by Hilary | Jul 21, 2019 | How To, Natural Beekeeping
Swarm catching season is well underway and many of you have been enjoying the thrill of capturing your first swarms. Catching swarms is one of my favorite things in beekeeping, but it can also lead to one of the biggest disappointments: absconding! Too often...
by Hilary | Jan 2, 2019 | Equipment, Intermediate & Experienced Beekeepers, Natural Beekeeping, New Bees, Troubleshooting
Many beekeepers are intimidated by foundationless beekeeping. They aren’t sure their bees have enough time build out before winter without assistance or they worry about cross-comb. They often ask me, “Can I do a mix of some frames with foundation and some...
by Hilary | Sep 14, 2018 | Equipment, How To, Natural Beekeeping, Troubleshooting
Depending on where you live, ants can be a huge problem for your bees. Some beekeepers have mild ant problems and can get away with dusting cinnamon. For the rest of us, it’s a contsant battle protect beehives from ants! Luckily, I have come across a new system...
by Hilary | Jul 9, 2018 | Equipment, Natural Beekeeping
I find myself constantly changing my position on the subject of queen excluders. Are they good or bad for bees? Do they result in more honey or less? How and when should they be used? I’ve decided, that like most things in beekeeping, there is no...
by Hilary | Jan 19, 2018 | Lists, Natural Beekeeping, New Bees, Troubleshooting
Assessing your hive’s strength is an important skill for new beekeepers to learn. Many help resources for new beekeepers will reference strong hives versus weak hives and call upon the beekeeper to make decisions based on the robustness of their colony, but how...
by Hilary | Nov 9, 2017 | How To, Natural Beekeeping, Troubleshooting
New beekeepers usually have a tough time keeping their bees calm during inspections. My students often wonder why their colony, which was so defensive when they inspected it two weeks ago, is now positively angelic work my way through it. The simple answer is that I...