Average Joe Beekeeper

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Average Joe Beekeeper When it comes to almost everything, nobody is a Dummy or an Idiot but everyone can relate to an Aver

Hint 094 - A Honey Show Entry: A Poem! [26-14] - Part 1: BackgroundAs Honey Shows have evolved (see Hint 086 - Honey Sho...
10/01/2026

Hint 094 - A Honey Show Entry: A Poem! [26-14] - Part 1: Background

As Honey Shows have evolved (see Hint 086 - Honey Shows [26-07]), other categories besides Honey and Wax have been added over time and in the largest shows there can be more than 75 different categories that an exhibitor can enter.

These categories allow Beeople with many talents (besides being a Beekeeper) to participate. Baking, Beverage Making, Photography plus Arts & Crafts along with other categories offer a wide range of expressions in Honey Shows.

As background, the Average Joe Beekeeper entered a poem in a 2025 competition. Part of the entry required a “card” describing the poem which is provided here...

The actual poem is included in Part 2...

Hint 094 - A Honey Show Entry: A Poem! [26-14] - Part 2: The PoemIn Part 1 (which was posted after this posting to make ...
10/01/2026

Hint 094 - A Honey Show Entry: A Poem! [26-14] - Part 2: The Poem

In Part 1 (which was posted after this posting to make the Parts appear in proper sequence when you scroll down), some background on a Honey Show entry was provided.

In this post you can read the poem...

By the way - it was awarded a Blue Ribbon!

Hint 093 - A Commercial Source for free Pine Needles [26-13]A beekeeper friend, Tony Jackson, noted that his local Hard...
09/30/2026

Hint 093 - A Commercial Source for free Pine Needles [26-13]

A beekeeper friend, Tony Jackson, noted that his local Hardware store sells bales of Pine “Straw” and the outside yard is usually full of needles that have come loose from the bales or bundles.

He offers to clean-up the area by sweeping up the wayward needles and then hauling away the “trash”.

This results in a free supply of pine needles for his smoker. It is a Win-Win situation for both the merchant and the beekeeper.

You might check your local Hardware store, Big Box Home Store or Landscape material provider to see if you can earn some smoker fuel by cleaning up!

Hint 092 – Bee Seasons [26-12}Many beekeepers want to know “what should I be doing with/for my bees this week/month? But...
09/30/2026

Hint 092 – Bee Seasons [26-12}

Many beekeepers want to know “what should I be doing with/for my bees this week/month? But there is no simple answer. In Hint 060 - Beekeeping by the Calendar [21-51 / abf2209], Bee “Seasons” are hinted at but are not explained – so let’s start that here.

Many beekeepers want a simple checklist – do this, do that – be successful! Internet postings, YouTube videos, emails and newsletters all tell beekeepers what they should be doing – right now! To me, these “directions” are missing a key factor: Beekeeping is local so does this information apply to my bees (see Hint 21-37: Beekeeping is Local [046/abf2144])? Checklists and managing by a calendar might be viable if the information is produced for your area but sometimes the actions you take in one apiary may not be valid for another apiary only a few miles away. Instead of managing by the calendar perhaps it’s best to manage by what the bees are doing. To do that you need to understand the conditions they're in, how they react to those conditions and then decide how you can assist them. To understand your bees, you need to understand bee “seasons”

The four “human” seasons - spring, summer, fall, and winter are well known but even with their standard "names" there isn't a true consensus on when those seasons begin and end. If you listen to the weather people, meteorologic summer starts on the first of June, which is the start of the calendar quarter. For folks who define seasons by the length of sunlight in a day, which is the solar period, summer starts in the third week of June around the 20th to 23rd when there is more sunlight than on any other day. But this is also variable depending on the latitude and longitude that you’re at. Just like the bees “don’t read our books” (see Hint 065 - Temperatures – Bees don't Read our Books! [22-03 / abf2214]), they also don’t follow our seasons.

Instead of naming the bee seasons to match our definitions I think it is best to call them by the following seasonal names: 1. Buildup, 2. Collection, 3. Storage and 4. Dormant (or Rest) Seasons. One may argue that that's just spring, summer, fall, and winter but the duration of each bee season is variable, and the start can vary dramatically

Over several more Hints, Tips & Bits (of Info), each of the Bee Seasons will be highlighted to assist you in understanding what your bees will be doing and when...

