Beekeeping Today Podcast Jeff Ott, Kim Flottum

When you think of Arizona, beekeeping typically does not come to mind. On today's episode, we talk about beekeeping in Arizona with three Arizona beekeepers: Duane Combs, Joc Rawls, and Monica King.
Duane has been on the podcast in the past talking about the Hive Heart line of bee hive sensors and as part of our Regional Beekeeper series. Monica is a third generation beekeeper and does cut-outs and queens, south of Tucson, and Joc is a retired veternarian, who, like Duane, keeps his colonies near Phoenix.
What is it like to keep bees in the 110 degree heat of summer? Many of us only really consider insulation as a winter issue... but these three, along with most of the other beekeepers in Arizona, consider summer as the prime time to insulate their bees.
The old adage says, "Beekeeping is local." Today's guests defintely illustrate that point!
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and 
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 
Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott
Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC
Copyright © 2023 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

Close your eyes and think of a gold course. We’re pretty sure that when you think of the landscape and maintenance of a typical golf course, with lots trim flat greens, schedules of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals - a beeyard just doesn’t fit, right?
Jennifer Berry and Scott Griffith of the University of Georgia, are working to change that vision. They’ve placed a hive at the very first tee on the university’s golf course, in Athens, Georgia.
Jennifer, a grad student at the University and a researcher at the UGA Bee Lab, and Scott, Director of Agronomy and golf course Supervisor, are working to set a standard to use the tracts of land around golf courses, bee and pollinator friendly.
They are starting to make it happen.
Scott is spreading the word to every golf course in the US about how to keep both golfers and honey bees safe, what they should be planting to help bees stay healthy, and what they shouldn’t be doing with all of the chemicals golf courses use. The next step is working with an organization that could certify a golf course as being recognized as Bee Friendly, with guidelines, and standards that if followed, minimized, or better, kept bees truly safe, and well fed.
Listen now and see out if your golf course can be a part of this program, and what you can do to help………FORE!!!
Also on this episode, Ed Colby returns with another story from his book, “A Beekeeper’s Life: Tales from the Bottom Board”. The book is a collection of 60 of his best columns from Bee Culture. In this episode, Ed’s bee truck breaks down in Steamboat Springs, Colorado! Listen to hear how he gets out of this high mountain town. You can order signed copies of Ed’s book for $25.00. Contact him directly at coloradobees1@gmail.com for your copy!
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
University of Georgia Bee Lab: https://ent.uga.edu/bees UGA Golf Course: https://golfcourse.uga.edu/news/honeybees/  Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and 
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your

Today we talk with Nina Bagley. Nina lives in Columbus, Ohio, and has a profound interest in the role women have played in beekeeping in this country. She is a county bee inspector, runs about 50 colonies in and around Columbus, and is an officer in the Ohio State Beekeepers Association.  Plus she’s a University of Montana Master Beekeeper, so all in all, she has a grounding in the science and art of keeping bees.
She started her quest after running across a mention of some of these women in a book on the history of beekeeping, and now has a whole library of beekeeping history books plus the entire collection of both Gleanings In Bee Culture and the American Bee Journal as references.
The women she talks about today, and she writes about every month in Bee Culture magazine, were industrious, ambitious and hard-working, though some ran their business with a tiny bit of larceny.
Find out more by listening in on her history of women in American Beekeeping.
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
Nina's Website: https://www.Ohioqueenbee.com  Nina's Bee Culture, January Article: https://www.beeculture.com/bees-and-women/ Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and 
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 
Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott
Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC
Copyright © 2023 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

Today we meet up again with James Wilkes, founder, and Max Rünzel, CEO, of Hive Tracks.
The people at HiveTracks have raised the bar when it come to gathering data about your bees, your bee yards, the environment in which they live. The data also provides a look at what role climate change may or may not play in how well they are doing now and in the future.
The data entered by beekeepers using the HiveTracks app, is analyzed and reported back to the beekeeper helping him or her make knowledge-based decisions that help them throughout the season.
Listen today as James and Max talk about the new directions they are taking HiveTracks to further the use of bees as biosensors – first data collectors of the environments they visit on their journeys. This is fascinating and exciting journey you will definitely want to learn about.
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
HiveTracks: https://www.hivetracks.com/  HiveTracks WeFund: https://wefunder.com/HiveTracks Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
_______________
We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 
Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott
Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC
Copyright © 2023 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

Returning today is Dan Conlon, vice president of the Russian Bee Breeders Association.  Dan updates us on how the Russian bee breeding program, the status of the association and how the Covid shutdowns impacted the USDA Baton Rouge Bee Lab, which first introduced the Russians, and now provides breeding oversight to the group.
The basics of the Russian bees is that the good traits tend to be getting better and those traits not favored by beekeepers, are being reduced.
Russian bees build quickly in the spring as soon as the pollen starts. This is favorable for beekeepers using their bees for pollination services, but results in swarming issues, if the beekeeper does not keep on top of it.
Resistance to varroa is good and is getting better as breed is improved, especially compared to many available bee strains.
One trait often mentioned is the defensiveness, but this is more with hybrid Russian bees, but true Russians are even more docile now than even a few years ago.
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
Russian Honey Bee Breeders Assn: http://www.russianbreeder.org/ Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
_______________
We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 
Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott
Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC
Copyright © 2023 by Growing Planet Media, LLC

Density, Diversity and Duration. These are the three Project Apis m. objectives when selecting the best Seeds For Bees plantings. Today, Rory Crowley and Stetcyn Malonado join us to talk about the importance of planting ground cover in the fall so bees arriving to the almond orchards in the spring have an immediate food source.
The program’s goal is to provide seeds for bees to growers of almonds in California that will be in bloom when bees begin arriving for almond pollination as early as December and January each bloom season. Finding the right plants and then finding growers who can take advantage of this program is the job of Rory, the PAm Seeds for Bees Organizer.
Density determines the amount of seed needed to adequately cover the amount of space  between the rows of almond trees in an orchard. Duration looks at when they begin blooming and when they quit, and diversity is the goal such that there are many different species of plants in that planting so that duration and diversity work together to provide enough good food for the bees until almond bloom starts.
Stetcyn is working with the same objectives but working only with Blue Diamond growers, who have different goals and time tables to adhere to, but the process is the same. Have blooms before the bees get to California, be blooming until almond bloom and never have hungry bees again.
We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.
Thank you for listening!
Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 
Project Apis m.:  https://www.projectapism.org/ Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com
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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 
We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com
Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com
We welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and
lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!
Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry.
_______________
We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: questions@beekeepingtodaypodcast.com
Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 
Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott
Beekeeping Today Po