean: [email protected]

Dr. Dewey Caron has been working to help educate beekeepers for years starting with his work with Dr. Roger Morse (Cornell) and Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS). He helped to establish the EAS Master Beekeeper Certification program and has worked with other regional beekeeper groups to set up their own. Now that he lives on the West Coast in Portland, Oregon, he is learning the trials and tribulations of the beekeeping in the Pacific Northwest. In this podcast, Dewey talks about the different Master Beekeeper Certification programs and his move to Portland. We also learn about his family's beekeeping experience with africanized honey bees in Bolivia. Last, but certainly not least, Dewey talks about the importance of the Honey Bee Health Coalition, the Mite-a-thon and the free resources the Coalition makes available for beekeepers. Links mentioned in the podcast: http://www.easternapiculture.org https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org http://pollinator.org/miteathon https://bip2.beeinformed.org/mitecheck/ Kim wraps up the show with his Inner Covered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

In this episode, Jerry Hayes and Barb Bloetscher escape the rain in Medina Ohio and join Jeff and Kim on the podcast. Jerry (former FLA State Apiarist) provides an update on what he learned while at Monsanto regarding the challenges faced by those researching the use of RNAi technology to combat varroa. It is an interesting story. The educational journey and the lessons learned will ultimately help everyone. Barb is the current State of Ohio Apiarist and discusses the status of the honey bee in Ohio. What she reports may surprise you! Both Jerry and Barb serve on the Honey Bee Health Coalition board and they provide an update there too. Later in the episode, Jeff and Kim discuss plans for upcoming interviews. The NPR 1A podcast featuring Kim, Gene Brandi and Dr. Margarita López-Uribe can be heard by clicking here! Kim wraps up the show with his Inner Covered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Tom Theobald is a long time beekeeper who lives outside Boulder, Colorado. Tom has been sounding the alarm about the problem we all face with the over use and accumulation of neonicotinoids (neonics) in the environment since before his July, 2010 article in Bee Culture. Jeff and Kim talk with Tom about his personal research and the concerns he has on neonicotinoid use, its impact on our environment and of course the cumulative effect on honey bees and other pollinators. It is a discussion that has raised passions on all sides of the debate. You can read Tom's original article on the neonic problem here: https://www.beeculture.com/toms-podcast-special/ Kim wraps up the show with his Inner Covered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Dr. James Wilkes is a co-founder and CEO of HiveTracks. When he is not working at HiveTracks or teaching computer science at Appalachian State in Boone, NC, James manages over 150 colonies with his son to producing sourwood honey on their Faith Mountain Farm. In this episode, Jeff and Kim discuss with James how computers are improving beekeeper operations, helping researchers and how all this data can help the industry going forward. Kim wraps up the show with his Inner Covered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

We've invited regular Bee Culture contributor, Toni Burnham to the podcast to talk about the DC Beekeeper's Alliance and urban beekeeping. Urban beekeeping is on the rise as demonstrated by the membership growth of the DC Beekeepers over the past couple of years. Join Jeff and Kim as they discuss with Toni the various activities of DC Beekeepers including the education of beekeepers and the public, history of DC beekeeping, challenges and what's next. Whether you are a beekeeper in the city or country, Toni's interview will give you plenty to think about in how you can promote bees. You can find out more about Urban beekeeping from DC Beekeepers, or emailing Toni at [email protected]. (Of course, you can also follow Toni in her regular column in Bee Culture.) Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thank you for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

We invited (mostly retired) Dr. James Tew to the podcast to share with us some of his beekeeping experiences and observations. Jim brings an insightful and sometimes humorous perspective from how he got into bees... and how a bee once got into him! Jim has retired from the Ohio State University Ag Extension in Wooster, Ohio and still lives and cares for his own bees in the area. Jim has several books on beekeeping available on Amazon, can be seen regularly on Bee Culture's Kim and Jim Show, and monthly in Bee Culture. Kim wraps up the show with his Inner Covered. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Joe Traynor is a bee broker in the almond orchards of California. Joe smoothes the business interactions between the beekeeper/pollinator and the almond grower. He has been in the pollination business since the early '70s and has seen it all. He has written several books and has donated the proceeds to bee research. Book titles (available on Amazon) include "Honey: The Gourmet Medicine" and "Ideas in Soil and Plant Nutrition". Later in the episode, Kim provides his perspective on the value a broker provides the beekeeper. Find out more about Pollination Week at Pollinator.org. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Matthew Shepherd is the Director of Communications and Outreach for the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation. Jeff and Kim invited Matthew to Beekeeping Today Podcast to discuss the Xerces Society's various programs including Protecting Pollinators, Monarch and Bumble Bee Conservation, and finally Xerces' various Citizen Science undertakings. Afterwards, Kim provides his perspective on invertebrate conservation programs and their importance to beekeepers, in his Inner Covered. Xerces Society - www.xerces.org Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

John is a commercial beekeeper who splits his time between Newcastle, CA, and Gackle, ND. We invited John to the podcast to discuss the challenges facing commercial pollinators in the almond orchards and the movement of bees back out to the prairies of North Dakota. Later on in the episode, Kim provides his perspective on the pollination business and the beekeeper. Learn more about John's business at: https://www.millerhoneyfarms.com Find out more about Pollination Week at Pollinator.org. Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

Jeff and Kim speak with Amber Barnes of Pollinator Partnership (www.pollinator.org) about their many different projects, including Monarch program and pollinator habitat protection. Later in the episode, Kim discusses the health and future of pollinators during his Inner Covered observations. Special focus of this episode is Pollinator week, June 18-24, 2018 Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"

An introduction to the Beekeeping Today Podcast, presented by Bee Culture Magazine! Questions/Comments: [email protected] Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com Thanks for listening! Podcast music: Young Presidents, "Be Strong"