Of bees and beekeepers
Clear guides to start beekeeping, keep healthy colonies and choose good honey. No jargon.
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- 01
Beekeeping equipment for beginners: the complete US list, 2026 prices and budget
Beekeeping equipment for beginners in the US: Langstroth hive, deeps and mediums, suit, gloves, smoker, hive tool, feeders, mite testing, extractor and budget.
- 02
Types of beehives: Langstroth 10-frame and 8-frame, top-bar, long hive and Warré compared
Types of beehives compared for US beekeepers: Langstroth 10-frame and 8-frame, deeps vs mediums, top-bar, long hive and Warré: sizes, weights, laws and prices.
- 03
Where to put a beehive: setbacks, local rules, sun or shade, water, bears and moving hives in the US
Beehive placement in the US: state and city setbacks, flyway barriers, sun or shade by region, entrance direction, water, bears, pesticides and moving hives.
- 04
The honey bee colony: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timing and how a hive organizes itself
How a honey bee colony works: queen, workers and drones, worker jobs by age, brood timing, winter bees and what US beekeepers should read on a Langstroth frame.
Five doors
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The journal
All articles
- Through the seasons
Beekeeping calendar: month-by-month hive management by US region
US beekeeping calendar month by month: packages, inspections, supers, swarms, dearth, mite washes, fall feeding and winterizing, with timing by region.
- Equipment
Beekeeping equipment for beginners: the complete US list, 2026 prices and budget
Beekeeping equipment for beginners in the US: Langstroth hive, deeps and mediums, suit, gloves, smoker, hive tool, feeders, mite testing, extractor and budget.
- Getting started
Beekeeping laws by state: apiary registration, inspections, moving bees, local ordinances and selling honey
Beekeeping laws by state explained: who must register an apiary, fees, inspections, moving bees across state lines, city ordinances, varroa products and honey.
- Honeys
Crystallized honey: why honey turns solid, how to decrystallize it and how to make creamed honey
Crystallized honey is safe to eat. Learn why honey crystallizes, which US honeys set fastest, how to liquefy it gently and how to make creamed honey at home.
- Through the seasons
Feeding honey bees: sugar water ratios, fall feeding, fondant and pollen patties by region
Feeding honey bees in the US: 1:1 and 2:1 sugar water, how much honey to leave by region, fall feeding dates, fondant, candy boards and pollen patties.
- Harvest and extraction
How to harvest honey: timing by region, pulling supers, extracting, moisture and selling
How to harvest honey in the US: when supers are ready by region, escape and fume boards, small hive beetles, extracting, moisture, bottling and state rules.
- Honeys
Health benefits of honey: what science supports for coughs, wounds, blood sugar and babies
Health benefits of honey, checked against AAP, CDC, FDA and Cochrane evidence: coughs, wounds, manuka, calories, added sugar, diabetes and babies under 1.
- History and culture
History of beekeeping in America: from Jamestown to Langstroth and the almond orchards
History of beekeeping in the US: honey bees reach Virginia in 1622, Langstroth's 1852 hive, Italian bees, the 1922 import ban, varroa and almond pollination.
- Bee strains
Honey bee breeds in the US: Italian, Carniolan, Russian, VSH and Africanized bees compared
Types of honey bees in the US compared: Italian, Carniolan, Russian, Buckfast, mite-resistant VSH, Pol-line and mite-biter stock, Africanized bees and imports.
- The colony
The honey bee colony: queen, workers and drones, jobs by age, brood timing and how a hive organizes itself
How a honey bee colony works: queen, workers and drones, worker jobs by age, brood timing, winter bees and what US beekeepers should read on a Langstroth frame.
- Colony health
Honey bee diseases in the US: identifying foulbrood, brood diseases, nosema, viruses and hive beetles, and what your state requires
Honey bee diseases in the US: spotting AFB and EFB, the rope test, antibiotics under the VFD rule, nosema, viruses, small hive beetle and state reporting rules.
- Breeding and selection
Honey bee genetics: inheritance, heritability, mite-resistant stocks and breeding better bees in the US
Honey bee genetics for US beekeepers: the csd gene, polyandry, heritability, VSH, Pol-line, Russian and Minnesota Hygienic bees, and how to breed better stock.
