I lost my first hive to varroa mites three winters ago, and that loss taught me more about beekeeping than any book could. Varroa destructor is the single biggest killer of honey bee colonies worldwide, and finding the right formic acid mite treatments became my obsession that spring. Formic acid stands apart from synthetic miticides … Read more

Ants inside a beehive are more than just an annoyance. A determined column of Argentine ants can swarm a colony, drive out the queen, or force your bees to abscond entirely. After losing a nuc to ants in my second year of beekeeping, I went down a serious rabbit hole on the best ant guards … Read more

I’ve been treating my bees with oxalic acid for six seasons now, and the first time I tried it without a proper respirator, I learned a brutal lesson. After about 15 minutes of vaporizing, my throat burned for two days. That’s when I started researching the best respirators for oxalic acid treatment the right way. … Read more

I lost my first hive to small hive beetles in — and watching strong colonies collapse from something you cannot even see well is heartbreaking. After that season I went down a rabbit hole testing every hive beetle oil tray I could get my hands on, comparing catch counts, oil life, and how each one … Read more

Every fall I find deadouts in my apiary that I did not see coming. The one thing they had in common was uncontrolled varroa mite levels. After losing two strong colonies two winters ago, I started using mite monitoring boards as a non-negotiable part of my monthly hive checks, and I have not lost a … Read more

Internal hive-top feeders fit on top of the brood boxes but beneath the outer cover, holding large amounts of syrup while being extremely easy to fill. They reduce robbing pressure, prevent drowning with floats or screens, and let you refill without opening the hive body. I ran eight of the most popular top hive feeders … Read more

When I started keeping bees in my backyard apiary, I lost two packages that first spring because I underestimated how fast their sugar reserves could run out. After talking with experienced beekeepers, I picked up a simple Boardman entrance feeder and saw an immediate difference. The colony took syrup on demand, and I could refill … Read more

Finding the best hive top bucket feeders transformed how I run my apiary. After losing two weak colonies during a fall nectar dearth, I switched from entrance jars to hive top bucket feeders and saw immediate results. The colony that was barely covering three frames in August had filled two deep boxes by November. That … Read more

I learned the hard way that an underfed colony in late January is a heartbreaking thing to find. After losing two hives one cold February, I started taking winter feeding seriously and began testing every feeding shim and rim I could get my hands on. That season turned into a full-on obsession. I ran eight … Read more

Choosing the best honey presses for your apiary changed how I work with my hives. After three seasons of testing manual and bucket-style presses across Warre, top bar, and Langstroth setups, our team compiled this definitive roundup of the eight top-rated honey press extractors on the market in . Most beekeeping blogs focus on centrifugal … Read more