Beekeeping at FiveApple

Something special today! This interview with Ryan Williamson of Sourwood Farm of Virginia has been the one where I learned the most. He is a full time beekeeper selling local nucs and honey, but who also specializes in offering VSH queens from tested breeders he raises himself.

We start off with how he got into the bee biz and just got to talking between beekeepers and ended up in full geek mode on tips and hacks for testing and introducing queens and much more. He is doing wonderful work and is a joy to get into conversation. Enjoy!

PS. Ryan is a frequent speaker at bee clubs and conferences. He is available by Zoom and in-person in some cases. I got a sneak preview of a couple of his talks and I'm going to be lobbying our club and state conference to book him as soon as possible. You can contact him at his website.

Find our more about Ryan, order queens, honey or this winter...hats (!) Ryan makes from the links below.

Home page: http://sourwoodfarm.com/

Buy Queens or Honey: https://sourwoodfarm.square.site/

Ryan's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SourwoodFarm

Facebook Page: https://facebook.com/sourwoodfarms 

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In case you missed it:
Ep157 More Springtime Tips

Ep156 Spring in the Bees! 

Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina Sebestyen

Ep 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI

⬆️ available wherever you listen to podcasts

Patron Exclusives:
Patron exclusive show notes on Ep 155 which includes link to the split notes compendium.

Links to Five Apple’s podcast on the Reverse Doolittle split on Patreon, with links to Tina’s how-to article as well as my own silly drawings of the process AND the link to the compendium of splits methods I teach (the handout when I speak to bee clubs)

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Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free.

https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

In addition to huge gratitude, you get:

Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments

Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos

Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes

Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions

Input on the podcast topics

Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! 

If you can support the show with $3 a month or more, please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

About Beekeeping at FiveApple: Leigh keeps bees in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (gardening zone 6b). She cares for around a dozen+ hives in a rural Appalachian highland climate. Colonies are managed for bee health with active selection for vigor, genetic diversity and disease resistance, but without chemical treatments for sixteen years. The apiary is self-sustaining (not needing to buy/catch replacement bees since 2010) and produces honey and nucs most every year.

Ep157  More Springtime Tips: Keeping bees in the boxes, avoid the honey dome, get more comb drawn, know if your hive is queenright or queenless. 

In case you missed it:
Ep156 Spring in the Bees! 

Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina Sebestyen

Ep 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI

⬆️ available wherever you listen to podcasts

Patron Exclusives:
Patron exclusive show notes on Ep 155 which includes link to the split notes compendium.

Links to Five Apple’s podcast on the Reverse Doolittle split on Patreon, with links to Tina’s how-to article as well as my own silly drawings of the process AND the link to the compendium of splits methods I teach (the handout when I speak to bee clubs)

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Here's an extra tip for those who read show notes: If you see your hive swarm, and it was a large hive, there are probably enough swarm cells left in the original hive to cause afterswarms. It's wise to carefully go in the hive and look for swarm cells on frames.

I like to relocate a frame with swarm cells, a frame with open nectar and ideally some pollen, and a capped brood frame to a nuc box and add a few shakes of bees (remember to never shake a frame with a queen cell on it if you plan to keep that cell). This is your backup insurance.

In the main hive, go through each frame carefully and brush bees off brood frames with a feather or bee brush so you can see the swarm cells. Cut them down to one large swarm cell and replace in the original hive.

You have greatly reduced the chances of afterswarms. Plus, you have a backup nuc (or three!) that will also requeen. If your main hive fails to make a queen (check 3 weeks after you do this split to look for eggs from the new queen!) you have the nuc most likely with a new queen and you can combine the two. You now have a young robust queen to go into winter! 

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Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free.

https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

In addition to huge gratitude, you get:

Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments

Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos

Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes

Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions

Input on the podcast topics

Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! 

If you can support the show with $3 a month or more, please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

About Beekeeping at FiveApple: Leigh keeps bees in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (gardening zone 6b). She cares for around a dozen hives in a rural Appalachian highland climate. Colonies are managed for bee health with active selection for vigor, genetic diversity and disease resistance, but without chemical treatments for sixteen years. The apiary is self-sustaining (not needing to buy/catch replacement bees since 2010) and produces honey and nucs most every year.

