Category Archives: Commercial Beekeeping
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
20 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
Lawsuits Amidst Toxic Allegations
Australia is having a food fight. Well, a honey fight, actually, and there are lessons aplenty to be found in it. First off, a Save the Bees gentleman, Simon Mulvany, of Melbourne, launched a name-calling campaign against Australian honey packer … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Honey, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Australia, Capilano, lawsuits, toxic honey
9 Comments
Money from Honey 101
I’m still exhausted from co-teaching last weekend’s beekeeping economics course here in Calgary. Judging from the evaluation sheets of the participants, our full-day seminar about the business of the bee business went well. In fact, most of the evalu-forms were … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Friends, Outreach
Tagged Money from Honey, teaching beekeeping
2 Comments
A Metaphysical Life
Today is the anniversary of the birth of one of my beekeeper-heroes, Professor Richard Taylor. He was an early champion of the round comb honey system, a commercial beekeeper with just 300 hives, and he was a philosopher who wrote … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comb Honey, Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged Comb Honey, famous beekeepers, Richard Taylor
5 Comments
Upside-Down Almond Pollination
It’s September, but some beekeepers are just wrapping up almond pollination and moving their bees to canola. Sounds late. California’s almonds finished in March. Canola blossom ended months ago, too. But not for Australian beekeepers. Here’s a news piece from … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Pollination
Tagged almond pollination, Australia
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