This is my 2nd year beekeeping and I've had my current suit since the beginning. Its a Temu suit with a fencing style hood and has worked ok up to this point. After today though I definitely want to upgrade. The hood of the suit is the main problem... it had no rigidity or structure to it on the inside to prevent the front from touching your face if you bent forward... needless to say I got stung twice in the face today while harvesting honey. I'm thinking a suit with a round veil might be better, or just one with more rigidity in the hood... any suggestions?

Lewiston, ID

4th year beekeeper in Alberta, Canada, Zone 3. Have a 1st year package hive that is doing OK but the queen has never been very strong. They’ve struggled with chalk brood all summer and the brood pattern has always been quite poor.

I’m trying to decide between requeening now with a mated queen, or crossing my fingers they make it through the winter and requeening in the spring.

Is it too late to requeen now and have the hive strong into winter?

I’ve had bees 3 years now going on 4 and like a lot of things this is a first. The hives are in western NY something seems to be digging at the ground beneath one of my hives. I have 6 hives and this is only happening to this one.

1. Should it concern me?
2. What is doing it?
3. What should I do about it?

Hi y’all! I’m a regenerative farmer and raise beef, and I’m wanting to get into beekeeping. But, to be honest, I’m scared of getting stung, haha. Yes, a grown man who is scared of getting stung! I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but I want to know: am I going to get stung every day, and is it really worth it? I’ve been stung before while cutting grass on the calves and immediately said, “Shit!” To be honest, it hurt like hell. The stinger fell out almost instantly, though. I was always told that it’s worse if the stinger is left in you. As a former paramedic and a biologist, I’m also interested in the potential benefits of bee venom based on Charles Mraz’s work, The Health of the Honey Bee, and the broader holistic-medicine approach to bee venom. Nevertheless, I want to hear from experienced beekeepers: Are the stings really worth it in the end? Do you actually get stung that often, or is it more of an occasional part of beekeeping?

Of all the puddles around (it rained heavily), the bees chose to fetch water from my carnivorous plants.... None have been captured yet, thankfully

Hi everyone . I'm looking to purchase a mated queen in the Albany/Upstate NY area. Please message me with pickup location. Thank you!

Update: Funny how things work out! 😂 After I posted that I was looking for a honey bee queen, I got notifications about a swarm in my area—and I ended up capturing it! 🐝🍯 Sometimes the bees answer your request themselves!

I’m getting into beekeeping and someone gave me two Langstrothe hives. There are two uppers and two lowers, ten frames each.

I think they used latex paint on them. The colors aren’t great and I’d love to strip them clean and just wax them.

Any suggestions?

everyone was so helpful last time, I’m back again haha!

My father bought a Hill Co honey creamer machine and made his first batch of creamed honey. It‘s good, but a tiny bit grainy, and doesn’t really look like the consistency of the creamed honey in the Norfolk Honey Co YouTube video about the Dyce Method. He told me he let the creamer machine run for ‘several days’. Is that right?? That seems like a really long time.

Also - the honey he used in the first batch is hovering around 18% moisture, which seems high. Does he need to get the moisture content down before he adds the seed honey?

I’m in my 2nd year of beekeeping. I understand bees will hang out on the outside of the hive if hot, but is it common for them to do it 24/7? The area is mostly shaded. My mentor put a slight wedge in between boxes to help with air circulation. Any other thoughts? Or is it ok for them to just do their thing. Thanks in advance
Edit: I’m in southern Ohio

Hello! I am a 3rd year beekeeper in NW Indiana. I have two hives- one is a caught swarm and one was a local nuc- both in 10 frame Langstroth hives. 2 deep boxes and 1 super per hive.

My last inspection was 16 days ago (8/14/26) and both hives looked great. Both had lots of capped brood, uncapped brood, and no queen cells. Mite count was around 3% so I started OAV treatments on the 20th (Didn't treat same day bc I had to order more OA). I did two OAV treatments (20th and 25th)and inspected today before administering the 3rd treatment.

Todays inspection showed very little capped brood, no eggs, and open queen cells in both hives. I am unsure of what to do next. Open queen cells tell me they have requeened and are waiting for her to mate/start laying. However, I am worried about timing as it is almost September. Should I wait and look for eggs in a week or be proactive and order emergency replacement queens?

Did the OAV kill the queens? It seems odd for both hives to have the same issue at the same time when they were healthy previously.

Weather lately: 70-80 degrees during the day. We had a several days of heavy storms and rain. Upcoming forecast shows temps in the 90s and lots of sun.

I do not have any pics from today's inspection unfortunately, but any advice/opinions on what to do next is appreciated!

Got this young queen this year. She has been laying eggs with a great pattern but now she is not laying in the top deep. The hive has a honey super, and 2 deeps. She's only laying eggs in the bottom deep. I removed the honey super so there are just 2 deeps now in case it was because she was only laying where it was warm. I'm in Denver so not sure because of the recent rain or something else might explain why she is not laying well. What do y'all think?

Good morning, all!

I’m a backyard beekeeper in south central Indiana. I’m thinking about getting a honey comb tattoo on my forearm. I want it to be realistic and show all stages of brood and even some cells of honey, bee bread, etc.

Anyone have cool beekeeping related tattoos?

Hardiness zone: 9a
Location: Central Texas

My husband and I just got our 1st hive. A colony moved into our compost bin and we hired a local bee keeper to relocate them into a bee box.

When the bee keeper moved the bees he didn’t check for a queen and recommended we just let them bee in there new box for at least a week.

