A Healthy Beehive
Bees look after themselves very well against many threats. As a general rule, if bees can solve an issue on their own the beekeeper should help them do just that. But being aware of the status of the colony is important, as is having an awareness of when to step in.
Varroa Mites
The Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) is a major threat to bees, causing colony losses, economic impact, and being linked to Colony Collapse Disorder. It's preventable...
March 25, 2025
Swarm Management in Spring
Spring is the busiest time of year for both the bees and the beekeeper. A strong, healthy colony will feel the natural urge to reproduce...
When can I harvest honey from my hives?
Harvesting honey can be a very exciting prospect for any new beekeeper, but there are some very important things to consider before doing so.
March 3, 2025
When Advanced Monitoring Meets Beekeeping
Traditionally, the use of technology in beekeeping has been fairly limited, particularly at the hobbyist level. Yet hobbyists, sideliners, and commercial beekeepers all face similar challenges....
Are bears a threat to my beehive(s)?
Prevention is key to protecting your bees from potential threats, and bears are no exception.
February 3, 2025
Can I tell if my colony is still alive in the winter?
Beekeepers can use some special techniques to check if their colony is alive in the coldest months.
February 3, 2025
Are dead bees at a beehive’s entrance normal?
A few dead bees are normal, but it's important to know when you need to do further investigation.
January 29, 2025
Do bees need water in the winter?
Honeybees cannot forage in winter while clustered. So, how do they get their water?
January 28, 2025
What are the biggest threats to honeybees in the winter?
Honeybees need to stay warm and require enough resources to survive the winter, but what else threatens them?
January 27, 2025
Why is condensation in a beehive dangerous?
Cold weather and condensation are a dangerous combination for honeybee winter survival.
January 24, 2025
How do honeybees make beeswax?
Honeybees produce beeswax with a process that begins with using specialized glands on their abdomen.
January 24, 2025
Can I check on my bees during cold weather?
Disturbing the hive in cold weather can stress bees. Learn how to check on your bees safely in the winter!
January 16, 2025
Feeding Honeybees in the Fall
As each beekeeping season is nearing its end, beekeepers are filled with a twinge of sadness and anxiety. Not only will we miss being able...
September 19, 2024
Winter Bees & Fall Honeybee Populations
Consider how honeybee populations change in the fall and learn what the "winter bees" are all about.
September 11, 2024
Preparing Honeybee Colonies for Winter
Prepare your honeybee colonies for winter. Essential tips on hive inspection, feeding, and ensuring their health and survival through the colder months.
September 6, 2024
Combining Honeybee Colonies
As we touched on in another Snippet, "Assessing Colony Size", knowing what the size of your colony is AND what it means for its health...
August 28, 2024
Assessing Honeybee Colony Size
No matter the reason for your trip out to your bee yard and inspection of your colonies, each time you peek inside one of your...
August 21, 2024
The Small Hive Beetle
A honeybee hive can attract pests like small hive beetles which can cause problems for both the beekeeper and the bees once they start reproducing.
August 14, 2024
Harvesting Honey from Your Beehive
The best practices for harvesting honey from your beehive. Learn tips and techniques to ensure a successful and rewarding honey extraction experience.
July 31, 2024
Before You Harvest Honey
Tips for harvesting honey from your beehive. Learn what to consider before collecting your sweet rewards and ensure a successful beekeeping experience.
July 25, 2024
Beehive Robbing & How to Manage It in Your Bee Yard
“Robbing” is a term in the beekeeping world that refers to the act of bees (or other insects and animals, like wasps) invading another hive...
July 18, 2024
Helping Bees Through a Nectar or Pollen Dearth
Being a beekeeper often requires you to pay attention to what’s happening in the environment around your bee yard, especially when it comes to keeping...
July 10, 2024
Effectively Managing Space in the Brood Nest
As we touched on in our previous Snippet, “Pollen and Nectar Stores in the Brood Nest”, bees are typically pretty good at managing their hive...
July 3, 2024
Pollen and Nectar Stores in the Brood Nest
Monitoring the brood nest is key to understanding your hive’s health.
June 26, 2024
Practical Hive Inspection Tips & Tricks
Completing hive inspections can be one of the most important tasks you’ll complete in your bee yard. Being able to open up the hive and...
June 19, 2024
Tips for Queen Spotting
When completing a hive inspection, it’s always beneficial to take note of what you see inside and on the frames. An especially wonderful sight is...
June 12, 2024
Nectar Storage & the Honey Ceiling
In most places throughout the U.S., by early June the spring nectar flow has begun, and honeybee colonies are out working efficiently to bring nectar...
