Category Archives: Outreach

May 20: World Bee Day

There’s a small country in Central Europe, a very beautiful alpine country, called Slovenia.  Slovenia has only about two million people, but this tiny country is very big in beekeeping.  Tucked between Italy and Austria, it has both mountains and … Continue reading

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Friends Among the Bees

I spent a few hours in the bees today. This was part of our bee club’s beginner beekeeping course and I was one of the instructors, showing 50 new beekeepers the mysterious inner workings of our club president’s hives. The … Continue reading

Posted in Friends, Outreach | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Meanwhile in Montréal

Here’s an interesting idea. Beekeepers rent massive numbers of colonies to almond, blueberry, cranberry, durian, eggplant, and so on farmers. Money is the attraction – neither the meager honey crop nor the diseases picked up on most of these pollination … Continue reading

Posted in Bee Yards, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Packages Arrive in Calgary!

Calgary has a hyper-active bee club. Members help members with all manner of thing. Equipment exchanges, educational programs, disease control. The latest big event was the arrival of 160 packages of bees from New Zealand. By the way, 160 packages … Continue reading

Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, Outreach, Queens | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Cher Justin Trudeau…

Regular readers of this bee blog know that I avoid politics with as much self-discipline as most people avoid lounging on sunny days on a south-facing deck. This is a bee blog, not a political blog. If I ever mention … Continue reading

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Ecology 1,2,3

On Friday, I led an ecology program at the local elementary school. My 32 students ranged in age from 6 to 12. They were part of an experimental class where kids in their school could select their interest and indulge … Continue reading

Posted in Ecology, Outreach, Pollination, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Saving Honey

Brag time.  We just got home from the big Calgary science fair competition. My 13-year-old won three awards. Here’s the kicker: his project was called  Saving Honey with Sound.  His experiment was based on sending ultrasonic energy waves into combs … Continue reading

Posted in Comb Honey, Hive Products, Honey, Outreach, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Alberta is Beekeeping

Last night, the Calgary and District Beekeepers Association hosted its monthly general meeting. About 150 people showed up. To accommodate the growing membership and big turnout, our club’s president found an affordable and spacious new meeting hall near the Bow … Continue reading

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De-stressing during the Oscars

In our continuing series on Oscar-winning beekeepers… Leo says keeping bees reduces stress during the annual awards cycle. Funny, I find it helps me the exact same way.  Similarly, beekeeping seems to be a preferred pasttime for Scarlett Johansson, Morgan … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach, People | Tagged | 1 Comment

TV Bee Outreach

How does your bee club reach the public? TV interviews are difficult, nerve-racking, and can go seriously wrong. But when Liz Goldie of the Calgary Bee Club took to the air with a local station, everything went seriously right. From … Continue reading

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