Hint 26-11: Structural Removals/Extractions – Saving the Bees [091]Several Hints, Tips and Bits (of Info) discuss swarmi...
09/19/2026

Hint 26-11: Structural Removals/Extractions – Saving the Bees [091]

Several Hints, Tips and Bits (of Info) discuss swarming behavior (see Bees minus Splits equals Swarms, On My! Hint 22-08 (070/abf2219), Can YOU stop a Swarm? Hint 21-51 [061/abf2210] and AmBEEsadors – Swarm Rescue versus Capture Hint 26-04 [083]. If you are successful in your efforts to quell the swarming urge via Splits or can recover those colonies that swarm despite your best efforts to manage colony growth, great! But what happens to those colonies that swarm and get away?

If you are in an area with old growth forests, it’s possible that the scout bees may find a hollow cavity in a tree to establish a new nest. But many beekeepers live in semi-rural, suburban and even urban landscapes where unoccupied, hollow trees are not easily found. Many times, when hollow trees are lacking but human-built structures are present, hollows in the eaves or walls or cavities in columns and deck piers can easily be selected as the swarm’s new home. It only takes a hole the size of a #2 pencil eraser (about ¼ - ¾”) to provide access to hidden hollows. If the bees decide to take up residence in a structure, removing them is no longer a simple activity and becomes what is referred to as a structural removal or a structural extraction.

Once a homeowner becomes aware of the bees’ presence in their home, they may first call an exterminator to get rid of the bees. Many homeowners cite that they are allergic to bees since they were previously stung and it swelled up (this is not really an allergic reaction but that’s probably best left to another Hint, Tip of Bit of Info) and they need to remove the bees. Interestingly, most homeowners who first call an exterminator are told that bees are endangered, it’s “against the law” to kill bees, or their company policy prohibits killing bees. I think this is interesting because 1.) Honey bees are not endangered (although several species of bumble bees and native/stingless bees are) and 2. I haven’t been able to find any laws protecting honey bees in my limited internet searches. Not to say that honey bees couldn’t become endangered or that laws might exist to protect bees, I just don’t know if either case is true.

So, what does one do if bees move into a house, office, barn, shed or other structure? Killing the bees and sealing up the nest entrance can do more harm than just letting them be. In a sense, exterminators walking away from killing bees provides a benefit to the homeowner. Without leaving bees to thermally regulate the nest, the building materials in the hot sun can raise to temperatures that will melt wax and honey. This molten mess can impregnate the building materials seeping through to the inner finished surfaces and cause a greater problem than leaving the bees alone. Not to mention that without bees, honey and wax may attract pests like mice, rats, ants, roaches and other pests and insects

There are beekeepers who specialize in removing bees from structures. Most have skills in construction or are advanced do-it-yourselfers that are experienced in carefully removing siding, fascia, bricks and other materials to expose the nest. They will remove the bees and all the associated products of the hive, then they fill the void and repair the ceiling, wall or other structural components that they removed to rescue the bees. Most of these structural removers charge a fee for their services and are usually bonded and insured. If you have building and repairing skills, the proper tools and equipment and the desire to expand your beekeeping activities, becoming a structural remover/extractor may be a branch on your beekeeping journey that you might want to consider.

Hint 26-10: Castes & High Order Jobs/Responsibilities [090]Most references to honey bee colonies point out three differe...
09/13/2026

Hint 26-10: Castes & High Order Jobs/Responsibilities [090]

Most references to honey bee colonies point out three different “inhabitants” of the hive: the Queen, workers and drones.

Queens and drones are female while the drones are male. These inhabitants are referred to as castes but as an Average Joe, initially I didn’t comprehend the meaning.

Britannica.com provides this definition for caste: “…in biology, a subset of individuals within a colony (society) of social animals that is specialized in the function it performs and distinguished by anatomical or morphological differences from other subsets.”

While some sources claim that there are only two Honey Bee castes since drones are a separate s*x, s*x accounts for anatomical differences while the two types of females demonstrate morphological differences.

Therefore, three castes are reasonable...

