I became a beekeeper on April 22, 2017. That was the day that my beekeeping partner Dan, and I brought home a nucleus colony of Western honey bees (i.e., Apis mellifera).
Today I manage between ten and fifteen full-sized colonies and between zero and ten nucleus colonies. All our bees live in small suburban “micro apiaries” in Bethesda, MD, USA, hosted by neighbors. I sell honey and other hive products under the brand name Bee Daddies Apiaries.
Pages and posts linked below reflect some of my thoughts about bees and beekeeping.
- DMV Beekeeping Resources
- How We Got Started in Beekeeping
- Bee Knowledgable – Links
- Posts About Beekeeping
- Fondant Recipe for Winter Feeding
- Rob’s Bee Babble
Posts About Beekeeping
Year 5 Reflections – Happy Bee Day
Toni Burnham says that a beekeeper always remembers his or her “Bee Day.” That is the day that you first…
Spring 2021 Revival
What are your beekeeping goals for 2021? Is it too early to be setting goals for the remainder of your…
The Foundations of Managed Bees
This Bee Babble was started on October 25 2020. It needs a little more work before I am happy with…
Mighty Mites and Waxing Poetic
This Bee Babble was started on June 4, 2020, updated on June 21, and probably needs a little more work.…
Splitting Errs (Rhymes with Hairs)
This is the Bee Babble for May 22, 2020. I am a little embarrassed that it has been almost two…
Stay Home and Learn Something
This is the Bee Babble for April 1, 2020. A couple of online learning opportunities for beekeepers, free, are available.…
Bee Responsible – End of Life Planning
I do not want to write this particular Bee Babble. You probably don’t want to read it. As human beings,…
Swarm Season is On!
What Flowers Are You Seeing? What are you seeing outside your hives? What are you seeing in the plants and…
Clean-Up on Aisle “Bee”
So this is my fourth “Bee Babble for My Mentees” article. The first three will appear at a later date.…
Tucking Them In For Winter
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone The weather has been warm enough this week for some of the foragers to come out…
2:1 Syrup to Fondant
Today (November 13, 2019) is going to be the coldest day of the year here in the DMV since the…
Honey Mistaken for Meth?
A man was jailed for importing honey from Jamaica because customs thought that it was liquid meth.
Playing with a Beekeeping Timeline
I am playing with creating a timeline of events of interest to beekeepers. Doing some background research on pests like…
Waiting for Santa Bee
This image of a beehive with Christmas stockings is going viral among beekeepers and their friends. I decided to try…
Lessons Learned With an Ulster Observation Hive (Part 1)
I volunteered to bring an observation hive to a pollinator panel that was held this past weekend (Oct. 7, 2018)…
Beekeeper’s Conflict of Interest
The other day I was about to start weeding the yard when I realized that they were flowering. So far…