June 5, 2024
How Taking Notes Can Help Manage Varroa Mites
By now we should all be keenly aware that the Varroa Destructor mite is one threat you can’t ignore as a beekeeper. A mite infestation...
May 29, 2024
Mite Treatment Considerations & Regulations
Understanding these details will help you choose the most suitable mite treatments for your colonies moving forward.
May 14, 2024
The Types of Varroa Mite Treatments Available
Considerations to make when choosing a treatment method for Varroa Mites.
May 8, 2024
Understanding Mite Counts
Learn how to effectively identify high mite counts in your beehive and gain an understanding of when to take action.
May 2, 2024
The Importance of Timing in Varroa Mite Management
Discover the critical role of timing in managing Varroa mites to protect your bees. Learn effective strategies to ensure a healthy beehive and combat these...
April 30, 2024
What is Integrated Pest Management?
As we all know by now, the Varroa mite is one of the greatest threats that a honeybee colony could face. We went over a...
April 24, 2024
Varroa Mites & Honeybee Viruses
In our last Snippet, “What is the Varroa Destructor Mite?” we talked about what a Varroa Mite is and how they operate. Now that you...
April 23, 2024
What is the Varroa Destructor Mite?
Whether you’re just getting started in beekeeping or have been at it for years, you’ve likely heard a LOT about the Varroa Mite. But are...
April 22, 2024
Tips & Tricks for Providing Pollinator-Friendly Plants
“Beekeeping Season” is often thought of as the time of year when the world and environment around us will become alive and renewed again. Trees...
April 16, 2024
During & After a Honeybee Swarm
Learn how to inspect your hive during and after a honeybee swarm. Explore essential tips to manage your bees and ensure the health of your...
April 10, 2024
Why Honeybees Swarm
The sight of a honeybee swarm is truly an incredible one. Thousands of honeybees, heavy with the weight of the nectar they carry, decide together...
April 3, 2024
Honeybee Cleansing Flights
Honeybees avoid waste near their hive. Learn how they use "cleansing" and "clearing" flights during warmer months to keep their homes hygienic.
February 22, 2024
A Beehive Autopsy
Investigating lost honeybee colonies helps identify causes and provides insights for improving success with future colonies.
February 7, 2024
Checking Your Beehive Has Signs of Life
Ensure your bees thrive through winter by learning how to check for signs of life in your hive without disturbing the colony, and what to...
Tips for Spotting Eggs
It's valuable to spot eggs, but can often be a challengeWhen inspecting your hives, there are many ways to verify your colonies are queen-right, with...
Get Your Hives Off the Ground
While you could start a beehive by setting your hive directly on the ground and the bees might just make do, at least for a...
The Value in Reviewing Losses
Awful News, But an OpportunityNo beekeeper wants to go out to feed a hive in late winter or open up a hive for their Spring...
Inspect Often When You Start Beekeeping
For a first-year beekeeper, it's important to dive in and learn how to inspect your beehives with hands-on experience. Every hive is unique, so inspect...
Winter or Pollen Patties
What to Use in the Fall and WinterIn the spring our bees will start foraging and, all being well, bring back plenty of pollen. This...
A Beekeeper’s Guide to Bee Stings
There aren’t many guarantees when it comes to keeping bees, but eventually getting stung is one of them.
Identifying Poisoned Bees
Be ready....If you keep bees, it’s likely that sooner or later, upon visiting your bee yard, you will find a pile of dead bees on...
Bee Hive Insulation for the Winter
In nature, honey bees overwinter in hollow tree cavities, with a small entrance and generous insulation above, below, and around their hive. This creates an...
How to Make Honey Sticks
Learn how to make delicious honey sticks with your harvested honey. Enjoy your sweet rewards in a fun, portable way!
The Beekeeper’s Role in Avoiding Colony Starvation
Learn how beekeepers can prevent colony starvation by understanding bee behavior, managing food supplies, and ensuring a healthy hive environment year-round.
A BetterComb Hive Inspection
There has been strong growth in interest recently for synthetic comb, as an effective way to help our bees establish themselves in a hive. The...
September 3, 2020
The Basics Of Requeening A Hive
Does the idea of requeening a hive scare you? Don’t let it. It is great for your hive and in turn, great for you as a beekeeper....
Calming your bees
How can we assess our bees response during a hive inspection? And what can we do to increase the chances of the calm enjoyable encounter...
Seasonal Changes in the Bee Yard
Seasonal transitions by our beesIt seems every year is different in some way and here in Central Oregon we are running what appears to be...
