Category Archives: History
Swarm Season
It’s swarm season here in the north. That will end soon enough, but right now it’s pushed by long days and a heavy dandelion flow. Hives just can’t help themselves. In the old days of skep and gum beekeeping, a … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, History, Swarms
Tagged beekeeping, California, Pennsylvania, Swarms
3 Comments
Sticking the Queen In
Over the past few days, I’ve written a little about identifying poor queens by examining brood patterns. Then we discussed finding and pinching her failing heinousnesses. The next step in your requeening saga is inserting the caged queen. Here in … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, History, Queens, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged Benton cage, queen cages, queenless hives
2 Comments
200 Years of Dadant
It’s May 20. If he were alive today, we’d be celebrating Charles Dadant in a big way. Not just because he’d be exactly 200 years old today. (Though that would get some attention.) Instead, we’d want to recognize Charles Dadant … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, History, People, Queens
Tagged American Bee Journal, Charles Dadant, Illinois, utopian societies
9 Comments
May 20: World Bee Day
May 20 is World Bee Day. Seems an appropriate day to celebrate the bee. (So was yesterday; tomorrow would be good, too.) It’s spring north of the equator. I don’t want to neglect our friends south of Earth’s belt, but … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach, Save the Bees
Tagged Anton Jansa, honey bees, Slovenia, World Bee Day
5 Comments
Billy Bee and Doyon – Canadian Honey Forever
Professional Canadian beekeepers know the names of honey packers Jack Grossman and Paul Doyon. Jack started Billy Bee Honey; Paul’s label was regional (mostly Quebec) and his product was/is called Miel Doyon. During the 1970s and 1980s, I sold honey … Continue reading
World Apitherapy Day
On March 30, we usually celebrate World Apitherapy Day at our house by eating fried drone brood seasoned with dandelion pollen and buckwheat honey while receiving a few intentional bee stings on our finger tips. What a fun day! I … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, History, Hive Products, People, Stings
Tagged Apitherapy, Apitherapy Day, bee stings, Filip Terč
6 Comments
International (Bee-)Women’s Day
Today (Wednesday, March 8) is International Women’s Day. Women have always played an important role in beekeeping. In developing parts of the world, it is usually women who tend hives and produce honey for their families’ food and cash. In … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach
Tagged bee blogs, Calgary Bee Club, Eva Crane, women in beekeeping
9 Comments
The Place to Pair (and pair and pair) with a Bee?
Maybe I should have written this blog in Latin. When I was a kid, I saw a bee biology book where the author switched to Latin when he got to the part about how queens and drones get together to make … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, History, Queens, Science
Tagged Cornell University, drones, eb white, Lawrence Connor, Norman Gary, queen breeding, Wicwas Press
7 Comments
First View of a Bee’s Innards
Today’s birthdays include two notables whom you’ve likely heard of (Lincoln and Darwin, both born on the same day in 1809), and one luminary you’ve perhaps not encountered: Jan Swammerdam (1637-1680), also born on February 12. Though we have Darwin … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged bee anatomy, Jan Swammerdam, microscopy
6 Comments
Bad Beekeeping Blog 