The Hive Jive - Beekeeping Podcast

Today John is joined once again by Miss Tara Chapman from Two Hives Honey. Tara teaches us about honey crystallization, what it means, and the four main factors that contribute to this process. This is key knowledge to help you better understand the process, how you can use it to your advantage, and how to better educate the end consumer about your honey. The pair also catch up on current life events and share some successes and challenges from this beekeeping season. Tune in now for one exceptional interview!

This year’s honey harvest has come and gone, and it is leaving a few tears in its wake. John discusses how the main apiary did this year, or rather, how much it didn’t do at all. The bizarre weather patterns have definitely taken their toll on the nectar flow and John gives a few stark examples of how much of an impact it will have on this year’s honey sales. If you’re feeling the strain this season, tune in now and join in on the harvest woes.

This episode coils up and strikes at the heart of a slippery subject… Snakes in the bee yard. There are all kinds of different critters out there that we often don’t notice as we go about our bee business, focused on what has become a habitual process of tasks. But that doesn’t mean that those critters don’t notice us as we go about our work. Some of these critters might cause us to do way more harm to ourselves then they ever could on their own as we try to escape a sudden unexpected encounter. But a few of these critters can pose a great danger to the unaware beekeeper who is focused on their routine and not paying attention to their surroundings. Tune in now to hear a few close encounters of the slithering kind and remember to be mindful of your surroundings when out in nature.

Recently the gang got together to host a LIVE Natural Beekeeping question and answer session. Nathalie and John answer questions ranging from keeping survivor stock, to doing brood breaks, and even hive inspection frequency. Tune in now to hear this and more for this months Natural Beekeeping Corner.

In this episode the guys discuss some of the challenges this season has presented with some areas having a sparse nectar flow and the decisions that beekeepers might be faced with because of those circumstances. John gives a reminder on colonies shutting down brood production during periods of extreme heat and periods of dearth, and a thought experiment in possible queen issues. Plus, its time for another stop by Ken’s Cooking Corner! Tune in now for this and more!

In this round of listener questions we hear from Mike B., Jared M., Ben I., and Connor S. Topics include how to not go broke doing removals, bees not drawing wax on foundation, using all deep boxes, insulating hives for winter, and open feeding. Tune in now for a smorgasbord of beekeeping information!

The guys have some corrections they need to make regarding speculations that were made in last week’s episodes. It turns out not all of the pertinent information was provided regarding Ken’s recent HopGuard III experience and this omission completely changes the outcome of that conversation. John then proceeds to carry that same message through the rest of the episode to try and drive the point home one last time. Granted, after three years, he may just be beating a dead horse… so to speak.

In this very extended episode, the guys go back and cover a few items that they had meant to include in previous episodes but kept forgetting. Ken is up to his old tricks of pulling things out of left field which will keep everyone on their toes, and John discusses how the bees will backfill into the brood nest this time of year and what that means. Plus, it is the first episode for July, which means it is time for another Natural Beekeeping Corner segment. This month, Nathalie is joined by Les Crowder! The pair will discuss the background Les comes from as well as his approach to Natural Beekeeping. Tune in now for this extended episode!

Today the guys are prompted by Jacob to discuss some important questions you should ask if you are considering buying used equipment. Ken has a question about swarm traps and direction the entrance should be facing. Plus, it is time for another edition of Ken’s Cooking Corner. So tune in now to hear these topics and a few other tidbits in your weekly dose of Bee infotainment.

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.

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?

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.

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!

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!

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

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!

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.

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.

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!

This week the guys are joined by Tara Chapman of Two Hives Honey to discuss the uses of propolis. Most beekeepers have a love-hate relationship with this dark sticky substance as it gets on everything and it does not ever seem to come back off. Despite being a sticky pain for some beekeepers, hopefully we all realize the great importance that it plays in the lives of the bees and how it helps to create and maintain a healthy hive. However, what can we as beekeepers do with this substance once we scrape a ball out of the hive during a routine inspection? Well tune in now as Tara walks us through some of the wonderous possibilities that propolis can hold for an industrious beekeeper.

Sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where you might need to do a split, but you don’t really want to increase your total number of full-sized colonies. Or, perhaps you often find yourself where a few of your colonies always seem to need a boost. Well, this is where the beauty of creating a Nuc as a resource hive can come in handy. Tune in now as the guys discuss these concepts, as well as a high level overview of double screened boards and Snelgrove boards and how they can be used in processes like these.

It is the first episode of April and Ken seems to be missing in action. Could it be a delayed April Fool’s day joke? John does a quick recap of the topics from the first part of this year, and touches on the key aspects to be focused on as Spring unfolds. Plus, its time for our second Natural Beekeeping corner and Nathalie breaks down the concepts of the Integrated Pest Management process, or IPM for short. Tune in now!

