Recently, I’ve been told that the answer to any beekeeping question should begin with, “It depends.” This always makes me grin because the very first blog post I ever wrote—nearly eleven years ago—is titled, “Well, it depends.” Other beekeepers said it before me, of course, but I’ve repeated that advice thousands of times in the […] Read more
Don’t worry. I’ve been predicting the imminent crash of beekeeping for about eight years now. So far, I’ve been pathetically wrong. So don’t lose any sleep over this. Still, the sudden closure of the three Brushy Mountain Bee Farm outlets and the disappearance of their website doesn’t give me a warm and fuzzy feeling. Yes, […] Read more
Many of my web visitors are soon-to-be beekeepers preparing for their first delivery of honey bees. They have read, attended classes, and talked to other beekeepers. Some write to me with a few last-minute questions. But what they envision and what I foresee are completely different. I was reminded of this beekeeping reality while watching […] Read more
Why indeed? In last week’s post about tossing and turning, I mentioned the beekeeper who said he never wanted to hear the words “it depends” ever again. He wanted concrete answers, a recipe for keeping bees. Yet we all know that’s never going to happen. Today I received the following note from another new beekeeper, […] Read more
Although I don’t like to admit it, I spend many winter nights worrying about what’s going on inside those boxes. Saturday night was typical. For some reason, I awoke at 2:30 a.m. absolutely convinced that my two most populous colonies had starved to death. No matter how many times I retraced my winter preparations, I […] Read more
Tis the season. My inbox is flush with “amazing” deals. Unfortunately, many of the hard-sell marketers are heading straight for the wallet of the soon-to-be new beekeeper. I’ve watched wannabees, still unable to tell a honey bee from a cockroach, buying specialty hives, extractors, and vaporizers so they will be ready when their bees arrive. […] Read more
I spent a good portion of last week on a bee trip, this time to the high desert of central Oregon. My bee trips give me an opportunity to meet other beekeepers, photograph native bees in their natural environments, and take a break from my website. Not to mention, they give me scads of things […] Read more