Category Archives: Culture, or lack thereof

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 , , , | 2 Comments

The Synthetic Apiary Revisited

I posted this piece a couple of years ago, but it’s timeless. I was reminded of this blog post when my WordPress splash alarm went off – someone was linking to this page on their own blog. That’s OK, of … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Yards, Culture, or lack thereof, Reblogs, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Keeping the Bees: Netflix

It’s great to know a lot about bees, although it sometimes comes between you and a good time. I enjoyed Keeping the Bees, a Turkish-language drama (2019; 93minutes), but some bee-science was forgotten in the lab and the jars of … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Movies | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Smart, Apimondia!

The day after the invasion started, a woman and her husband reached Lviv from a small city south of Kiev. The woman was suffering the late stages of cancer. She was weak and tired. Her husband helped her into the … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Travels | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

Riot police battle beekeepers

These Chilean beekeepers chose the wrong place to set 60 colonies of bees. Or maybe the right place, as their plight drew national attention. Four beekeepers were arrested, seven riot police were hospitalized due to bee stings, and at least … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Culture, or lack thereof, Save the Bees, Stings, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | 4 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

Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Personal | Tagged | 4 Comments

EO Wilson, 92, has left the lab

The entire Earth was Ed Wilson’s lab. When his death was announced on Monday, I knew that I wanted to write a few words words in his honour, but I also knew that this would be a difficult task. One … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Biology, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History, People, Science | Tagged , , | 8 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 , , , | 1 Comment

A Day of Days

Today is a special day. It’s Nikola Tesla Day. But, it’s also the anniversary the first day of the “Scopes Monkey Trial”, which started on a sultry Tennessee morn, almost 100 years ago. And it’s Don’t Step on a Bee … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Personal | Tagged | 15 Comments

Honey bee song from the honey bee country

The link to this video came to me from Gorazd Pavčnik, who lives in the land where two of my grandparents were born. These Slovenian singers have incredible harmony. Singing and beekeeping are national pastimes in Slovenia – here they … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof | Tagged , , | 6 Comments