Jul 30, 2026 · 9 min read · #queen, #splits, #colony-management
A queenless colony gives you two dates that actually change the decision, and about three weeks of watching in between. Here is the calendar, what to look for on each visit, and why opening the box early is the expensive mistake.
Read post →Jul 29, 2026 · 7 min read · #queen, #laying-workers, #colony-management
Both look wrong in the same way, and the fix for one is the worst thing you can do to the other. Here is the differential, the single check that settles it, and why I unite the colony over newspaper with a queenright hive rather than requeening it or shaking it out.
Read post →Jul 28, 2026 · 5 min read · #honey, #harvest, #moisture
How much a capped frame tells you depends on your climate — reliable in a dry one, dangerous in a humid one. What the USDA grading standard actually specifies, how to take a refractometer reading that means something, and what to do with a super that reads high.
Read post →May 5, 2026 · 6 min read · #offline-first, #app-buying-criteria, #infrastructure
Most beekeeping apps say they work offline. Most of them do not, in any way that survives a real apiary. Here is the buying-criteria checklist.
Read post →Apr 28, 2026 · 6 min read · #voice-logging, #inspections, #workflow
After a season of trying every notation method that survives an apiary — paper, phone screens, app forms, dictated voice memos — here is what actually works at the hive and what does not.
Read post →Apr 21, 2026 · 7 min read · #varroa, #mite-tracking, #inspections
A working beekeeper's playbook for tracking varroa mites — alcohol wash counts, sticky-board reads, treatment timing, and how to keep the data useful instead of just collecting it.
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