Imendale

Do you feel like albinism is a social identity for you as well as a condition you have? For example, some people who belong to the Deaf movement have the condition of deafness but also find community in it. Do you identify or think at all about people with albinism who live in places where they are persecuted for it, like in East Africa?

I went to UF's Bee College this year and I'm planning to get two hives in the Spring! I have a few questions, and I'd appreciate an answer to any of them even if you can't get to them all. Thank you!

• If I do a mesh-bottom hive, will I need to close it up in the winter to help my bees stay warm? Cover/insulate the hive in another way? I live in the Gainesville area for context.
• I know about how to monitor for varroa mites, hive beetles, and wax moths, but I don't actually know how to treat if I find them. Do you have any good references/resources that I could look at? I'm open to books, websites, or something else.
• Speaking of educational resources, I'm interested in top-bar hives, but beekeeper education is very focused on Langstroths. If you know of anywhere I can find information on how hive management differs, I'd love to see it. I see things on removing supers at different times and it doesn't seem to apply to top bars.
• I try to be kind to wild bees and have a bee house in my yard. What can I do to make sure my honeybee hives don't drive away the wild bees other than planting more food sources?

Thank you for doing this AMA and thanks for all you've done to increase beekeeper education. I've been interested in beekeeping for years but didn't have the confidence to take steps towards actually doing it until I learned about and attended Bee College.

Thank you! I'll definitely check these out and look into more nesting habitat for my wild bees.