Category Archives: Beekeeping
April 7: Day in the bees
April 7. Our backyard hives are collecting real pollen! Last week, I showed you some fake pollen coming into the colonies. Nothing beats the real stuff. Although desperate honey bees will carry worthless sawdust as a pollen supplement, nothing inspires … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Ecology, Native Bees, Personal
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, honey bees, pollen, pollen substitutes, urban beekeeping
5 Comments
The invisible hive tool
At last! A hive tool I can see! I am severely colourblind, which generally means that the difference between red and green makes little sense to me. I have been told (by enough people) that grass is green, so I … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Personal, Queens, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged colourblind, hive tool, queen bees
2 Comments
What does that extra apiary cost you?
With fuel prices going scary high, I thought that a few comments on bee yards away from the home fortress might be timely. My father, an early migratory beekeeper, had about 800 hives and trucked them into apple pollination in … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Personal
Tagged Bee Yards, expenses, honey bees, management, urban beekeeping
10 Comments
Bye ’21: Don’t let the door hit you. . .
This was the year that my motor neuron (ALS variant) advanced more than anyone would like, but I’ll especially remember 2021 as the year I had an unexpected heart attack! (Three, actually, but who’s counting?) I am still plodding along … Continue reading
Langstroth’s Christmas Present
I’ve been posting this piece 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 211 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his 85th … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Langstroth, The Hive and the Honey-Bee
4 Comments
Bees in the Snow
New beekeepers (and some of us old ones) worry when we see ‘lots’ of bees in the snow during winter. The black dots (above) are frozen stiffs – bees that left their hive and didn’t make it back. To me, … Continue reading
The Bees are Fine
My favourite line from one of my favourite movies was spoken by Peter Fonda, playing Ulee Jackson in a film about a Florida beekeeper. When Ulee visits his son, who is in prison for robbery, the son asks about the … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Honey, Movies
Tagged Canadian honey, Commercial Beekeeping, statistics, Ulee's Gold
7 Comments
Free International Symposium
Global Trends in Beekeeping. This two-day symposium is being held in Moscow. Registration is free, but if you are in the western hemisphere, be prepared for a couple of very early mornings. (The Congress begins at 10am, Moscow; 3am in … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof
Tagged Apimondia, bee conference, Moscow, Russia
1 Comment
Waxing in the Waning Days of Summer
Our summer is drawing to a close. After record-breaking heat, we’re now getting seasonal temperatures (though no frost yet, which is unusual). Fortunately, we are having some much-needed rain. In the heat of summer, I set up our solar wax … Continue reading
September Bears
Our part of the world (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) has been home to black bears and grizzlies for about ten-thousand years. In recent days, they’ve mostly resided in the zoo and probably as household pets in a few basements – though … Continue reading
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