Author Archives: Ron Miksha
Alberta is Beekeeping
Last night, the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association hosted its monthly general meeting. About 150 people showed up. To accommodate the growing membership and big turnout, our club’s president found an affordable and spacious new meeting hall near the Bow … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Outreach, Save the Bees
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, Calgary Bee Club, Medhat Nasr, statistics
4 Comments
Pollinator Friendly Gardening
Pollinator Friendly Gardening: Gardening for Bees, Butterflies, and Other Pollinators, by Rhonda Fleming Hayes, is a new book for the gardener who wants to help pollinators. With all the news about loss of habitat, warming climate, and pesticides, most wild … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Ecology, Honey Plants, Pollination, Save the Bees
Tagged gardening, pollinators
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De-stressing during the Oscars
In our continuing series on Oscar-winning beekeepers… Leo says keeping bees reduces stress during the annual awards cycle. Funny, I find it helps me the exact same way. Similarly, beekeeping seems to be a preferred pasttime for Scarlett Johansson, Morgan … Continue reading
Dr Seuss’ B-Day
Today is Dr Seuss Day, according to my 9-year old, who was once a big fan of fables like Oh The Places You’ll Go. She has (temporarily) outgrown the good doctor, but like many of us may rediscover him in … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Humour, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged bee-watcher, Dr Seuss, parable
1 Comment
Manuka Recall
For years, I’ve been thinking that manuka honey is over-rated. And maybe overpriced, though every beekeeper’s honey should sell at $80/pound retail, as manuka sometimes does. Why is manuka honey so expensive? It could be partly due to brilliant marketing. … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Hive Products, Honey
Tagged adulteration, manuka, natural, New Zealand, organic honey
3 Comments
Almonds, Water, and Bees
February is almond pollination month in California. A couple of nights ago, the CBC aired a story about almonds, water, and bees. They try to cover everyone involved – the consumer who loves the heart-friendly food, the almond grower who … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Ecology, Honey Plants, Pollination
Tagged almond pollination, almonds, California, migratory beekeeping
2 Comments
Big Brain, Small Brain, Bee Brain
A bee brain is bigger in the summer, when there are more things to learn, experience, and think about. It shrinks in the winter, which must be a blessing because bees spend weeks on end doing nothing – an active … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Science
Tagged aggressive bees, bee brains, honey bee genetics, Monash University, neurology
6 Comments
Cuba’s Organic Honey
Long before the embargo and before the Castro brothers, Cuba was a beekeeper’s paradise North American gringos operating Cuban honey farms. Spain ruled Cuba for almost 400 years, but the United States took it as a trophy after the Spanish-American … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Ecology, History, Honey, Pesticides, Save the Bees
Tagged Cuba, organic honey, Pesticides
13 Comments
TV Bee Outreach
How does your bee club reach the public? TV interviews are difficult, nerve-racking, and can go seriously wrong. But when Liz Goldie of the Calgary Bee Club took to the air with a local station, everything went seriously right. From … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Outreach
Tagged Bees on TV, Calgary Bee Club, urban beekeeping
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Clipped and Marked? Part 2
I’m not going to suggest how you should hold a queen and a paint bucket when you mark your monarch. For that, I added a video, which you’ll find below. Instead, when your favourite queen supplier gives you a choice … Continue reading
Bad Beekeeping Blog 