Beekeeping Today Podcast - Presented by Betterbee

Beekeeping Today Podcast

The podcast for the latest beekeeping news, information and entertainment for today's beekeeper. Hosts Jeff Ott and Becky Masterman bring you conversations with researchers, beekeepers and industry leaders to help you become a more informed and knowledgeable beekeeper.

Recent Episodes

March 18, 2024

Beekeeping and Varroa Downunder with Liz Frost (S6, E40)

(#269) In this episode, Becky and her guest cohost and Bee Culture writing partner, Bridget Mendel, take you on a journey with Liz Frost, an American beekeeper turned technical specialist in honeybees for the New South Wales Department of Primary...

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March 11, 2024

How To Get Started With Bees in 2024, Part 4 of 4 (S6, E39)

(#268) In the concluding episode of our four-part series on "How To Get Started With Bees," we explore the crucial topics of parasites, pathogens, predators, and pesticides—from this point on, to be collectively known as the “four Ps of...

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March 4, 2024

How To Get Started With Bees in 2024, Part 3 of 4 (S6, E38)

(#267) In "How To Get Started With Bees," part three of our four-part series, we delve deeper into the essential steps for budding beekeepers. This episode focuses on equipment selection, emphasizing the critical decision between new and used gear,...

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Feb. 26, 2024

How To Get Started With Bees in 2024, Part 2 of 4 (S6, E37)

(#266) In this episode, Jeff, Becky, and Jim dive deep into the world of developing advanced beekeeping skills. The trio revisits the 2020 foundational series on getting started with bees, adding a fresh perspective with new insights for 2024. They...

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Feb. 19, 2024

How To Get Started With Bees - 2024, Part 1 of 4 (S6, E36)

(#265) Welcome to a new chapter in beekeeping with the Beekeeping Today Podcast, presented by Betterbee. In today’s special episode, "How to Get Started with Bees in 2024, Part 1," we kick off a four-week series revisiting and expanding upon …

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Feb. 12, 2024

Drones and Purdue's Harpur Lab with Dr. Brock Harpur (S6, E35)

(#264) In this week’s episode, we explore into the fascinating world of drones with Dr. Brock Harpur from Purdue University. Listen and discover the critical role drones play in bee colony health and how current research is challenging previous...

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Feb. 5, 2024

Big Bee Data with Dr. Erica Shelley (S6, E34)

In this week’s episode of Beekeeping Today Podcast, we're excited to have Dr. Erica Shelley, CEO and founder of Best For Bees, rejoin us. Best For Bees is at the forefront with their innovative ProtectaBEE hive entrances, designed for...

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Jan. 29, 2024

Davidson Fellow 2023 Scholarship Recipient: Anna Yang - Queen Assessm…

In this episode we're excited to introduce Anna, a Stanford University freshman and hobby beekeeper from Campbell, California. With a passion for honey bees and a background in engineering and science, Anna has embarked on an intriguing journey to...

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Jan. 22, 2024

Almond Pollination and Bee Hero with CEO, Omer Davidi (S6, E32)

In this episode, we delve into a pivotal event in the North American beekeeping calendar: the annual migration of over two million honey bee colonies to California's almond orchards. This massive movement, spanning mid-February to mid-March, marks the...

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Jan. 15, 2024

Charlie Linder: From Backyard to Commercial Beekeeper (S6, E31)

Every hobbyist beekeeper eventually contemplates scaling up to a commercial operation with thousands of hives. Our podcast guest, Charlie Linder, embraced this challenge and has been forging ahead ever since. Initially, Charlie's beekeeping business...

