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Beekeeping at FiveApple: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Leigh Wilkerson
Talk, tips & how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the North Carolina mountains of Southern Appalachia.
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- 1 weeks ago36 min
Ep169 Deep Dive on Dr. Scott Debnam's presentation on Overwintering
This week I had the pleasure of listening and making notes on the presentation: "Honey Bee Overwintering Thermodynamics" by Dr. Scott Debnam, University of Montana. It's available to watch on YouTube and I highly recommend: https://youtu.be/uVWfC8IAmb8?si=WkdC6icEq1xPaeTr I talk you through some of the main points of his talk that I found interesting. It's part of how I'm starting to study to attempt the EAS master beekeeper certification in upcoming years so you may be hearing more episodes on that process on the pod. This is the summary of the talk on YouTube and it was a presentation from 2025 to the Western Apiculture Society: Presentation: "Honey Bee Overwintering Thermodynamics" by Dr. Scott Debnam, University of Montana Summary: How naturally nesting bees design their cavity and utilize the three products, heat, CO2 & H2O, they produce over the winter. How can we emulate their cavity design in our managed hives to take advantage of these products. Bio: The University of Montana's Organismal Biology, Ecology, & Evolution program awarded Dr. Scott Debnam his Master's degree in Pollination Ecology in 2016 and his Doctorate in Insect Physiology in 2022. Scott is an expert on honey bee problems and pests and specializes in nest thermoregulation and the economics associated with nest thermoregulation. For the past 10 years, he has co-instructed the University of Montana's Online Master Beekeeping program, which received the 2019 UPCEA award for outstanding online education. He has taught over 2000 students from 22 different countries. As well as being an instructor at Amherst College, he is a co-instructor of the new Commercial Beekeeping program at UM Online. Wishing you all a wonderful week! It's such a joy to have bee friends. Leigh Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: • Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments. • Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos • Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes • DMs so I can answer your questions • Input on the podcast topics • Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you keeping the show going and advert-free! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh has spent the last 16 years keeping a self-sustaining hobby apiary. She enjoys helping fellow beekeepers get off the purchased-package treadmill by introducing backyard queen-rearing via specialty splits and alternatives to non-stop chemical treatments. After a decade and a half of maintaining fully treatment-free hives, Leigh now practices a hybrid approach that blends Varroa-resistant genetics with organic tools for thriving bees and minimal use of treatments. She enjoys sharing strategies with bee clubs across the country via zoom, speaking on specialty splits (so you never have to buy a package again), simple frame-based queen rearing, requeening approaches and ways to increase VSH genetics in your own backyard. Leigh’s podcast Beekeeping at Five Apple Farm—with over 300K downloads— makes these and other topics available free, anytime.
- 3 weeks ago26 min
Ep168 Scent Communications
Did you know honey bees are able to detect lung cancer by smell? Today I share that amazing study as well as more about the scents our bees use to communicate vital info: food! danger! home! here it is! Plus updates on the bee yards, black jar honey contest, new requeening presentation, Bee Expo 2027 and more. Links mentioned in this episode: MSU researchers discover honeybees can detect lung cancer https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2024/06/msu-researchers-discover-honeybees-can-detect-lung-cancer Smells - by Kevin Cheatham-McFadden in Bee Culture https://beeculture.com/smells-2/ Not a subscriber to Bee Culture yet? https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/bee-culture North American Honey Bee Expo, Louisville KY Jan 7-9, 2027 https://www.nahbexpo.com/ Speaker Info: https://www.nahbexpo.com/speakers wishing you all a wonderful October! Leigh Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: • Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments. • Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos • Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes • DMs so I can answer your questions • Input on the podcast topics • Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you keeping the show going and advert-free! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh has spent the last 16 years keeping a self-sustaining hobby apiary. She enjoys helping fellow beekeepers get off the purchased-package treadmill by introducing backyard queen-rearing via specialty splits and alternatives to non-stop chemical treatments. After a decade and a half of maintaining fully treatment-free hives, Leigh now practices a hybrid approach that blends Varroa-resistant genetics with organic tools for thriving bees and minimal use of treatments. She enjoys sharing strategies with bee clubs across the country via zoom, speaking on specialty splits (so you never have to buy a package again), simple frame-based queen rearing, requeening approaches and ways to increase VSH genetics in your own backyard. Leigh’s podcast Beekeeping at Five Apple Farm—with over 300K downloads— makes these and other topics available free, anytime.