Today it's a ramble through things going on in the bee yard as Spring has taken over and the bees won't wait! Doing some quick splits to save the day, still aiming for more data-driven stock selection and whose swarm is this in my equipment?

In case you missed it:
Ep 155 Interview with Colorado beekeeper and writer Tina Sebestyen

Ep 153 Interview with James Lee of SBGMI

⬆️ both of these also available wherever you listen to podcasts

Patron Exclusives:
Patron exclusive show notes on Ep 155 which includes link to the split notes compendium.

Links to Five Apple’s podcast on the Reverse Doolittle split on Patreon, with links to Tina’s how-to article as well as my own silly drawings of the process AND the link to the compendium of splits methods I teach (the handout when I speak to bee clubs)

Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free.

https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

In addition to huge gratitude, you get:

Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments

Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos

Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes

Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions

Input on the podcast topics

Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! 

If you can support the show with $3 a month or more, please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

About Beekeeping at FiveApple: Leigh keeps bees in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (gardening zone 6b). She cares for around a dozen hives in a rural Appalachian highland climate. Colonies are managed for bee health with active selection for vigor, genetic diversity and disease resistance, but without chemical treatments for sixteen years. The apiary is self-sustaining (not needing to buy/catch replacement bees since 2010) and produces honey and nucs most every year.

I ask Tina about the Miller (graftless) method of Queen rearing and her recent articles in ABJ, then we wander into chat between bee friends of goings on in our apiaries, things we want to try this year and more. Enjoy!

-Leigh

Supporting Patrons, view your exclusive show notes here. 

Patron exclusive detailed show notes include:

What is the Miller Method? 

More info and how-to from Tina’s on the Miller method

Article on the Miller Method with illustrations of the special comb cuts. 

Handy queen calculator where you fill in the date you graft (or remove the queen in a frame-based split) and it fills in the critical dates such as the cell being ripe and able to be moved to another hive (day 10), when to check back for eggs, etc

Videos from Tina’s Four Corners Bee Association on splits and other topics

Link to Tina’s ABJ article on the Demaree method of swarm management. 

(You will need an ABJ subscription to access that article. The subscription gets you access to years of archived issues so it’s a real reference resource!)  Not an ABJ subscriber? Subscription info here: https://americanbeejournal.com/subscribers/orderrenew-subscription/

Five Apple’s podcast on the Reverse Doolittle split on Patreon, with links to Tina’s how-to article as well as my own silly drawings of the process. 

Queen Breeders we mentioned in the show and their links:

Cory Stevens (MO) 

Sourwood Farms (VA) 

Hall Apiaries (NH)

Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free.

https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

In addition to huge gratitude, you get:

Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments

Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos

Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes

Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions

Input on the podcast topics

Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! 

If you can support the show with $3 a month or more, please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

About Beekeeping at FiveApple: Leigh keeps bees in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (gardening zone 6b). She cares for around a dozen hives in a rural Appalachian highland climate. Colonies are managed for bee health with active selection for vigor, genetic diversity and disease resistance, but without chemical treatments for sixteen years. The apiary is self-sustaining (not needing to buy/catch replacement bees since 2010) and produces honey and nucs most every year.

Today I share some great tips shared by Greg Rogers of Haw Creek Honey when he presented to our local club. Then we work through swarm prevention strategies (starts at 16:25) that are especially important when it's too early in the season to make splits due to drone availability.

Patrons, you will find your exclusive detailed show notes here.

Today's notes include:

Greg's favorite YouTube channels

links about the Demaree method (that AI gets so wrong!)

image of how to tip a box up to look for swarm cells

a how-to section on opening the broodnest (or spreading the brood as Greg calls it)

a link to my master handout of favorite SPLITS METHODS that I give to bee clubs when I present on that topic

ENJOY! And thank you so much for keeping this podcast going through your support.

Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free.

https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

In addition to huge gratitude, you get:

Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments

Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos

Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes

Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions

Input on the podcast topics

Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! 

If you can support the show with $3 a month or more, please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple

About Beekeeping at FiveApple: Leigh keeps bees in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina (gardening zone 6b). She cares for around a dozen hives in a rural Appalachian highland climate. Colonies are managed for bee health with active selection for vigor, genetic diversity and disease resistance, but without chemical treatments for fifteen years. The apiary is self-sustaining (not needing to buy/catch replacement bees since 2010) and produces honey and nucs most every year.