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.

Here Comes the Sun

Posted on January 3, 2015 by Ron Miksha

If you are in the far north, your bees are not quite at mid-point in their winter marathon. But days are getting longer. It is amazing how bees – and flowering plants – recognize even a few minutes of extra … Continue reading →

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Older Blog Posts

Posted on January 1, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Dear Readers! This new WordPress blog site has posts from badbeekeeping.com, a site I’ve been running for about twenty years. If you’d like to read my older posts, please head over to the old site. I will eventually close it … Continue reading →

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Honey Bee Sauna: “Keeps Bees from Roaring”

Posted on December 29, 2014 by Ron Miksha

 A German “crowd sourcing” fund wanted 10,000 Euros to build honey bee saunas. Within a few weeks, they had over 60,000 Euros in pledges – that’s about $75,000. I guess that the contributors don’t realize bees can die in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Diseases and Pests, Genetics, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , , , | 18 Comments

15 Amazing Incredible Uses for Honey!

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Ron Miksha

I came across a list. It’s one of those “7 Amazing Habits of the World’s Most Successful Dogs” sort of lists. But this one is about honey and the title wasn’t written as run-of-the-mill click bait (such as today’s headline … Continue reading →

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Our Pig

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Ron Miksha

We bought a pig. We will keep it in Africa. It wouldn’t be fair to make our pig live in our house in the city. So Wilbur will be staying with a family in Africa. As I am sure you … Continue reading →

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Beehives vs Drunken Elephants

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Drunken elephants have been a problem for as long as I can remember. Elephants are known to booze-up, get rowdy, and attack farmers – sometimes even entire villages. A herd of elephants got drunk on rice beer in Assam, India, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Ecology, Hives and Combs, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Sterile Radioactive Bugs Arrive in Croatia

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Ron Miksha

  Why did a kibbutz in Israel ship 380 million sterile, radioactive fruit flies to Croatia? That might be the most unusual introduction this blog has ever used. Here’s the backstory… Ceratitis capitata – the lovely but insidious Mediterranean Fruit … Continue reading →

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No Cheery Welcome for the Beetles

Posted on December 2, 2014 by Ron Miksha

“Ladies and gentlemen, The Beetles!” **  That’s how Ed Sullivan introduced John, Paul, George and Ringo to the American public. The introduction was followed by a lot of screaming, some disruptive noise on Ed’s stage, and general hair-pulling by the … Continue reading →

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Packing Honey Combs

Posted on November 24, 2014 by Ron Miksha

With a break in the weather, my kids and I made a trip down to the farm. It is in Vulcan County, aptly named for heat. Vulcan can be really, really hot is the summer. But it is late fall … Continue reading →

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Buzzing Out-of-Sync

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Ron Miksha

If flowers bloom a month earlier than usual – as they reportedly did last year in Maryland – what does that mean for bees? According to Will Plants and Pollinators Get Out of Sync? it could mean trouble. The story … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Ecology, Genetics, Honey Plants, Pollination | Tagged | Leave a comment