I lost my strongest hive to a Varroa infestation back in 2020, and it taught me a hard lesson: chemical treatments alone won’t save your bees. After that experience, I built my entire mite management plan around drone frame trapping, and it has become the backbone of my IPM program ever since. Drone frames for … Read more

Last summer I lost two colonies to persistent wasp raids before I figured out what my bees were up against. Yellowjackets and European hornets had turned my apiary into an all-you-can-eat buffet, and my poor guard bees couldn’t hold the line. That experience sent me down a rabbit hole of trying every wasp and hornet … Read more

Varroa destructor mites are the single biggest threat facing honey bee colonies today, and I learned this the hard way when my first hive collapsed in late autumn. These parasitic mites feed on bee hemolymph, transmit devastating viruses, and can wipe out a strong colony in 2 to 3 months if left untreated. After losing … Read more

I lost two colonies to varroa mites before I learned how much a simple mesh floor can change the picture. After swapping to screened bottom boards across my eight-hive apiary, my summer mite counts dropped by roughly 30% without adding a single chemical treatment. That experience is what drove this guide. If you are searching … Read more

When I started keeping bees a decade ago, I lost my first nuc to starvation in late fall because I had not yet learned how to properly feed a small colony. The local beekeeper who came to help me open the hive showed me his secret: a simple plastic tray that slipped into the brood … Read more

I lost 30 bees in a single weekend before I switched to an anti-drowning bee feeder. That morning I cracked open a tray-style top feeder and found a small pile of drowned workers floating in syrup I had poured just 48 hours earlier. After that, I went searching for bee feeding equipment that would actually … Read more

When I installed my first nucleus colony three years ago, I underestimated how quickly a small nuc could burn through its reserves. Within five days the cluster was listless and syrup-starved. That season taught me the lesson every new beekeeper eventually learns: the best nucleus colony feeders aren’t optional accessories, they’re survival gear for small … Read more

I lost my first colony to starvation in February. The cluster was still there, frozen tight around an empty brood box, with capped honey frames just two inches above their heads. That was the winter I learned that sugar bricks and fondant for bees aren’t optional extras for new beekeepers. They’re how you turn an … Read more

Choosing the right queen excluders for breeding makes the difference between a clean honey harvest and brood-contaminated supers. I have been running a small queen breeding program for the past four seasons, and the excluder I pick each spring directly shapes how easy my grafted cells are to manage, how clean my honey comes out, … Read more

Every beekeeper eventually needs to grab their queen. Whether you’re marking her for identification, clipping her wings to manage swarms, or simply moving her between hives, having the right tools makes the difference between a smooth inspection and a stressful afternoon for both you and the bees. I run a small backyard apiary with six … Read more