Category Archives: Ecology
Honey Bee Highways
Norway – the 2nd most liveable country in the world* – has yet another feather in its woolly cap. Or super on its hive, if you will. The Norwegians have a Honey Bee Highway. That’s a trail of flower pots … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Friends, Honey Plants, Humour, Save the Bees
Tagged Earl Emde, Norway, Oslo, planting for bees, Polli the Pollinator
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Timeless
I was in England last week and saw some of the usual sights: Stonehenge, the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral, King’s College along the river Cam, JRR Tolkien’s grave. To me, these represent timelessness. Tolkien, sleeping in eternity. The stones … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, People, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged evolution, JRR Tolkien, Oxford, Stonehenge
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A Bee Won’t Hurt You If . . .
The city of Edmonton, Alberta, is telling its citizens that bees are good. People sometimes forget. Not long ago, Obama was trying to calm screaming kids on the White House lawn when one child spotted a bee and dozens panicked. … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Ecology, Outreach, Stings
Tagged Edmonton, Medhat Nasr, Oneil Carlier, urban beekeeping, wasps
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Plight of the Bumblebees
Forty years ago, near Florida’s Ocala National Forest, I took the photos seen in today’s blog. This is a bumblebee nest, accidentally uncovered and exposed on the forest floor, in the winter of 1974 in central Florida. You can see … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Climate, Ecology, Save the Bees
Tagged bumblebee, bumblebees, climate change, Florida, habitat loss, migration
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Dandy Season
A few weeks ago, I wrote that spring had arrived and pollen (plus a little nectar) was coming into the hives – mostly from willow and crocus. I also wrote that the main spring flow here in western Canada (along … Continue reading
What’s wrong with this picture?
To celebrate spring, Google’s Doodle uses an artsy little bumblebee disturbing some pretty flowers. As a beekeeper I am always happy to see bee thingies, but I wish that such artists would consider a wee dab of natural science in … Continue reading
Beehives vs Drunken Elephants
Drunken elephants have been a problem for as long as I can remember. Elephants are known to booze-up, get rowdy, and attack farmers – sometimes even entire villages. A herd of elephants got drunk on rice beer in Assam, India, … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Ecology, Hives and Combs, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged beehive fence, elephants, Lucy King, Save the Elephants
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Sterile Radioactive Bugs Arrive in Croatia
Why did a kibbutz in Israel ship 380 million sterile, radioactive fruit flies to Croatia? That might be the most unusual introduction this blog has ever used. Here’s the backstory… Ceratitis capitata – the lovely but insidious Mediterranean Fruit … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Ecology, Pesticides, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged BioBee, citrus, Croatia, Israel, medfly, Neretva Delta, radioactive fruit flies
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Buzzing Out-of-Sync
If flowers bloom a month earlier than usual – as they reportedly did last year in Maryland – what does that mean for bees? According to Will Plants and Pollinators Get Out of Sync? it could mean trouble. The story … Continue reading
The Tired Honey Man
Friends just back from Uzbekistan shared this photo with me. The gentleman is selling honey and he doesn’t seem too happy about it. We’ll get to that in a moment. First, what is Uzbekistan? It’s a place on the other … Continue reading
Bad Beekeeping Blog 