Beekeepers Blog

Requeening a hive with an existing queen is relatively simple once you get the hang of it. For colonies with queens that are a year old or more, requeening can help ensure the colony continues to thrive—or even revitalize a...

This answer depends a bit on the time of year, but here are some general rules of thumb that may be helpful: The ideal time to check hives is when most of the foragers are out—as foragers tend to be...

Hive Management Software can make it easy! By Micky Cross - Past 1st Vice President Montgomery County Beekeepers Association If you’re a beekeeper like me, you know that tracking your hive inspections, the age and origin of your queens, your...

There are a variety of ways to tell if your hive has lost its queen, and at some point, each hive will eventually lose its queen. At times, they requeen themselves and we never know it, (which isn’t ideal) and...

By: Blake Shook It’s the time of year new beekeepers need to be thinking about setting up their bee yards. In some instances, some relatively intense work can be involved in preparing the space. Notice I didn’t say “hard” work…...

By: Blake Shook A starving hive can take on many symptoms and can occur at many points throughout the year. Thus, it is important to be able to identify the symptoms. The most common conditions which can lead to this...

A good brood pattern doesn’t mean a whole hive, or queen, is in good health. But, it’s one of the indicators that the brood is overall healthy, and at the moment, so is the queen. If you are new to...

Winter is coming!...maybe. You never quite know in Texas! But, over the next month, we should begin to see some cooling across the state! Let's discuss a few common winter prep practices when it comes to the exteriors of our...

This is frustrating, but fairly common. You introduced a queen to your hive properly, following all the steps in “How to requeen”, but she wasn’t accepted. If this happens to you, here is what to do:  Read “How to tell...

By: Blake Shook It just happens sometimes! I’m going to address this from two perspectives: You did not use a queen excluder, and the queen is laying brood in your honey super during the honey flow & you are trying...

You can’t diagnose Varroa mites just by looking at a hive, but there are some pretty common warning signs that something might be going on. Things like deformed wings, uncapped brood, seeing mites on bees, or bees just acting a little “off” are all good cues that it’s time to stop and do a proper mite check.

One of the most bothersome aspects for a honey producer is crystallization. We’ve all had it happen at one time or another – but why does it happen? Honey is made up of 2 main types of natural sugars, fructose...

                                   By: Michael Kelling -                             President Central Texas Beekeepers Association Michael owns approximately 100 hives that he uses mainly to provide...

Identifying Wax Moths Much like Small Hive Beetles (SHB), the adult wax moth does not harm the hive. It is the larva that causes the real issues. The adult moth is about ¾ inch long with silvery/gray wings. The larva...

By Blake Shook For commercial beekeepers, overwintering indoors has become increasingly popular over the past 5 years. While a method for small scale beekeepers to do the same hasn't been developed yet, I'm sure it's only a matter of time...

Meet George and Paige Nester! As fairly new beekeepers, they started Creek House Honey Farm in 2011 with just 2 hives. After expanding in 2020, they have over twenty employees including children Carley, Blake and Caiden and can be found...

Testing & treating Varroa mites is one of the most important things to do in all of beekeeping. If you don’t pick the right size of super, or forget to install an entrance reducer, it isn’t going to impact your...