Category Archives: Friends
Packing Honey Combs
With a break in the weather, my kids and I made a trip down to the farm. It is in Vulcan County, aptly named for heat. Vulcan can be really, really hot is the summer. But it is late fall … Continue reading
Best place to keep bees?
I don’t know what causes colony collapse disorder. CCD is likely due to poor nutrition, weak genetics, farm pesticides, chemicals used inside beehives, varroa mites, and viruses carried by mites and injected into whatever gooey stuff bees use as blood. … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Diseases and Pests, Friends
Tagged Alberta, bee inspection, colony collapse disorder, Medhat Nasr, Peace River, varroa mites
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Giving thanks
One last look at the Calgary ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) fundraising event. You may wonder what this has to do with beekeeping. I guess it reaffirms the idea that the human condition is as frail as the environment and that … Continue reading
Who’s your friend?
My family participated in Calgary’s ALS fundraiser this weekend. It was a great success. We had a sunny and mild Sunday morning with almost 2,000 people at the North Glenmore park for this year’s walk/run. A lot of money was … Continue reading
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
Bee Meetings
Best Bee Club in the World? Attended the Calgary & District Beekeepers Association monthly meeting last night, and as I drove home in the ten o’clock twilight, my mind recycled some of what I had learned. There was an absolutely … Continue reading
About time
Ever wonder why it’s called Savings Time? Ben Franklin, America’s first inventor/publisher/scientist/states-man/postmaster proposed the idea back in 1760 as a way to save money. You see, his father had been a candle maker so little Ben realized from an early … Continue reading
Chinook Honey Festival
Chinook Honey Farm’s Honey Harvest Festival was today, near Okotoks, just south of Calgary. As always, Art and Cherie entertained their hundreds of guests with lots of games, demonstrations, and programs. The farm has a great meadery with a wide … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, Humour
Tagged bee beards, Chinook Honey Farm, honey festival, humiliated donkey
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Teaching Bees
I presented beekeeping to my daughter’s Grade 1 class today. It worked really well. I have two kids at the same elementary school, the older already in Grade 5. So he helped carry in the materials we used, and both … Continue reading
Death of a Young Beekeeper
I heard today, rather belatedly, of the death of a young beekeeper. Jason Escapule was only 39. He lived south of us, down in Idaho, where he ran one of the largest round comb honey bee farms in North America. … Continue reading
