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Urban Beekeeping: Fighting Colony Collapse Disorder
I’m a fan of British TV shows, and my Netflix queue is a veritable who’s who of BBC, Channel 4, and the rest. One thing I find especially pleasing in the shows’ set design is the prevalence of beehives...
View ArticleNYT says bee deaths to top 50% for winter 2012-2013
Grim, grim, grim. What really blew me away in the recent American Bird Conservancy report on neonics in the environment was that they persist in water for long periods, and kill off a number of...
View ArticleThe Origin Story
Every epic begins with a beginning. This is mine: This time in 2011, I was in a dead-end contract job that I knew wouldn’t last, but at that moment I had a decent salary and felt like it was time to...
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Foundationless Frames are Great for Beginning Beekeepers
Most beekeepers today use a hive design called the Langstroth Hive, which is a series of hollow wooden boxes (open on top and bottom) that stack one on top of the other. Inside each box, like files in...
View ArticleKeeping Bees for Bees
When I first got bees, everyone wanted to know when I’d have honey. I patiently explained that I wouldn’t have any in the first year, and I didn’t know if I’d have any in the second. I was mostly...
View ArticleHow I started beekeeping
I wrote a piece for MNN.com called “A Bugophobe’s Guide to Beekeeping” that’s been pretty well received in the week or so since it went live. Maybe you’ll see a bit of yourself in the narrative, though...
View ArticleSplitting the Hive: Day 20
I’ve been obsessed for the last week by the forecast for this weekend. Today is the 20th day since I split the hives, and the day the newly emerged queen should begin her mating flights. It is sunny...
View ArticleVarroa Watch
The biggest threat to honeybees may not be pesticides or weird weather. To save the bees, beekeepers must fight Varroa destructor. http://storify.com/_hieronymus/varroa-watch The post Varroa Watch...
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Fall Forage Plants in the Southeast
Asters are great fall forage plants Here’s a bit of wild aster growing on my property, photographed in mid-October. The bees (plus many other pollinators) worked this stuff constantly. Hopefully they...
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Four Ways You Can Help Bees This Spring
Wondering how you can help bees this spring and summer? It’s not hard – in fact, some strategies for helping bees mean doing less, not doing more! Help Bees Eat! 1. Seed white clover in your yard. No,...
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