About the Author
Kristi Cook
Articles by Kristi Cook
Strange Creatures
What about all those strange creatures lurking about the bee yard? Here’s a little primer on which creatures to keep a watch out for.
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When Should I Perform the First Mite Check and Treatment?
A key time for getting a jump on varroa is when the colony is broodless, since any mites present will be in a phoretic state rather than hiding inside capped brood.
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Types of Comb and What They Tell Us About Our Bees
Understanding the various types of comb and how bees utilize each type of comb within the hive is just one element of keeping bees healthy and productive all season long.
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Pollinator Haven
As their populations continue to decline, we can ensure their recovery by providing pesticide-free food sources, adequate shelter, and dependable water.
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Wildflowers for Pollinators/Bees
While it is true that much of beekeeping is far from our control, providing a local food source in the form of wildflowers for pollinators is doable with a little planning.
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Which Garden Veggies Do Bees Pollinate?
Even if we lose all of our honeybees, we will not, as a nation nor as mankind, starve to death. However, because roughly a third of the food we eat requires bees for pollination, we will be forced to greatly modify our food expectations.
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Cleansing Flights
As with other living creatures, the “outcome” of cleansing flights can be a helpful tool in determining overall colony health and hive conditions, allowing the attentive beekeeper to make informed management decisions.
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Learn How Bees Can Be Sustainably Managed
The most sustainable manner of keeping bees requires Beeks to learn skills beyond hive inspection, feeding regimens, and pest control. Learning to create splits and raise queens are, without a doubt, the most sustainable manner of reducing costs.
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Catch and Release Powdered Sugar Roll Varroa Mite Test
Knowing what a hive’s mite load is can mean the difference between a hive surviving the winter in a healthy state ready to tackle the next honey season and an almost guaranteed untimely death from the viruses and diseases contributed to high varroa loads.
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Varroa Mite Treatments: Hard and Soft Miticides
Regardless of where you keep bees, varroa management is a constant topic within any beekeeping community. And with good reason; without proper varroa control, we beekeepers lose our valuable colonies.
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