Category Archives: Beekeeping
2017: The Year in Bee Review
As 2017 draws to a close, let’s look back at the year’s best beekeeping stories. With lower honey prices in 2017, some beekeepers left the business and colony counts fell a little. Back in 2016, I reported that honey bees … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Friends, History, Hive Products, Honey, Honey Plants, Killer Bees, Movies, Outreach, People, Pesticides, Pollination, Queens, Save the Bees, Science
Tagged blogging
6 Comments
Langstroth: The Great Christmas Gift
I’m repeating a blog which I post each Christmas Day, Langstroth’s birthday. He is often considered the inventor of modern beekeeping. He invented the modern beehive, making it easier, more productive, and less stressful for bees. However, Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People
Tagged Langstroth
7 Comments
Solstice
My friend Nichol sent this picture of her backyard hive. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? A quintessential image of winter in Canada. Besides being a great photographer, Nichol is a woodworking artisan. She handcrafted the hive equipment in her workshop. It’s … Continue reading
Walden Publishing: Helping New Beekeepers
A few months ago, Walden Publishing printed a beginning beekeeping article which they asked me to write: When to Harvest Honey. It can be found here. Then I was asked to produce a more general piece on beekeeping, which is … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach
Tagged beginning beekeeping, Walden Publishing
9 Comments
Why are Hives Damp in the Winter?
Last time, I wrote about my over-wintering misadventures with wet hives. In many parts of the world (I’m looking at you, England.), the biggest winterkill comes from moisture, not disease or starvation. During the winter, water may collect under the … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Science, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Adony Melathopoulos, hive equipment, wintering bees
7 Comments
Winterprep: What’s the neighbour doing?
Fall has arrived and you’re preparing your bees for winter. If you are new to beekeeping, this should make you nervous. You might lose every colony you have in the next few months. What you do now has a huge … Continue reading
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part VI
My anno horribilis apis had one more final insult to bestow upon my ever-shrinking self-esteem. Our little hive was attacked by robber bees. Once again, it was a scene entirely reminiscent of Tolstoy’s dying Moscow: There is no longer the … Continue reading
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part V
When a colony has lost its queen and not replaced her, the hive is almost certain to die a slow and sorrowful death. The great plans we had for this small nuc – a source of a pound or two … Continue reading
95th Birthday for “The Man Who Made Killer Bees”
This week, we should celebrate Warwick Estevam Kerr, the man who made the killer bees. September 9th is his 95th birthday. Just like his bees, Kerr comes from hot, tropical Brazil. And just like his bees, Dr Kerr has been … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Genetics, People, Science, Uncategorized
Tagged Africanized honey bees, AHB, Brazil, Melipona, Native Bees, Warwick Kerr
8 Comments
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part IV
This is the fourth piece in my six-part description of my colossal failure as a beekeeper this summer. If you’ve been following this little series, you saw how I acquired a little queenless nuc, transported it to my home, and … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, family, nuc, queenless hives, Queens, Tolstoy, weak hives
14 Comments
Bad Beekeeping Blog 