Practical beekeeping articles that have previously appeared on www.theapiarist.org, grouped – rather haphazardly – into a series of categories. Note that there may be some overlap between categories, with posts being listed here as well as under beekeeping equipment or beekeeping problems.
Beekeeping … like herding cats, that sting.
Varroa control
Sublimox vaporiser …
How to use miticides rationally and effectively … and how to minimise the need for their use.
- Apiguard advice September, 2023
- Management comparisons April, 2023
- Coordinated Varroa control March, 2023
- Infernal contradictions February, 2023
- Repeated oxalic acid vaporisation November, 2022
- Broodless? November, 2022
- Winter covers and colony survival October, 2022
- Biological control with Varroa September, 2022
- Shook swarms and miticides July, 2022
- Timing is everything May, 2022
- Latitude and longitude April, 2022
- Triumphs and tragedies March, 2022
- Winding down September, 2021
- Irrational Varroa control August, 2021
- Rational Varroa control July, 2021
- More from the fun guy June, 2021
- Winter losses April, 2021
- Frequently asked questions February, 2021
- Queens and amitraz residues in wax December, 2020
- The winter cluster December, 2020
- OA Q&A November, 2020
- Oxalic acid (Api Bioxal) preparation November, 2020
- Late season miscellany October, 2020
- Weed and feed September, 2020
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- Vaccinating bees February, 2020
- Apivar (amitraz) resistance January, 2020
- Resolutions January, 2020
- 2019 in retrospect December, 2019
- Rinse and repeat December, 2019
- Midwinter, no; mites, yes November, 2019
- Beekeeping economics October, 2019
- Cabinet reshuffle September, 2019
- The flow must go on August, 2019
- Droning on July, 2019
- Window of opportunity June, 2019
- Leave and let die June, 2019
- Midseason mite management June, 2019
- Pedantically not phoresy February, 2019
- Convenience or laziness? December, 2018
- Resistance is not futile October, 2018
- Survival of the fattest August, 2018
- Apivar & Apitraz = Amitraz March, 2018
- Weather to treat December, 2017
- Trick(le) and treat October, 2017
- Oxalic acid preparation October, 2017
- Kick ’em when they’re down October, 2017
- Counting Varroa September, 2017
- Right here, right now August, 2017
- Size matters August, 2017
- Apistan redux† March, 2017
- Apistan resistance March, 2017
- Apistan and residues February, 2017
- Get dribbling December, 2016
- Out, damned mites December, 2016
- Those pesky mites October, 2016
- Varroa control in the bee shed September, 2016
- All together now February, 2016
- When to treat? February, 2016
- Vaporising Api-Bioxal January, 2016
- Time to BEEHAVE January, 2016
- Keeping things ship shape November, 2015
- Miticide cost effectiveness November, 2015
- Oxalic acid and LSD November, 2015
- Sublime sublimation September, 2015
- Late arrivals July, 2015
- Swarm care and treatment June, 2015
- Apiguard treatment August, 2014
- Oxalic acid treatment January, 2014
Swarm control
Clipped queen swarm
Swarm prevention and control.
- Your second season September, 2023
- The calm after the storm June, 2023
- The Hopkins method (and more) June, 2023
- Swarm control – it’s not rocket science June, 2023
- Spot the queen May, 2023
- Site and smell April, 2023
- Getting answers February, 2023
- Learn from my mistakes December, 2022
- Feral facts and fallacies October, 2022
- Tim Toady September, 2022
- Queen rearing miscellany June, 2022
- Eats, sleeps, bees May, 2022
- Timing is everything May, 2022
- Latitude and longitude April, 2022
- Triumphs and tragedies March, 2022
- Little dramas June, 2021
- No risk, no reward May, 2021
- Acting on Impulse April, 2021
- Swarm control and elusive queens March, 2021
- Frequently asked questions February, 2021
- 2020 in retrospect December, 2020
- Bigging up nucs July, 2020
- If it quacks like a duck … July, 2020
- Queenright … or not? May, 2020
- Queen cells … quantity and quality May, 2020
- Principles of swarm control April, 2020
- 2019 in retrospect December, 2019
- Window of opportunity June, 2019
- Natural vs. artificial swarms April, 2019
- Demaree swarm control April, 2019
- The nucleus method March, 2019
- Superorganism potential March, 2019
- Taking stock July, 2018
- Queen cells … don’t panic! June, 2018
- An Inspector Calls April, 2018
- Pagdens’ artificial swarm March, 2017
- Queen clipping – why? July, 2015
- Brace yourself July, 2014
Swarms
A small swarm …
Catching swarms and effective use of bait hives.
