Author Archives: Ron Miksha
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
The Center (of beekeeping)
In the 1800s, states tried to place their county seats near the county center. The county seat usually hosted the county government, the county court, and (conveniently) the county jail. Being equidistant from all villages, it seemed fair. In my … Continue reading
Bees That Watch Bees
Picture this. A bee with her tiny face pressed against a window, spying on other bees so she can see where the treasure is hidden. Sounds ridiculous to me, but it turns out to be true. The experiment In 2013, … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged almond pollination, bee brains, bee foraging
2 Comments
2016 in Bee Review
2016 was a year for the bees. Honey bees were in recovery. Colony collapse hadn’t been reported in five years and (in Canada, at least) there were record numbers of kept hives – there were more bees than anytime in … Continue reading
Bad Beekeeping Blog 