Category Archives: Commercial Beekeeping
How to predict the honey flow
This post will be disappointing to anyone hoping for a quick and easy way to predict what the honey flow will bring. There is no substitute for experience. It may take years to gain the knowledge you’ll need because every … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Commercial Beekeeping, History, People
Tagged Alberta, August, dearth, Don Peer, nectar flow, scale hive, statistics, UBAC
7 Comments
Beekeepers becoming wary of pollination
Compared to almonds in California, blueberry pollination in British Columbia is small potatoes. But there are some similarities. Commercial beekeepers migrate long distances from cold northern prairies to the mild coast with thousands of colonies. They are paid for … Continue reading
Psst. Wanna make some money?
Most hobby beekeepers keep bees for fun, not profit. But almost every beekeeper whom I’ve ever met tells me that, well, it would be nice to hear the cash register jingle once in a while. Bird-watchers or golfers rarely expect … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Commercial Beekeeping
Tagged bee course, economics, Money from Honey, teaching beekeeping
20 Comments
First day with the bees
On Friday evening, just after the sun had set, we installed two packages of bees. Earlier in the day, we arranged six drawn-out deep brood frames (purchased from Scandia Honey, a very reputable bee farm in our area), two new … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping
Tagged beginning beekeeping, Calgary, packages, pollen, urban beekeeping
7 Comments
Rotten: Lawyers, Guns & Honey
I’m invariably cautious – even cynical – about beekeeping movies. But I just saw one that breaks the mold and restores faith in the potential for delivering a great story about the honey industry without lies and exaggeration. The one-hour … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Movies, Pollination, Save the Bees
Tagged bee documentary, Honeygate
33 Comments
Moving the Bees
Yesterday, I wrote about nuking the bees. Today, it’s moving the bees. My nuc started out on my daughter’s farm, 130 kilometres east of my home in Calgary. That’s over an hour’s drive, out on the prairie, away from the … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Alberta, moving bees, nuc, wasps
6 Comments
Backstory for the Bees
Yesterday evening, I brought a small hive of bees to my back yard. It was thrilling. That may seem odd to those of you who read this blog regularly. (Did you miss my Urban Beekeeper post?) Surely I’ve got dozens … Continue reading
Miel Carlota – Once the World’s Biggest Bee Farm
One of the world’s largest honey farms was a Mexican outfit started by a couple of guys on holidays from Germany. The Second World War broke out while they were rambling around the Mexican coast, so they stayed for an … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Commercial Beekeeping, History, People, Queens
Tagged Alberta, Mexico, Miel Carlota, queen breeding, royal jelly
22 Comments
Bee Rustling Undone
Ever been robbed? I have. It’s a pretty sick feeling when you realize that someone has broken in and taken your stuff. Imagine how a Montana beekeeper felt when he entered his apiary to work his bees but almost 500 … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Pollination
Tagged bee theft, migratory beekeeping, Montana
8 Comments
The Center (of beekeeping)
In the 1800s, states tried to place their county seats near the county center. The county seat usually hosted the county government, the county court, and (conveniently) the county jail. Being equidistant from all villages, it seemed fair. In my … Continue reading
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