Author Archives: Ron Miksha
Apimondia 2019: Saturday
Landed in Montreal early this morning (12:15am) and reached the hotel over an hour past midnight. My wife and teenagers are with me. None of us had been to Montreal before, so it’s a nice treat. Unfortunately, the family flies … Continue reading
Apimondia 2019 starts next week!
Apimondia is the bi-annual international bee festival. Two years ago, it was hosted by Turkey; two years from now, it will be in Russia. This year? Montreal, Quebec, Canada. There are a lot of reasons to visit Montreal. The Notre-Dame … Continue reading
You thought bees were vegetarians?
Well, looks like another sacred truth has been shattered. Bees eat beefy little microbes as part of their regular diet. Never again will I stand in front of a class of new beekeepers and implore them to marvel at the … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Diseases and Pests, Ecology, Pesticides, Save the Bees, Science
Tagged bee nutrition, microbes, pollen
3 Comments
Feel like a MOOC?
You can never know too much about bugs. That’s why I signed up for Bugs 101, offered by a rival school, the University of Alberta. (That’s up in Edmonton – I’m in Calgary, at a different, and arguably warmer, closer, … Continue reading
How did your bees do?
You hear the question every time beekeepers meet. “How did your bees do?” The answer is usually in pounds, barrels, or dollars in the bank. The question came up recently here within Calgary’s bee club. We have an extremely well-run … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Culture, or lack thereof
Tagged Alberta, Calgary Bee Club, honey crop
3 Comments
Arrested for importing three bottles of honey
This gripes me. Here’s a guy, holding down two jobs (construction and cleaning) who had his life destroyed by US Customs because he brought three jars of honey home from Jamaica while returning from holidays. He declared the honey in … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff
3 Comments
Photographs of readers
Evolutionary biologist Jerry Coyne (U of Chicago) has posted a piece on my research on his own website. This will help catch up the followers of my blog who have been wondering how I’ve been spending my summer! – Ron … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
3 Comments
National Honey Bee Day
I haven’t quite recovered from World Bee Day (May 20th) and here it is, World Honey Bee Day, which coincides with National Honey Bee Day, as it’s practiced in the USA. Clever that they both fall on the same third … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Humour, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Honey Bee Day, World Bee Day
5 Comments
Ulee Jackson has died
Peter Fonda died today. Most accolades will mention his starring role in 1969’s Easy Rider. I won’t. Instead, I’ll talk about his performance in Ulee’s Gold. That movie gave Fonda his only Oscar nomination (he lost to his friend Jack … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Movies, People
Tagged Florida, Peter Fonda, Ulee's Gold
8 Comments
Coconut Monkeys
Some years ago, I had a job that I didn’t like. The money was good, but the work was bad. I was stuck in “Coconut Monkey” syndrome. Farmers in south India are sometimes plagued by monkeys stealing their crops. The … Continue reading
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