Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

Winter Prep with Anne Frey (309)

What exactly are honey bees doing inside the hive all winter? Following their recent discussion about condensing hives, Dr. Jim Tew and Anne Frey return to the fundamenta

Condensing Hives with Anne Frey (308)

For generations, many northern beekeepers have been taught that winter colonies need upper ventilation to allow warm, moisture-laden air to escape. But what if that famil

Life in the Dark Bee Yard: A Halloween Encore (307)

The bee yard is a familiar place during daylight. After midnight on Halloween? That's a different story. For this special episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew reache

Plain Talk: Plastics in Beekeeping (306)

Plastic is now so common in beekeeping that it's easy to forget there was a time when virtually everything in the bee yard and honey house was made from wood, metal, glas

Plain Talk: A Flooded Smoker & Failed Queen (305)

A beautiful autumn day in the bee yard begins with an unexpected discovery for Dr. Jim Tew: his normally reliable smoker-storage system has failed spectacularly. A windbl

A Beekeeper's Cookbook (305)

What happens when decades of beekeeping, family recipes, and curiosity about cooking with honey come together in one book? In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew t

Plain Talk: Autumn Walkabout (303)

Sometimes, the best beekeeping activity is simply taking a walk and watching the bees. In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew heads into a nearby field for an

Plain Talk: Other Stinging Insects (302)

Fall has arrived, and Dr. Jim Tew is taking listeners on another walk through his bee yard. But this week, the conversation wanders beyond honey bees. It begins at the co

Small-Scale Honey Extraction with Anne Frey (301)

Honey extraction can be rewarding, but for a small operation it can also be sticky, awkward, and surprisingly hard on the wrists. In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Ji

Reflections on the 300th Episode

In this special 300th episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew heads back to his bee yard for a thoughtful look at where the podcast began, where it has taken him, and w

Small Late-Summer Colonies with Anne Frey (299)

Late summer can expose the colonies that simply haven't kept pace. Maybe they're late splits, small nucs, colonies recovering from swarming, or colonies that never develo

Archive Special: Fall Feeding with Kim Flottum (298)

When should you feed your honey bees—and when is feeding simply masking another problem? In this Honey Bee Obscura Archive Special, we revisit a conversation between Jim

Easy Bee Plants with Anne Frey (297)

What can the average beekeeper realistically plant to help honey bees and other pollinators? Jim Tew is joined by Anne Frey of Betterbee for a practical and sometimes wan

Plain Talk: Old Beekeeping Books (296)

On a quiet, rainy morning, Jim Tew opens a few fragile old beekeeping books and takes us on an unscripted trip through the practices, tools, and ideas of beekeepers who c

Tiny Hives Update with Sherry (295)

Not every colony survives—and sometimes the best lesson comes from the colonies that don't. This week on Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew provides tiny hives update for the lis

Memorable Stings with Anne Frey (294)

Every beekeeper remembers a few stings that stand out above all the rest. This week on Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew and Anne Frey share some of their most memorable e

Beekeeping in Hot Weather with Anne Frey (293)

Summer heat changes the way both beekeepers and honey bee colonies operate. In this episode, Jim Tew is joined by Anne Frey of Betterbee to explore what beekeeping in hot

Archive Special: Removing Honey (292)

Removing honey from a hive sounds simple until the supers are full. In this Honey Bee Obscura Archive Special, the late Kim Flottum and Dr. Jim Tew revisit one of the m

Plain Talk: Hot Bees, Ants and Weeds (291)

As summer temperatures climb across much of North America, Dr. Jim Tew reflects on what extreme heat means for both honey bees and the people who care for them. Speaking

A Small Open Colony (290)

Sometimes honey bees choose unusual places to live. In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew visits the property of longtime bee lab colleague Sherry to examine a