Beekeeping At Five Apple Farm Podcast

Dealing with a hive that appears queenless / Figuring out if it is really queenless / Bush’s Panacea Cure / Queen cells from micro-breeders becoming more available. ( Mostly beginner but with intermediate bits too) About the podcast: Leigh started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, fully chemical free and without buying replacement bees since starting. When I mention Michael Bush in this and other episodes, this is the website which is a treasure trove of bee reading: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm (Thanks Chris!)

Preventing swarming after splits. Listener question: What advice would you now give your first year beekeeper self.

Today I read selections of Sue Cobey’s classic article on Cloake board queen rearing. Skilled intermediate and up. Full article here (with illustration): https://www.delta-business.com/CalgaryBeekeepers/Bee-Club-Library/Queens%20and%20Nucs/Cloake%20Board%20Method%20of%20Queen%20Rearing%20and%20Banking%20Sue%20Cobey.pdf

Without moving anything smaller than a frame (no grafting, that is) you can make a few to several good queens off your favorite hive. References mentioned (some in reference to next episode): http://www.bushfarms.com/beessplits.htm#cutdown Generates a calendar for your queens (use with splits by using your split date as the graft date) https://thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/ http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/queenraise.html http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/benhardenmethod.html https://www.theapiarist.org/vertical-splits-making-increase/ https://www.theapiarist.org/cloake-board-queen-rearing/ https://www.theapiarist.org/ben-harden-queen-rearing-intro/   About the podcast: Leigh Knott started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, fully chemical free and without buying replacement bees since starting.

Aspects to getting quality queens from your own yard. Part one of several. Intermediate level. Bryan Fisher’s YouTube on Summer Splits: https://youtu.be/qkVGLJWaO80 Michael Bush slides on basic queen rearing: http://www.bushfarms.com/QueenRearing.ppt  

Random bee chat — Some feedback from you and questions I attempt to answer: flow hive, building equipment, split remorse, trickle feeding question and more.

B/I Many beekeepers are starting out or starting over with Nucs or Packages about now. Exciting time! Here are a few tips and tricks I’ve learned over the years that may be helpful— trickle feeding, getting comb drawn, preserving comb, sizing the space, getting comfortable, encouragement to practice, read, watch, ponder, rinse and repeat. Beginner/Intermediate.

New beekeepers are attending bee schools this month and starting on their path of beekeeping. Welcome to this brand new podcast! Here are a few tips, a few challenges and some encouragement for you.  Originally recorded in Feb 2019 with new short intro added Jan 2020. //  Show notes for all newer episodes live at: patreon.com/fiveapple The updated "Bee-School Radio" episodes created for absolute beginners as well as beginner years 0-4 start in January 2020.   Leigh Knott started with bees in 2010 and keeps around a dozen hives at 3000' in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, chemical-free and without buying/catching replacement bees since starting.