The Wild Flower Bee Farm

Part one of a two-part interview with a hobby beekeeper who has bees in Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada. What are the challenges and what philosophy of beekeeping makes sense.

Knowing when a hive is starting the first steps in possible swarming can be very helpful to hobby beekeepers. It may also signal when it's time to consider splitting a hive. I explain a new statistic using our AI platform that may be helpful.

As a hobby beekeeper, I wonder about the scientific evidence that shows bees choose to live far apart in nature. We know that drifting, robbing, and general dislike of each other make hives choose to establish far apart. If we believe this, why do we put them together?

Someone asked me a few questions about starting beekeeping as a hobby today, so here is my short list. I also talk about the need to interact with bees that make sense to YOU.

Hard to believe but true. Here in Canada, if you take your bees from your home to a cottage that may be in another province, you could be fined $10,000 and serve up to 6 months in jail. The rules are based on faulty science that supports provincial tariffs and border fees in Canada. It contributes to the escalated costs that hobby beekeepers face today.

In a new study, Drones are reported to transmit gut microbes to queens during mating. It opens up a whole new world and appreciation in understanding why, likely, we hobby beekeepers need to leave drones alone.

Hobby beekeeping is more than working with bees. It's a way to understand all of the things that can connect to our passion of bees and as well nature. In this unique interview, I sit down and talk with the founder of Green Goop, and how keeping or being around bees can lead to very different results.

Beekeeping used to be a relaxing hobby where it was a safe place to off load some weight or pressure. Now keeping bees seems to add to that weight. I'm deciding to do less in 2026, not more and make sure I protect the sanctuary of my experience.

Your Hobby beekeeping can get to the next level if you are ready. We are upgrading aibeehealth.ca to include a way you can analyze your front entrance bee activity to help better understand hive health. Will you join me in 2026?

While the temptation is to keep helping our bees in the winter, this may be the wrong thing to do. here is why for me, it's a time to leave them alone.

I asked myself that question, and the answer has nothing to do with honey or general beekeeping. When three of my worlds collided this week, maybe I'm starting to get it. What about you?

First time after viewing thousands of front entrance clips, we see this. It is in a 2-frame research hive spotted on October 26. The original hive is one of our 5-year survivors without chemical mite treatments. Could a certain strain of DWV actually help inoculate our bees?

With hobby beekeeping, I often wonder whether I should add a bit of thymol to help my bees. Treating for varroa seems to be something many of us think will help. But the science and the fact that tens of thousands of beekeepers no longer treat for Varroa tell us something else. Today, I discuss the powerful placebo effect on our actions with our bees. Does thinking it will help make it do so?

As we wind down the year a look at our failed and survivor hives with some Bee Lessons on life and money management.

I often think I can save them when I see the yellow jacket attacks, but it is really only a sign of a different problem. Here are my thoughts and Hive updates.

With just two hives failing so far, it's not enough to run the data. But some failed splits may help us better understand what may have happened to them. The other question is, if we open a hive now, what do we do with it if it still has bees?

It's sad on one side, but exciting on the other to have finally lost some hives. The lost hive data when compared to those that survived may help us better understand what is happening with our bees. The work starts this week.

As the bees wind down, so do I. Here are some updates as we move into late fall.

What a week. My eyes were opened wide as I learned of this fraud. Not surprisingly, I was a part of it. Here's the story.

In this rare interview on my podcast, I bring on Dr. Gary Brook whose article I recently discussed on the ability to have bees treatment-free. It's a fascinating look at the evidence and clearly begs the question, Why aren't we all doing this?

The evidence is pretty clear now that beekeepers need not treat for mites. In this podcast, I discuss the recently published article that says using these two strategies can get you treatment-free.

While the USDA wants us to believe mites and viruses killed our bees this year, it's not true. Listen while I explain some common researcher tricks and also some common beekeeping mistakes to avoid. Yes, I loved the Dave Letterman "stupid human pet tricks" segments.

I record this podcast from the Bee House and discuss the benefits of this approach plus hive updates.

A bit of this and that, plus special thanks for sending me your comments.

In this podcast, I discuss a presentation made by Dr. Thomas Seeley 11 months ago, and how it is an important and valuable training tool for hobby beekeepers.

The bad air has made the bees jumpy and swarms continue to keep moving in.

Eliminating the stress bees face is very beneficial to their health, ability to produce large amounts of honey, and overall survival. Here are some thoughts on why it seems our bees are pretty chill.

I finally figured it out, hence this bonus podcast. If you are one of the few, here's the link to more information on the class. Remember the discount code is POD7 https://hankbee.gumroad.com/l/zwzsp

Two months ago, a swarm moved into a Warre hive. It is exploding with bees. What should I do this late in the season? Here's the link to the class, remember the discount is POD7 https://hankbee.gumroad.com/l/zwzsp

We have reduced entrances on all of our hives. It's one of those rules that has helped them survive. But now at night, we see them reducing their entrances even more. It's not all of our bees, but mostly those with a history of survival. What could be happening, and another reason why continuous hive entrance monitoring is valuable for the hobby beekeeper.

As I look for a bit of honey, several new findings emerge. Bees move honey around the hive so the queen can lay eggs and a steady flow of nectar despite the drought.

With all these hives and bees, I'm not sure what to do next. Here's a farm update and some ideas on the summer splits.

Looking at how to select the hives to split again and why it's a good idea.

Transferring a nuc into a standard hive within the beehouse was an enjoyable experience—updates on this new project and a beekeeping myth that is hurting our bees.

Maybe things will work out after all.

We take the month of June and refrain from touching our hives. It's tough, as we want to go in and look at things. Here's why we leave them alone with some split and swarm updates.

We have three different swarms that have chosen to live with us on the farm so far this year. Here are some hive updates and some thoughts about IPM.

Some of my 2 frame splits worked, many did not. What happened, what I did wrong, plus a new question and answer live session tonight at 7:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

What happened when I checked out the mouse hive and an update on the progress of our other hives.

Here's a strategy I use and discovered by accident, that is ideal if you only have a few hives and want a split strategy that only takes a minute or two.

It took 150 years for health care professionals to wash their hands between patients. How long will we delay using proven practices to save our bees?

This morning, the temperature hit -5 C, with a wind chill of -10 C. Yesterday, some bees were flying at 7-9 C. What could this mean?

Under the Darwinian black box selection technique I'm supposed to let them die. But this isn't an easy thing to do. I talk through my thinking on this and ask you what would you do?

It's important to watch the hive entrance at this time of year to signal if the hive may be ready for splitting. Here are some of my plans, plus the problem with having a good winter survival rate.

Although the research proves that these strategies could help not sure why we don't do them.

How these 2 frame nuc's will help with sustainability.

Possibly the most futuristic, but helpful this strategy would be a no brainer for me to initiate if I were starting with bees today.

It was talked about some time ago, but should we not consider it today? The other important point is to ask the right questions when investigating the current issue with hive loss. This could help.

Here are two more hobby beekeeping strategies I would use if I started today. Splitting twice a year I think is the most important.

With the bees flying at 12 C, it was a good time to assess who had made it. We are at 14 out of 15 hives making it through the winter so far, and here's what I think happened.

I discuss the importance of knowing the type of hive you are getting to start your beekeeping career and some beginning steps for setting your goal of sustainability.