Category Archives: Bee Yards

Nuisance-free beekeeping

Posted on March 2, 2018 by

Tired of irritating your neighbours with your pesky bees? Help is on the way. A very bright professor at Oregon State, Andony Melathopoulos, has co-authored a guide which you should read:  Residential Beekeeping: Best-practice guidelines for nuisance-free beekeeping in Oregon.   … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Books, Outreach | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Keeping the Cougars out of your Bee Yard

Posted on June 24, 2017 by

Ever been chased by a mountain lion? How about a cougar, panther, or puma? Me neither, but I’ve probably passed within metres of all four. (I’m told that they’re all the same species – Puma concolor.) A new study from … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Urban Beekeeping Mug

Posted on June 19, 2017 by

Yesterday, Father’s Day, my family surprised me with this homemade mug. They had conspired to co-create this bit of art for the past few days. I heard the hushed tones and I saw people and things quickly disappear when I … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping | Tagged , | 9 Comments

Ending the Senseless Roadside Carnage (of bugs)

Posted on November 29, 2016 by

Bugs impact windshields from time to time. You’ve scraped off the gooey result. A lovely dégustation if there’s ever been one.  Placing a bee yard near a busy road makes you an accessory to the beeslaughter of millions. You are … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Ecology, Humour, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

The Synthetic Apiary

Posted on October 7, 2016 by

Well, this is weird. The video at the end of this link is great, but the whole concept is weird. It’s an artificial, synthetic apiary. I’ll rank it with the Flow(TM)Hive for a reason that will become apparent in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Culture, or lack thereof, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Brood in Front of the Hive?!?

Posted on September 24, 2016 by

I’m continuing with the series of questions which I overheard at a bee meeting a few days ago. Today, it’s dead brood. Here are those questions: My honey isn’t capped. What should I do with it? (I heard that one … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Pesticides, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Bee Vandals

Posted on August 10, 2016 by

I’ll never understand vandalism. Theft I understand. I don’t like it, I don’t condone it, I’ve been victimized by it. But I can understand how it might sometimes happen. Vandalism, however, is strange. And stupid. Vandalism is nothing new. The … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Rooftop Bees

Posted on August 7, 2016 by

There’s a jolly fat man up on the roof. With a smoker and hive tool. Rooftop beekeeping seems modern, trendy, and new, but it’s been happening for generations. Ever since homes had rooftops. I’m surprised there isn’t a Rooftop Beekeepers … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Culture, or lack thereof, Humour, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Dead bee, in the middle of the ‘shield…

Posted on August 4, 2016 by

A few days ago, I had a road trip that took me two hours from my home in Calgary. Flying low at 130 kph, I expected to whack a lot of bees on the forehead of my van, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Humour, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Bees Do Do-Do

Posted on July 23, 2016 by

Diapers for bees?  Some folks stopped me when I was leaving an apiary that I once had in a Florida orange grove. They didn’t own the grove, but their house was within fifty yards. They told me that my bees … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Humour, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , | 6 Comments