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.

The Clumsy Beekeeper

Posted on November 2, 2016 by Ron Miksha

When I was much younger, my brother and I visited a world-renowned bee breeder who produced thousands of queens every spring. I don’t remember much about that trip to the north-Florida panhandle where every town had some elegant white clapboard … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queens | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

A Two-minute Pollinator Break

Posted on October 28, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Jonathan sent a link to this little video. It was filmed in northeastern France (in Marne) this summer. He says it took Mukibrain about a month to film, edit, and compose the accompanying music. In this lovely little piece called … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pollination | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Drawing the Bee – Here’s an Idea for You!

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Today, I’m repeating a post I made a few months ago. It’s about the importance of sketching and drawing stuff develops our observation skills. The reason I’m repeat this piece now is because tomorrow (October 26, 2016), the University of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Why Vegans are Wrong

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Ron Miksha

I have a vegan acquaintance. He is a mild, considerate, and generally pleasant young man. He thinks that beekeeping is cruel and inhumane. He tells me that honey-eating encourages theft and the abuse, imprisonment and exploitation of insects. “Tell me … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , , | 104 Comments

Steve Vai, Beekeeper

Posted on October 18, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Steve Vai, guitar wizard extraordinaire, performs in Calgary tomorrow night at the Jack Singer Hall. I won’t be there. I respect his talent immensely and as an ex-guitar guy myself (albeit, three or four orders of magnitude below Mr Vai), … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach, People | Tagged , | 4 Comments

The Golden Bee Award

Posted on October 16, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Years ago, an American senator began handing out prizes that he called the Golden Fleece Award. Started in the 70s by Wisconsin Democrat senator Bill Proxmire, the Golden Fleece was an anti-science thing, intended to highlight how wasteful it is … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Podcasted

Posted on October 14, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Today, Gary Fawcett, of Kiwimana Podcast spent a grueling hour listening to me drone on and on about bees and beekeeping and beekeeping and bees. It was undoubtedly grueling for him, but I had fun. For those of you who … Continue reading →

Posted in Friends, Outreach | Tagged , | 2 Comments

A Penny for my Thoughts

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Ron Miksha

I began blogging in October, 1995 – 21 years ago this fall. In those days, it wasn’t called blogging. It was called “spilling your guts in public.” Of course it was a much smaller public back in the days of … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Double or Nothing?

Posted on October 6, 2016 by Ron Miksha

A gentleman at our bee meeting posed a challenging question a couple of weeks ago: “What should I do with a weak hive? I think it might be queenless.” Well, it depends, of course. I’m continuing with the series of … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queens, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Water in Honey

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Honey is about 80% sugar and 18% water. The rest is minerals and ash*, pollen grains and bees’ wings. The sugars and water come from nectar secreted by flowers. When flowers produce nectar (as a way of attracting pollinating insects … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Honey | Tagged , , | 5 Comments