Author Archives: Ron Miksha
March is Orange Blossom Month
I just released a podcast episode about citrus trees. I’ve been trying to find honey plants in bloom during each month. I’ve been surprisingly consistent since I started this series in July with sweet clover. This is March, there is … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Honey Plants, Podcasts
Tagged beekeeping, Florida, honey bees, orange blossom
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Serving the Perfect Cup of Tea
The perfect cup of tea starts with honey. At least, that’s how the royals do it. It’s hard to argue that anyone else would know better. They’ve got history, experience, connections and money. And tea is important in their part … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey
Tagged English royalty, food, honey, tea, Umi
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When Bees Finally Get a Bathroom Break
March is a confusing month here in Calgary. Three weeks of it belongs to winter. Snow sits around in gray crusty patches that melt, refreeze, and melt again. Nights are cold enough to freeze the ground solid. But when I … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Podcasts, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Alberta, beekeeping, wintering
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An Apiary in a Box
The image above is from the BeeCube website. Inside that box is an entire apiary. It can be loaded on the back of a truck and hauled off to a new location – wintering spot, spring build-up, pollination, summer honey … Continue reading
Wintering at 50 Below in the Yukon
The Yukon is not usually considered ‘beekeeping country’, but there is some great beekeeping science going on up there right now. Etienne Tardif, an engineer with a fondness for spreadsheets and experimentation, has been keeping bees for 15 years in … Continue reading
Sylvia Plath, the Beekeeper’s Poet
Today, February 11, is the anniversary of the death of a great poet, Sylvia Plath. The daughter of a bee scientist, Sylvia spent her brief life writing about love, loss, disappointment, and nature. Don’t skip this short (20 minute) podcast episode. … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Podcasts
Tagged beekeeping, Sylvia Plath
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Dead Bees in the Snow!
Lots of worrying going on this week, especially after the heavy snow that fell across much of North America. New beekeepers (and some of us old ones) worry when we see ‘lots’ of bees in the snow during winter. The … Continue reading
Arizona was Swarming – in January!
I don’t know a lot about Arizona, but my niece, Monica Miksa King, has been living there for a while and professionally rescues honey bees. So, when my curiosity peaked about bee conditions in the desert during January, I invited … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Honey Plants, Pesticides, Podcasts, Swarms
Tagged Arizona, beekeeping, bees, Pesticides, winter
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The most important beekeeper you never hear of
🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 You probably know that Karl von Frisch figured out how honey bees use their waggle-dance to communicate. He won the Nobel Prize for that and for other studies of bee behaviour. I think it was well-deserved … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People, Science
Tagged bee brains, Charles Henry Turner
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What’s Blooming in January?
Metrosideros polymorpha, known in Hawaii as ʻŌhiʻa lehua It sometimes fills a heavy super with light honey in January. I’d really like to have this in my back yard because that would mean I would be living in Hawaii. photo … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Honey Plants, Podcasts
Tagged beekeeping, bees, Florida, Hawaii, winter
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 