Category Archives: Culture, or lack thereof

Time and Time, Again

Most North Americans moved clock hands back last night.  Others in the northern hemisphere did this a week earlier. Meanwhile, some folks in the southern hemisphere did the deed in the opposite direction. Others never changed to Daylight Saving Time, … Continue reading →

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Halloween Trick and Treat

If you grew up in the British Isles or North America, you probably dressed as a ghoul or a super-hero each year on Halloween. For those of you outside the sphere of Celtic autumn rituals, you might not know that … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Bee Time, for the Third Time!

Well, this is the third time that I’ve written about Mark Winston’s latest book, Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive. I don’t usually do three reviews on the same book – so I am not going to review it at … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, People | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Naturally Imperfect

This might be old stuff to you, but our local grocer has started selling imperfect apples. It’s about time. My kids, who are properly brain-washed, love the smallish bruised apples and understand that these specially priced (Cheaper!) fruits are better … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pesticides, Save the Bees | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Staying the Course

I had a great time helping teach Beginning Beekeeping to 40 new beekeepers this weekend. Our local bee club, Calgary and District Beekeepers, organized the 2-day event. I was invited to speak for three hours about Spring and Summer Hive … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Kentucky Bee Man

When you are the 8-year-old child of beekeepers and you’re helping stick foundation into frames, your pay is the soft translucent paper that keeps the wax sheets from sticking together. It was the closest thing to tracing paper that I’d … Continue reading →

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

What Do a Million Bees Look Like?

I hate to sound prickly and petulant,  but the news media has done it again.  Today, say the news folks, ONE MILLION BEES were removed from an Austin church. That’s a stupid statement. Someone working at the scene must have … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, Queens, Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Every Day is Labour Day

In Canada and the USA, a lot of people get a day off from work today. Unless your job is in a store, hospital, police station, prison, theatre, restaurant, hotel, airport, the military, or nuclear power plant. Or if you … Continue reading →

Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

English lady with bad teeth reportedly steals honey

From the Manchester Police Twitter feed: Police in Manchester, England, are looking for a woman with big-hooped earrings and bad teeth. They say she may have stolen three jars of honey. The honey jars were priced at £46 each – … Continue reading →

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Fair Honey

As a beekeeper, I have always been troubled with the disposal of honey. Invariably, we produced more than we could eat, especially since I ran as many as 2,000 hives. We had to get rid of the excess. Some went … Continue reading →

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