Author Archives: Ron Miksha

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About Ron Miksha

Ron Miksha is a bee ecologist working at the University of Calgary. He is also a geophysicist and does a bit of science writing and blogging. Ron has worked as a radio broadcaster, a beekeeper, and Earth scientist. (Ask him about seismic waves.) He's based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Swarm Season

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Ron Miksha

It’s swarm season here in the north. That will end soon enough, but right now it’s pushed by long days and a heavy dandelion flow. Hives just can’t help themselves. In the old days of skep and gum beekeeping, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, History, Swarms | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Bee’s Eye View

Posted on May 27, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Looking down from a light aircraft gives insights you just can’t match on the ground. At 6,000 feet, you appreciate how close flowers are along a beeline from hive to field. Beeing in the air is useful for a beekeeper … Continue reading →

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Long Live the (New) Queen

Posted on May 26, 2017 by Ron Miksha

During the past week, we looked at how to requeen a hive. On Monday, we considered the reality of queen troubles and how our hives differ from feral colonies. Tuesday was about identifying a queen’s quality from her brood pattern, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queens | Tagged | 5 Comments

Sticking the Queen In

Posted on May 25, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Over the past few days, I’ve written a little about identifying poor queens by examining brood patterns. Then we discussed  finding and pinching her failing heinousnesses.  The next step in your requeening saga is inserting the caged queen. Here in … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, History, Queens, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Pinching the Queen

Posted on May 24, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Today I’ll write a few words about finding and murdering the old queen. We’ll assume that you have decided the queen must die. Harsh as that sounds, sometimes it’s the only way to save a hive. Think of the colony … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queens | Tagged | 10 Comments

Good Queen; Bad Queen

Posted on May 23, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Quite a few commercial beekeepers replace queens every second year. It’s a scheduled event, sort of like a birthday. Half the hives will get a new queen in 2017, the other half in 2018, then back to the first group … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queens | Tagged , , | 22 Comments

Long Live the New Queen

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Spring is typical requeening season. Sometimes you do it yourself; other times, the bees swarm or supersede. A young queen is the result.  When a queen is failing, you’re told: Kill the old queen and replace her.  Pretty straight forward, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Queens, Swarms | Tagged | 8 Comments

Best Site for Beekeeping?

Posted on May 21, 2017 by Ron Miksha

🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝 Beesker, a website based in Cambridge has created a neat resource for all of us. The folks running it check out websites from around the world, looking for what they deem to … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach | Tagged | 14 Comments

200 Years of Dadant

Posted on May 20, 2017 by Ron Miksha

It’s May 20.  If he were alive today, we’d be celebrating Charles Dadant in a big way. Not just because he’d be exactly 200 years old today. (Though that would get some attention.) Instead, we’d want to recognize Charles Dadant … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, History, People, Queens | Tagged , , , | 9 Comments

May 20: World Bee Day

Posted on May 19, 2017 by Ron Miksha

May 20 is World Bee Day. Seems an appropriate day to celebrate the bee. (So was yesterday; tomorrow would be good, too.)  It’s spring north of the equator. I don’t want to neglect our friends south of Earth’s belt, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments