Bee Love Beekeeping... presented by Mann Lake

Eric Bennett
  • 4.8 (19)
  • Nature
  • Updated Weekly

Bee Love Beekeeping podcast is for everyone who loves honey bees! Hobby Beekeepers, Sideline Beekeepers, Commercial Beekeepers, Wanna-Bee Beekeepers, or anyone who is planting flowers and other native plants to support honey bees and other pollinators. Bee Love Beekeeping podcast includes interviews with real beekeepers, the latest news on honey bees and beekeeping, the newest gadgets and beekeeping inventions, plus fun stories about crazy things that happen in the bee yard. Hosted by Eric Bennett, Bee Love is a fun, informative way to connect with other honey bee lovers.

  1. 1d ago

    Varroa Mites In Australia - Flow Hive's Cedar Anderson

    This week's beekeeping adventure takes us to Byron Bay, Australia, where Flow Hive co-inventor Cedar Anderson gives us the buzz on life after Varroa mites invaded the continent. After a failed containment effort that saw thousands of hives burned, Australian beekeepers battled a brutal one-two punch of Varroa weakening colonies and small hive beetles finishing the job — sound familiar, fellow beekeepers? _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _____________ The good news: things are stabilizing. But Australian beekeeping comes with its own wild twist: bee-eating cane toads that camp out at hive entrances all night, gobbling up bees like an all-you-can-eat buffet. We also get into rainbow bee-eater birds, Africanized bees creeping into the southern U.S., and a hilarious near-miss where Cedar got chased by angry bees while a New York Times reporter had his back turned — talk about a close call. Toss in some jaw-dropping bee-communication stories (turns out their waggle dance is way more precise than science gives them credit for) and a peek at Cedar's new book, and this episode is a must-listen for anyone who loves bees, beekeeping, and the delightfully chaotic world of managing them. VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Cedar Anderson: https://www.honeyflow.com/

    Varroa Mites In Australia - Flow Hive's Cedar Anderson

  2. Jul 23

    "Natural Nest Beekeeping" With Hippy Oregon Beekeepers

    This week we're heading to Oregon to hang out with Joy and Eric McEwen, husband-and-wife beekeepers who've been at it together for 26 seasons and now tend around 650 colonies. They coined the term "natural nest beekeeping" to describe their whole philosophy: foundationless, paint-free, plastic-free hives, protected with a homemade beeswax-linseed-pine rosin sealant, queens raised in-house by their own sister bees instead of grafted or shipped in cages, and a Warré-inspired vertical hive design that lets the bees' own body heat pre-warm their winter honey stores. _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _____________ Then we take a step sideways when Joy dives into apitherapy — she's been doing bee venom therapy for 15+ years, treating everything from arthritis and Lyme disease to Parkinson's and chronic fatigue, and now co-teaches a full certification course with Eric through their business, Diggin' Living. Moral of the episode: it's not about the honey or the money, it's about the love (and maybe a little bit about ditching plastic hive equipment). VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Joy & Eric: https://digginlivin.com/

