Category Archives: People
Can we learn old tricks?
I have a small collection of old bee books, and I like searching them for new ideas. (If you can’t get new ideas from old books, what’s the point of history?) My favourite beekeeping books are the ones that tell … Continue reading
Posted in Books, History, People
Tagged Bad Beekeeping, beekeepers, CC Miller, Golden Age of Beekeeping
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March 30: World Apitherapy Day
Today is World Apitherapy Day. And it’s my birthday. Coincidence? Maybe. 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, Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach, People, Stings, Uncategorized
Tagged anaphylactic shock, Apitherapy, Apitherapy Day, bee stings, Filip Terč, rheumatism
9 Comments
The Death of Sylvia Plath
Instead of a birthday anniversary, it’s a memorial for the poet Sylvia Plath. She was 30 when she made her final suicide attempt. Did she want it to succeed? Some of her biographers say no. But her preparations were elaborate … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, People, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged poetry, Sylvia Plath
12 Comments
Nuns of honey
I bumped into this photo a few days ago when I was writing an article for Deutches Bienen Journal, Germany’s beekeeping magazine. I was trying to picture sisters at a convent in Quebec, tending their hives in the 1920s. This … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged Hungary, monks, nuns, Quebec
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Turner’s (belated) Birthday
I can’t believe that I missed reminding you yesterday that it was Charles Turner’s birthday. Here’s the story of the man who figured out that honey bees can think. 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 You probably know that Karl von Frisch … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People, Science
Tagged bee brains, Charles Henry Turner
1 Comment
Celebrating the Gifts of Langstroth
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
A 70-year-old beekeeper
The king-in-waiting (that sounds dreadful) is celebrating his 70th birthday today. The current controversy surrounding Prince Charles is a question over how his role as an environmentalist and erst-while supporter of occasionally odd pseudoscience may interfere with his job as … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, People
Tagged Highwood Honey, Prince Charles, selling honey
11 Comments
The Metaphysical Beekeeper
As I continue to plod along with my Master’s in bee ecology at the University of Calgary, I feel obligated to apologize for the infrequency of these bad beekeeping posts. Sorry. But I’m not going to apologize for occasionally repeating … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comb Honey, Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, People
Tagged Comb Honey, famous beekeepers, Richard Taylor
9 Comments
Sue Hubbell and her Bees
One of the first really good beekeeping story tellers whom I remember encountering was Sue Hubbell. Her books, A Country Year: Living the Questions (1986) and A Book of Bees and How to Keep Them (1988) showed me that books … Continue reading
City Mourns Loss of Beloved Beekeeper
The Amazon River city of Manaus has begun three days of official mourning for the death of a beekeeper. He was the beekeeper, research scientist, geneticist, educator, and political activist, Dr Warwick Kerr. The mayor of Manaus declared the tribute … Continue reading