- Bee biology
Honey bee life cycle: egg, larva, pupa, development days for queens, workers and drones, and how long bees live
The honey bee life cycle day by day: egg, larva, pupa, 16, 21 or 24 days by caste, summer and winter lifespans, and what it means in a Langstroth hive.
- Choosing and storing
How to choose honey in the US: labels, origin, grades, raw and organic, and fair prices
How to choose honey in the US: read FDA labels and origin, know what raw, organic and Grade A mean, what FDA tests found, and what local honey costs in 2026.
- Honey recipes
How to make mead: a 1-gallon honey wine recipe, step by step
How to make mead at home: pounds of honey per gallon, gravity targets, yeast and nutrients, a 1-gallon recipe, aging, and federal and state rules on selling.
- Getting started
How to start beekeeping: classes, state rules, costs and your first year
How to start beekeeping in the US: a bee club class, your state's apiary rules, packages vs nucs, the real cost of two Langstroth hives and a first-year plan.
- Breeding and selection
Instrumental insemination of honey bee queens: protocol, equipment, success rates and US rules
Instrumental insemination of honey bee queens in the US: step-by-step protocol, doses, CO2, courses and costs in $, success rates, frozen semen and USDA rules.
- Hives and apiary
Langstroth hive: dimensions, deeps vs mediums, 8 vs 10 frames, and cost
The Langstroth hive explained: box and frame dimensions, bee space, deeps vs mediums, 8 or 10 frames, supering, wintering by region, state laws and 2026 prices.
- Bee plants
Bee friendly plants: the best flowers, trees and shrubs for bees in every US region
Bee friendly plants for US yards and farms: a bloom calendar, regional picks from the Northeast to California, bee lawns, state weed rules and honey plants.
- Hive products
Bee propolis: what it is, what the science shows, allergy risks and FDA rules
Bee propolis explained: how bees make it, its chemistry, what studies really show, why the FDA authorizes no health claim, allergy risks and harvesting.
- The colony
Queen bee: what she does, how she mates, how long she lives, and how to find and replace her
The honey bee queen explained for US beekeepers: her role, queen cells, mating, egg laying, lifespan, the 2026 marking color, requeening and queenless hives.
- Breeding and selection
Raising queen bees: grafting, cell builders, the day-by-day schedule, mating nucs and mite-resistant stock
How to raise queen bees in the US: larva age for grafting, cell builders, a day-by-day schedule, mating nucs, regional timing, Africanized areas, state rules.
- Hive products
Royal jelly benefits: what science shows, side effects, FDA rules and storage
Royal jelly benefits checked against research: what it is, what the FDA lets labels claim, who should avoid it due to asthma or allergies, dosage and storage.
- Breeding and selection
Honey bee swarming: signs, swarm prevention, splits, catching swarms and Africanized bees
Swarm prevention for US beekeepers: why bees swarm, swarm cell signs, splits, Demaree and checkerboarding, catching swarms, regional seasons and state rules.
- Hives and apiary
Types of beehives: Langstroth 10-frame and 8-frame, top-bar, long hive and Warré compared
Types of beehives compared for US beekeepers: Langstroth 10-frame and 8-frame, deeps vs mediums, top-bar, long hive and Warré: sizes, weights, laws and prices.
- Colony health
Varroa mites: testing, thresholds, EPA-registered treatments and regional timing
Varroa mites in the US: how they kill colonies, the alcohol wash, HBHC thresholds, every EPA-registered treatment, amitraz resistance and timing by region.
- Hives and apiary
Warré hive: dimensions, plans, nadiring, harvest and state laws in the US
The Warré hive for US beekeepers: box dimensions in inches and mm, building plans, nadiring, crush and strain harvest, varroa, state frame laws and prices.
- Hives and apiary
Where to put a beehive: setbacks, local rules, sun or shade, water, bears and moving hives in the US
Beehive placement in the US: state and city setbacks, flyway barriers, sun or shade by region, entrance direction, water, bears, pesticides and moving hives.
- Wild pollinators
Native bees of the United States: how many species, how to identify them, where they nest and how to help
Native bees in the US: about 4,000 species, 70% nesting in the ground. How to identify them, which are endangered under the ESA and how to help them at home.
- Colony health
Yellow-legged hornet in the US: where it is, how to identify it and how to protect your hives
Yellow-legged hornet in the US: where it has been found in Georgia and the Carolinas, how to identify and report it, and how beekeepers can protect their hives.