PlanterTomato Vegetable Gardening Podcast

Identifying Honey Bee Flower Sources By Pollen Color (Podcast)

How to identify the flower sources from which your honey bees are collecting nectar and pollen.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Saturday, March 31, 2012:

PlanterTomato 3_31_2012 Identifying Bee Flower Sources By Pollen Color

Honey Bees: Top Ten Checklist for Spring Beekeeping (Podcast)

In this Podcast I cover the steps you need to prepare your hives for Spring. 

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, January 29, 2012:

PlanterTomato 1_29_12 Spring Checklist for Bee Keepers

Honey Bees In Winter (Podcast)

A few fun facts about how bees survive the Winter.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, December 4, 2011:

PlanterTomato 11_4_2011 Honey Bees In Winter

 

How to Make Mead - Wine from Honey (Podcast)

Honey wine, known more properly as "mead," is probably the first alcoholic beverage created by humans, predating the now much more popular wine and beer.  While not commonly available as a commercially produced product, mead is very easy to make at home.  In this posting, I'll tell you a little bit about this ancient beverage and give you basic instructions on how to make it.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, November 13, 2011:

PlanterTomato 11_13_2011 How To Make Mead or Honey Wine

 

Beware of Store Bought Honey: Another Reason To Keep Bees (Podcast)

A recent article by Food Safety News suggests that honey purchased at most grocery and club stores may be adulterated or contaminated.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Wednesday, November 9, 2011:

PlanterTomato 11_6_2011 Dangerous Honey

 

Getting Your Bee Hive Ready For Winter - A Checklist (Podcast)

In this Podcast, I provide a check list of things you need to do to prepare your hives for the cold months of Winter. 

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, October 23, 2011:

 

PlanterTomato10_23_2011 Bees Winter Checklist

 

Photo: During my most recent inspection, I found that both hives have more than enough honey to get through our temperate Northern California Winters.

Ultra_Breeze: A Better Bee Suit (Podcast)

In this posting, I review the unique Ultra-Breeze Bee suit.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Monday, May 30, 2011:

PlanterTomato 5_30_11 Ultra-Breeze

Ten Steps To Installing Bees In Your Beehive (Podcast)

In my last posting, I described what you get when you purchase a "package" of bees.  In this posting, I'll tell you had to get your new hive up and running.

PlanterTomato podcast for Wednesday, April 20, 2011:

PlanterTomato4_20_2011 Bee Hive 10 Steps

Here's a link to the Penn State University Video on Installing A Beehive

How To Install Bees In A Beehive Part I (Podcast)

Once the almond crop is pollinated in Northern California, commercial bee suppliers break up the hives and sell bees in "packages" to anyone interested in starting a new colony.  This generally happens in early to mid-April.  Last week, I picked up two bee packages and created two new hives.  In this first in a series of two postings, I'll explain what you get when you order a package of bees.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, April 17, 2011:

PlanterTomato4_17_2011 Install Bee Hive Pt. I

How To Combine Two Bee Hives (Podcast)

In this posting, I cover how and why to combine two bee hives.

PlanterTomato3_13_2011 Combine Bee Hives

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, March 13, 2011:

Best Bee Hive Smoker (Podcast)

 In this posting, I review the Bee-Z-Smoker, a smoker that makes working in your bee hives easier.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Wednesday, March 9, 2011:

 

PlanterTomato3_9_2011 Bee-Z

Hive Boxes: One Size Doesn't Fit All (Podcast)

In this posting, I describe your options for configuring a hive, focusing on the configuration and weight of Langstroth hive boxes.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, March 6, 2011:

PlanterTomato_3_6_2011 Hive Boxes 2

Honey: A Golden Treasure (Podcast)

The BBC produces some excellent science programming.  In a recent Podcast from BBC Discovery, biologist Adam Hart explores the history of bee keeping from ancient times to the present.  The Podcast presented here covers topcis ranging from single source honey to the use of honey in treating wounds.  If you love honey or have an interest in bees, this is well worth a 30 minute listen.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, February 27, 2011:

PlanterTomato_2_27_2011 Honey Podcast

Feed Your Bees Naturally: Best Flowers For Honey Bees (Podcast)

In the lean months of the year, many bee keepers supplement their bees natural diet by supplying them with sugar water and pollen patties.  In this post, I cover some natural alternatives that I plan to try in 2011.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Wednesday, February 2, 2011:

PlanterTomato_2_2_2011 Flowers for Bees

Bee Keeping: Top Five Things You Need to Do to Prepare for Spring

In this post, I cover the steps you need to take to get ready for bee keeping season.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Sunday, January 23, 2011:

PlanterTomato_1_23_2011_Beekeeping Spring Preperation

How To Make A Honey Extractor For About Eighty-Five Dollars Or Less (Podcast)

Earlier this year, I posted about how to make an inexpensive honey extractor.  Here's the improved version and it is still  inexpensive to make -- under $85.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Monday, November 1, 2010:

PlanterTomato_11_1_2010_HoneyExtractor

Free Template To Create A Customized Label For Your Honey (Podcast)

In this Podcast I provide Adobe Illustrator files that you can modify to make your own customized honey labels.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Monday, October 25, 2010

PlanterTomato_10_25_2010_HoneyLabels

Beekeeping: How to Make A Honey Extractor For $28 (Podcast)

In this posting, I'll tell you how you can make a small scale honey extractor for about $28.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Tuesday, Septer 21, 2010:

PlanterTomato_9_21_2010_CheapHoneyExtractor

Easy Bee-sy: Bee Escape Boards (Podcast)

A Bee escape board is a nifty device to make harvesting honey easier.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Saturday, September 18, 2010:

PlanterTomato_9_18_2010_BeeEscapeBoard

Odds of Being Pooped On By Bees: 1 To 352 Million (Podcast)

What are the odds of being pooped on by a swarm of bees.  Find out in this podcast.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Friday, June 25, 2010:

PlanterTomato_6_25_2010PoopedOnByBees

Announcing Beecam: Live Web Cam of A Honeybee Hive (Podcast)

Watch bees at work on this live web cam.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Friday, May 21, 2010:

PlanterTomato_5_21_2010BeeCam

To Bee or Not To Bee: What Equipment You Need To Keep Bees (Podcast)

A checklist of equipment you'll need to buy if you plan to keep bees.

PlanterTomato Podcast for Friday, April 16, 2010:

PlanterTomato_4_16_2010BeekeepingEquipment

It Was Meant To Bee

Podcast for February 16, 2009.  Subject: Bees & Beekeeping.

PlanterTomato 2_16_2010 v4 It Was Meant to Bee