Short episodes about bees, hives and beekeeping in Sonoma County. Press play on any episode below.
New episode · About 6 minutes
Your first steps with a healthy hive: the brood box as the bees' nursery, frames and comb, and how a queen excluder keeps the queen below the honey. Plus how to spot a strong brood pattern, feed 1:1 sugar syrup and pollen when flowers are scarce, what queen cells can mean, and why queen rearing is a later step.
The glassy-winged sharpshooter threatens vineyards, and the sprays used against it can kill bees — here's how to trap and report one. Plus how hives raise long-lived winter bees in the late-summer heat, garden watering and mulch tips that keep pollinators fed, Sonoma County Beekeepers Association volunteers at local fairs, and how bees see ultraviolet light.
Why some “pollinator-friendly” nursery plants can still harm bees, and how to choose local, truly bee-friendly plants this fall. Plus what to watch in the hive as colonies wind down for winter, how the Sonoma County Beekeepers Association relies on volunteers, and how bees ferment pollen into bee bread.
Beekeepers across the country lost 50–70% of their hives this winter — worse than the colony collapse crisis of the mid-2000s. We talk through what happened, why no single cause explains it, and what it means for the food on our tables.
Tips for getting your hives ready before the cold sets in.
Learn to raise strong queens from your own colonies, with a step-by-step plan you can follow in the bee yard.
Keep clear records of every round so you can see what works and improve each season.
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