Category Archives: Beekeeping
Podcast: America’s other weed
Season 1 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Sweet Clover: America’s other weed Legal. Illegal. Legal. Illegal again. Sweet clover has quite a history. Introduced into North America from Europe about 300 years ago, farmers were once … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Ecology, History, Honey Plants, Podcasts
Tagged Australia, beekeeping, Grasslands National Park, honey bees, Saskatchewan, Val Marie
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Podcasting about bees
I considered launching a podcast several times over the past few years. However, I had been a guest on half a dozen shows, so I recognized the enormous amount of effort and time that hosting a podcast entails. It’s a … Continue reading
Who’s afraid of a few bees?
Yesterday’s New York Times had a lengthy first-person account of the disturbing tale of a home invasion. Dozens came in, none left alive. According to the author, Sarah Kliff, “Honey bees invaded my house, and no one would help.” This … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Outreach, Save the Bees, Stings
Tagged bee rescues, honey bees, New York Times, swarming
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Stack ’em High
Long ago (about 1975), there was an amazing beekeeper, now a legend, in northeast Saskatchewan. He consistently had 300-pound/hive crops. This was Dr. Don Peer (PhD, 1955, U Wisconsin). Peer once told us “If I were king of the world, … Continue reading
The heat is up
My badbeekeeping blog has largely avoided the topic of global climate change. It’s contentious. Some insist it’s happening; other insist that it ain’t. I have purposefully tried to limit my conversation on the topic because I didn’t want to alienate … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Culture, or lack thereof, Personal
Tagged beekeeping, Calgary, climate change, environment, Exxon, fossil-fuels, global-warming, New Year
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A Langstroth Christmas Story
I’ve been posting this piece nearly every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 214 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged beekeeping, Langstroth, The Hive and the Honey-Bee
5 Comments
The Native and Non-Native Bee Debate
A few days ago, I sat down with the folks at Beekeeping Today Podcast to talk about how our non-native honey bees may affect native bees. Jeff Ott and Becky Masterman were informed, sympathetic interviewers. I had a great time … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Native Bees, Outreach, Personal, Podcasts, Save the Bees
Tagged Calgary, Native Bees, podcast, urban beekeeping
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The Metaphysical Beekeeper
Revisiting Richard Taylor on his 104th birthday. He died 20 years ago. But Richard Taylor is interesting enough to remember, at least every November 5th when a small part of the world stands to salute the practical beekeeper and philosopher. … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Comb Honey, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged Comb Honey, lifestyle, philosophy, Richard Taylor
18 Comments
Ducks in a row
We’ve had unusually mild weather for September and October in Calgary. The heat gave us a chance to clean up some odd bits of beeswax – and turn them into ducks. I bought this melter, built by Uncle Lee’s Bees … Continue reading
CBC’s 2022 Nonfiction: Advice to a new beekeeper
“Do not keep bees. . . “Keep cattle, or chickens or dogs. Their emotions are recognizable, their ailments familiar. Their speech, though foreign, is in a language we understand.” Thus begins Susan Cormier’s seasoned advice to beekeeping wanna-bees. There are sufficient … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof
Tagged bee language, beginning beekeeping, CBC, literary
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 