- Oct 1, 202638 min
Ep167 Autumn Says Get Ready
The light and the leaves are both saying Autumn has started. Our winter bees are already emerging and there are things we can do to give them their best chance. In today's episode I'm talking about the things I'm getting done to get ready for the bees journey through Winter. kind regards to you all in every kind of weather, Leigh Also: for my past episode on Condensing Hives vs Ventilating Hives see Ep 122 *Ep 122: New Insulation Setup and The "Condensing Hive"* A deeper dive into the why and how of the insulation setup I started using several years ago, the condensing-hive concept. For the patrons, find the links to everything mentioned in the show, and the video I made for you. Bill Hesbach's website, with links to his articles etc https://www.wingdancehoney.com/about Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh has spent the last 16 years keeping a self-sustaining hobby apiary. She enjoys helping fellow beekeepers get off the purchased-package treadmill by introducing backyard queen-rearing via specialty splits and alternatives to non-stop chemical treatments. After sixteen years maintaining fully treatment-free hives, Leigh now practices a hybrid approach that blends Varroa-resistant genetics with organic tools for thriving bees and minimal use of treatments. She enjoys sharing strategies with bee clubs across the country via zoom, speaking on specialty splits (so you never have to buy a package again), simple frame-based queen rearing, requeening approaches and ways to increase VSH genetics in your own backyard. Leigh’s podcast Beekeeping at Five Apple—with over 300K downloads— makes these and other topics available free, anytime.
- Sep 17, 202636 min
Updated Ep166 Warmer autumns are good for bees right? Turns out, not really.
Found a research article that was food for thought on how warmer autumns may be having effects on our bees that aren't so good: creating smaller late-winter clusters by increased wear and tear on the precious winter bees who should not be as active as the temps drive them to be. But also, it goes into novel solutions (well, not novel in Canada but novel in more Southern climes) to help. Do backyard beekeepers have any options to help? I do some thinking aloud about all that and pondering on an unexpected potential benefit of insulation perhaps? Here is the original study if you take those straight-up-no-chaser (looking at you Susan S! ;-) : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-55327-8 For a reader friendly overview that will help you then dive into the research paper: https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2024/03/25/honey-bees-at-risk-for-colony-collapse-from-longer-warmer-fall-seasons/ Also: for my past episode on Condensing Hives vs Ventilating Hives see Ep 122 *Ep 122: New Insulation Setup and The "Condensing Hive"* A deeper dive into the why and how of the insulation setup I started using several years ago, the condensing-hive concept. For the patrons, find the links to everything mentioned in the show, and the video I made for . Wishing you all a wonderful week and let me know if there are topics about bees you have been wondering about and it's a great excuse for me to do a geek deep dive into research on it! —kind regards, Leigh Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh Wilkerson brings sixteen years of hands-on experience from her self-sustaining apiary since 2010. The podcast explores colony health, natural bee biology, and organic to chemical-free methods. Episodes go deep on seasonal management, swarm control, queen rearing, hive biology, nutrition, and sustainable genetics. Designed for beekeepers ready to go beyond the basics, with episodes for newer beekeepers too. Leigh is a popular Zoom presenter for bee clubs and associations. Topics include specialty splits so you never buy a package again; requeening approaches; simple frame-based queen rearing; building VSH genetics in your yard; and topics by request.
- Sep 3, 202623 min
Ep165: Bee Radio Reader "Reflections on the Past Seasons"
Ep165: Bee Radio Reader "Reflections on the Past Seasons" by Richard Wahl (Off the Wahl Beekeeping Column, Nov 2025. Read by permission of Bee Culture magazine. ) Today it's a radio reader episode on learning to reflect on the past in a way that makes it useful for the future. As well as a bit of clarification on the last episode. Link to the article: https://beeculture.com/off-the-wahl-beekeeping-46/ Link to another good on in the same issue: https://beeculture.com/minding-your-bees-and-cues-50/ Becky Masterman & Bridget Mendel on the fascinating Nasonov gland in "Come Hither." Both full articles are available free online. And while you are there you can get access to the whole archive with a digital subscription for as low as $24. https://simplecirc.com/subscribe/bee-culture Wishing you all a wonderful week and sure hope I'll get to meet a lot of you at the 2027 North American Honey Bee Expo (Louisville, Kentucky Jan 7-9) where I'm delighted to be a speaker for one of their smaller venue "Community Series" talks. I'll likely be talking about specialty splits (but of course!) ;-) kind regards, Leigh Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh Wilkerson brings sixteen years of hands-on experience from her self-sustaining apiary since 2010. The podcast explores colony health, natural bee biology, and organic to chemical-free methods. Episodes go deep on seasonal management, swarm control, queen rearing, hive biology, nutrition, and sustainable genetics. Designed for beekeepers ready to go beyond the basics, with episodes for newer beekeepers too. Leigh is a popular Zoom presenter for bee clubs and associations. Topics include specialty splits so you never buy a package again; requeening approaches; simple frame-based queen rearing; building VSH genetics in your yard; and topics by request.
