From the founders
We keep hearing the same questions. When do I add supers? How do I know if my colony's ready for winter? Do I actually need a queen excluder? Should I paint the hive?
The answers exist — scattered across our usage guides, blog posts, FAQ emails, and Jason's office hours. But nobody should have to dig through five different places to figure out how to manage their first year.
So we built the guide we wish we'd had from the start. One resource. Every phase. From installation through your first harvest, varroa management, overwintering, and into year two.
It's organized by phase, not by season — because not everyone experiences spring in March.
— The Primal Bee Team
Your first year with a Primal Bee hive
Your Primal Bee hive handles temperature regulation on its own. That changes everything about how your first year looks — how often you inspect, when you add supers, how you feed, how your bees overwinter. The first year in a thermodynamic hive doesn't look like the first year in a wooden box.
Most first-year guides assume you're working with a standard Langstroth and walk you through wrapping, insulating, and managing problems that exist because of the hive itself. This guide skips all of that and focuses on what actually matters when the housing isn't the problem.
Here's a preview of what's inside:
Start fresh. Whether you're transferring an existing colony, installing a package, or moving bees from a nuc — leave the old comb behind. Old comb carries pests, pathogens, and pesticide residues. The hive's thermal efficiency lets your bees draw new comb faster than you'd expect.
Feed correctly. 80% sugar, 20% water. Not the standard American 1:1. We wrote a whole post about why that ratio is a problem — but the short version is that dilute syrup forces your bees to spend energy drying out water they don't need, and the excess moisture creates conditions for Nosema.
Inspect less. Three checks in your first 45 days. Then step back. Every time you open the hive, you break the thermal seal the bees are working to maintain. An experienced beekeeper might open the nest only 3–4 times a year.
Add supers at 70–100%. When the colony has drawn 70–100% of the frames they have access to, it's time to expand. No need to feed while supers are in place. When a super fills up, checkerboard in empty frames by pulling full ones for harvest.
Monitor varroa with 3-day checks. Slide out the tray, count mites over 3 days. Fewer than 30 is acceptable. 30 or more means it's time to intervene using IPM, starting with the least risky options. Don't wait for symptoms — by the time you see deformed wings, the infestation started months ago.
Overwinter with confidence. Colonies in Primal Bee hives consume roughly 6 kg of winter stores versus 30 kg in standard wooden hives. Configure for winter with the follower board, an empty super as a roof chamber, and the outer lid — total insulating value over R-125. Then monitor from the outside and let the design do its work.
The full guide covers all of this and more — feeding (liquid vs solid vs supplements), swarm control, queen excluders, painting recommendations, site setup, making splits, and a complete FAQ.
🐝🙏 Meet the nun whose monastery includes 200 million bees.
📍 Twin Cities may hold the last refuge for the rusty patched bumblebee.
🐝 The pollinator crisis is real - just not the one we thought.
Watch: Penn State Extension Talk on Beekeeping in Israel
Earlier this year, our co-founder and CEO Tomer Moldovan was invited to present at Penn State Extension's "Beekeeping Around the World" series — a free webinar program that spotlights beekeeping practices and challenges in different parts of the globe.
Tomer's session focused on Israel's commercial beekeeping industry, honey and pollination production, and the country's role as a global leader in bee-related innovation. If you missed the live event, the recording is now available — free to watch through the Penn State Extension website. You just need to register to access it.
Until next time
The bees have been doing this for millions of years. They regulate their own temperature. They build their own architecture. They know what they need.
Your job is to give them the right housing, feed them when they need it, and stay out of the way the rest of the time. This guide helps you do exactly that.
Happy beekeeping,
The Primal Bee Team 🐝