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Beekeeping Buddies

Luke Harvey

Beekeeping Buddies brings together practical beekeeping experience, scientific curiosity, and a healthy dose of humor!Join hosts Steve Schmidt and Luke Harvey, two experienced beekeepers from the Peoria, Illinois area, each with over a decade of hands-on experience managing honey bee colonies. Luke is a Certified Master Beekeeper through the University of Montana with a background in biomedical engineering, while Steve brings his mechanical engineering expertise to the conversation. Together, they approach beekeeping with curiosity, critical thinking, and a willingness to challenge conventional wisdom.Each episode features four familiar segments:Around the Yard: Follow along as Steve and Luke share what's happening in their apiaries, from seasonal colony management and honey production to queen rearing, swarm control, and the occasional unexpected adventure.In the News: Explore the latest honey bee research, scientific discoveries, and developments affecting beekeepers. We break do

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Episodes

53 episodes

  1. Episode 53 - Lessons from the Hive - Beehaving is not Beekeeping 28:05
  2. Episode 52 - Feeding, Moving Hives, Treating for Mites, Varroa Discoveries 39:17
  3. Episode 51 - Beginning Winter Preparation, Another Cutout, Honeybee Hotline and more! 1:00:30
  4. Episode 50 - Requeen Problems, Cutout, July 4 Honey Harvest, Mite Treatment Meeting, Honeybee Hotline, Droning on, and MORE! 1:15:41
  5. Episode 49 - Rain, Dutch Clover, Honey Extraction, State Association Talk, and IAPV Studies, Different Beeswax, and more! 1:16:43
  6. Episode 48 - Growing into Sideliner Beekeeping, Increasing your Network, and Venom Cancer Research 1:18:41
  7. Episode 47 - Busy as a Bee! Cutouts, City Ordinances, Inordinate Amount of Swarms 1:05:50
  8. Episode 46 - We are Having a Crazy Spring; Chasing Swarms; Preparing for the Honey Flow 1:07:13
  9. Episode 45 - Come Hang Out with Our Beekeeping Buddies 628 Dirt Rooster Randy McCaffery and His Brother Tommy McCaffery 1:13:47
  10. Episode 44 - Beekeeping in Arizona with Honey Hives Farm, Package Queen Swapping, Hive Body Types and more! 1:10:09
  11. Episode 43 - Is Spring Here? Accident in the Yard! Luke Goes to the Midwest Honeybee Expo! 1:15:58
  12. Episode 42 - 2025 Statistics, Season Wrap Up, Plans for the New Year! 59:23
  13. Episode 41 - Winter has arrived and so has our holiday Christmas list for your beekeeping needs! 54:56
  14. Episode 40 - We talk to Dr. Jeff Pettis about the Tropilaelaps mite and what to know about this threat 49:38
  15. Episode 39 - Fall preparation, late fall cutouts, how to price and install an observation hive 1:05:14
  16. Episode 38 - Fall has crept in, spooky Halloween Beekeeping Stories, Chunk Comb and our Honeybee Hotline! 53:55
  17. Episode 37 - Beekeeping Buddies Finds a Buddy With 628 Dirt Rooster! 1:33:41
  18. Episode 36 - Feeding for winter, details on fall feeding, measuring hives, nucs 2026, new varroa treatment, managing robbing, fall festivals, and cutouts 1:03:52
  19. Episode 35 - Dry Fall, Another Strange Cutout, Luke returns from Spain, Varroa makes it to Spain, HMF correction, Honeybee Hotline Questions, What to do with honey frames 1:00:10
