Category Archives: Culture, or lack thereof

Our Bees, Ourselves

Interesting Op-Ed column in the New York Times. Mark Winston, a senior prof at British Columbia’s Simon Fraser, wrote about the widespread collapse of honey bees. Winston is one of those super-brains who studied bees and entomology for years and … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pesticides, Save the Bees | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cool in the line of fire

 Gotta give the prime minister’s wife credit. She was cool and calm. Unlike the unfortunate beekeeper/chef who was jumping around and swatting bees. Had to be sooo embarrassing for the executive chef. Just another day in the public spotlight for … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Yards, Culture, or lack thereof, Stings, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged | Leave a comment

Canola – a tasteful upgrade

Canola is in peak bloom here this week. The cultivated oil-seed crop is a phenomenal honey producer. Canadian farmers plant just over 20 million acres of the crop each year. It yields about 100 pounds of honey per acre. If … Continue reading

Posted in Comb Honey, Culture, or lack thereof, Honey Plants, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Hives for Humans

I had not heard of “Hives for Humanity” until yesterday when I stumbled upon an article that talked about a garden in Vancouver where an outfit calling itself “Hives for Humanity” has placed bees. The article goes on to say … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Hives and Combs, Humour | Tagged | Leave a comment

An indoor hive

I can’t even begin to imagine the clever wit that went into designing this revolutionary beehive. What you see to your right – if you are looking at the hive-gadget rather than the demonstrator – is a new hive design … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Hives and Combs, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged | 3 Comments

Alberta deadline

Sorry I was late posting this. Hope you are not in big trouble now. But Albertans who keep honey bees or who own beekeeping equipment are required – by law – to register as a beekeeper by June 29 of … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Pesticides, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Glow-in-the-dark bees

Finally! Glow-in-the-dark honey bees! We’ve all been waiting for these glow bugs to complement our glow-in-the-dark radium-painted wristwatches and glow-in-the-dark jelly bean collections. Now you can have the complete set of things you probably didn’t know existed. Researchers at Germany’s … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, Humour, Queens, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Going native

A Calgary University professor has this to say about urban beekeepers: “It is not as rosy as they think. Every jewel* of honey that they get on their plate or in their jars is a jewel that has been robbed … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Running for Betty

This weekend is Calgary’s ALS benefit. Calgary-area readers of this blog are invited (urged!) to head over to North Glenmore Park and “Run for Betty.” 20 years ago, Betty died from ALS, aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She was an avid … Continue reading

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

Did I goof up, or what?

Last week’s blog post drew a few interesting responses. Not from Monsanto, whom I expected would be outraged because I wrote that it is perhaps justifiable to vilify “the huge multinational for all manner of environmental ills.” Instead, incredibly, the … Continue reading

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