Read more about the article YouTube: Flowering Bulbs for Bees
Irises show up just in time for Easter.

YouTube: Flowering Bulbs for Bees

Continue ReadingYouTube: Flowering Bulbs for Bees

Honeylove and Gardenerd bring you yet another video in the Plants for Pollinators Series. In this video we show you which bulbs are great for growing for the bees and other pollinators in your garden. Find out some of our favorites, how to plant them, and more. Flowering Bulbs for Bees Learn more about bulbs: Planting Bulbs - a primer Storing Bulbs to Winterize - #2 in this newsletter Do or Die Daffodils Irises, Irises, Who Needs Some Irises? Plan…

Read more about the article YouTube: Wildflowers for Bees
Bee on a cardoon

YouTube: Wildflowers for Bees

Continue ReadingYouTube: Wildflowers for Bees

This week's YouTube video shares tips about what wildflowers to grow to encourage and feed bees and other pollinators in your garden. Wildflowers are easy to grow, most of the time you just scatter seeds before a rain comes and wait. They also re-seed themselves year after year, so the whole endeavor requires minimal effort. Wildflower seed blends are available through many native plant societies or seed catalogs. Just pick the varieties that grow well in your region. Try to…

Read more about the article YouTube: Herbs for Bees
Mints, yarrow and squash fill the space.

YouTube: Herbs for Bees

Continue ReadingYouTube: Herbs for Bees

This week's YouTube video is all about Herbs for Bees. Find out which herbs to grow for your pollinator population. Christy shares fun facts about borage, and encourages you to let your herb garden flower each season before cutting back. Herbs are an essential part of any culinary garden. Most flower at the end of the season, providing pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators. Watch this video to learn more about creating a bee-friendly herb garden. Herbs for…

YouTube: Garden Plants for Pollinators

Continue ReadingYouTube: Garden Plants for Pollinators

Spring is coming, and now is the time to plant (or start seeds for) flowers for pollinator-friendly gardens. This is the first video in our "Plants for Pollinators" series, a collaboration with Honeylove.org. In the coming weeks, you'll learn which wildflowers, trees, vegetables, bulbs, and herbs are best for bees and other pollinators. Stay tuned for a new video each week and plant something to help our pollinator population. Garden Plants for Pollinators For more information about growing plants for…

Read more about the article YouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners
Bees take advantage of arugula that has bolted to seed in last week's heat.

YouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners

Continue ReadingYouTube: Honey Harvesting Tricks for Home Gardeners

It's honey harvesting time and we documented our latest harvest so you can see how it's done. We provide visual aids in this video for our favorite way to get bees out of the super you plan to harvest. We show you our harvesting equipment (handmade by our friends at Honeylove.org), and our other favorite tools to use during the process. Homegrown honey is the best. It's wild, it's treatment-free and it's raw. No heating, no filtering, just crushed and…

Read more about the article Review: Natural Beekeeping Conference 2016
The bees enjoyed the flowers of bolting kale and mustard greens.

Review: Natural Beekeeping Conference 2016

Continue ReadingReview: Natural Beekeeping Conference 2016

I had the good fortune of being a speaker at the first ever Natural Beekeeping Conference that took place this weekend in Pasadena, CA. Honeylove.org organized the event. They gathered top experts in treatment-free beekeeping from around the continent, and welcomed guests from all over the world. Yours truly taught Gardening for Beekeepers. Most of my beekeeping colleagues have attended regular beekeeping conferences, only to find themselves flabbergasted by the amount of attention given to chemicals: miticides, fungicides, artificial food…

Read more about the article Field Trip: Honey Tasting Competition
Ours was #17. Would we win?

Field Trip: Honey Tasting Competition

Continue ReadingField Trip: Honey Tasting Competition

You would never know how different honey can taste from hive to hive until you've tasted a few samples side by side. It's astounding, really. The flavor profiles range from grassy to floral to fruity, just like a good wine or chocolate. This past Sunday, beekeepers from all around submitted their honey for the Honeylove Honey Tasting Competition. There were jars sent from as far away as Nepal and as close by as our backyard. 17 samples in all, and…

Read more about the article Oh Sweet Goodness: First Honey Harvest
Photos by Andrew Cheeseman

Oh Sweet Goodness: First Honey Harvest

Continue ReadingOh Sweet Goodness: First Honey Harvest

We couldn't stand the suspense any longer. Our bees were filling up frame after frame of their hive with golden nectar and we wanted to share the experience. So we donned our suits and veils and harvested a single frame for ourselves. Oh, sweet goodness! The frame was heavy with precious cargo, with each hexagonal cell covered in wax capping to let us know that it's ready. Open cells of comb are not ready; bees wait until the moisture content…

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