- Why so few feral colonies? July, 2023
- Spot the queen May, 2023
- Wild, feral or escapees? October, 2022
- Biological control with Varroa September, 2022
- Bait hives, evolution & compromise April, 2022
- Absconding August, 2021
- Acting on Impulse April, 2021
- A no competition, competition April, 2021
- Quick thinking & second thoughts March, 2021
- The memory of swarms May, 2020
- Principles of swarm control April, 2020
- Time to deploy! April, 2020
- 2019 in retrospect December, 2019
- Women without men August, 2019
- Queen includer August, 2019
- BOGOF July, 2019
- Off again, on again … June, 2019
- Window of opportunity June, 2019
- A tale of two swarms May, 2019
- And they’re off … April, 2019
- Natural vs. artificial swarms April, 2019
- Bait hive guide March, 2019
- Superorganism potential March, 2019
- Swarm and mite partitioning May, 2018
- Prime numbers and cast offs June, 2017
- Scouting for girls June, 2017
- Those pesky mites October, 2016
- No, not really … September, 2016
- Same time, next year June, 2016
- Divide and conquer April, 2016
- Late arrivals July, 2015
- Swarm care and treatment June, 2015
- Churchyard swarm June, 2015
- Under offer June, 2015
- Bait hive – fail May, 2015
- Super poly bait hives April, 2015
- Lost and found June, 2014
- Freebies May, 2014
- Bait hives – success May, 2014
- Bait hives April, 2014
Queen rearing
Locally raised queen
Practical methods to rear new queens ranging from simple colony splits to grafting and cell raising colonies.
- Your second season September, 2023
- The Hopkins method (and more) June, 2023
- Supersedure June, 2023
- Getting answers February, 2023
- Learn from my mistakes December, 2022
- The most fun you can have in a beesuit December, 2022
- Picking winners, part 2 November, 2022
- Picking winners, part 1 November, 2022
- Winter projects October, 2022
- Mini-nucs: tips and tricks August, 2022
- Mini-nucs: the basics July, 2022
- And then there was calm July, 2022
- Bad behaviour June, 2022
- More queen rearing musings June, 2022
- Queen rearing miscellany June, 2022
- The bees know best June, 2022
- Eats, sleeps, bees May, 2022
- Timing is everything May, 2022
- The bee bag April, 2022
- It makes you go blind March, 2022
- Triumphs and tragedies March, 2022
- Queen mating flights February, 2022
- Seasonal scheming January, 2022
- 2021 in retrospect December, 2021
- Portable queen cell incubator November, 2021
- Queen introduction July, 2021
- DIY queen cell incubator July, 2021
- Little dramas June, 2021
- Hard graft May, 2021
- It’s a drone’s life May, 2021
- No risk, no reward May, 2021
- Acting on Impulse April, 2021
- Lost and found April, 2021
- Swarm control and elusive queens March, 2021
- Waiting March, 2021
- Brexit and beekeeping March, 2021
- A New Year, a new start January, 2021
- Winter bee production September, 2020
- Bigging up nucs July, 2020
- If it quacks like a duck … July, 2020
- The million drones fiasco June, 2020
- Queenright … or not? May, 2020
- Queen cells … quantity and quality May, 2020
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- Who’s the daddy? January, 2020
- More local bee goodness? December, 2019
- Keeping track May, 2019
- Queen marking May, 2019
- Apis mellifera aquaticus July, 2017
- Keep Calm and Have Patience July, 2017
- Splits and stock improvement June, 2017
- Split boards May, 2017
- Upstairs, downstairs? April, 2017
