In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew takes listeners into the bee yard for what he calls a "bee scene investigation"—a hands-on look at two colonies that failed over winter and what can (and cannot) be learned from their remains.

What begins as a straightforward inspection quickly becomes something more reflective. Jim encounters unusual signs, including a colony where the bees died not in a typical cluster—an observation that raises more questions than answers. While signs like dysentery, lack of stores, and robbing activity provide some clues, the exact cause remains uncertain.

Jim walks through his thought process in real time, considering possibilities such as queen failure, Varroa impact, or simple colony decline. Importantly, he highlights a reality all beekeepers face: sometimes even experienced beekeepers cannot definitively diagnose a colony loss.

The episode also explores the role of robbing in the yard, both as a cleanup mechanism and as a source of agitation among colonies. Jim reflects on management decisions—some intentional, others simply practical—including allowing bees to clean out dead equipment and reducing colony numbers due to local conditions.

This Plain Talk episode captures the uncertainty, curiosity, and ongoing learning that define beekeeping—especially when things don't go as expected.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

What does it really mean to put new bees into old equipment—and what does that decision say about how we keep bees? In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Dr. Jim Tew takes a broader, more reflective look at a common springtime practice.

Using the simple scenario of installing new bees into old hives, Jim explores the practical, experiential, and sometimes philosophical aspects of beekeeping. While equipment reuse is part of the discussion, the deeper focus is on how beekeepers make decisions—often balancing thrift, convenience, experience, and risk.

Jim reflects on the realities of older equipment, including wear, unknown history, and potential lingering issues, but he avoids prescribing rigid rules. Instead, he emphasizes that beekeeping decisions are rarely absolute. What works for one beekeeper—or one season—may not work the same way under different conditions.

This Plain Talk episode highlights how experience shapes judgment over time. New beekeepers may look for clear right-or-wrong answers, while more experienced beekeepers learn to weigh trade-offs and accept uncertainty as part of the craft.

At its core, this discussion is less about woodenware and more about mindset—how beekeepers approach their colonies, make decisions, and gradually develop confidence through observation and experience.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

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Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew reflects on attending a recent Tri-County beekeeping meeting—one he helped organize years ago while working at the OSU Research Center in Wooster, Ohio. His plan was to record conversations with beekeepers at the event and capture some of the voices and stories from the meeting. But sometimes plans change. A packed room, wind, and background noise made recording nearly impossible.

Back at the bee yard, Jim shares his impressions of the day instead.

Standing in the barn on a cool early-spring afternoon, he describes the signs of the season beginning to unfold: temperatures near 50°F, clear blue skies, and maple trees beginning to bloom—an important early pollen source that signals colonies to start building up.

The meeting itself reminded Jim how valuable local beekeeper gatherings can be. Bee clubs and regional meetings bring together people with all levels of experience, creating opportunities to ask questions, share stories, and pass along practical knowledge that doesn't always appear in books.

For longtime beekeepers, these gatherings also become part of a personal history—places where friendships develop and where the shared experiences of keeping bees accumulate over time.

Even without the interviews he hoped to capture, Jim reflects on the spirit of the day: early spring in the bee yard and the enduring importance of beekeepers coming together to talk about bees.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

On a cold, soggy walk back to the bee yard, Jim reflects on an uncomfortable but important topic: robbing. With temperatures hovering around 40°F and only a hint of flight activity, he begins to question what he's seeing. Are the bees simply stretching their wings, or are they already checking neighboring colonies for available resources?

Jim revisits a warm spell from a few weeks earlier when surprising flight activity left him wondering if robbing had begun earlier than expected. With no pollen coming in and no nectar flow underway, what else would bees be searching for?

In this episode, Jim challenges the negative framing of "robbing." Is it truly thievery, or is it something more biologically strategic? From a beekeeper's perspective, robbing can devastate weak colonies. But from a survival standpoint, reappropriating abandoned food reserves may be one of the most efficient resource-conservation strategies in nature.

Late winter is a quiet season in the bee yard—but as Jim reminds us, even in the cold, the bees are already thinking ahead.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

This week on Honey Bee Obscura, Jim and Anne take listeners south — to Georgia — for a mid-winter comparison of beekeeping realities.

Anne recently visited beekeeping friends near the Atlanta latitude and found that while Georgia winters are milder than New York or Ohio, they come with their own management challenges. Unlike northern operations that rely heavily on solid winter feed, Georgia beekeepers depend on syrup feeding much of the year due to extended nectar dearths following an early June harvest.

