I lost my first hive to varroa destructor in 2019. The colony looked healthy in spring, then collapsed by August. If I had tested earlier, I could have treated in time. Varroa mites are the single biggest threat to honey bee colonies worldwide. Without regular testing, an infestation can snowball from a few mites to … Read more

If your hive collapses, the culprit is almost always the same. Varroa destructor mites silently feed on honey bees, spread deformed wing virus, and quietly weaken colonies until they fail. I learned this the hard way in my second year of beekeeping when I lost two strong hives to an infestation I never measured. That … Read more

Varroa mites are the single biggest threat to honey bee colonies in North America, and the difference between a thriving hive and a colony collapse often comes down to how early you catch an infestation. We have spent the past three months testing 8 alcohol wash mite testing kits across our apiary of 23 hives, … Read more

I lost my first colony to small hive beetles three summers ago. The honey smelled like rotten oranges, the frames were slimy, and the bees vanished in a week. That gut-punch sent me down a rabbit hole testing every trap I could find, and today our team runs over 40 hives across two apiaries. This … Read more

When my niece announced she wanted to start beekeeping at age nine, the first thing I did was panic about stings. The second thing I did was buy her a youth beekeeping suit that was too big, too thin, and had a veil she couldn’t see through. We learned the hard way that kid-sized protective … Read more

Last summer I got knocked around by my own honey bees for the first time in three seasons of backyard beekeeping. One bent-over frame lift and three girls got me right through the seat of my jeans, which taught me an expensive lesson about choosing the best beekeeping coveralls for backyard hives. After that afternoon, … Read more

Pulling frames from a hive with thick, clumsy gloves feels like trying to thread a needle in oven mitts. We have been there, fumbling with a hive tool while a thousand bees give us the evil eye. After spending three months testing 8 beekeeping gloves across 14 hive inspections, our team learned that the best … Read more

After my first season keeping bees, I learned the hard way that a bee suit that can’t go in the washing machine becomes a sticky, propolis-coated nightmare. Machine-washable bee suits changed how I work with my hives, and they should change how you shop for one too. Our team spent 6 weeks researching, testing, and … Read more

I remember my first hive inspection wearing a borrowed suit that had a hole I did not notice until three bees were inside my veil. That afternoon sent me on a hunt for the best beekeeping suit and glove combo I could trust. After testing 10 combos over the past several seasons and talking with … Read more

I have been stung more times than I want to admit. After a particularly bad afternoon with an aggressive colony that left me with eleven stings through a budget suit, I made it my mission to find the best full-body sting-proof suits that actually work. Our team spent three months testing eight different suits across … Read more