Category Archives: Friends
Winter Wonderland
Every month I try to meet friends in a village called Bragg Creek. It’s just a half hour drive from my home in Calgary. It gets me out of town and up close to the mountains. When I get there, … Continue reading
Bees Do the Darndest Things
Janne, a bee-club friend, called one afternoon and described something weird that was going on in one of her hives. She told me that her queen and all the brood had somehow ended up in the tiny space below the … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Hives and Combs
1 Comment
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
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, History, Humour
Tagged Arizona, Ben Franklin, Hutterites, Navajo, North Korea, Saskatchewan, Savings Time
Leave a comment
Chinook Honey and Mead
Friends of ours have a honey-wine shop in the town of Okotoks, just a few minutes south of Calgary. They make their own mead from their own honey. They do it really well. Art retired from flying commercial airliners to … Continue reading
Posted in Friends, Hive Products, Honey
Tagged Alberta, Chinook Honey Farm, honey wine, mead, Okotoks
1 Comment
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
2 Comments
Some Mountain Beekeeping
A month ago, friends invited me to see some bees at a ranch up in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Beekeeper Stephen, a fellow geophysicist, guided us as we meandered the secondary roads west of Calgary. We gradually gained … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Friends
Tagged Alberta, Calgary, foothills beekeeping, package bees
Leave a comment
Saskatchewan’s University
Today, I am at the University of Saskatchewan. I am here to attend the 44th annual conference of the Canadian Science Writer’s Association. I hope to learn to be a better writer (maybe this Bad Beekeeping Blog will become less … Continue reading
Pure Sweet Honey and the ALS Run
Left, my son Daniel and my wife Eszter – Daniel is giving Calgary Mayor Nenshi his runner’s T-Shirt. Right, Co-ordinator Jane tries to defend the mayor from an apparent Star Wars attacker. Once again, our friends at Pure Sweet Honey … Continue reading
Solving the World’s Problems
Closing in on the Rockies, near Bragg Creek, Alberta For the past short while I’ve enjoyed meeting some beekeeping friends each month. We have a two-hour coffee and try to figure out how we can fix the world. Well, actually, … Continue reading
Rustic Hive
Furniture catalogs may have to add a new line – Rustic Hive. If you are like most commercial beekeepers, you’ve used bee boxes for desks, boot organizers, and book shelves. When I was a child, we kept bees on the … Continue reading
Bad Beekeeping Blog 