Spring is finally starting to show its beautiful face, despite the calendar stating it should have started a few weeks ago now. The flowers are finally starting to bloom, albeit not in the quantities that Central Texas has seen in Springs of the past few years. But at least the blooms are coming, and the bees are happily bringing in natural pollen once again. This sparks an unplanned conversation about some of the differences between the artificial pollen substitutes and natural pollen when it comes to the actual protein count of each. The guys also discuss pre and pro biotics that would be found naturally occurring on pollen from flowers vs the substitutes, as well as a brief touch on building big strong colonies for honey production verses splitting to make more hives. Plus, it is time for another segment of Ken’s Cooking Corner. Tune in now to learn more!

Ken is making plans to finally move some of his Langstroth colonies to his property located several counties away from his home apiary. But, since beekeeping is typically a weekly event at this time of year, how does one go about trying to manage a growing colony when you are several hours away and likely will not see your colonies but maybe once a month? John and Ken talk through some of the initial concepts to plan for such an adventure. The guys also discuss how to re-wax the plastic core foundation in an effort to get the bees to fully draw out comb on the plastic, as well as the potential effects of a prolonged La Nina weather pattern.

Today the guys are joined again by Steve Jimenez with Hives for Heroes to discuss all of the amazing progress the organization has made over the last year. Hives for Heroes exists to help empower veterans thru beekeeping and they have managed to grow their organization to now represent all 50 of the United States in North America. This is quite the impressive feat and a massive influx of growth since we last talked with them. Tune in now to hear more about the program and see how you can help do your part to save the bees while saving a life!

This might surprise you, but the answer to all of your questions is Drones. Yep! You might not have even know that you were asking a question, but the answer is still Drones. Drones are the key to a lot of crucial decisions both for a colony and a beekeeper this time of year. But how do you know when you have a sufficient number of drones to start making those decisions? Well, get our your calculators and calendars because we are about to enter the game of drones.

Spring is approaching for some sooner rather than others, and they guys are scheming and plotting what their first moves should be coming out of this winter. However, what are some of the things to consider before you start taking any actual actions with your colonies? Tune now to find out… Plus, its time for the first segment of our Natural Beekeeping Corner with Nathalie B!

The guys poke their heads out for the first time after the historic winter blast that nearly crippled Texas. Did all their colonies survive? Only time will tell as the ice and snow begins to melt and the guys are able to finally get out and do some initial evaluations to see what possible losses they might be facing. Plus, its time for Ken’s first Cooking Corner segment!

Though most of the northern U.S. has already been in the grips of winter for a while, a Polar Vortex has plunged everyone into a deep freeze unlike anything those of us in the far south have experienced in over a decade. What does this mean for our bees? Does this type of weather phenomenon affect all colonies across the country the same, or is there more to it than just the drop in temperatures? Tune in now to learn more about this subject and more!

The guys are back for their first episode of 2021 and they might just have a few opinions to share. They discuss the effects of different invasive species and a current push to release the Chinese Flea Beetle in order to eradicate the invasive Chinese Tallow Tree in the Texas and other states in the U.S. They also introduce a couple of new segments that will become a regular part of this third season. Tune in now!

There may have been a few moments when the mics were still live while the guys catch up with each other over recent events, upcoming projects, and a few strong opinions about some new TV shows. Tune in now if you'd like to hear some random chatter.

Ken and John sit down for their final main segment episode for 2020 as they ring in the Holiday Season. We find out who the winners were for Ken's Fruitcakes, as well as discuss an email from down under and talk about possibly building an AZ hive. Happy Holidays Everyone!

What is an acceptable drop rate during the winter, and how can you tell if finding dead bees at the entrance is normal or a sign of problems inside the hive? Also, its that time of year again and Ken has succumbed to his fruitcake madness!

Welcome to our first LIVE (at the time of recording at least) Listener Questions episode. In this installment the guys are joined by Jake from NE, Rachel from Oz, Frank from the UK, and JeffreyAnn, as well as several other members who were listening and chatting along in the comments section during the event. The guys tackle questions about good balling of queens by worker bees, knowing if you are feeding too much or not enough, inverting combs from removals to discourage usage, reclaiming frames of dark comb, consideration for queen rearing, and pointers when looking for good land, among other topics that pop up along the way.

Winter is finally making its first appearance in central Texas with our first freeze on the way. But, does Ken have his colonies all prepped and ready for the end of the beekeeping season? Do they have enough food? Did they get their mite checks done? Treatments? So many questions, and yet, we are all out of time!