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Recent Blog Posts

Your Bees and Early Spring Build Up

Baby, it’s getting warm out there! We recently received a voicemail from a listener who asked about the impact of unseasonably warm temperatures on beekeeping management. She is not alone in noticing advanced colony growth this year.  A …

How To Get Started With Bees - The Series Collective

In 2020, the late Kim Flottum, Jim Tew, and I launched an innovative podcast series focused on the fundamentals of beekeeping. This four-part series was among the first podcasts to comprehensively address what newcomers to beekeeping need to know. C…

North American Honey Bee Expo (NAHBE): A Reflection

I'm still buzzing with excitement from my weekend at the North American Honey Bee Expo in Louisville, Kentucky. It was an extraordinary event, and our booth, conveniently located right next to our key sponsor, Betterbee, was at the heart of the acti…

About the Hosts

Jeff OttProfile Photo

Jeff Ott

Cohost, Producer, Editor & Audio Engineer... Chief Cook, Bottle Washer, Errand Boy

While in 6th grade, Jeff’s interest in all things flying and crawling turned to honeybees. He enlisted his father’s help to buy an A.I. Root observation hive. Jeff’s honeybees resided on his second-floor bedroom desk in Lakewood, Ohio. He spent much of that boyhood summer enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of the observation hive. After buying his own home Hinckley, Ohio as an adult, he picked up on his interest in beekeeping. He purchased three colonies from a retiring beekeeper and his interest continued to grow.

Jeff grew his operation from a hobbyist into a small sideliner business selling honey and beeswax and providing local pollination services. He joined the Medina County Beekeepers Association and the Ohio State Beekeeper’s Association so he could continue to learn from others in the business. Jeff was president of the Medina organization and was a director of the Ohio association. He also created Medina County’s first newsletter: The Bee Herder.

While active with the Ohio beekeepers’ organizations, Jeff met the editor of Bee Culture magazine, Kim Flottum. Kim recruited Jeff and they created a regular column called the Weekender. The column provided practical advice for hobbyist beekeepers. Kim invited Jeff to attend the annual American Beekeeping Federation conference in Kansas City. While there, Kim introduced Jeff to Sherry Jennings, an executive with the National Honey Board in Longmont, Colorado. Sherry and Jeff are married.

Jeff relocated to Colorado to be with Sherry. He reestablished his beekeeping operation there and kept… Read More

Becky MastermanProfile Photo

Becky Masterman

PhD, Cohost, Columnist

Becky Masterman became a beekeeper when hired by the University of Minnesota Bee Lab as an undergraduate lab technician in 1992. She stayed on to earn a Ph.D. studying the neuroethology of honey bee hygienic behavior under the direction of Dr. Marla Spivak.

After a career detour in real estate, Becky returned to the Bee Lab in 2012 and led their Bee Squad program until 2019. Becky also served the Minnesota Honey Producers Association Board as a Director from 2016-2022 and currently heads their Habitat Committee and Habitat Hour webinar series. She has co-written the Minding Your Bees and Cues column with Bridget Mendel for Bee Culture Magazine since 2020.

Residing in Saint Paul with her husband and cat, Becky spends her free time managing her own bees and short-term rental properties across the Twin Cities metro area.

Kim FlottumProfile Photo

Kim Flottum

Cohost, Author

Kim Flottum attended the University Of Wisconsin, Madison, receiving a BS in Horticulture Production. While an undergrad he worked for the UW Entomology Department, researching insect control in green houses and gardens, and writing Extension Bulletins about those pests.

After graduation, he worked for the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab in Madison for four years, studying crop pollination, pesticide problems with honey bees and using honey plants in the home landscape. Later he moved to Connecticut where he was a farm manager, producing row crop vegetables and managing an apple orchard. While there he joined the CT Beekeepers Association, became President and then CT Director to Eastern Apicultural Society. John Root was also on the EAS Board at the time, and after a year offered the job of Publications Manager and Editor of Gleanings In Bee Culture, A.I. Root’s monthly beekeeping magazine.

During his tenure at A. I. Root, he created a new magazine, BEEKeeping, Your First Three Years, and also published several books, by multiple authors, along with editing three editions of The ABC and XYZ Of Bee Culture. He designed the first of Root’s beekeeping web pages, and started the daily email blast CATCH THE BUZZ.

Kim also served in leadership positions with The Ohio State Beekeeper's Assn and EAS.

During his 33 years as Bee Culture Editor, he produced five books of his own, including five editions of "The Backyard Beekeeper", plus In "Business With Bees", "The Honey Handbook", "First Time Beekeeping&quo… Read More