- Aug 28, 202629 min
updated Ep164 After 16 years, a shift for me
[Last Thursday Apple podcasts had an outage and the episode didn't show up as a new one in your feed. Here it is again for the Apple folks -- just a duplicate of last weeks episode that was missing for many! --Leigh] Listeners, This has been a test year in my bee yards, to see if my old treatment-free methods that worked so well for 16 years in an isolated bee yard would hold up in areas with more beekeepers. Answer: Nope. [Deep sigh and regroup. ] I now feel so lucky to have learned a hybrid system that still allows me to work on my long term project of stock selection towards mite resistance–while also utilizing organic acids for mite clean up in colonies that don't make the cut, with a requeen afterwards with the better genetics. Back on track! Thank you to queen breeders Ryan Williamson, Ang Roell, Troy Hall , James Lee and YouTube legend Bob Binnie for helping me understand a system that allows for both. Thank you all so much for pioneering a method that gave me resolve to farmer up! I'm happy to have a plan and have put it underway. in gratitude, Leigh Thank you to the supporting Patrons. You make this podcast possible as well as keeping all of us from needing to listen to adverts! Thank you to Lisa N the newest podcast angel and thank you to Bev M, Anderson M, Greg K, Dan G, Donald F, and Kerri A for joining this community this summer! Welcome to you all! And a special shout out to podcast angels Michael C and Will C, plus Jeff T, Deborah P, Chuck J, Bruce H and Blaine N for being with the podcast since it started in 2019! What a huge amount of gratitude I have for your continued support. It's thanks to you this podcast still exists. Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh Wilkerson brings sixteen years of hands-on experience from her self-sustaining apiary since 2010. The podcast explores colony health, natural bee biology, and organic to chemical-free methods. Episodes go deep on seasonal management, swarm control, queen rearing, hive biology, nutrition, and sustainable genetics. Designed for beekeepers ready to go beyond the basics, with episodes for newer beekeepers too. Leigh is a popular Zoom presenter for bee clubs and associations. Topics include specialty splits so you never buy a package again; requeening approaches; simple frame-based queen rearing; building VSH genetics in your yard; and topics by request.
- Aug 20, 202628 min
Ep164 After 16 years, a shift for me
This has been a test year in my bee yards, to see if my old treatment-free methods that worked so well for 16 years in an isolated bee yard would hold up in areas with more beekeepers. Answer: Nope. [Deep sigh and regroup. ] I now feel so lucky to have learned a hybrid system that still allows me to work on my long term project of stock selection towards mite resistance–while also utilizing organic acids for mite clean up in colonies that don't make the cut, with a requeen afterwards with the better genetics. Back on track! Thank you to queen breeders Ryan Williamson, Ang Roell, Troy Hall , James Lee and YouTube legend Bob Binnie for helping me understand a system that allows for both. Thank you all so much for pioneering a method that gave me resolve to farmer up! I'm happy to have a plan and have put it underway. in gratitude, Leigh Thank you to the supporting Patrons. You make this podcast possible as well as keeping all of us from needing to listen to adverts! Thank you to Lisa N the newest podcast angel and thank you to Bev M, Anderson M, Greg K, Dan G, Donald F, and Kerri A for joining this community this summer! Welcome to you all! And a special shout out to podcast angels Michael C and Will C, plus Jeff T, Deborah P, Chuck J, Bruce H and Blaine N for being with the podcast since it started in 2019! What a huge amount of gratitude I have for your continued support. It's thanks to you this podcast still exists. Not a patron yet? You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh Wilkerson brings sixteen years of hands-on experience from her self-sustaining apiary since 2010. The podcast explores colony health, natural bee biology, and organic to chemical-free methods. Episodes go deep on seasonal management, swarm control, queen rearing, hive biology, nutrition, and sustainable genetics. Designed for beekeepers ready to go beyond the basics, with episodes for newer beekeepers too. Leigh is a popular Zoom presenter for bee clubs and associations. Topics include specialty splits so you never buy a package again; requeening approaches; simple frame-based queen rearing; building VSH genetics in your yard; and topics by request.
- Aug 6, 202625 min
Ep163 Robbing prevention (and a tip I love!)
Today it's about the bee's most awful behavior: ROBBING. I found a tip on reducing robbing while doing inspections and it works great!! The PerfectBee.com website I mentioned. The article was from their email newsletter but here's a link to an article on robbing on their blog. BetterBee's article on robbing and prevention Rusty of HoneyBeeSuite.com on robbing and another post on preventing it. May your season be blessedly free of robbing among your bees! kind regards, Leigh _________________________ You are warmly invited to become a Friend of Five Apple on Patreon and join the folks who make the podcasts possible, who keep the archives available and who keep it all advertising-free. https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple In addition to huge gratitude, you get: Detailed show notes with links, tips, comments Access to Patreon blog posts including tips and videos Occasional bonus podcasts and early access episodes Commenting on posts (and DMs) allows me to answer questions Input on the podcast topics Shout-outs on the show because I appreciate you! If you can support the show please sign up today: https://www.patreon.com/fiveapple Beekeeping at Five Apple — talk, tips, and how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the Blue Ridge mountains of Southern Appalachia. Host Leigh Wilkerson brings sixteen years of hands-on experience from her self-sustaining apiary since 2010. The podcast explores colony health, natural bee biology, and organic to chemical-free approaches. Episodes go deep on seasonal management, swarm control, queen rearing, hive biology, nutrition, and sustainable genetics. Designed for beekeepers ready to go beyond the basics, with episodes for newer beekeepers too. Leigh is a popular Zoom presenter for bee clubs and associations. Topics include specialty splits so you never buy a package again; requeening approaches; simple frame-based queen rearing; building VSH genetics in your yard; and topics by request.
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Talk, tips & how-to on sustainable beekeeping from the North Carolina mountains of Southern Appalachia.
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