About the Author
Countryside Magazine Contributor
Articles by Countryside Magazine Contributor
Natural Bees Comb Building: Boon or Bust?
The construction of natural bee’s comb is a wonder to behold. Festooning bees clasp legs to form hanging chains, a behavior many beekeepers describe as measuring, and set to work building hexagonal cells using wax flakes they excrete from abdominal glands and shape with their jaws. Each bee appears to work independently, yet somehow cells built by many bees working on different areas of comb come together seamlessly.
Read More
Starting Beekeeping: Find a Beekeeping Mentor
Mentoring is a traditional way for beekeepers to teach people starting beekeeping about tending bees. However, finding a mentor, someone who is both knowledgeable about hive management and interested in teaching you, can feel difficult, especially if you don’t know anyone who keeps bees in your area.
Read More
The Importance of Winterizing Beekeeping Equipment
Add to Favorites By Alexis Griffee, Florida Winterizing beekeeping equipment, while the hive sleeps, avoids problems when the weather warms up. As the cooler weather rolls in, our thoughts on the farm …
Read More
Bee Bucks – The Cost of Beekeeping
Keeping bees isn’t free and so I’m often asked, “What is the cost of beekeeping? If I’m looking to start a honey bee farm, what is the expected initial investment?” Let’s find out together!
Read More
Fascinating Queen Bee Facts for Today’s Beekeeper
Queen bees are fascinating and sophisticated creatures. Before starting your honey bee farm, there are some queen bee facts you must know in order to be a successful backyard beekeeper.
Read More
A List of Plants That Attract Bees
For thousands of years, bees have been helping feed people, but now in the face of an onslaught of chemicals and disease, they’re in need of a helping hand. One course of action you can take is growing plants that attract bees.
Read More
Emergency, Swarm, and Supercedure Cells, Oh My!
I remember seeing the queen in our first ever hive and thinking to myself, “I’ll never find supercedure cells since I’m going to do all I can to keep her alive forever.” Of course, that’s not the reality of beekeeping.
Read More
What Happens When the Queen Bee Dies?
Raising honeybees is a challenge. One day your hive looks good and a few days later you wonder if it’s going to live.
Read More
5 Tips for Starting Beekeeping
Will you utilize the most commonly used hive style, the Langstroth beehive or do you fancy yourself a top bar or Warre beekeeper? For protective equipment, you could use a veil, a jacket with vail, or a full body bee suit – which works for you? Location of your hive can impact your bees based on sun exposure (summer v. winter), wind exposure, accessibility, proximity to neighbors, and so on.
Read More
Why We Need to Protect Native Pollinator Habitat
Add to Favorites Doug Ottinger – Regardless of whether we live a rural lifestyle, an urban one, or something in between, our existence, and continuance of the world as we …
Read More