Around the Yard:

• Harvesting Honey:Luke and Steve have harvested honey.
• Grafting: Luke continues to graft!
• Queens Obtained: Queens purchased from Kobe Apiary for the Dalan Animal Vaccine
• Adding Supers: Continues to add supers to hives.
• Inspector Visits: Our local inspector came to visit Luke!

In the News:

• Field Day: What is a club field day and should your local club have one?

Droning On:

• Purdue Queen Grafting: Luke is headed to Purdue to check out some queen grafting.
• Hive Cutouts: Luke and Steve have some more cutouts coming up.
• Beekeeping Insurance: Luke is finally insured (again) for the cutouts.

Tune in to Episode 30 for all this and more as we delve into the world of beekeeping in Central Illinois, providing you with practical advice, the latest news, and answers to your buzzing questions.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Jk6hyZAY

Randy Oliver Mite Calculator Calendar: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/randys-varroa-model/

How RRA Makes Fondant: https://youtu.be/CAiOF3onmBQ

The American Bee Journal: https://americanbeejournal.com/

Project Apis m. Bee Survey Video 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOCis4ZPfp8

Project Apis m. Website: https://www.projectapism.org/events/i8yr94doxarjvh453lchfhr0xf3bvq

Riverview Road Apiary Nucs: https://riverviewroadapiary.com/products/spring-2025-nuc

Heart of Illinois Beekeeping Club: https://hoibees.org/

Dalan Animal Health Queens: https://bluetoad.com/publication/?m=5417&i=830245&p=38&ver=html5

Beekeeping Buddies Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/beekeepingbuddies/

Fruit and Vegetable Pollination Handbook: https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/20220500/onlinepollinationhandbook.pdf

Around the Yard:

• Expanding Products: Riverview Road Apiary adds some employees and new products!
• Pollen Tasting: Luke and Steve try some locally collected pollen and let you know how it is.
• How to Harvest and Prepare Pollen: Luke and Steve talk about pollen collection and preparation.
• Nectar Flow: Nectar is coming in so fast it's difficult to keep up.
• Swarm Captures: Ideas for catching swarms and how we go about it this busy season.

In the News:

• USDA Concludes Cause of Dieoffs in 2024/2025: Luke and Steve review study on what happened to the US bees this last winter and why the dieoffs were so high. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.05.28.656706v1.full

Honeybee Hotline:

• Discord Server Live: https://discord.gg/SzCUt7yZ come talk to Steve and Luke and make some beekeeping buddies!
• Rewaxing Frames: What we use to rewax our frames.
• Queenless Colonies: Do you add brood from another hive when I add a queen?
• How Many Queen Cells: How many grafted queen cells do you add to a hive?
• Honeybound: How to deal with honeybound hives.
• How to Move Bees Into Drawn Supers: How we get bees to move into drawn supers.
• How to Fix a Drone Laying Queen Coming Out of Winter
• How to Requeen a Large, Mean, Hive
• Where is the Colony Cliff?

Droning On:

• Honey, Treating, and Spring Splits: Luke and Steve talk about what we are doing.

Tune in to Episode 29 for all this and more as we delve into the world of beekeeping in Central Illinois, providing you with practical advice, the latest news, and answers to your buzzing questions.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Jk6hyZAY

Randy Oliver Mite Calculator Calendar: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/randys-varroa-model/

How RRA Makes Fondant: https://youtu.be/CAiOF3onmBQ

The American Bee Journal: https://americanbeejournal.com/

Project Apis m. Bee Survey Video 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOCis4ZPfp8

Project Apis m. Website: https://www.projectapism.org/events/i8yr94doxarjvh453lchfhr0xf3bvq

Riverview Road Apiary Nucs: https://riverviewroadapiary.com/products/spring-2025-nuc

Heart of Illinois Beekeeping Club: https://hoibees.org/

Dalan Animal Health Queens: https://bluetoad.com/publication/?m=5417&i=830245&p=38&ver=html5

Beekeeping Buddies Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/beekeepingbuddies/

Fruit and Vegetable Pollination Handbook: https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/20220500/onlinepollinationhandbook.pdf

Welcome to Episode 28 of Beekeeping Buddies. The podcast where Steve and Luke talk about beekeeping in the Central Illinois area.

Around the Yard:

• Purchasing Hives: Steve buys some hives from a local beekeeper who is chasing her dreams!
• Queen Hatching Experience: Steve finds a unique experience working the club beehives, and some lessons learned.
• Oops: Luke makes a mistake with one of his hives!
• Nectar Flow: Nectar is coming in so fast it's difficult to keep up.
• Swarm Captures: Ideas for catching swarms and how we go about it this busy season.

In the News:

• Bumblebees Have a Flower Preference: Study shows bumblebee pressure with pollination is causing some flowers shift from red to yellow.

Honeybee Hotline:

• Discord Server Live: https://discord.gg/SzCUt7yZ come talk to Steve and Luke and make some beekeeping buddies!
• City Ordinances: Ever wanted to change your city ordinances? Luke and Steve talk about how we did it!

Droning On:

• Queen Rearing Course: Luke and Steve work on their queen rearing course.
• Moving Bees To Clover: Trying out moving queens to clover.
• Oxylic Acid Pads: Luke makes and is trying out OA pads for his hives.

Bonus Content:

• Riverivew Road Apiary Needs a Truck?

Tune in to Episode 28 for all this and more as we delve into the world of beekeeping in Central Illinois, providing you with practical advice, the latest news, and answers to your buzzing questions.

Discord Server: https://discord.gg/Jk6hyZAY

Randy Oliver Mite Calculator Calendar: https://scientificbeekeeping.com/randys-varroa-model/

How RRA Makes Fondant: https://youtu.be/CAiOF3onmBQ

The American Bee Journal: https://americanbeejournal.com/

Project Apis m. Bee Survey Video 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOCis4ZPfp8

Project Apis m. Website: https://www.projectapism.org/events/i8yr94doxarjvh453lchfhr0xf3bvq

Riverview Road Apiary Nucs: https://riverviewroadapiary.com/products/spring-2025-nuc

Heart of Illinois Beekeeping Club: https://hoibees.org/

Dalan Animal Health Queens: https://bluetoad.com/publication/?m=5417&i=830245&p=38&ver=html5

Beekeeping Buddies Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/beekeepingbuddies/

Fruit and Vegetable Pollination Handbook: https://www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/20220500/onlinepollinationhandbook.pdf