Category Archives: History

Podcast: Moving Honey Bees, part 2

Posted on September 30, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Season 1 Episode 11:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Moving Honey Bees, part 2 We begin this podcast with the capture of a swarm, details described in real time. The subject of Hutterites, a Christian religious group, came … Continue reading →

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Podcast: A Beekeeper’s Journey – Cameroon to Calgary

Posted on September 18, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Season 1 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Cameroon to Canada – Patrick’s Bee Journey In this episode of About Bees, we are joined by Patrick Tefouet Tonlio, who was an agriculture community organizer and teacher in the … Continue reading →

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Podcast: America’s other weed

Posted on September 3, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Season 1 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Sweet Clover: America’s other weed Legal. Illegal. Legal. Illegal again. Sweet clover has quite a history. Introduced into North America from Europe about 300 years ago, farmers were once … Continue reading →

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Podcast: The Bees’ Ears

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Our latest podcast rambles around the bees’ ears. Available everywhere you grab your podcasts. Enjoy. Season 1 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The Bees’ Ears In this episode, we discover that insects, including bees, can hear. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Podcasts, Pollination, Science, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Bees flying high

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Almost every time I teach a beginning beekeeping course, a student or two comes forward to whisper: “If I move my bees to a patch of cannabis, will I get weedy honey?” I tell them that cannabis buds don’t secrete … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History, Honey, Honey Plants, People, Personal, Podcasts, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Langstroth Christmas Story

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Ron Miksha

I’ve been posting this piece nearly every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 214 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Kim Flottum: a life among the bees

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Ron Miksha

Mid-70s is too young to pass over to the other side. But that was the fate for Kim Flottum, 76, who passed away Sunday, December 10, 2023, after a short battle with cancer. The bright and adventurous bee master, editor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Friends, History, People, Podcasts | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

The Metaphysical Beekeeper

Posted on November 5, 2023 by Ron Miksha

Revisiting Richard Taylor on his 104th birthday. He died 20 years ago. But Richard Taylor is interesting enough to remember, at least every November 5th when a small part of the world stands to salute the practical beekeeper and philosopher. … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Comb Honey, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People | Tagged , , , | 18 Comments

World Apitherapy Day

Posted on March 30, 2022 by Ron Miksha

Today is World Apitherapy Day. And it’s my birthday.  Coincidence? Maybe not. Apitherapy, which means using bee stuff for health, can include eating pollen, propolis, wax, royal jelly, bee larvae, and honey – or rubbing them on your face. But for … Continue reading →

Posted in Apitherapy, History, People, Science, Stings | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Smart, Apimondia!

Posted on March 6, 2022 by Ron Miksha

The day after the invasion started, a woman and her husband reached Lviv from a small city south of Kiev. The woman was suffering the late stages of cancer. She was weak and tired. Her husband helped her into the … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Travels | Tagged , , | 12 Comments