Category Archives: Friends
My Annual ALS Post
I have a type of motor neuron disease, similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which most people call ALS or Lou Gehrig’s Disease because that’s easier to say. Every year I do a post about the disease in order to thank, … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, Outreach
Tagged ALS, bee stings, Betty's Run, Calgary, Pure Sweet Honey Farm
2 Comments
Ron on PolliNation!
I’m so excited to share a link to PolliNation, the fantastic podcast about . . . Pollination! This podcast episode features the show’s host in conversation with me! Dr Andony Melathopoulos, the bee scientist running The PolliNation Podcast, invited me … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, Outreach, Pollination
Tagged Andony Melathopoulos, podcast, Pollination
2 Comments
Ask Three ‘Experts’ (and get six answers)
A few days ago, three long-time beekeepers were asked to sit on a panel and take bee-management questions from a large audience of (mostly) younger, newer beekeepers. The three beekeepers were all commercial beekeepers or had run commercial outfits. Altogether, … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Outreach
Tagged Allen Dick, beginning beekeeping, Calgary Bee Club, Neil Bertram
10 Comments
Hobby Beekeepers Get an Extra Hour
Most folks I know reset their clocks last night. This is great for hobby beekeepers who race home after work to don gaudy bee suits and ignite smoker fuel, hoping to beat the setting sun. Not so fast, Beekeepster. You … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, History, Humour, Reblogs
Tagged Arizona, Ben Franklin, Hutterites, Saskatchewan, Savings Time
5 Comments
2017: The Year in Bee Review
As 2017 draws to a close, let’s look back at the year’s best beekeeping stories. With lower honey prices in 2017, some beekeepers left the business and colony counts fell a little. Back in 2016, I reported that honey bees … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Friends, History, Hive Products, Honey, Honey Plants, Killer Bees, Movies, Outreach, People, Pesticides, Pollination, Queens, Save the Bees, Science
Tagged blogging
6 Comments
Solstice
My friend Nichol sent this picture of her backyard hive. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? A quintessential image of winter in Canada. Besides being a great photographer, Nichol is a woodworking artisan. She handcrafted the hive equipment in her workshop. It’s … Continue reading
Creamed Honey
I’ve written about ‘creamed’ honey before, but I think it’s time to mention it again. I don’t know what you call smooth honey – some folks call it creamed (though no dairy products are involved), spun (though no spinning is … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, History, Honey, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged American Bee Journal, creamed honey, Dyce, marketing honey, spun honey
4 Comments
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part II
Yesterday, I started to describe my rather lousy year as a beekeeper. It began with an intentionally weak queenless hive. I picked it up at my daughter’s farm and brought it into my back yard, here in the city of … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, family, nuc, queen cells, weak hives
2 Comments
My Failure as a Beekeeper: Part I
I’ve worked with bees for almost fifty years, raising queens, pollinating crops, making oodles of honey. I grew up in a beekeeping family (so my 50 years started really early). Over that long time period, I worked for some really … Continue reading
I’m Not a Doctor, but…
An acquaintance – someone active in our 400-member Calgary Bee Club – reported that he had an allergic reaction to a sting. He’s been keeping bees quite a few years and he’s had dozens (perhaps hundreds) of stings. Then, a … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Friends
Tagged allergic reactions, bee stings, Calgary Bee Club
11 Comments
