This is without doubt, the most technologically advanced, commercially available, honey bee hive monitoring system developed so far. Mike James has a background in home automation and when he started keeping bees not all that long ago, a first thought was supporting his package bees with some insulation. And, to…
In Part 4 of our 5-part series on hive types other than the standard Langstroth, we talk with Paul Longwell about the AZ Hive. Paul has been keeping bees for quite a few years. He’s a Master Beekeeper and has bees in Langstroth hives, top bar hives and has a…
In this episode, we invited Dr. Brittney Goodrich to discuss what her research has found in almond pollination contracts. Brittney is a Cooperative Extension Specialist at the University of California, Davis. She is an Agricultural Economist and one of her favorite topics to research are the contracts between beekeepers and…
In this episode, Master Beekeeper, Katharina Davitt reveals the nutritional benefits honey bees derive from bananas. Yes, you read that correctly, bananas! We all know that bananas are good for people. They are full of carbs, minerals, vitamins, are good for digestion and just taste good. But the one thing…
In this episode, Kirsten sits down with Matthew Pettersson of Madhu Honey, who fell into beekeeping after a chance encounter with a giant jar of honey in a New York City apartment. Fascinated by honey bees and the golden honey they create, he ended up working for a commercial organic…
Dave Doroghy works in the worlds of advertising and sports marketing and lives on a house boat on the Frasier River in southern British Columbia near Vancouver. His discovery of beekeeping wasn’t the common story of being swept off his feet with this new found passion. No, his interest was…
In this episode of Beekeeping Today Podcast, we reconnect with our beekeeping friends from Season 2, Episode 29. They come from across the country including Central North Carolina, North East Ohio, the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and the West Coast of Washington. We talk with them about last…
Strong Microbials got their start producing probiotics to improve the health of cattle, dairy cows, poultry and swine. Their products improved animal food digestion resulting in overall animal health. In 2012 they became interested in doing the same thing for honey bees. In this episode, we talk with Vera and…
In this week’s episode, guest host Kirsten Traynor speaks with Emily Bondor of the Santa Cruz Bee Co about how she manages her colonies and those of other beekeepers without chemical intervention. Emily discuss the types of losses beekeepers should expect when foregoing varroa treatments, how to be an ethical…
On this special Holiday Replay, we bring back one of our favorite episodes from the first season, when we invited Dr. Sam Ramsey to the podcast to talk about the Varroa Mite. Sam Ramsey is a life long entomologist. His interests in all things insects started in his youth along…
In this episode, Kirsten chats with commercial beekeeper Simeon Valkenburg, who runs a commercial operation with his brother in Australia. He talks about building up their commercial operation from scratch. They started with one hive and are now up to about 1,000 hives in south east Australia. The season kicks…
Dr. Jay Evans is the Research Leader at the USDA Honey Bee Research Lab in Beltsville Maryland. He and the resident scientists there are involved in many projects, including mite studies, nutrition supplements for bees, queen health and nutrition. Plus, even in middle of this pandemic, they have realized the…
In today’s episode we talk with Sarah Weiner, the Executive Director of the Good Food Awards Foundation and Mark Carlson, the Committee Co-Chair of the Honey Category. Sarah brings a global perspective to her position having worked with Slow Foods International in Italy and the US, produced the Organic Food…
If you’re interested in starting a honey festival in your city, you have to speak with Steve Rogenstein who founded the Ambeesadors. A former event manager, he fell in love with bees and has used his unique skills to organize honey festivals in both New York City and Barcelona. Currently…
In today’s episode we talk with Ben Dictus, beekeeper for Bee Downtown. The good people in the Bee Downtown organization have taken bees and beekeeping to a new level of education, promotion and opportunity. They have combined beekeeping and leadership training, with business leaders and employees: Bee yards with corporate…
This week we talk with Ellie Symes, CEO of The Bee Corp. We met Ellie at the recent Almond Growers virtual conference. With pollination hives in almonds renting for around $200 each, almond growers want to make sure they are getting good, strong hives so they get maximum production from…
This autumn wildfires cut through large swaths of Oregon, destroying towns, homes and habitat. In this episode, Kirsten talks with Sharon Schmidt, founder of Cascade Girl Apiary, who lost her home and apiary in Phoenix, Oregon. Sharon was visiting a friend when the fires roared into her town. The police…
In this episode, Kirsten Traynor meets up with Dr. Rachael Bonoan, a bee biologist and ecologist. Bees have some unusual and quirky behaviors. They discuss bumble bee high fives, why honey bees like stinky, dirty water, and how our pollinators may be seeking out unusual food sources to gain important…
In today’s episode we talk to Britteny Kyle, DVM, President of the Honey Bee Veterinary Consortium (HBVC) and Alexzandra (Allie) Mosel, DVM, who is the President Elect. Both are beekeepers and small animal veterinarians interested in getting more vets trained and interested in bees and beekeeping. Recall that as of…
On today’s episode, we talk with Newfoundland beekeeper, Peter Armitage and Dr. David Peck, a Professor from Cornell University, David Peck. Those of us south of the Canadian border tend to mispronounce the name of that big Island off the east coast of Quebec and just north of Prince Edward…
The Bee Audacious conference brought together beekeeping luminaries like Mark Winston, Marla Spivak, Tom Seeley and many others. The event was created and organized by Bonnie Morse, who recently sat down to chat with guest host Kirsten Traynor. In today’s episode they talk how Winston’s editorial in Bee Culture encouraged…
Starting several years ago, Steve Donohoe wanted to find out more about beekeepers and how they kept bees. His travels took him to California, where he talked to Randy Oliver and Ray Olivarez, to Vermont to talk to Mike Palmer, then back the UK to talk to Murry McGregor in…
In this episode, we welcome back Colorado beekeeper, Tom Theobald. Tom had a small commercial operation in Colorado in the late 70’s, running up to 200 or so colonies when he first started using two queen colonies. The biology of running two queens in a colony does make sense if…
Dr. Dewey M. Caron’s latest book, The Complete Bee Handbook is quite the book. Not a scientific text, not a how-to beekeeping book, but one that’s meant for all those folks who think they might want to keep bees, but don’t know what’s involved. Plus it includes sections on honey…
