Episodes

Don't Start Beekeeping Until You Have Made These 10 Decisions (Part 1) Host Eric Bennett sits down with Kim and Steph — seasoned beekeepers and popular TikTok content creators — to kick off an exciting multi-episode series covering the 10 most important decisions aspiring beekeepers need to make before taking the leap into beekeeping. Kim and Steph bring years of hands-on experience working with honey bees, and their enthusiasm and practical wisdom make this an essential listen for anyone cons...

In this heartfelt and information-packed episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we begin with an important update on new research revealing that neonicotinoid pesticides are even more harmful to honeybees than previously understood. Every beekeeper needs this information. From there, we head “Inside the Hive” to explore one of nature’s most fascinating transformations: how a queen bee and a worker bee start as identical eggs, and how just three days of royal jelly determines a worker bee's destiny. We...

Beekeeping Winterization, Mentors, Varroa, Single Brood Management, Swarms, Advice for New Beekeepers... This episode is packed! In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we dive deep into the world of honeybees and the humans who care for them. From a poetic opening that celebrates the harmony of the hive to practical, boots-on-the-ground advice, this episode blends wonder with real-world beekeeping wisdom. We kick off a new weekly segment, Inside the Hive, exploring how bees survive winter by ...

In this information-packed episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we welcome master beekeeper Deborah Klughers for a rapid-fire deep dive into practical, real-world beekeeping. Building off her legendary “100+ tips” for beekeepers presentation, Deb shares hard-earned lessons on feeding strategies, hive stands, smoker safety, mite monitoring, drone brood management, and even the controversial—but fascinating—role of bee venom in beekeeper health. From her favorite baggie feeder system and why warm syr...

In this episode, we explore the fascinating world of honey bees, looking at how bees communicate, work together, and inspire humans—from scientists to everyday beekeepers. The show opens with a brief reflection on honey bees as masters of collective intelligence, followed by intriguing research suggesting that bees and their mathematical communication may even offer insights for extraterrestrial intelligence studies. The conversation then turns to Sung Lee, a passionate beekeeper whose backyard...

Conversation with Dr. Jason Graham, Ph.D. Questions asked and answered. In this episode, we kick off our coverage from the North American Honey Bee Expo with an in-depth and surprisingly entertaining conversation with entomologist and beekeeper Dr. Jason “Dr. J” Graham. Recorded live on the bustling expo floor, this episode blends science, storytelling, and practical beekeeping insight. Dr. Graham shares his unconventional journey from high school dropout to PhD, and how a single beekeeping cl...

In this episode, we reconnect with Chris Hiatt, past president of the American Honey Producers Association and a lifelong commercial beekeeper managing 18,000 colonies across North Dakota, California, and Washington. Chris returns to give an unfiltered look at the state of commercial beekeeping after one of the most challenging years on record. The conversation opens with a reflection on devastating winter losses, where even the most experienced operators saw colonies wiped out despite best m...

In this episode, we kick off Season 3 by diving deep into the North American Bee Strategy with special guest Matt Mulica of the Honey Bee Health Coalition. Together, we explore the biggest challenges facing honey bees and beekeepers today—and what’s being done across the U.S. and Canada to address them. From Varroa mites and emerging threats like Tropilaelaps, to honey fraud, beekeeping economics, pesticides, forage, and applied research, this is a wide-ranging and practical conversation for be...

"Desensitization" is the key, but how is it applied? In this final installment of the Apitherapy series, we return to Romania to sit down once more with Dr. Stefan Stangaciu, MD, beekeeper and one of the world’s leading authorities on apitherapy. Building on the foundation laid in episodes 250 and 251, this conversation takes a deep dive into how bee products can be used to support the body in cases of seasonal allergies and hay fever. Dr. Stangaciu explains the science behind pollen allergie...

Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. Stefan Stangaciu: In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we discuss the step-by-step approach to treating burns with honey. Then we shift to bee venom therapy to treat all kinds of illnesses, including Lyme Disease, Cancer, Chronic Pain, and more. Takeaways Honey has hygroscopic properties that aid in wound healing. Drinking water before consuming honey prevents stomach irritation. Honey can block free radicals and reduce burn pain. Proper application of...

Join host Eric Bennett and Dr. Ștefan Stangaciu, MD from Romania. Dr. Stangaciu is the world’s leading authority on apitherapy, as well as being a beekeeper, medical doctor, and president of the International Federation of Apitherapy. In part 1 of this series, we learn why propolis, pollen and bee-derived extracts often outperform honey for healing, how to extract and handle honey for medicinal use, and practical ways beekeepers and families can use propolis safely. The conversation delves int...

In this rich and wide-ranging conversation, host Eric Bennett, welcomes Rob Wright, CEO of Mann Lake, for an honest and surprisingly personal look at the current state of the beekeeping industry. From swarm-catching mishaps and hive cutouts to global honey tastings and the future of bee health, this episode blends practical insights, industry updates, and stories that every beekeeper—from hobbyist to commercial operator—will relate to. Rob shares what he’s learned from four years of active bee...

