Good News!

Happy springtime! I hope you are enjoying the busyness and abundance of the season. Often, I get asked, ‘How are the bees?’ For the BeeLoved apiaries, we are blessed with abundance, as we have caught 7 swarms so far! Each swarm is worth about $200 and is a resource for the farm with their honey collecting and pollination services and a benefit for the bees to have a safe space with loving care and attention.  

I am happy to say that the beekeeping industry in the United States is also experiencing an abundance of honeybees. In this podcast, Today Explained – Honey We Saved the Bees, the reporters dive deep into the USDA reports that US honeybee colonies are at a record-breaking high. These high numbers come after about 15 years of beekeepers increasing their management techniques.  

Although we have effectively ‘saved the honeybees’, we still must consider the native bees, who are important pollinators who also need love and care. Please consider adding native flowers to your gardens and clover to your lawns. Leaving leaf piles and un-mulched areas on your property will provide housing to native bees that dwell in leaf litter, like the bumble bee, and the squash bee that nests in bare soil.  

While I’ve got your ear for podcasts, I will suggest my other two favorite shows: Honey Bee Obscura, and Beekeeping Today. Honey Bee Obscura is a wonderful weekly podcast that covers various topics that interest beekeepers and bee lovers alike. With each episode lasting only about 20 minutes, it's easy to learn about beekeeping from the experienced host Jim Tew and a variety of knowledgeable guest speakers.  

Beekeeping Today is another weekly podcast with various topics and guest speakers crafted for all types of listeners. These episodes are about 40 minutes long but are well worth the listen. The hosts are Jeff Ott and Dr. Becky Masterman, both very experienced beekeepers and great people. Becky was the first PhD student of my research advisor, Dr. Marla Spivak, and we overlapped our time in the lab together. In addition to hearing a familiar voice, I was excited to hear a local guest speaker, Christy Payne, from Collinsville, OK, detailing her beekeeping work in Tulsa and the surrounding area.  

I hope you enjoy listening and learning about the bees and what you can do to help them all out!