Beekeeping is not for the faint of heart, or, rather, wallet.
Although this is quite the fun and rewarding hobby, it is also very, very expensive. So much so that there is a meme that goes around with a $100 bill on fire and the caption “if you're ok with this, you're ready for beekeeping” (which is, 100%, unequivocally, true)!
For this one, I thought it'd be fun to take a look at some of the rouh costs it takes to start an apiary and, by the end, you'll see just how true that joke really is.
If you are getting into beekeeping, one thing you will have to plan for is treating for Varroa mites. These pests are, well, everywhere, and can cause hive loss if not managed most every season.
I've lost many hives to mites over the years, either due to choosing a poor treatment method or, more than likely, user error in applying correctly outright.
So in this one, I wanted to discuss some of the more common Varroa mite treatment methods out there, share what worked (and didn't work) for my personal situation, and help provide some tips in choosing which method may be best for you as, in all honesty, it really depends!
If you are new to beekeeping, odds are good you are quite eager for your first honey harvest.
Even after being into this hobby for many years now, we still get excited every time harvest approaches.
But you may be wondering, “is it time to harvest?” and the answer to that question is a resounding “it depends.” So in this one, let's talk about all of the cases you may want to look for to determine if it is time to harvest honey from your bee hives!
Every beekeeper is going to face the loss of a beehive at some point. For many, we lose a hive, identify why it failed, learn from our mistakes, and split any surviving hives the following spring to rebuild.
For several years, I was in this same routine. I'd lose one or two hives, be left with one or two hives after winter, and would split back to my ideal colony level without issue. In a way, it was good balance, if only because I can't keep expanding my apiary per local zoning.
After one particularly bad season, I lost three of my four hives, and, while I could have considered doing a multi-hive split from a very strong colony, I decided to try my hand at catching a swarm in the existing hives in my apiary- and I did!
So in this one, I thought it'd be fun to break down how to catch a swarm of bees, including why bees swarm to begin with plus many other important points to consider.
When I got into beekeeping, I learned a lot through trial and error. Although I came across many great tips via courses, books, and online groups, there were some things that I really needed to either see firsthand or, ideally, have someone beat me over the head repeatedly until I understood the implications inside and out.
So in this one, I thought it would be fun to focus on that latter point, particularly, what should new beekeepers should be aware of.
This one is not so much a list of casual observations that new beekeepers should know, but rather must know details that I wish I would've known inside and out when getting started. Overlooking some of these details can really make your beekeeping journey far more difficult!
When your beehives are filling their supers with honey, it is time to get ready for a possible harvest.
While you have to wait for the honey to be cured and capped to ensure it is below safe moisture levels (you can check this with a refractometer, if you are so inclined), you would do well to plan your method of honey extraction ahead of time to be prepared for when the day comes.
As it turns out, there are two popular methods for harvesting honey- the crush and strain method and using an extractor.
After trying both, we thought we'd share a bit about each method, and why buying a honey extractor would be the way to go if you can justify it. This one comes with some seriously caveats for home apiaries!
In my third year of beekeeping, I thought I was set for a good harvest in early summer.
Two of my bee hives were entering year three. The other two were entering year two. Most of the brood chambers were fully loaded with larva and honey, and my empty supers were on and ready to be drawn and filled out. My mistakes from the previous year seemed to correct themselves and we were in a good position to start the year strong.
I let the bees alone for a bit of time during the nectar flow, came back to check on them later, and I had a problem- the bees were not touching my supers!
As it turns out, this is a common problem, and there are many reasons (and potential solutions) for why your bees are not drawing out supers. So let's talk about what we tried to get them into the chamber we harvest honey from!
We have loved getting into beekeeping as a hobby for the reward of getting a honey harvest in the season and maintaining a colony of pollinators in our local ecosystem.
One tip you'll see come up time and time again is that those looking into keeping bee hives should start with at least two hives. As this is a crucial tip that can determine whether your hive(s) succeed or fail, we wanted to go more into why it is necessary in this one.
Beekeeping is one of my favorite hobbies at home. It is a relaxing activity, great for maintaining pollinators (although some argue this), and nothing beats locally cultivated honey!
Unlike other gardening and farming activities (bees are livestock, after all), you typically do not need a massive plot of land to reap the reward of starting a beehive or three.
Yes, local zoning laws in cities may change this, but since bees fly several miles a day in search of nectar and return it to their compact space of a hive, getting into beekeeping can be incredibly easy.
So if you are looking into setting up an apiary, we thought we would share a breakdown of all of the beekeeping equipment you need to purchase, as well as others you may want to purchase.
If your beehive is growing and showing signs of swarming, or perhaps you want to grow your apiary and turn one hive into two, it is time to make a beehive split.
While there are many ways to deal with swarm management and split hives, we love the easy walkway split method as it is simple, has a fair bit of success, and requires minimal intervention on our part.
So in this one, we thought we'd tackle what a split is, why you may want to do it, and why you may have to do it.