Attic Bee Podcast

As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we're taking a closer look at one of the nation's smallest, but most important, early settlers: the honeybee.
In this episode, we'll explore how honeybees were brought to Colonial America, why they became essential to daily life, and how colonists used honey, beeswax, and other hive products long before modern conveniences existed. You'll learn about straw skeps, bee gums, early swarm-catching practices, colonial folklore such as "telling the bees," and the important role honeybees played in agriculture, trade, and household life.
Join me for a fascinating journey into the history of beekeeping and discover how these remarkable insects became woven into the fabric of early American life.

The Summer Solstice marks the longest day of the year, but in nature, it's also a quiet turning point. In this episode, we explore what the solstice has meant to people throughout history, from ancient celebrations and sacred traditions to modern-day gatherings and personal rituals. We also take a closer look at what happens in the natural world at this time of year and why the Summer Solstice is such an important milestone for honeybees and beekeepers. Join me as we reflect on abundance, seasonal transitions, and the lessons honeybees offer about living in harmony with nature's cycles.

Today, we explore the science of how honeybee colonies make collective decisions through open debate, independent evaluation, and something remarkably close to a vote, and ask what that might mean for a country struggling to do the same.
Drawing on decades of research by Cornell biologist Dr. Thomas Seeley, political philosophy from Edmund Burke to Alexis de Tocqueville, and recent polling on what Americans actually want from their leaders, this is a conversation about collaboration, shared stakes, and why the architecture of working together is older and much sturdier than we might feel right now.

June is one of the most popular months for weddings, making it the perfect time to explore the surprising connections between bees and marriage. In this episode, I take listeners on a journey through folklore, history, mythology, and literature to uncover the role bees have played in wedding traditions for centuries.
From the origins of the word honeymoon to the custom of telling the bees about important family events, you'll discover why honeybees have long symbolized love, devotion, prosperity, and partnership. Along the way, I reflect on the lessons modern relationships can learn from the hive, including communication, resilience, and the power of working toward a shared purpose.

The (nearly) invisible workforce behind our food systems needs our help. Pollinators are facing increasing environmental pressures, such as habitat loss, pesticide exposure, and disease. To sustain our global food system, a cooperative approach is needed. Tune in to learn what you can do as an individual consumer to support all pollinators and, in turn, support our agricultural food systems.

In this episode, we explore the powerful, often overlooked relationship among water, honeybees, and the human nervous system.
Honeybees rely on water not only for survival, but also to cool and regulate the hive during periods of intense heat. In many ways, humans do something similar. We instinctively turn toward water when we are overwhelmed, grieving, exhausted, or in need of peace.
Listen as we weave together honeybee behavior, nervous system regulation, nature therapy, and the healing experience of bathing, swimming, floating, and simply being near water. From rivers and oceans to showers and backyard pools, water has long served as both a biological necessity and a restorative companion.

One tiny mite has caused more honey bee colony deaths than any other single threat in modern beekeeping history, and it's in nearly every managed hive on the planet right now.
In this episode, we dig into Varroa destructor: what it actually does inside a colony, why the chemical treatments we've relied on for decades are starting to fail, and why that failure has made one remarkable bee behavior so important. It's called Varroa-Sensitive Hygiene, and it's exactly what it sounds like.
Some bees have developed the ability to detect, uncap, and remove mite-infested cells before the mite can reproduce. We'll explore how researchers at the USDA discovered and bred for this trait, what it looks like in real colonies, and the honest tradeoffs that come with it. 

For stress reduction, nothing beats immersing ourselves in a natural setting and slowing down long enough to observe our senses and surroundings. 
This episode discusses the benefits of spring forest bathing and includes a brief guided meditation for anyone who needs help settling into a practice.

What does a honeybee hive have in common with falling in love? More than you'd think.
We follow the thread connecting the lengthening days of spring to the biology of human desire. Along the way, we draw on peer-reviewed research in neuroscience and reproductive biology to ask: are we really so different from the hive?
This episode is for anyone who has ever felt more alive in springtime and wondered why. It turns out the answer is written in light, dopamine, and 100 million spermatozoa stored for a lifetime.
 

What does a honeybee visiting a wildflower have to do with the health of the Chesapeake Bay? More than most of us realize.
In this episode, I trace the ecological and philosophical thread connecting pollinator health to Bay restoration, a connection that lives in the soil, roots, and rain. I explore how the same landscapes that are failing our bees are failing our waterways, and why the most powerful act of stewardship that we can contribute might be as simple as what we choose to plant.
Using data and recent colony loss surveys, this episode makes the case for viewing land and water as one living system, and for all of us as its keepers. One landscape. One act of stewardship. Two conservation outcomes.
Mentions in this episode include:
Apiary Inspectors of America
Auburn University Bee Program
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Chesapeake Bay Program
Chesapeake Conservancy
Conservation Reserve Program
Eastern Shore Land Conservancy
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Journal of Hydrology
Maryland DNR
Maryland Sea Grant
Pollinator Partnership
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Shore Rivers 
Stroud Water Research Center
The Royal Society Publishing
University of Delaware: Professor Doug Tallamy
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science
USDA
US Fish & Wildlife Service