- Finding the queen March, 2017
- Was it good for you? August, 2016
- Spot the queen part 3 June, 2016
- Spot the queen part 2 June, 2016
- Cloake board queen rearing June, 2016
- Vertical splits and making increase July, 2015
- The queen returns June, 2015
- Circle splits May, 2015
- First grafts of the year May, 2015
- My greatest fan September, 2014
- Queen rearing and the June gap June, 2014
- Ben Harden queen rearing – cell raising May, 2014
- YBKA Spring Conference April, 2014
- Grafting March, 2014
- Ben Harden queen rearing – setup March, 2014
- Ben Harden queen rearing – intro March, 2014
- Kieler frame feeders February, 2014
- Fat dummies February, 2014
- Honey warming cabinet January, 2014
Uniting colonies
An Abelo/Swienty hybrid hive …
Saving weak colonies, saving queenless colonies and boosting strong colonies.
- Poly nucs and winter losses August, 2023
- The calm after the storm June, 2023
- Tim Toady September, 2022
- Cut your losses September, 2021
- Winter losses April, 2021
- Preparing for winter October, 2020
- Long distance beekeeping September, 2020
- Bigging up nucs July, 2020
- Cabinet reshuffle September, 2019
- Keeping track May, 2019
- The nucleus method March, 2019
- Spot the queens August, 2018
- Taking stock July, 2018
- Upstairs, downstairs? April, 2017
- Use them or lose them October, 2015
- When uniting goes wrong August, 2015
Feeding
Poly super and fondant …
Feeding colonies to build them up in Spring or to prevent starvation in Winter. Lots here on using fondant as it’s my preferred method of feeding.
- The best laid plans May, 2023
- Mellow fruitfulness September, 2022
- Mini-nucs: tips and tricks August, 2022
- Winter weight February, 2022
- Science snippets December, 2021
- Hydroxymethylfurfural October, 2021
- Winding down September, 2021
- Cut more losses September, 2021
- Hard graft May, 2021
- The danger zone February, 2021
- Midwinter chores January, 2021
- Eating my words November, 2020
- Late season miscellany October, 2020
- Trees for bees September, 2020
- Weed and feed September, 2020
- Weight for spring February, 2020
- Beekeeping economics October, 2019
- Crime doesn’t pay September, 2019
- Cabinet reshuffle September, 2019
- The flow must go on August, 2019
- Spring starvation March, 2019
- Winter chores February, 2019
- Responsibilities January, 2019
- Fondant fancies September, 2018
- They think it’s all over! August, 2018
- Fondant topups February, 2018
- Everynuc feeder October, 2016
- Fife’s fondant mountain September, 2016
- Baby, it’s cold outside April, 2016
- Isolation starvation February, 2015
- Buy! September, 2014
- Feeding fondant August, 2014
- Leftover fondant March, 2014
- Protein boost March, 2014
- Kieler frame feeders February, 2014
Moving colonies
Double brood …
Safely securing hives when moving them between apiaries or to new forage.
- Repurposed September, 2023
- Memory, longevity and sunflowers March, 2023
- Coordinated Varroa control March, 2023
- Seasonal scheming January, 2022
- Cut your losses September, 2021
- Absconding August, 2021
- Darwinian beekeeping March, 2020
- More local bee goodness? December, 2019
- Keeping track May, 2019
- We’re moving … November, 2018
- >3 feet and <3 miles April, 2018
- Travel screens July, 2017
- Mobile beekeeping February, 2017
- Apiary moves October, 2015
- Imports July, 2015
- Hivebarrow June, 2014