Raising Honey Bees
Note: This Table of Contents lists less than 10% of the posts on Honey Bee Suite. However, if you are a new beekeeper, the information in these posts can serve as an outline to help you get started. For a complete index, see Index. For a list of all the posts, you can visit the Archive.
My beekeeping philosophy
Getting Started in Beekeeping
- My advice for new beekeepers
- How many hives to start?
- What color should I paint my hives?
- A quick way to paint supers and ekes
- Sun or shade? Which is best for the bees?
- How safe is your hive from vandals?
- Installing a new package of bees
- The secret to brushing bees
- How to avoid squishing bees
Spring Management
Summer Management
- How to recognize a nectar dearth
- Nectar dearth and summer stress
- Equipment to improve summer ventilation
- Winter is coming and your bees know it
Autumn Management
- Fall management of honey bees
- How much honey should I leave in my hive?
- Autumn angst: is it time to combine?
Winter Management
- Preparing your hives for winter
- Winter preparation checklist
- How to use a quilt with a candy board
- How to wrap a hive
- Opening the hive in winter
Inspections
- How to do a simple brood nest inspection
- Is too much hive inspection a bad thing?
- Fretting over fall hive inspections
Feeding Bees
- The minimalist guide to winter feeding
- Put the syrup close to the bees
- How to feed crystallized honey
Hive Life
Swarming
Absconding
Laying Workers
Queens
- How to find your queen bee
- Never trust a queen
- Queenless or clueless
- What’s a bored queen to do?
- Piping, quacking, and tooting
Drones
- Is it true that a drone has a grandfather but no father?
- Diploid drones: What they didn’t teach you in bee school
Robbing
Other Colony Problems
Varroa Mites
- Mitekeeping for everyone
- Monitoring mites with a sticky board
- Can powdered sugar control Varroa mites?
- Did mites kill my bees?
- What is guanine?
Diseases, Predators, Pests
- CCD: Too young for field work
- Bee lice: lousy companions
- Dealing with ants
- Phorid flies parasitize honey bees
- Deformed wing virus