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Climate Change got you down? Worried about the fact that *everything* seems to be getting worse? Wondering how we got to this point in the first place, and what can we do to build a more resilient future? We take a look at historical pastoral & agricultural societies to see what worked and what didn’t, as well as what resources we have today to make better decisions to build equitable systems. We don’t just discuss ecology and history but also take a leftist perspective on prepping, foraging, homesteading, weapons, community-building, and basically anything that needs discussing during late-stage capitalism.
Episodes

7 days ago
7 days ago
In this episode, we dive into what it takes to measure bee space, a brief history of Reverand Langstroth and his business failures, why the Langstroth Hives we use aren't actually Langstroth Hives, and some basics of why the Langstroth hives are so common and some of their shortfalls.
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com
Sources:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-secret-to-the-modern-beehive-is-a-one-centimeter-air-gap-4427011/ 1
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337126549_Honey_bee_microbiome_associated_with_different_hive_and_sample_types_over_a_honey_production_season 2
https://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/217262 3
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Lumturi-Sena/publication/347934753_Comparative_evaluation_of_the_honey_bee_colonies'_performance_based_on_two_different_sizes_of_hive_boxes/links/5fe8acc3a6fdccdcb80c983d/Comparative-evaluation-of-the-honey-bee-colonies-performance-based-on-two-different-sizes-of-hive-boxes.pdf 4
https://eprints.qut.edu.au/211442/ 5 https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fne05-560/ 6
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0266219 7
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/298116332_The_First_Top_Bar_Hive_with_Fully_Interchangeable_Combs 8
https://www.ibiblio.org/pub/academic/agriculture/entomology/beekeeping/general/management/top_bar_faqs/tbhf.html 9
https://projects.sare.org/sare_project/ONE12-159/?ar=2013 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkPkRmBs2b0 11

Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Sunday Mar 12, 2023
Dr. John Kefuss began experimenting with the possibility of breeding resistant bees before it was known it could be done. He promotes his "Bond Method" of selection as both more healthy and economical than chemical treatment for both bees and their keepers. We discuss his evolution on beekeeping after practicing beekeeping across the world, from both Americas & Europe, and what 50 years of beekeeping, 25 of which treatment free, has taught him about this timeless practice.
Check out his recent study from 2015 on treatment-free beekeeping: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00218839.2016.1160709
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com

Sunday Mar 05, 2023
”Are you a Bee Meninist?” Drones & the Future of Honeybees
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
Sunday Mar 05, 2023
n this episode, we dive into the complex world of the wildly undervalued honeybee drone. What's their life cycle look like, how can we better appreciate them, how many drone puns can we make before we get sued by Raytheon, and was Alex Jones right about turning the bees gay? He did say bees, right?
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_rH9ZEh_-Q&list=WL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0950560157800380
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022191016300087

Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Varroa Destructor; the Mite from Hell
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
Sunday Feb 26, 2023
In this episode, we get into this history of varroa destructor. Varroa mite (Varroa destructor and Varroa jacobsoni) is a parasite of adult honey bees and honey bee brood. It weakens and kills honey bee colonies and can also transmit honey bee viruses. Varroa laid bare the reality of the weaknesses around how honeybees had been reared for the previous decades prior to its introduction into the United States, and we discuss examples of treatment-free solutions from Cuba to Sweden. What would we need to do here in the United States to find a solution for mites, and how realistic is it?
On a lighter note, we discuss why we should take more lessons from Jerry Seinfield in Bee Movie. Also, what would a bee Jurassic Park look like?
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com
Sources:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13592-015-0412-8 1
https://bmcgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12864-020-07363-7 10
https://scientificbeekeeping.com/the-varroa-problem-part-6a/

Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Honeybee Queens & the future of Breeding
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
Sunday Feb 19, 2023
In this episode, we dive into the world of Queens. What does a queen life cycle look like, how are we changing that, why are all of our queens failing, and what are some things we can do to help queens to be more successful and to breed healthier hives?
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wrW_04iJ_c
What's Going Wrong With Our Queens? Roger Patterson's at the National Honey Show

Sunday Feb 12, 2023
Honeybee Genetics, Honeybee Diversity, Honeybee Futures
Sunday Feb 12, 2023
Sunday Feb 12, 2023
In this episode, we dive into the historical context of honeybee development, how genes travel, where bee diversity comes from, the impacts of the way we breed bees today, and why honeybees are way more badass than we give them credit for. Also, lotta puns in this one. Sorry.
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pAQt6pFhM
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-67370-2
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.556816/full
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYurOQADXbo
https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2002.2199

Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Honeybees 201; Hive Life Cycles
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
Sunday Feb 05, 2023
In this episode, we dive a little bit deeper into hive dynamics and general honeybee practice, the life cycle of the worker bees, drones, and queens. What keeps a hive going, and how can we extrapolate from these practices to understand what the best method for beekeeping is?
Sources:

Monday Jan 30, 2023
Honeybees 101 for New Beekeepers
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Monday Jan 30, 2023
Through the previous two episodes, we outlined the realities of honeybees and the limitations of the ecosystems around us to support honeybees. With that in mind, if we choose to continue to live alongside European Honeybees, what should that look like? In this episode, we're jumping into the fundamentals of how honeybees live and operate, and we'll start to unpack some of the conventional beekeeping practices. What are some things we should be doing if we're keeping bees, and more importantly, what are some of the things we should not be doing?
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list. For the supplemental reader that goes along with the podcast, visit poorprolesalmanac.substack.com

Sunday Jan 22, 2023
Revisiting the Wild Honeybee with Torben Schiffer
Sunday Jan 22, 2023
Sunday Jan 22, 2023
In this episode, we chat with researcher Torben Schiffer to discuss his findings working with wild honeybees in Europe. What can we learn from wild honeybees about the health of bees in conventional settings, and further, what do these discoveries imply about the sustainability of honeybees in urban settings?
You can buy Torben's books at the following link, or check your local bookstore!
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list.

Sunday Jan 15, 2023
Sunday Jan 15, 2023
In this episode, our first of our beekeeping series, we tackle the thorny question of native pollinators and non-native honeybee pollinators-- how do they impact one another? More importantly, are we actually too focused on saving the wrong pollinator? We dive into questions about native pollinators, non-native species, monocrops, tracing where 'common knowledge' comes from, and the rigors of having to talk to Andy for an hour straight.
To support this podcast, join our patreon for early episode access at www.patreon.com/poorprolesalmanac For more information and updates, visit www.poorproles.com and subscribe to our e-mail list.
Sources:
1 "On the road: Anthropogenic factors drive the invasion risk of a wild solitary
bee species" Julia Lanner, Nicolas Dubos, Benoît Geslin, Boris Leroy, Carlos Hernández-Castellano
13 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-41271-5
14 https://naturalareas.org/docs/16-067_02_Overview-of-the-Potential-Impacts-of-Honey-Bees_web.pdf
Audio clip: