Placed the first treatment on the swarm hive today. Took about a minute to do. Nope, didn't do any alcohol wash to kill some bees, just looking for ways to help them. The idea of 3 hives as a hobby beekeeper is a lot of fun.
Jun 29
8 min
This year's project is to see if I can be sustainable with just 3 hives. I have one swarm that moved in, as well as two nucs. Here's the story and the challenges. Will this work?
Jun 17
10 min
As a hobby beekeeper we often have swarms move into our empty hives. This one on the farm is strange to say the least. How do they choose the home and what should I do next?
Jun 14
10 min
Swarms are arriving and it's getting to be that time to make decisions on how to work with them. Some ideas and challenges as I move forward with my hobby beekeeping.
Jun 7
12 min
In looking at helping the bees I realized that the ApiLiveVar is open to heat issues. So what about this new oxalic acid treatment? Is it helpful for hobbybeekeeping?
Jun 1
13 min
This Science has been around for over 30 years, but this way to help honeybees with natural organic compounds wasn't something I talked about. I simply didn't know. I feel pretty stupid, but I am going to change what I do in this one important way. You may think about doing it too.
May 23
18 min
Back from the Edge?After I opened it up about a month ago and saw it was only two frames of bees, with no later activity, I gave it up. Didn't open it up again, but now the camera caught this. Orientation flight? Queen survived? At first thought it was just scouts, but now thinking I got lucky. What should I do now?
May 18
11 min
Farm updates with thoughts on survival. Planning strategies for 2026 and more insight into hive loss. Is hobby beekeeping even possible without treating?
May 10
14 min
Cutting the dried wildflowers gives me a chance to think about how I want to keep bees as a hobby beekeeper. The 95% loss has been amazing for research, but not so great for hobby beekeeping. Here are some thoughts on forward planning, and some preliminary ideas on what killed the hives.
Apr 25
13 min
I go through the painful task of opening and cleaning out the dead hives. It's likely the worst part of hobby beekeeping. What did I find and what did I learn?
Apr 20
20 min
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