Honey Bee Obscura Podcast

On a quiet, rainy morning, Jim Tew opens a few fragile old beekeeping books and takes us on an unscripted trip through the practices, tools, and ideas of beekeepers who came before us. Jim explores techniques that once seemed perfectly practical but have largely disappeared from modern apiaries—from tobacco smoke and unusual comb-cutting tools to swarm-catching contraptions, ...

Not every colony survives—and sometimes the best lesson comes from the colonies that don't. This week on Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew provides tiny hives update for the listeners and decribes how they're progressing as July draws to a close. One of those colonies belongs to his longtime colleague, Sherry, who rescued a very small swarm earlier in the season. Unfortunately, what...

Every beekeeper remembers a few stings that stand out above all the rest.

This week on Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew and Anne Frey share some of their most memorable experiences with honey bee stings—stories that range from painful to humorous, but all serve as reminders that working with bees always deserves respect.

Jim recounts the unforgettable moment when ...

Summer heat changes the way both beekeepers and honey bee colonies operate. In this episode, Jim Tew is joined by Anne Frey of Betterbee to explore what beekeeping in hot weather really means inside and outside the hive.

Jim begins by asking a simple question: are bees actually bothered by heat, or is it mostly the beekeeper who suffers? Anne explains that while honey ...

Removing honey from a hive sounds simple until the supers are full.

In this Honey Bee Obscura Archive Special, the late Kim Flottum and Dr. Jim Tew revisit one of the most physically demanding jobs in beekeeping: harvesting honey. They compare their different backyard setups, discuss how they remove bees from honey supers, and explain why careful planning can make the ...