  20. Episode 34 - Cooler Weather Preparation, Honey Harvest for Summer, Open Feeding, Working with the USDA, Another Strange Cutout... and Important Bee News! 50:25
  21. Episode 33 - Pulling Honey, Fall Prep, News from Luke, and Lots of Honeybee Hotline 1:22:31
  22. Episode 32 - Staying Cool in the Bee Yard, Time to Feed?, Hive Treatment, Queen Introduction, Problems Running a Beekeeping Management Business 53:04
  23. Episode 31 - Raising Virgin Queens, Luke Goes to the Purdue Queen Rearing Course, How We Go Through Hives, Hive Cutouts, Extracting 55:32
  24. Episode 30 - Honey Extracted, Grafting, Virgin Queens, Adding Supers, Inspector Visits, Honeybee Hotline, Field Day, and Around the Yard 1:22:18
  25. Episode 29 - New Employees, New Products, USDA Bee Die Off Study and Lots of Honeybee Hotline 1:25:07
  26. Episode 28 - Hold On Because Here We Go! Spring flow is on and the bees are off! 49:26
  27. Episode 27 - Swarms, Splits, Market Sales and more! 58:16
  28. Episode 26 - Nucs Pickup and Delivery, Queen Orders, Cutouts, Splits, and OA Strips and more! 1:00:34
  29. Episode 25 - Spring is Here... sort of, Feeding Still?, Process of Getting Nucs, Better Mite Treatment Schedule, Honeybee Hotline, Droning On 50:55
  30. 24 - Spring is Around the Corner, Spring Treatment Theory, Feed or Not to Feed, Queen Grafting Class, Wax Prices 50:15
  31. Episode 23 - Spring Feeding, Our Winter Losses, Poor Queens, US Honeybee Survey, Honey Tasting and More 51:10
  32. Episode 22 - Break in the Winter, Luke's Yucatan Peninsula Bee Visit, Interview with Dalan Animal Health about their AFB Vaccine and more! 1:30:16
  33. Welcome to 2025! Breakdown of the North America Honeybee Expo, Preview of 2025 Podcasts 58:25
  34. Episode 20 - Christmas Holiday Shopping Special 56:35
  35. Episode 19 - Winter Sets In, Drones 101, and Holiday Markets 47:37
  36. Episode 18 Episode 18 - Winter Tasks, Queen Bee 101, and Nucs vs Packages, and News on Our New Offering 1:11:09
  37. Episode 17 - Honeybee Vaccines, Bee Biology, and Worker Bee 101 1:20:26
  38. Episode 16 - October Deep Dive into Cutouts in Central Illinois 1:11:33
  39. Episode 15 - Dry October, Fall Honey Stocks, Upcoming Cutouts, Bald Faced Hornets and a Legislative Update 30:39
  40. Episode 14 - Rainless in September, Fall Honey Stocks, To Insulate or Not, Starter Hive Setup, New Treatments and more! 56:21
  41. Episode 13 - Winter Feeding, Winterizing, Hive Beetles, Fall Honey, Queen Transfer, Bald Faced Hornets, Crystalized Honey, Wax Processing, and Propolis 51:37
  42. Episode 12 - Winter Feeding, Alaska Bees, Talking to Non-Beeks, Hot Honey, Fall Festivals 49:05
  43. Episode 11 - Fancy Queens, Honey Tastings, Hiveorama updates, Bananas and more! 1:00:15
  44. Episode 10 - End of July Bee Farm updates, hive-o-rama, and struggles with small hive beetle 39:21
  45. Episode 9 - Honey Harvest, Flow Hives, Grafting Queens, Beekeeping Tours and More 56:59
  46. Episode 8 - Moving Hives, Flow Hives, EFB, Queen Grafting and More 54:44
  47. Episode 7 - Visiting Beekeeping Buddy Valerie Ross! Looking back at what it is like to be a beginner beekeeper. 1:02:53
  48. Episode 6 - Queen Rearing, Nectar Flow, Hive Swarming, Honey Collection, Apitourism 46:46
  49. Episode 5 - Package Installation, Swarm Season, Japan Beekeeping Trip, and Cutouts 1:15:56
  50. Episode 4 - Making New Beekeepers, EPA Legislation, Splitting Medium Frames 47:09