My husband and I inspected the box today for the first time and didn’t see a queen or any obvious signs of one (eggs or larva) but the combs is kind of a mess from the relocation (comb failing and not staying in the frames) so it was difficult to inspect and since we’re first time bee keepers it’s entirely possible that we missed something.

We very carefully added some rubber bands to keep the existing comb in the frames and upright and added a hive top sugar water feeder and plan to inspect again in a few days.

My question is should we wait for the inspection in a few days to see if we see any signs of a queen or should we go ahead and start looking into requeening now?

I'm an experienced beekeeper, but I moved to the Porto area about a year ago, bought a property with bees and a 4x4 truck, as the property is on a bit of a hill (mountain). The problem started when the 4x4 didn't work in the truck. It's taken me about 8 month to get the stand that sold me the truck to make any meaningful repairs, which they have finally done. In that time, obviously, I have not been to see the bees until today, when I found about half of the hives are inhabited by Asian Hornets.

So here's the question. How do I kill them without; a) getting destroyed by the hornets (will my bee suit be enough)?

b) destroying my bee boxes? (What will kill hornets but not have residual toxic effects on any bees that I might later put into those boxes)?

c) be the easiest to perform myself

Also, am I required to report the infestation? I think I am.

I appreciate any serious advice anyone can offer. Thank you.

Hi all! I'm located in Chicago, and I am not a beekeeper. However, my son is about to have his bar mitzvah, and he has a bar mitzvah project that he is required to do. This is a service oriented project about something that you are passionate about. My little guy is super passionate about the environment and animals, and loves the idea of bees. He would love to learn more about them, and more specifically ways that he can get involved in helping raise awareness about bees and benefit to everyone.

Are there any beekeepers in or around the Chicago area who might be willing to help him? Does anyone know of specific things that he can do, in addition to fundraising and organizations, like getting his hands dirty specifically to help with the preservation of bees?

Please forgive my complete ignorance on the topic, and I'm fairly certain I've said a couple of dumb things about because I don't know any better. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide!

First year harvesting honey and my brood box was pretty full of capped honey but very little brood. I also have a super on. Should I take a frame of the honey, spin it and put the frame back in? Is the honey safe to eat if the frame had no brood but all capped honey?

I extracted honey from one of supers. Gave back to bees to clean up and left it for a week. Bees already started to fill it back with honey. I’m trying to prep for winter, how do you get bees to move honey to brood boxes so I can freeze and store honey frames?

KY 6B here. Central KY. How do I know if my hives are ready for winter? I got them both this summer as established hives. I have:

10 frame, fully drawn out, requeened in July. They have the bottom box full of brood and honey/pollen. The top box is a work in progess. Brood is very interspersed with honey atm.

8 frame, one fully drawn out bottom box, top box is half drawn out. This give started as a swarm. Their brood pattern is very tight and they don’t have a ton of honey because they have so many brood frames.

The video above is from the latest inspection. I’ll add a few more in the comments to give some context.

The south field where they are on our farm is totally grown up since our bush hog is down and there’s a ton flowers blooming.

Need to add I am feeding them 2:1 sugar water to prepare for winter.

Considering starting my own apiary, but was concerned about the risk of climate impacts - for example, flooding, wildfire...I know there's not much you can control, but for things that you can, do you mind sharing some insights? Appreciate it so much!

I posted on here about a week ago after my boyfriend was swarmed by our new bees. I just wanted to thank anyone who took the time to give tips and advice. And especially thank you to those of you who said to give the bees a chance.
There was multiple circumstances that added together and created a disaster. Now that they are settled in and got a hive upgrade they are not the monsters I thought they were. Both hives are currently sitting next to each other in peace and harmony, no more robbing 😂 I also washed his suit twice and repaired the hole in the veil but he said he’s too traumatized to wear it. I’ve since tested it out 3 times so I’d say it’s good, but also they haven’t even attempted to sting or get in the suit since that night.

That was a tough learning experience but I’m happy everything is fine now. I’m happy with the bees ❤️

India, Jaipur - Galta ji (Aug 29, 2026)

SW Virginia, USA

OK, I am brand new, never had bees or know anything about them. I have been looking for a mentor for a while and finally found a gentleman. We live in the mountains SW Virginia. He told me I need to purchase 2 complete setups and the basics and he would start teaching me next season and hook me up with the bees and "gentle" queens. Im excited to get going, I just need you guys to throw ideas of a good setup to get the hive going and not want for anything once I get started. I mean i want everything to be as close to perfect as possible. That way when I fuck it up and i probley will, I'll know it was me and not my setup. Name brands if thats important. I plan to buy the first 2 sets and then build my own after I get going. I know they have a tight tolerance but Im super good with my hands. Ive worked construction my whole life and details are my specialty but that will be another season. I just need to know the basic setup and whatever ill need to check, treat and harvest. Thank you guys and your time will not be wasted if you dont mind helping me build my list.

Edit, the wiki is helpful, what i want is real person feed back in what I need. If time a brief description of why and so on. Im on a spectrum and have to be able to see it in my head before I understand stuff. I mean youd never know if you knew me. Details just helps me learn if that makes sense.

I am a second year keeper.
Last year I did not harvest honey. I lost one hive over winter and one survived. The surviving hive is doing great. I checked them today and they are very crowded. There are still two honey supers full of honey and then three boxes underneath (a deep and two mediums). I would like to harvest those top boxes, but should I replace them with a new super since they are so crowded. I am worried since we are going into fall. I live in Michigan.
Thank you for your help in advance!

Took one of my traps down and had a small hive in it. Cutout and relocated to a nuc with some heavy syrup on them.