VSH and The Selective Breeding of Bees To Fight Varroa
VHS bees exhibit behaviors that directly reduce the number of Varroa in a hive, helping keeping the threat of mites in check.
The challenge of hot days in the hive
We humans generally love summer! But what about our bees? How do they cope with increasing temperatures, especially within the confines of a hive?
The Diversity of Pests
All beekeepers have a need to deal with pests at some point. Generally, mites come to mind when beekeepers think of pests. But while mites...
Second year beekeeper and waiting for sunny days!
Year two is when a beekeeper gets a taste of real beekeeping. If last year was your first season it's likely you have yet to...
Learning From the Sadness of the Deadout Inspection
We are at a time of year when we find colonies that didn’t make it through the winter and we wonder what happened to bring...
The amazing life of the Varroa mite
We love our bees. We introduce them to their homes, in the form of a hive. We do our best to ensure they have the...
A Beekeepers Guide To Using Oxalic Acid
An effective and popular treatmentA keen awareness of the level of Varroa mites in the hive is a primary concern for most beekeepers. There are...
An Introduction to Extracting Beeswax
IntroductionHaving seen how to harvest honey from your beehives, there are more treasures awaiting you.Honey gets all the good PR since everyone loves the stuff!...
January 26, 2019
The Challenges of Cross Comb
The bane of the beekeeper - but not the beeWhat exactly is cross comb? How does it happen? What should I do about it? What’s...
What is burr comb?
Back in the 1800's, the esteemed Mr. Langstroth (yes, the very same Langstroth we know from our hives) noticed something about his bees. He discovered...
Does purple honey actually exist?
Yes, it does. Taste is pretty subjective but those who have tasted purple honey love it. But the color is not subjective - it really...
The Buzz about Bee Stings
Love the OuchIf you’re like most people, the idea of being stung by a bee is painful at best. Sting sites swell and itch. Sometimes...
Honey for Health
Of all of natures treasures, honey is one of the more amazing. Beyond simply being a way to add a sweet treat to breakfast, honey...
Open Or Closed Feeding: Which Is Best?
Well, many people might have only seen bees being fed one way or the other. But really, you should be well informed so you can...
Using Essential Oils To Help Your Hives
Did you know that using herbs for medicine was once considered witchcraft?It is true! During the 17th Century they literally handed out tips as to...
5 Methods To Help You Raise Your Own Queens
Would you like to be able to raise your own queens?The idea of raising your own queen isn't one that comes to mind early for...
The ZomBees are Coming!
ZomBees?!!!No, this isn’t a joke or the next big sci-fi flick coming to a box office near you, though I’m sure Hollywood could have a...
Bees And Pesticides: What Is Safe?
Discover the impact of pesticides on bees and learn safe practices to protect these vital pollinators while maintaining a healthy beehive.
What To Know About Performing A Split
Have you ever performed a swarm split?If not, it can actually be rather intimidating at first thought. I remember the first time my husband performed...
Small Hive Beetle: What is it, How to Treat it
What is the Small Hive BeetleThe small hive beetle is a common hive pest, particularly in southern areas. The winters in northern areas are a...
Harvesting Honey
Depending on your methodology, there are two options for when to harvest honey from your hive - a spin extractor or crush-and-strain.
Weighing your beehive: Why and how
Why is weighing your beehive important?Simple - it is a great unobtrusive way to monitor how your bees are doing.It’s important to keep tabs on your...
First Hive Check in the Spring
It’s finally here! That joyous warm weather. The sun is shining, it’s 50°F and you’re ready to see how your bees did over the winter.
Obtaining and assessing varroa mite count
As a beekeeper, it’s absolutely essential that you keep the varroa mites in your hive under control. Because it’s never a question of whether you...
Realizing the benefits of your beehive
The benefits of a healthy beehive! From honey production to pollination, and let's discuss the benefits of our hard work as beekeepers.
Maintaining the integrity of the beehive
One of the nice things about beekeeping is that it involves a certain amount of downtime. Your bees know what they’re doing, and you don’t...
When bees go bad
Sarah has a disappointment with her hive - and that's just the start. But time to reflect and some lessons learned....
Over-wintering humans: Getting through the long wait
Beekeepers talk about overwintering - the art of getting bees through the cold winter months. But what about us humans?
Best uses for bee products
If you care for your bees attentively, they will reward you.
Winterizing beehives
Bees face challenge of surviving the colder months. And that can be a major challenge, especially in colder parts of the country.