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Podcast: Honey Bee Obscura Podcast
Episode: Plain Talk: Exploring Bee Rooms
Description: Have you ever heard of a bee room? In this episode, Jim Tew revisits a nearly forgotten practice of intentionally housing honey bee colonies inside homes—typically in attics or wall cabinets—during the late 1800s and early 1900s. Far from today's observation hives or honey extraction rooms, these "bee rooms" featured free-hanging feral colonies living just above or beside the families who kept them. Jim shares vivid stories from his own experiences visiting these historical remnants with a former lab technician and reflects on how societal attitudes toward living with insects have changed over time. From swar...