Author Archives: Ron Miksha
Maple Syrup is Dark
It’s February. Maple syrup time in Quebec. The saps are flowing! I live in western Canada (no maple syrup trees here on the windy prairies) so I don’t think a lot about the sugar tapping going on at the moment … Continue reading
The Place to Pair (and pair and pair) with a Bee?
Maybe I should have written this blog in Latin. When I was a kid, I saw a bee biology book where the author switched to Latin when he got to the part about how queens and drones get together to make … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, History, Queens, Science
Tagged Cornell University, drones, eb white, Lawrence Connor, Norman Gary, queen breeding, Wicwas Press
7 Comments
Bee My Valentine
(Adapted from my 2015 Valentine post . . .) Beekeepers are not sentimental. For most of us, Saint Valentine’s Day is a day of intense panic when male beekeepers rush out to buy something special for some darling or pigsney. … Continue reading
First View of a Bee’s Innards
Today’s birthdays include two notables whom you’ve likely heard of (Lincoln and Darwin, both born on the same day in 1809), and one luminary you’ve perhaps not encountered: Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), also born on February 12. Though we have Darwin … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged bee anatomy, Jan Swammerdam, microscopy
6 Comments
Painting the Bees
Let’s celebrate bees – and enjoy a really cool art project at the same time! Matthew Willey, an energetic and talented artist, is highlighting beauty and nature with a series of gorgeous honey bee murals. It’s an ambitious project. Willey’s … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach
Tagged bee art, Carrboro, Matthew Willey, North Carolina, The Good of the Hive
4 Comments
This Cat Don’t Eat Honey
Humans can taste one drop of sucrose (table sugar) diluted in 150 parts water. A honey bee outranks our sugar sensitivity six-times over: about one part in a thousand and the bee is on it. What about Puff, the cat? … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Honey
Tagged cats, fructose, glucose, honey sweetness
5 Comments
Beekeeper Royally Stung
A rather sad story today. Sad on several levels. A couple of months ago, we learned that “Prince Charles’ beekeeper” was charged with using a prohibited chemical in his hives. The chemical is a medication used throughout North America and … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Honey, Save the Bees
Tagged bee medications, organic honey, Prince Charles, Scotland, tetracycline
14 Comments
One more thing about Chinese honey. . .
Occasionally, we take honey from the hive too early. It’s bad honey – some beekeepers call it “green”. High in moisture, and maybe not fully enzymatically converted by the bees. Nectar is ‘wet’ – sometimes 90% water and just 10% … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Hive Products, Honey, Science
Tagged adulteration, China, extracting, processing honey, wet honey
16 Comments
Happy Birthday Johann Dzierzon
Originally posted on Beekeeping365:
Okay, as many of my beekeeping friends might remember, I started December vowing to answer to, and identify myself as, “Lorenzo” to reservation takers, waitresses, and others. I am pleased to report that this has worked…
155th Anniversary of a Botany Professor
Just a short post today, and though it’s about genetics and botany, bees (my usual blog subject) are mentioned only indirectly. It’s the 155th anniversary of the birth of Carrie Derick – one of the world’s first geneticists. Derick was … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Genetics, History, People
Tagged Canada, Carrie Derick, famous beekeepers, McGill
3 Comments
Bad Beekeeping Blog 