Category Archives: Culture, or lack thereof

Better Bees

Hungary, where I am today, has a long beekeeping history. Honey bees have been part of the ecology for thousands of years. Here, they are indigenous species whereas in the Americas (and Australia, New Zealand, and much of Asia), the … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Biology, Climate, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Genetics, Science | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Quick Note from Abroad

Want to be a better beekeeper and have a lot of fun in the process? Try exploring new scenery. When I was rather young, I worked for about a dozen beekeeepers – in Pennsylvania, Wyoming, Saskatchewan, Florida, Montana, Wisconsin. Even … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof | Tagged | 7 Comments

The Beekeeper Everyone Knows

There aren’t many beekeepers that the whole world knows. No one gets famous for keeping bees. Sometimes a beekeeper becomes locally infamous, but I can’t think of any beekeeper as well-known as, say, Sir Edmund Hillary. He and his climbing … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People | Tagged , , , | 16 Comments

Canada: More Buzzing than Ever at 150

Today is Canada’s 150 birthday,Β  so “it’s Canada Day, up Canada way”, as Stompin’ Tom Connors used to say. If you don’t know Stompin’ Tom, here’s your chance to rectify a serious deficiency. Connors was a great Canadian country/folk singer … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Honey Plants | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

National Pollinator Week: Shrews and Mongooses, too.

National Pollinator Week is June 19 – June 25, but summer is an odd time of year to celebrate pollinators. The big honey bee migration to California’s almonds ended in March. Bees, birds, bats, and butterflies have finished their work … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey Plants, Humour, Pollination, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Return to PolliNation

Last month, I mentioned a great new podcast, PolliNation. It’s produced by Andony Melathopoulos, a university professor at Oregon State. The PolliNation podcast series is very nicely produced and Andony has a voice made for podcasting. As a bonus, he … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, Outreach, Pollination, Queens | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

The Annual ALS Fundraiser

Almost every year, I diverge from my usual beekeeping nonsense on this blog and write a bit about our annual ALS fundraiser, Betty’s Run for ALS. You probably know someone who had ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s disease. Right now you … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Bee Man Freeman

Born in 1938,Β  Morgan Freeman is 79 years old today, June 1, 2017. (Happy Birthday!) You know him as the actor (Driving Miss Daisy; Shawshank Redemption; Million Dollar Baby) with the resonating voice. But did you know that Freeman resonates … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach, People | Tagged | 4 Comments

Best Site for Beekeeping?

🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝🐝 🐝🐝 Beesker, a website based in Cambridge has created a neat resource for all of us. The folks running it check out websites from around the world, looking for what they deem to … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach | Tagged | 14 Comments

May 20: World Bee Day

May 20 is World Bee Day. Seems an appropriate day to celebrate the bee. (So was yesterday; tomorrow would be good, too.)Β  It’s spring north of the equator. I don’t want to neglect our friends south of Earth’s belt, but … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments