Category Archives: Culture, or lack thereof

Bees flying high

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Almost every time I teach a beginning beekeeping course, a student or two comes forward to whisper: “If I move my bees to a patch of cannabis, will I get weedy honey?” I tell them that cannabis buds don’t secrete … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History, Honey, Honey Plants, People, Personal, Podcasts, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The heat is up

Posted on January 1, 2024 by Ron Miksha

My badbeekeeping blog has largely avoided the topic of global climate change. It’s contentious. Some insist it’s happening; other insist that it ain’t. I have purposefully tried to limit my conversation on the topic because I didn’t want to alienate … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Culture, or lack thereof, Personal | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

A Langstroth Christmas Story

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Ron Miksha

I’ve been posting this piece nearly every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 214 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Native and Non-Native Bee Debate

Posted on November 29, 2023 by Ron Miksha

A few days ago, I sat down with the folks at Beekeeping Today Podcast to talk about how our non-native honey bees may affect native bees. Jeff Ott and Becky Masterman were informed, sympathetic interviewers. I had a great time … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Native Bees, Outreach, Personal, Podcasts, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The Metaphysical Beekeeper

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Ron Miksha

Revisiting Richard Taylor on his 104th birthday. He died 20 years ago. But Richard Taylor is interesting enough to remember, at least every November 5th when a small part of the world stands to salute the practical beekeeper and philosopher. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Comb Honey, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

CBC’s 2022 Nonfiction: Advice to a new beekeeper

Posted on September 30, 2022 by Ron Miksha

“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

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Ron Miksha

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

Posted on April 10, 2022 by Ron Miksha

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!

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Ron Miksha

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

Posted on January 5, 2022 by Ron Miksha

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