Category Archives: History
World Apitherapy Day
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 Apitherapy Day, bee stings, China, Covid-19, Filip Terč, health
3 Comments
Smart, Apimondia!
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
EO Wilson, 92, has left the lab
The entire Earth was Ed Wilson’s lab. When his death was announced on Monday, I knew that I wanted to write a few words words in his honour, but I also knew that this would be a difficult task. One … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, History, People, Science
Tagged bees, biodiversity, EO Wilson
8 Comments
Langstroth’s Christmas Present
I’ve been posting this piece 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 211 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his 85th … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Langstroth, The Hive and the Honey-Bee
4 Comments
The Story of my Life (in less than two hours)
I had a wonderful interview with Sylvia and Luca from Vitamina Bee, an Italian videography/website. We touched on everything from veganism to bee-on-bee competition, the history of beekeeping, my Master’s research, and my early life on a farm with nine … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Commercial Beekeeping, Ecology, History, Personal
Tagged Bad Beekeeping, beekeeping in Italy, honey bees, Saskatchewan, video, Vitamina Bee
1 Comment
World Bee Day 2021
World Bee Day, 2021: World Bee Day is on May 20 of each year. It’s not just about honey bees. Although the idea arose in Slovenia, a little country that’s really big on honey-bee keeping, it’s also a celebration of … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Native Bees, Outreach, People, Save the Bees
Tagged Anton Jansa, Native Bees, Slovenia, World Bee Day
4 Comments
Northern Spring
When will spring start? I’m in western Canada, near the Rockies. We have long, cold winters. Spring comes late. So, I’ve always kept honey bee hives wrapped late into the spring. That used to be a real chore 20 years … Continue reading
Posted in Climate, Ecology, History, Honey Plants, Science, Uncategorized
Tagged cherry, climate change, Spring, winter, wintering bees
3 Comments
Icelandic Bees
Iceland is more than spectacular volcanoes, ground quakes and rupturing continents. It has bees, too. Some say that the first founder bumble bee blew in with the wind. Others think that Iceland’s first bumble bee hitched a ride aboard a … Continue reading
The hills were alive with the sound of buzzing
You know the story of Sister Maria, the governess for Georg von Trapp’s mess of singing angels. Today, January 26, 2021, would have been her 116th birthday. Maria Augusta von Trapp, or Baroness von Trapp, was stepmother seven of the … Continue reading
Better Hives: Dzierzon’s Boxes
Here in North America, we believe that modern beekeeping began with Langstroth, who discovered bee-space and movable frames. But Europeans are celebrating the Polish beekeeper, Johannes Dzierzon, for the same accomplishments. On the continent, it’s Dzierzon, Dzierzon, Dzierzon, everywhere you … Continue reading
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