    "Natural Nest Beekeeping" With Hippy Oregon Beekeepers

  3. Jul 17

    Bee Stings: Lifesaving Information with Dr. Juanita Mora, MD

    2 Million Americans are allergic to bee stings. Do you know what to do for yourself, or someone else, when they have a severe reaction? We kick things off with eight bee sting facts that'll make you the most insufferable know-it-all at your next beekeeping club meeting. Did you know only lady bees can sting, that a detached stinger keeps pumping venom like a tiny horror-movie villain, or that bee venom is basically one superstar protein wearing a trench coat? You're welcome. _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _____________ Then Eric sits down with Chicago allergist Dr. Juanita Mora — who, plot twist, once got absolutely obliterated by roughly 100 stings as a six-year-old sitting on her grandfather's hive (yes, sitting on it) and grew up to become the exact doctor who now teaches people how not to die from that. Highlights: The "two or more systems" rule that tells you in five seconds whether you need epinephrine or just a good sulk and a cold packWhy "eh, I'll just pop a Benadryl" might be the worst sentence a beekeeper can say mid-emergencyA real live demo of EpiPen vs. Neffy (the no-needle option), including a hilarious confession about parents who've stabbed their own fingers instead of their thighThe plot twist that you can become allergic to bees after years of stings — so "I've never reacted before" means nothingWhy your grandkids, neighbors, and even your laundry hamper might be quietly at riskThe honey myths, the botulism truth, and Eric's own homemade (informal, definitely-not-science) experiment eating local raw honey to fight his allergiesBottom line from Dr. Mora: Every beekeeper, and anyone regularly around hives, should keep both adult and pediatric epinephrine on hand, know how to use it, and never hesitate to act during a severe reaction. VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Dr. Juanita Mora: https://www.instagram.com/dr.juanitamora/?hl=en Neffy: https://www.neffy.com/ Most commercially insured patients can pay as little as $25 per prescription for two single-use neffy devices through the company's co-pay savings program. For eligible patients whose insurance does not yet cover neffy or who face high out-of-pocket costs, ARS Pharma offers a cash price of $199 for two doses of neffy. For eligible uninsured or underinsured patients who meet program requirements and have exhausted other options, the Patient Assistance Program may provide neffy at no cost.

    Bee Stings: Lifesaving Information with Dr. Juanita Mora, MD

  4. Jul 9

    Could Varroa Resistant "California Bees" Hold Key To Solving The Problem?

    Buzzing with intrigue, this episode of Bee Love Beekeeping kicks off with spider venom playing mite assassin. Then the real fun begins: UC Riverside's Genesis Chong and Owen Wagner dish on their scrappy "Californian" hybrid bees, tough, hybridized survivors that shrug off Varroa infestations that would tank a typical commercial colony. _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _________________ For beekeepers tired of chemical treatments, this is the kind of hopeful buzz worth tuning in for. Turns out the secret isn't new chemical treatments — it's happening deep in the brood chamber, where mites mysteriously struggle to reproduce on these bees' larvae. Scent? Bad nutrition? Chemical trickery? The scientists are still chasing the answer, framing it as an evolutionary tug-of-war between bees and mites. Toss in a hilarious military-runway bee rescue story, some reflections on falling in love with bees, and you've got a genuinely entertaining, hope-filled episode for anyone invested in the future of beekeeping. VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Genesis & Owen: https://ciber.ucr.edu/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciber_ucr/ Facebook: Center for Integrative Bee Research (CIBER)

    Could Varroa Resistant "California Bees" Hold Key To Solving The Problem?

  5. Jul 2

    YAPPY Beeman Talks Bee Removals & Viral Videos

    Yappy: "This will get me excommunicated from the bee community!" Firefighter by day, bee-whisperer by everything else — Yappy BeeMan joins the show fresh off a job (complete with a couple of fresh stings) to spill 15 years of beekeeping wisdom, chaos, and comedy. Yappy tells the wild story of how one shaky cell-phone video — where he caught a queen bare-handed, mid-recording, with nowhere to put her — rocketed his channel from 5,000 subscribers to a million views practically overnight. _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _________________ From there, things get delightfully spicy: he makes the case for treating bees "like ladies" (suit optional), roasts the beekeepers who bust up cinder block basements to "save" $150 worth of bees, and explains why lazy trap-outs are basically bee purgatory. The grand finale? Two jaw-dropping removals from a 150-year-old farmhouse — one wall hiding a 75-year-old colony, the other a 45-year-old honey vault with a jaw-dropping 100 gallons inside. Oh, and before all that — the host crunches this year's colony loss numbers. The bees are doing a little better, but as one industry leader puts it, that's still less "victory lap" and more "crisis in slow motion." Buckle up, beekeepers — it's a big one. VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Yappy Beeman: https://swarmremover.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@YappyBeeman

