Category Archives: History
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
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The Kentucky Bee Man
When you are the 8-year-old child of beekeepers and you’re helping stick foundation into frames, your pay is the soft translucent paper that keeps the wax sheets from sticking together. It was the closest thing to tracing paper that I’d … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged bee equipment, Clarkson, Kelley Beekeeping, Kentucky, The Bee Man, Walter T. Kelley, wax foundation
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Every Day is Labour Day
In Canada and the USA, a lot of people get a day off from work today. Unless your job is in a store, hospital, police station, prison, theatre, restaurant, hotel, airport, the military, or nuclear power plant. Or if you … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Labor Day, Labour Day, value of honey
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Elementary Beekeeping
Today is the world’s most famous detective’s birthday. No, not James Bond. Sherlock Holmes, if he ever lived at all, would have been well over 150 years old today. Or, at least, his creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be … Continue reading
Posted in Books, History, People, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged England, Sherlock Holmes
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The Ultimate Valentine
I know, beekeepers usually are not sentimental. For most of us, Saint Valentine was some mythical character built upon Lupercalia, an occasion observed by the Romans for three days (February 13–15) each year, and intimately connected to fertility. Like many … Continue reading
Journeys in Books
A reader of this blog asked if I would add his two books to the ones you see floating around the left edge of this page. I like beekeeping books and own several. Several hundred. A few are ancient classics, … Continue reading
A Long Time Bloggin’
Web logs – blogs – have been around for about 20 years this month. That is according to this piece from (where else?) someone’s blog. I have been writing this bee blog – these pages about the politics and science … Continue reading
Who is the Saint?
On this day in 1970, Norman Borlaug accepted his Nobel Peace Prize. You probably never heard of him. A few days ago, I read an interesting piece in an old New York Times column, written by author/philosopher Steven Pinker. He … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Genetics, History, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged genetic modification, Norman Borlaug
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Bees Back Up on their Knees?
In today’s unlikely Op-Ed article in the New York Times: Are Bees Back up on their Knees? beekeeper Noah Wilson-Rich makes the case that the worst of the mysterious colony collapse syndrome may be over. He reviews what many of … Continue reading
Happy Dusty Anniversary
You know what they say about new technology – someone always finds a way to put it to nasty use. Combine airplanes and chemicals, and what could possibly go wrong? Let’s fly back to 1921 and visit a grove of … Continue reading
Posted in Diseases and Pests, Ecology, History, Pesticides
Tagged citrus, Florida, Florida's Natural, poisoned bees
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Bad Beekeeping Blog 