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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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