Category Archives: Hives and Combs

Langstroth’s Christmas Present

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Ron Miksha

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 , | 4 Comments

Better Hives: Dzierzon’s Boxes

Posted on January 16, 2021 by Ron Miksha

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 →

Posted in Beekeeping, History, Hives and Combs, People | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Langstroth’s Christmas Present

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Ron Miksha

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 219 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 , | 8 Comments

Winter’s coming – are you insulated?

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Ron Miksha

When I kept bees in Florida, I didn’t wrap my hives for winter. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, we sometimes wrapped hives with thin black building paper. That was supposed to keep wind out of the cracks and heat … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 34 Comments

Comb on demand

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Ron Miksha

Here’s something that I never thought anyone would manufacture. It’s fully-drawn comb, just the way bees would make it, if bees were machines. I’m impressed with the technology, but I’m not sure how marketable these manufactured combs will be. Perhaps … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged | 12 Comments

Century-old beekeeping equipment

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Ron Miksha

This picture is from exactly 100 years ago. It was late winter, 1919. An agriculture agent came to this Kentucky Appalachian farm to teach modern beekeeping. He was teaching ‘modern beekeeping’ that we can recognize.  Not much has changed in … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, History, Hives and Combs | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Bee A Valentine

Posted on February 14, 2019 by Ron Miksha

Beekeepers are not sentimental. For most of us, Saint Valentine’s Day is a day of intense panic when male beekeepers rush out to buy something special for some darling or pigsney. (It’s not like we didn’t know February 14 was … Continue reading →

Posted in Comb Honey, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs | Tagged | 3 Comments

Celebrating the Gifts of Langstroth

Posted on December 25, 2018 by Ron Miksha

I’m repeating a blog which I post each Christmas Day, Langstroth’s birthday. With his movable frames and his brilliant beekeeping book, Langstroth was one of the founders of modern beekeeping. He invented the modern beehive, making it easier, more productive, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, History, Hives and Combs, People | Tagged | 5 Comments

Langstroth: The Great Christmas Gift

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Ron Miksha

I’m repeating a blog which I post each Christmas Day, Langstroth’s birthday. He is often considered the inventor of modern beekeeping. He invented the modern beehive, making it easier, more productive, and less stressful for bees. However, Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People | Tagged | 7 Comments

Moving the Bees

Posted on June 30, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Yesterday, I wrote about nuking the bees. Today, it’s moving the bees. My nuc started out on my daughter’s farm, 130 kilometres east of my home in Calgary. That’s over an hour’s drive, out on the prairie, away from the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments