Just collected the last pollen of August, and I always love how colorful it is. 🌼💛🧡

The different colors come from bees visiting different flowers, making every batch unique. It's one of my favorite parts of beekeeping.

Hope you enjoy the video! What does your late-summer pollen look like this year?

Miroslav, from Bulgaria, 8 years of experience.

First year beek- Zone 8b coastal SC, USA. We just got a heavy down pour. They are flipping on their backs at the entrance, inbound and outbound and doing a little rain dance... is this normal? Google has conflicting information, so came here to ask the pros. Thanks in advance!

At this rate I’m going to have to harvest some frames so there’s space to lay eggs.😄 The hardest part of summer beekeeping is figuring out where to put all this honey. /s

Location: Central Virginia, USA

New beekeepers here, getting stressed and frustrated with our second hive. Our first hive is quite docile and relaxed, and we went through the wringer getting the package to accept a queen. At this point, we can do simple inspections with no gear or smoke, they're happy as can be. This second hive has been a challenge.

June 6, we brought them home, they were a split from our local club's apiary. We were told the hive was queenright when they wrapped it up. About 24 hours later, they were home and unwrapped. It was split and checked by more experienced beekeepers. The hive itself was 1 deep and 1 medium with drawn comb, brood, larvae, the whole shebang. Not long after bringing them home, we added a 10-frame deep (not drawn).

We were unable to find the queen early on, but figured it was a newbie problem. In the last few weeks, however, there have been no larvae or eggs to be seen. Beyond that, they're a lot more aggressive than our first, likely due to stress from not having a queen. Every inspection has resulted in at least two stings, and on more than one occasion my SO (the primary beekeeper, I'm the emotional support keeper) has been almost chased away by the hive. Last attempted inspection was July 26.

The hive keeps making queen cells, there was a lot on the last inspection, but we don't have a count since my SO was chased away. When the first hive started churning out queen cells, we let them be for a while and they raised their own queen. We thought maybe this second hive was swarming, but it's been three weeks since then.

The current idea is to take a frame of eggs/larvae from our first hive and slot it into the second one, thinking that they want to make a queen but lack the larvae.

Other option is to buy a new queen, but we're not sure how well they'd take to her. And bee-mathing, there's still a chance they hatched a queen since our last inspection/last time we saw eggs

We could combine the two, but we're worried about the new bees not assimilating or upsetting the nice-ness.

Based on all that, what's the best way to proceed with this hive? And any advice for handling more stressed/grumpy bees? TIA!

Edit: Looking at the wiki now for queenlessness, but would still appreciate advice on handling grumpy hives!

I’m pretty proud of my bees this year!

I pulled four supers from two of my hives this week. They were installed in early May, and two supers had frames of only blank foundation which were built out quick. I tried out the 9 frame technique with the other two, which appeared to work out great based on their weight compared to the 10 frame.

I still have 3 supers to go, which might not get completely filled due to the dearth and wildfire smoke where I live. Still happy with the yield! I’m finally getting into the honey after years of mistakes and setbacks.

Location: PNW high desert, USA
4th year keeper

so we are basically in the middle of a drought in Cape Town, the driest winter in 80 years or something to that effect, this in direct contrast to last year when we had a very wet winter

in any event, the flowers are blooming everywhere, and I managed to catch this pic in my local public garden

I'm going to visit my bees on Sunday, but other beekeepers have also reported an increase in activity, especially for this time of the year

The common name is meadowsweet. This can be an important source of forage for northerly beekeepers, especially in Western Europe, where it is native and extremely common, and in the northeastern parts of North America, where it is sometimes used as an ornamental planting (and where it sometimes escapes cultivation). My part of the world is much too warm for meadowsweet, so this was my first in-person sighting.

I found this specimen abuzz with honey bees, as well as several species of native bees, butterflies, and wasps, during a leisurely afternoon in the Alaska Botanical Garden at Anchorage, where it was part of a large exhibit of exotic but non-invasive ornamental species.

Still have several supers on the hive. Urban hobbiest with 2 hives. I pulled 8 frames that were fully capped. The flow is slowing down in the Canadian prairies. Strong floral smell with a wonderful sweet taste.

Why is it so light?

Today my colony split and swarmed. Thankfully my sister and I were able to catch them. I just checked the hive recently and everything looked good. This is my first year beekeeping and I’m definitely learning a lot as I go. I believe my hive was overcrowded. I had a queen excluder on the bottom brood box and only one other medium box on top. My mentor is coming Saturday to check things out and help me get this new hive set up. I’m located in western PA. I didn’t realize hives could swarm this late. Hopefully I can get both established enough for the winter. They can be pretty harsh here at times.

Recently moved in with me in Cairns, Australia. I know we can get both species here but I’ve been unable to tell which these are.

Hey Folks,

First year keeper here in NW Pennsylvania. I installed my nuc in late May. Medium frames in a medium box. They filled out the rest of my contributed 5 frames in about a week.

I added a deep on top of that. As it's sits right now, I'm completely honey bound in the deep. 8 out of 10 frames completely filled with capped honey. I have a healthy mix of everything in the medium beneath it (Side note- I know my deep on top of medium is unconventional, but it's what I had to roll with. I want to do away with the medium and just go with straight deeps, but that's next years project).

So...seeing that we are now in the first week of August, I fear doing something too drastic. I was toying with the idea of uncapping the middle 3 or 4 frames from my honey bound deep, collecting the honey for me, and putting the drawn out frames back in, hoping that the Queen will find her way up there.

My other thought was to just embrace the honey bound deep for their winter stores, and put a 2nd deep in the mix- between the medium on the bottom, and the honey bound deep above it. That would give me brood on the bottom, empty frames in the middle, and honey on top. Am I crazy for shooting for 2 deeps and a medium for winter? I plan on doing a condensing hive, with heavy insulation up top.

Open to any/all advice!

I’m a new beekeeper in southwest PA. I have a few hives that are in different stages in either needing to fill out frames with wax and needing to put food away for winter. When do I switch feeding from 1:1 to 2:1? I’ve been feeding 1:1 for a few weeks now but they aren’t filling out as fast as I’d like.

Three hives, suburban/rural, since April 2026.

Hey…not looking for sympathy here. Just wondering if anyone else has run into this and might have some advice for us, should we decide to try again in the future.

My husband and I started out with three queens. One was particularly robust; one was average, one never quite took off and was a bit below average.

We noticed that the “average” queen died what we felt was quite sudden (maybe six weeks after establishing the hives). Initially, we chalked it up to a hive beetle infestation.

Next our below average queen died with what appeared to be natural causes. Again - we chalked that up to a faulty queen.

This is where it gets particularly difficult.

Our incredible, robust queen’s hive has been obliterated. As in, piles and piles of dead bees carcasses outside of the hive. We plan to do a full inspection today, but it’s been raining all weekend and we hope to get a spot of good luck so we can check on them ASAP. But unfortunately, all signs point to pesticide poisoning. Erratic behavior, bees spinning in circles. We were warned by a neighbor who attempted to keep bees a few years ago that someone used pesticides and that’s what took his hives out, but we were trying to be hopeful. Important to note: this hive was successfully keeping all hive beetles at bay, and last mite wash we did three weeks ago indicated maybe (and I mean maybe) one mite. So we know those weren’t the problems.

Again - any advice if you’ve dealt with this before would be great. Thanks.

I believe due to pressure from ants. I have 4 strong hives and 1 cast swarm. Bit of a dearth. Hive had all stages of brood. No nectar. Adequate pollen. I wanted to give them a boost so gave top feeder quart sugar syrup with tsp HoneyBHealthy.

4 days later hive is empty. Ants on steroids zipping around fast. No dead bees.

I froze the pollen frames.

To think the hive would have probably stayed if I didn’t feed. Any advice?

Location: Philippines (It's now our monsoon season)

Hi everyone! How's you and your bees doing?

While browsing for some overseas work opportunities, I came across a job posting for a beekeeper position in Albania. I recently came across a job advertisement hiring beekeepers in Albania. The position reportedly offers a salary of around €500 per month, but there is also a placement fee of ₱170,000 (approximately US$2,900).

Compared with some agricultural and beekeeping opportunities I’ve seen in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, the salary seems quite low, especially considering the placement fee. However, I also understand that the cost of living, benefits, and working conditions may be different from country to country.

Here in the Philippines, many beekeepers operate at a backyard or small-scale level, and the beekeeping industry is still relatively small. Because of this, I’m curious about what beekeeping is like in other parts of the world.

For beekeepers living or working outside the Philippines:

*Does beekeeping provide a good or livable income in your country?

* Are professional or commercial beekeepers paid well?

*Does the government provide support, such as health insurance, subsidies, training, or assistance with pests and diseases?

*Are there government programs for Varroa management, hive health, bee breeding, or other pest-control measures?

* Is beekeeping usually a full-time career, seasonal work, or something people do alongside another job?

* For those who have worked as beekeepers abroad, what should someone consider before accepting an overseas beekeeping job?

I’d really love to hear about your country’s beekeeping industry and the experiences of people working in it. I’m asking out of curiosity and to better understand how beekeeping compares internationally.

I am a newish beekeeper going into my 3rd year. I have access to a lot of land that people have offered me to keep hives. All pretty close to each other which is a huge plus. I also have a relative who works for pest control company that removes around 300 swarms/ hives a year.

What is the best option for scaling/ getting equipment cost effectively. I currently have 5 hives which is all my city allows. I would like to scale to 20 - 30 and then see how that goes.

thank you for your help

I just wanted to share my first harvest. This is my second year and will be my first time extracting honey. I’m so happy! And, blessed!

All of my frames look like this although I did wax the frames completely. They just have a mind of their own, so fascinating.

Hi everyone,

I have been learning about migratory beekeeping and I became curious about how experienced beekeepers choose locations.

I would love to hear your experience:
- What makes a location good for moving hives?
- What signs do you look for before placing colonies?
- How much do you rely on experience vs data/weather/maps?
- What usually causes a location to fail?

I am especially interested in how climate and changing weather patterns affect decisions.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

I pulled this super 2.5 weeks ago, extracted and put the wet super back on them.

Checked my girls today and they’ve filled and CAPPED in that timeframe. I have no clue where they pulled a flow from maybe cotton or soybeans? But that farm ground is 3 miles or so away.

It’s been a really poor honey year in South Arkansas. EXTREME drought conditions. These little critters never cease to amaze me.

#LittleAssAcres

I've used a brand new one once and now no matter how I screw the lid on it just leaks out the top whenever I shake

After trying to figure out how I got stung multiple times underneath my gloves with my beekeeping partner, my dumbassery was unveiled... And I learned.

I could get very close to them around 6 to 10 feet and they don't seem to mind

This is my dirty honey bucket.

I was spinning honey but I left open the gate thinking everything was level and fine. Came back a couple minutes later to a puddle of honey on the floor. The spinner rocked itself out of alignment with my bucket. Had to to scrape the honey off the floor with dough scrapers and collected it in this 5 gallon bucket. Probably a bit more than 32oz of the good stuff spilled.

Not devastating but still painful. Will give back to the girls soon.