Category Archives: Beekeeping

Bee Vandals

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

Dead bee, in the middle of the ‘shield…

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

Can’t Get it out of the Comb?

The American Bee Journal  published a timely piece in their August issue. It just hit my mailbox. The article is about avoiding granulated honey in your extracting frames. It’s written by your favourite bee-blogger. Me. I’m not going to repeat … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Commercial Beekeeping, Honey | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

Bees Do Do-Do

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 , | 15 Comments

Falling Honey Price Makes National News

Something in the news caught my attention. The falling price of honey is now a national news item.  We noticed that prices began falling a year ago, when wholesale prices started their tumble from $2.25 to $1.25.  Now even the … Continue reading

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Dropping into Sunshine Valley

My hometown – Calgary, Alberta, Canada – is having a much needed wet spell. In fact, there has been some ghastly local flooding which I’ll cover in a future blog. Lucky for me, I am a few hundred kilometres farther … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Ecology, Friends, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Bad Beekeeping Competition

I came across a blog posting titled “Bad beekeeping” over at ScienceBlogs.com. I was concerned that someone had picked up on my nomen – not that I have universal rights on the bad beekeeping phrase. But I wrote the book … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Humour, Save the Bees | Tagged , | 4 Comments

African Beekeeping May “Save the Trees”

Rather than “Save the Bees”, it’s “Save the Trees” in central Africa. A story from Zimbabwe reminds us that beekeeping can be very, very good for ecology. Bees (and beekeepers) are saving Zimbabwe’s forests. The country of Zimbabwe, lest we … Continue reading

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

The Price of Honey

The price of honey has been falling for over a year. Honey is such a strange commodity. It’s agricultural. It’s ubiquitous (produced on all but one continent). It’s easily transported. Doesn’t need refrigerated. Doesn’t spoil (though quality may diminish with … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, History, Honey | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Flow(TM) Hive Wins Design Award

Our favourite Surfer Dude and his Retired Dad are the folks who invented the 21st-Century honey-on-tap bee hive. They have now won artistic recognition. You know their hive – it’s the revolutionary, earth-shaking innovation that has inspired thousands of lazy … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Hives and Combs, Humour, Save the Bees, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | Leave a comment