Jim and Anne discuss the practical art of "hefting" colonies to estimate food stores, why winter management differs dramatically between regions, and how a long nectar gap — whether in the South after June or in the North after goldenrod — requires careful planning.

They also compare small hive beetle pressure and varroa control strategies. In central Georgia, small hive beetles are a more visible and persistent concern due to milder soil temperatures, and oxalic acid treatments are more common than formic products due to higher seasonal temperatures.

From single deep brood chambers to syrup-based feeding strategies, this episode highlights how geography shapes beekeeping decisions.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this reflective winter walk-through, Jim Tew returns to the bee yard expecting discouraging losses—but instead finds surprising signs of life. Colonies he believed were gone are flying, cleansing, and holding on after one of the coldest winters in recent memory - miracle bees!

As Jim navigates snow, mud, and the emotional ups and downs of winter beekeeping, he shares candid thoughts about preparation, neglect, resilience, and the seasonal rhythm that every beekeeper eventually learns to accept. The episode explores how enthusiasm for beekeeping naturally waxes and wanes during the long off-season, especially in colder climates where little can be done beyond waiting and hoping.

Jim reflects on differences between warm- and cold-climate beekeeping, the visible evidence of cleansing flights in snowy landscapes, and the quiet science hidden in simple observations—like how far bees travel to die or relieve themselves.

Most importantly, this episode captures a turning point: the emotional shift from winter doubt to early-spring optimism. Even after setbacks, the survival of a few colonies can rekindle motivation and remind beekeepers why they continue year after year.

Sometimes the miracle isn't perfect management—it's simply that the bees made it through.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

In this episode of Honey Bee Obscura, Jim Tew welcomes Anne Frey to explore the practical and often uncertain process of preparing for spring package bees. Together, they discuss one of the most common beekeeper questions—how many colonies to order—highlighting that the answer depends not only on winter losses, but also on personal goals, budget, and the balance between enjoyment and workload in beekeeping.

The conversation then shifts to the realities of transporting packages safely. Jim and Anne emphasize that overheating is the greatest danger during travel, noting the importance of airflow, spacing between packages, and avoiding enclosed vehicles or unnecessary stops that allow temperatures to rise. They share field experiences ranging from hauling large numbers of packages in trucks to improvising cooling strategies with water and ventilation—illustrating how quickly confined bees can become stressed or perish without proper care.

Beyond logistics, the episode reflects on the evolving motivations of beekeepers over time. Jim candidly considers scaling back to a smaller, more enjoyable number of colonies, while Anne reinforces that maintaining fewer hives can still be a meaningful and successful beekeeping path. The discussion ultimately returns to the excitement of beginning each season anew, reminding listeners that thoughtful planning—and keeping beekeeping fun—are just as important as the bees themselves.

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Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

Winter doesn't always offer tidy lessons, and in this Plain Talk episode, Jim Tew takes listeners with him into a brutally cold Ohio bee yard. Standing among hives buried in snow after weeks of extreme temperatures, Jim shares an honest, unfiltered look at what it feels like to face possible winter losses—without inspections, without answers, and without easy optimism.

Rather than offering prescriptions or quick fixes, Jim reflects on expectations versus reality. He talks candidly about how weather outside a region's "normal range" can push colonies beyond their limits, even when bees have adequate stores and minimal disturbance. Listeners will hear Jim wrestle with hard questions many beekeepers face quietly: How many colonies should I replace? Packages or splits? What could I have done differently—and what might not have mattered at all?

This episode also touches on broader themes of resilience and perspective. Jim contrasts textbook claims about cold tolerance with lived experience, and he acknowledges the financial and emotional weight winter losses carry, especially later in life. Yet, even in the coldest moments, the episode closes with resolve. Beekeeping is not abandoned because of a bad winter—it's continued because of the good days that come after.

This is Plain Talk at its most raw: reflective, sobering, and deeply familiar to anyone who has ever stood quietly in a winter bee yard wondering what spring will bring.

______________________

Thanks to Betterbee for sponsoring today's episode. Betterbee's mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

______________________

Honey Bee Obscura is brought to you by Growing Planet Media, LLC, the home of Beekeeping Today Podcast.

Music: Heart & Soul by Gyom, All We Know by Midway Music; Christmas Avenue by Immersive Music; original guitar music by Jeffrey Ott

Cartoons by: John Martin (Beezwax Comics)

Copyright © 2026 by Growing Planet Media, LLC