The Queen: Simply stated, the Queen is fertile and responsible for laying the eggs that populate the colony, allowing the colony’s population to grow through most of the “season”. It is generally accepted that at the height of her egg-laying capacity, she can lay about 1800-2000 eggs a day with some estimates going as high as 3500/day. Studies have shown that she can lay eggs almost continuously 24 hours per day at a rate of about an egg every 45 – 60-seconds. Simple math indicates about 1950 eggs per day could be produced so generally speaking, 2000 eggs per day is a good estimation of the Queen’s output.

Worker: Female workers make up most of the bees in the hive They are non-reproductive and take care of all the labor to keep the bee society functioning in the nest. Responsibilities include nursing larvae, cleaning the nest, guarding the hive, building comb, regulating the environment and foraging.

Drone: As the male members of a colony, their sole purpose is to mate with a virgin queen from another hive, passing on the genetics from their own colony in the process. When mating occurs, the drone dies as an outcome of the reproductive activity.

These simplistic explanations provide a useful departure point for bee-curious readers to dive deeper into the fascinating aspects of honey bee biology, anatomy and bee-havior!

09/13/2026

Hint 26-09: A Bit (of Info) about Pheromones (& Glands) [089]

A major contributor to cohesion and the collective direction of a colony is demonstrated and governed by Honey Bee pheromones. On Wikipedia we find the word “Pheromone” from the Greek meaning phero (to bear) & hormone. Essentially, Pheromones are chemical “messengers” that are secreted (or excreted) from the Honey Bee’s glandular system that trigger both internal and social responses.

Generally, pheromones are be classified as 1.) Alarm pheromones which signal potential danger, 2.) Epideictic which are used for social communication (such as the presence of an individual e.g., the Queen) and 3.) Territorial to “mark” locations. Rounding out the six types of pheromones in Honey Bees there are 4.) Trail pheromones which pinpoint paths or designate resources. 5. S*x pheromones which attract the opposite s*x i.e., drones to a Queen in a DCA and 6.) Others such as wax secretions which can contain several different types of pheromone triggers depending on the time of year and the colony needs.

Some may ask about the difference between pheromones and hormones. They are both chemical messengers with pheromones acting externally to influence behavior between colony members while hormones work internally regulating bodily functions. Pheromones provide signals for activities such as mating, defense and marking territory or locations as previously stated with hormones controlling individual growth, metabolism and mood. Pheromones are said to act as “ectohormones” which change behavior and hormones regulate physiological processes.

It seems that when we talk about bee biology, anatomy and Bee-havior, we tend to generalize and simplify because many concepts can be complex. In the case of pheromones, they come from 15 known Honey Bee glands, but these glands are not found in both s*xes and both castes of bees (see Hint 26-11: 089 - Castes).

That’s where the “devil is in the details”! Workers have 10 – 12 glands, the Queen has 7 – 8 glands and in drones we only find 4 – 5 glands. Although the math would indicate anywhere from 21 – 25 glands, the number of glands is simplified to 15 due to overlaps. With evolving scientific definitions and new research plus subsequent discoveries, that number may shift after this Bit (of Info) is published. But no matter how many glands and their associated pheromones are identified, pheromones are important in our understanding of bees.

09/13/2026

On Aug 22, 2026, I posted the following on my personal page to alert my Facebook friends there that I had posted a new Hint, Tip & Bit (of Info) titled "Avg. Joe Beekeeper Hint 26-08: Commuter Honey & Beek Speak [087]:

"I've been working on writing a Bee Book for a few years now and I'm (hopefully) getting close to publishing it. It is mainly based on Hints, Tips and Bits (of Info) that I have gathered in my Beekeeping journey as the Average Joe Beekeeper. Many of those Hints were not passed on by others but were found in failures, successes or coincidence (dumb luck?). These have been featured on a few different pages of my own and others and also on the Happy Busy Bees website (www.happybusybees.com) over the last few years."

I'm pointing this out here as I expect to be posting numerous Hints, Tips & Bits (of Info) over the next few weeks to complete my final draft. Stay tuned for a flurry of posts coming soon!

