Some things should never be calculated. I learned this basic lesson many years ago from a skating...
Author - Rusty
It’s time to learn a new bee
Now that September looms and you’ve completed your crucial August mite management, I want you to...
Beekeepers and the Dunning-Kruger Effect: Unskilled and Unaware
Long before I knew it had a name, I wrote about the Dunning-Kruger effect in beekeeping. In a blog...
Create an Artificial Swarm with a Taranov Split
A split is simply a division made by taking an existing colony and separating it into two or more...
What does terroir have to do with honey?
I seldom switch allegiance midstream, but I just did. I set out to write about the terroir of...
Bearly there: the remains of my apiary
I always knew it would happen someday, and someday finally came. For twenty years my apiary has...
What is ethical beekeeping and why should we care?
My friend Harry keeps bees in a bustling midwest metropolis where he harvests bumper crops of thick...
The perils of sugar syrup: it’s not that complicated
After fielding beekeeper questions for eleven years, I have a decent idea of what confuses...
Swarm traps won’t cause your bees to swarm
New beekeepers often wonder if swarm traps or swarm lures installed near their apiary will cause...
Book review | A Beekeeper’s Diary
A Beekeeper’s Diary: Self Guide to Keeping Bees by Charlotte Ekker Wiggins. Published by...
Insects that feed us: more than honey bees
Countless bee organizations have lists of “honey bee facts” that are entertaining, if not exactly...
Is honey made from bee vomit? Sure, why not?
I’ve spent decades trying to convince people that honey is not bee vomit. It perplexes me no end...
Should you feed pollen supplement in spring?
Commercial beekeepers who intend to pollinate California almond orchards must have large and robust...
Respiration and Circulation in Honey Bees
Except for a recently discovered parasite of salmon, all animals require oxygen for survival and...
A beekeeper asks, “When do I quit?”
I have attempted to keep bees for five years now and am just about to call it quits because I can’t...
Angel-Topped Babies and Cemetery Honey
Why do people keep bees? These days, it seems that honey has nothing to do with it. “I don’t care...