    YAPPY Beeman Talks Bee Removals & Viral Videos

  6. Jun 25

    "Condensing" Beehives - Why & How

    Before getting into the honey of it all, host Eric riffs on a string of bizarre highway mishaps — rolled-over bee trucks, a tofu spill, flaming ribeyes — proving that 2026 is just a weird year for cargo. Then the real magic begins: mechanical-engineer-turned-beekeeper Bill Hesbach drops some serious hive-mind wisdom on condensing hives, the practice of letting bees manage their own internal climate instead of beekeepers cranking up the ventilation. _____________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _________________ Turns out our buzzy friends are basically tiny thermodynamics geniuses — using CO2 to chill their metabolism, recycling latent heat from condensation, and even running their own swamp coolers in summer. Who knew beekeeping came with a side of physics class? The conversation gets delightfully nerdy (volcano-buried hives! snow as insulation! queens partying in CO2 chambers!) before Bill explains how to DIY your own insulated hive sleeve — and why a "quilt box" might be sabotaging your bees without you knowing it. Things wrap up with two classic wild & crazy beekeeper tales: a swarm-catching fiasco involving mistaken identity (turns out bees are sneaky little ninjas) and a jungle honey-hunt in Thailand that ends with giant Apis dorsata bees chasing panicked undergrads through snake-infested streams. Equal parts science lecture and adventure story — this one's a hive worth diving into. VIDEO VERSION Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Bill: https://www.wingdancehoney.com/

    "Condensing" Beehives - Why & How

  7. Jun 18

    Rescuing Bees In Cornwall, England

    Host Eric Bennett, travels across the pond to Cornwall, England, for a fascinating conversation with Molly Earl, full-time beekeeper and founder of Bees Off and The Rescued Bee. Molly specializes in live bee removals — rescuing honeybee colonies from chimneys, walls, flat roofs, and other structures — and has grown what started as a two-hive hobby into an operation managing roughly 300 beehives across mid-Cornwall. ______________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _________________ The conversation covers her techniques, tools, the Cornwall beekeeping season, and pest management. Plus, Molly shares a couple of wild & crazy, memorable beekeeping stories that you won't want to miss... including how the pant leg of her beekeeping suit caught on fire! Video Version of This Episode Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com The Honeycomb Conjecture: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s004540010071 Molly Earl: https://beesoff.co.uk/

    Rescuing Bees In Cornwall, England

  8. Jun 11

    Naked & Afraid Beekeeping

    In this fun episode of Bee Love Beekeeping, host Eric Bennett sits down with Tara Skubella and Darrin Reay — survivalists best known from Discovery Channel's Naked and Afraid — to talk all things honey bees and beekeeping. The duo shares their passion project: a custom apitherapy bee hut built atop four Langstroth hives, where visitors breathe healing pheromones and soak up therapeutic vibrations without a single sting. ______________ $10 off your next order! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ • Discount Code: MLBEELOVE10 _________________ Darren, a fabricator-turned-beekeeper with 13 hives and three consecutive winters of zero colony loss, also breaks down his smart insulation strategy — R40 on the lid, R10 on the walls — mimicking how wild bees survive in hollow trees and cliff crevices. Tara balances Darrin's nuts-and-bolts beekeeping approach by describing herself as a "bee alchemist" who leads breathwork retreats inside the hut and helps guests build genuine relationships with their colonies. Throw in Darrin's chaotic story of catching a swarm from atop a truck bed with a stepladder, Tara's near-miss with Africanized killer bees in Panama, and a beekeeper who runs a queen retirement home, and you've got one of the most entertaining beekeeping conversations you'll hear all year. Video Version of This Episode Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, Mann Lake! https://www.mannlakeltd.com/ Mann Lake discount code: MLBEELOVE10 for $10 off your next order. Follow Us: https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/follow/ https://www.beelovebeekeeping.com/ Eric@BeeLoveBeekeeping.com Tara & Darrin: https://www.beezenhuts.com/ https://www.instagram.com/alpinewonderer/ https://www.instagram.com/tskubella/

    Naked & Afraid Beekeeping
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4.8
out of 5
19 Ratings

About

Bee Love Beekeeping podcast is for everyone who loves honey bees! Hobby Beekeepers, Sideline Beekeepers, Commercial Beekeepers, Wanna-Bee Beekeepers, or anyone who is planting flowers and other native plants to support honey bees and other pollinators. Bee Love Beekeeping podcast includes interviews with real beekeepers, the latest news on honey bees and beekeeping, the newest gadgets and beekeeping inventions, plus fun stories about crazy things that happen in the bee yard. Hosted by Eric Bennett, Bee Love is a fun, informative way to connect with other honey bee lovers.

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