Avg. Joe Beekeeper Hint 26-08: Commuter Honey & BeekSpeak [087]Some more well-known beekeeping terms, or BeekSpeak, incl...
08/15/2026

Avg. Joe Beekeeper Hint 26-08: Commuter Honey & BeekSpeak [087]

Some more well-known beekeeping terms, or BeekSpeak, include “Beek” a contraction of Beekeeper, “Nuc” (pronounced “newk”) which is a shortened version of “Nucleus Hive” (which is the heart of a hive box), or “AmBEEsador” (Beekeeping Ambassador) which is mentioned in Hint 26-04 [083].

The practice of creating new words is Neologism and, in that realm, Portmanteau, the blending of two existing words to form a new one, is often experienced in many endeavors including beekeeping.

A perfect example is “BeeCabulary” which is in the title of a text called “BeeCabulary Essentials”. As the title suggests, the publication outlines various terms and expressions that are considered fundamental to the practice of beekeeping. Another handbook containing BeekSpeak is “Do You Speak Bee?” Both books can assist beekeepers at all levels understand the “jargon” of the journey with bees.

The definitions for various methods, processes, procedures or experiences are still being coined hundreds of years after formal records of these techniques were created and, in that vein, I’d like to another term to that list.

How about “Commuter Honey”?

When you commute to work in your nice clothes, if you try to eat toast with honey while driving, the honey can run onto your clothes and ruin your polished look. That’s where Creamed Honey comes in handy. It won’t run off your toast, thus Creamed Honey can be perfectly defined as “Commuter Honey”!

What about another one? Beeople!

The folks who deal with bees, whether Beekeepers, Bee Scientists or folks looking to Save the Bees, they are Bee People or Beeople (pronounced “bee-pull”)!

Rounding out this set of BeekSpeak with a few more --
Beezilldo.

An old beekeeper I knew in Colorado used to say "Bees Will Do What Bees Will Do" when the bees did something unexpected. With a bit of a drawl and speaking fast it always sounded to me like he was saying "Beezilldo". I liken it to the 1988 Horror, Fantasy, Comedy film "Beetle Juice". If you say it fast three times, bad things can happen. So I never say it in quick succession three times, especially in the bee yard. Since the "Bees Don't Read Our Books" (that's another story) the Bees Will Do What the Bees Will Do or Beezilldo!

Ranch and High Rise 10-frame hives

Another one that I like is the Ranch style and High Rise 10 frame hive "boxes". In my way of thinking, a two story 5 frame nuc is a high rise 10-frame while a single deep is a 10 frame ranch... I guess if you have 4-frame nucs you could also have 8-frame Ranches & High Rises!

There are more BeekSpeak terms just waiting to be uncovered or invented. What new terms might you discover or create? See less

Avg. Joe Beekeeper Hint 26-07 - Honey Shows [086]What is a Honey Show’s purpose? Many will tell you that it is a contest...
08/15/2026

Avg. Joe Beekeeper Hint 26-07 - Honey Shows [086]

What is a Honey Show’s purpose?

Many will tell you that it is a contest to pick the “best” honey.
At a County Fair, winning a blue ribbon is considered a selling point for those who then market their product as the “best honey in the county”.

Honey “Shows” have been around since the 1300s in Wales when on September 13th annually, beekeepers were allowed one tax-free day each year to sell their honey. This tax-free day transformed into an informal competition to show who had the “Best Honey”.

But the “best” is subject to individual preference and there are so many factors and variables involved that today’s best may be tomorrow’s worst and vice versa.

Technically, a Honey Show, whether a Fair, Festival or run by a Beekeeping Club or Association, is about demonstrating food safety. Judging of a bottle (or bottles) of honey shows product integrity and sanitation, demonstrates that safe food processing has been followed, indicates thorough attention to detail has been pursued and reveals a vast level of pride in the workmanship of the beekeeper.

Yes, the aroma of the honey is sampled along with the honey being tasted but not to determine which exhibit tastes best, but rather to ensure the product hasn’t been overheated or burnt during processing and bottling. It also implies that the water density is in the proper range to avoid fermentation and will allow long term storage without spoilage.

The bottom line is that the consumer can trust that the producer has practiced safe food handling if the honey they’re buying is a prize winner in any Honey Show!

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