In this episode of Be Love Beekeeping, Eric and Bee Culture editor Jerry Hayes break down the aftermath of the 2024–25 winter honey bee die-off, where roughly 1.6 million colonies were lost. They discuss how Varroa-spread viruses, weak mite management, nutrition challenges, climate stress, and migratory pollination all converged to push colonies past their limits. A central message emerges: beekeepers at every level must sample for Varroa, treat based on data, rotate treatments to avoid resista...

In this deeply moving episode of Be Love Beekeeping, we meet Utah commercial beekeeper Prenten Frazier of Beehive State Honey, whose 5-generation family operation was recently devastated by a catastrophic warehouse fire. Prenten shares the gut-wrenching 4:30 a.m. phone call no beekeeper ever wants, the shock of watching 37,000 square feet of buildings, wax, equipment, and a year’s honey harvest go up in flames—and the incredible story of how firefighters, fellow beekeepers, and strangers steppe...

Learn How to Lift a Heavy Honey Super With ONE Hand. This episode of Be Love Beekeeping opens with a poetic reflection on honeybees and the sometimes-clumsy humans who care for them, then pivots into a very real problem most beekeepers know too well: heavy lifting and exhausting honey harvests. After a sobering Arizona news story about a tragic bee-transport accident and a look at emerging research on the mental health benefits of beekeeping, the conversation “heads down under” to Byron Bay, A...

GENETICS MATTER! Host, Eric Bennett takes us from poetic honeybee musings straight into the practical world of queen bee production on Hawaiʻi Island. After a heartwarming news segment about 9-year-old beekeeper Nicholas Bard and the Santa Rosa community pushing back on an outdated city ordinance, Eric sits down with Rebeca Krones of Hawaiian Queen Company in Captain Cook. Rebecca explains why Hawaiʻi is one of the best places on the planet to raise queen bees, how controlled genetics (via Dr...

Host Eric welcomes Kevin O’Connor of Bee Boys Apiary from Waiohinu on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi to talk about what many consider one of the spiciest topics in beekeeping: treatment-free, regenerative beekeeping. Before the interview, Eric shares a fascinating new study on the waggle dance, showing that bees don’t just pass on direction and distance—they actually integrate dance information with their own cognitive map of the landscape to anticipate landmarks and fly more efficiently. Kevin walk...

What can you learn from a 50 year beekeeper? Chuck Kutik opens up about everything he has learned about beekeeping and making money in the business of bees, over the years. In this engaging episode, host Eric Bennett welcomes Chuck, a 50-year veteran commercial beekeeper from New York. Chuck opens up about the fascinating life of bees, the business side of beekeeping, and what it takes to balance passion, profit, and pollination. From moving thousands of hives for blueberry pollination to deal...

Has Varroa met it's match? Is there really a birth control for mites? Beekeepers celebrate with this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping! We start with a love letter to honeybees and the beekeepers who tend them, then head to the Bee Love newsroom: small hive beetle turns up in southeast Alaska for the first time, and West Virginia considers a statewide Beekeeping Rights Bill that would centralize apiary regulations and protect beekeepers. Our main segment features Eric Walgren and Adam Pachl from...

Massachusetts beekeeper and entrepreneur Rick Reault (New England Beekeeping /The Colony) joins Eric for a deep, joyful dive into bees and business—from his first disastrous mead batch to an award-winning traditional made with Japanese knotweed honey and bourbon-barrel aging. Rick demystifies the mead making process (must temps around 60–65°F, 6–8 weeks of ferment, a year of patient aging), then maps how he turned a backyard beekeeping hobby into a diversified honey operation: honey wholesale a...

From a Varroa-free outpost off Australia’s southern coast, beekeeper Shawn Hinves of Kangaroo Island shares how a family operation running 350 hives of pure Ligurian honey bees navigates biosecurity, fire recovery, and the realities of modern beekeeping. The episode opens with practical fall prep—feed heavy in cold climates, consider insulation, and always test and treat for mites—before diving into global news on the EPA’s approval of an RNA-based Varroa treatment. Then we travel to Kangaroo ...

Opening was recorded at Apimondia in Copenhagen. This episode blends field notes and a feel-good interview with Elsa Gallagher of the Bee & Butterfly Habitat Fund. Practical beekeeping takeaways: habitat is the foundation for bees, and forage diversity consistently outperforms monocultures. Gallagher explains how her team equips landowners with locally adapted seed mixes: a native “picture” bordered by a clover-rich “bee mix,” free for 2–25 acre projects and cost-share above that. She outlines...

"It was sheer panic!" That's how Amber explains her wild & crazy beekeeping story. In this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, we open with a poetic ode to honeybees and a couple of “beekeeper bloopers,” then sit down with Amber Leach, North American Sales Manager at Veto-Pharma. We dig into Varroa Integrated Pest Management (IPM): why testing before and after treating matters, how to avoid resistance through rotation and correct use, and what’s new in Apivar 2.0. Amber breaks down Varroa EasyChe...

How many sources of income do your beehives produce? If it's just honey sales and a few wax products, you will want to listen to this episode! In this week's Bee-Love Beekeeping, we explore the magic of honeybee navigation and take a trip to Hawaii’s North Shore to meet beekeeper Katie Metzger, founder of Hanai Hives. We kick off with a look at groundbreaking research on honeybee eyesight, revealing how these incredible insects read the polarized sky to travel miles and return home without los...