If you ask a woman whether she is pregnant, she generally answers “yes” or “no.” Very seldom do you hear other versions, such as “more or less,” “partially,” or “somewhat.” She either is or she isn’t — go or no-go — and the reality is easy to comprehend. In plants, however, the situation is very […] Read more
Upper entrances are polarizing. Some beekeepers claim they are the best thing since sliced bread, while others say they offer an efficient way to kill your colony. Most likely the truth lies in the middle. Your local patterns of wind, rain, and temperature will dictate how effective or how detrimental upper entrances can be. Those […] Read more
Back in October, Vince Poulin of British Columbia sent us pictures of a feeder frame he designed for feeding nucs that were stacked one atop the other for winter. I thought it was a creative idea that solved a problem with stacked colonies—they can be hard to feed without much disruption. As a follow-up, Vince […] Read more
Whoa. I can’t believe an entire decade has passed since I first began this website on Christmas Day 2009. Oddly, it started on a whim. Blogs were something I became curious about after reading the book Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. The story convinced me it would be fun to write about my beekeeping […] Read more
I awoke to wind. In the faint moon glow, I could see a chain of poplars silhouetted against the sky, the upper branches tossing and thrashing. Individual trees synchronized into a chorus line, bending with the rhythm of each successive gust. The musky essence of sagebrush reminded me I wasn’t home. Each time I visit […] Read more
A beekeeper in Kentucky wants to know if tapping on the winter hive is really as dangerous as her mentor claims. She writes: [My mentor] came over last Sunday to help me with a winter checklist. While we were standing there, I leaned down and tapped on the hive to hear the bees inside. This […] Read more
Retired NYPD detective Tony Planakis, known as “TonyBees,” was the first person to convince me of the wonders of infrared photography for beekeeping. Once I saw photos of his colonies, I was convinced that infrared was the way to go. But his latest adventure just blew me away. Tony was called to a house in […] Read more