This was the year that my motor neuron (ALS variant) advanced more than anyone would like, but I’ll especially remember 2021 as the year I had an unexpected heart attack! (Three, actually, but who’s counting?) I am still plodding along with my graduate studies at the University of Calgary, but I took a few months off to recover, so it is delayed. I also took time off from this blog – I didn’t have the energy to write much. 2021 had the fewest blog posts (just 29) that I have published in almost 25 years. Although I didn’t write much, readers read a lot. My blog had the most visits of any year. In fact, I’ll remember this as the year that I passed 500,000 views. Thank you all.

Many of my most popular posts (measured by views from readers) were written a year or two ago, but still attract a lot of visitors. Here are several, listed from the most viewed.

Do you know the queen colours? 2021 queens were marked with a white dot. What colour will 2022 be? Why was this the most popular post about queen colours this year? Answers will be obvious if you follow the link.

How many honey bees are there? A 2019 update. Although this post was published in 2019, it still attracted a lot of visitors. How many honey bees are there? I’ll write an updated post about bee numbers in 2022.

Why Vegans are wrong. That’s right, they are wrong. Not about eating animals, but about honey. Although I published this piece in 2016, it remains a perennial favourite. Card-carrying vegans won’t eat honey as it’s against their rules. Read this piece to see why they are wrong, so wrong.

Sweet Sweet Clover (Part 1) A story too big to tell in one post, Sweet Sweet Clover Part 2 was also much-visited in 2021. Originally a noxious weed, then a Salvage Jane, now an invasive pest. It is still the world’s best honey plant.

The Man who made killer bees. One of several pieces I’ve written about entomologist Warwick Kerr. This one was written before his death, published as a birthday gift to him. When he passed away in 2018, I wrote his obituary, which was expanded a bit and published in American Bee Journal.

Surprisingly, all of the above stories, much read by many of you, were published before 2021. Nevertheless, they were the most visited on my BadBeekeepingBlog during 2021. This is likely because these particular pages, having been around for a while, have worked their way up the search engine rankings and have also ended up on a lot of other people’s websites. If you haven’t read some of these, follow the links and enjoy your tumble down the beekeepers’ rabbit hole.

For those of you who have survived year two of the epic pandemic, congratulations! Best wishes for an unremarkable new year. And thanks again for reading!