During times of dearth (no food available in nature) honeybees can be highly prone to robbing. Even the slightest drop of a sugary substance can set off quite the catastrophic chain of events if the beekeeper is not careful. And, even when all precautions are taken, weak hives can fall victim to a horrific invasion.

It is time for another update from Ken’s self-proclaimed Redneck Brother from Another Mother Down Under… Brett! Only this time, its LIVE! Or, well at least it was live when it was being recorded. Tune in now to hear the abridged version of our first ever Live show with our Australian guests!

They guys are back, but obviously still not fully recovered from their traumatic tasting of the Buckwheat Honey samples. It very well may have short-circuited a few synapsis as well, seeing as how the guys can’t seem to maintain a single cohesive thought between the two of them. They touch on many varied topics from their recent honey experiences to some teases about the upcoming live episodes. Oh, and who is responsible for Ken losing more than half of his packages… that too!

John and Ken recap a few final thoughts on winter prep and give some last-minute pointers for those of us that may have been procrastinating. Winter… is coming early!

In this episode we will eventually learn what to do with our wax once we have harvested and uncapped our honeycomb... But first, Ken hijacks the show with some new honey to be tasted. Tune in now to learn what initial steps you can take to clean and preserve this wax and render it down for future use.

John and Ken are back in the rehearsal studio space this week to tackle some of the recent questions that listeners have sent in over the last few weeks. But first, they start off with a gift of Sourwood honey that they happily taste… again, and again, and again. This round we hear questions and feedback from Jeffrie Ann, Darrell S, Amy P, Jamie & Shannon, Blake, Kylie, and James S.

John and Ken sit down with the Honey Sommelier, C. Marina Marchese, from the American Honey Tasting Society. John has sent Marina a few samples of honey for the group to go through and taste in order to map out the different scents and flavors associated with each. The group sample two versions of spring honey, one from John's main apiary, and another from on top of the hotel in downtown Austin. There is also a sample of summer and fall/winter honey from John's apiary as well. Plus, John snuck in some of the Jerrabomberra honey from Australia, as well as two of his infused honey samples just for kicks. Tune in now for this detailed and interesting experience in honey tasting!

Spring has sprung down under, and Fall has come again to North America. That means winter will not be too far behind and it will be hitting the northern states sooner rather than later. Its time to reflect on the progress each hive has made this year and determine if they are capable of surviving winter on their own, or if it would be better to cut your losses now and potentially combine weaker colonies to create one new colony that hopefully has a better chance of surviving the coming winter. This episode can be a supplemental addition to Season One Episode 29 – Combining and Consolidating Hives.

On this episode John is joined by Nathalie Biggie to discuss how the foundations of natural and treatment free beekeeping has formed the basis for all that they do at Bee Mindful. From the minimalist approach to beekeeping using found and recycled resources, to the reasoning behind what it truly means to be treatment free, this episode covers a wide range of topics that ultimately keeps coming back to the importance of being mindful in all that we do with our bees.

Ken and John have some big news to share regarding the major changes and transitions the show has recently undertaken. They are joined by a couple of special, though silent, guests in the recording space today as well and eventually the conversation turns to the importance of fall mite treatments for colony healthy and well-being. Tune in now to catch up on all the exciting new changes and learn more about fall mite checks and treatments!

Today John sits down with author and reluctant beekeeper, Dave Doroghy. Dave recently released a new book about his misadventures in beekeeping called “Show Me the Honey – The Adventures of an Accidental Apiarist.” The guys discuss some of the trials and tribulations that Dave went through after receiving a hive of honeybees as a gift from his sister. Tune in now to hear Dave tell you from experience what not to do when keeping bees.

In this special bonus episode of The Hive Jive, John sits down with Gemma Astley from Homestead Hens and Honey. The pair talk about how Gemma got started in podcasting, her love for animals big and small, and a few of the adventures and misadventures on the homestead. From whippets to bees, and chickens to lizards, this episode has it all… even a sorted love affair between a tortoise and ceramic pot! Tune in now for truly one of a kind interview with plenty of laughs along the way.

In this latest listener questions episode, the guys tackle emails and online submissions from: Asha K, Charli B, Rachel S x2, James (Jimmy P), Jadyn S, Jamie S, Louise J, and Roger T. Tune in now to see what interesting questions and answers might apply to your own beekeeping adventures!

Though Ken has mentioned it a few times, and a few listeners have also asked about it, the timing for Fall Splits completely slipped John's mind. Where we usually do really well about getting the content out to you just before you need it, we totally dropped the ball on this one. So, tune in now to hear how Fall Splits work, and when you really should start them to ensure the best chances of success.

The original point of this episode was to talk about some of the natural predators of the Honeybee during the peak of summer. However, first we must due some quick updates from around the world, and then we should probably figure out what the heck B.A.V. stand for exactly.