There is more to beekeeping than simply keeping bees. Honey bees face threats from Colony Collapse Disorder, systemic pesticides and GMO crops. It's becoming more difficult to keep honey bees, and next to impossible to keep those bees alive How do we survive in this challenging age? Grant F. C. Gillard, a small-scale commercial beekeeper since 1981, shares his insights and philosophies, his field-tested ideas and sustainable methods on how to hang tough, to persevere in the face of adversity, to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint. It's tough out there; tougher than you may think;...

Larry Kuntze writes from his home south of Jackson, Missouri, sharing his unique perspectives on his Christian faith, on the comedic ironies of our relationships, and on this journey we call, "life."

Ever since I can remember, people have always told me, "God helps those who help themselves." And without blinking, without a moment's doubt, I believed them. I believed the empowering truth of this statement then, and I firmly believe it still today. I believe God helps those who are ready, willing and able, and want to help themselves. This statement, "God helps those who help themselves," articulates our belief that we are under the responsibility to help ourselves, first, so God, in turn, will help us. Helping ourselves is the requisite, the precursor to attaining God's help. And most of...

Chemicals used to be the answer to all our problems; today they seem to be the cause. Once upon a time, we planted our gardens in dirt; today we pay for them with plastic. Jolted awake, society has discovered new answers in an old solution: Less chemical; more organic. Beekeepers, likewise, are looking for healthier options, something more than a chemical response that seems to bring its own complications. The interest in organic beekeeping has taken root. But organic beekeeping is more complex than you would believe. Coming out of an era when defining organics could mean whatever you decided...

Swarm trapping is another aspect to free bees that entails catching that runaway swarm even when I'm not around and in places I can't always be. I've had my share of experiences where the swarm departed for some unknown destination, and then I've wondered about the swarms that come out of bee trees in remote areas where no human being was able to discover them and call me. And what about the swarms that people find but they don't know who to call? Eventually those swarms will leave for a hollow tree or somebody's garden shed. How can I get those swarms I don't even know about? Then I began to...