Global TV interviewed me at noon today. Our chat went OK. I covered most of what I wanted to talk about in the five minutes allotted. I’d like to give a special thanks to Liz Goldie, who helped immeasurably with the preps and props. Liz is the most active member of our local bee club, the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association. Also a warm thank you to my friend Bert Blouin, a past bee club president, for loaning his observation hive. Of course, there is also gratitude to Global TV for inviting me and the bees. Finally, thanks to the station’s great staff for pushing all the right buttons – thanks, Heather, Tiffany, and Sarah.
Please take a look and tell me what you think. What you would do differently if you were on this show?
Bad Beekeeping Blog 
I think you did very well for only having 5 minutes. You at least touched on honey bees possibly being harmful to the native bees’ ecosystem. Also start up cost.
If it was me, I would probably stress the invasiveness of the honey bee and the major flaw in the Save The Bees by getting honey bees mentality. And maybe the likelihood of losing your bees to varroa.
But if I were on the show I would probably be obnoxious and abrasive (even if I didn’t mean to be), unless I simply froze from stage fright. So we’re all just as happy I wasn’t. Thanks for asking, and I enjoy your blog tremendously.
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I try very hard to not be obnoxious and abrasive, on TV, anyway.
One thing I wish I had time to say was that people who want to “Save the Bees” should consider planting wildflowers. But, in 5 minutes, I guess that enough was said.
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Ron,
I for one wouldn’t like to do a TV interview at all! You did really well.
I knew that honey bees are not native to the Americas but hadn’t thought about the potential detrimental effect that they might have on the native species.
I look forward to your blog posts, keep ’em coming.
Neil
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Thanks, Neil. Honey bees are essential to today’s agriculture, but they might have an impact on native bees – we don’t really know for sure.
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I think you covered as much as you could in five minutes quite well. 😊
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Move over Tom Cruise! Well done Ron, good job!
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You did a great job. Your gentle storytelling style comes across well on TV.
I think you’d be a hit if you had time to go”on tour” to schools!
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Thanks! I used to volunteer my time and do a few presentations at schools every year. It was always fun and rewarding. I just don’t have time anymore, but I miss it.
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This was a great effort! The host did not break in too often (which has happened to me on some TV shoots) and your style was just the right one for such a quickie presentation. I really like your naming the pricing to invest in the hobby (though we here do save a lot by getting free ferals in various ways—cutouts, swarms) SO important to emphasize the need to learn the craft and not just plunge in buying things!
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Hi, Susan, and thanks for your kind comments. There was more that I wanted to say but my five minutes rushed past. Here in Calgary, beekeeping has grown 10-fold in ten years. I was asked (by the TV station) to tell the audience how to get started with bees. Instead, I tried to convey the idea that perhaps not everyone should get into beekeeping. It’s a commitment and a potential ecological disruption that should not be taken lightly.
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