Category Archives: Personal
The Story of my Life (in less than two hours)
I had a wonderful interview with Sylvia and Luca from Vitamina Bee, an Italian videography/website. We touched on everything from veganism to bee-on-bee competition, the history of beekeeping, my Master’s research, and my early life on a farm with nine … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Commercial Beekeeping, Ecology, History, Personal
Tagged Bad Beekeeping, beekeeping in Italy, honey bees, Saskatchewan, video, Vitamina Bee
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A Day of Days
Today is a special day. It’s Nikola Tesla Day. But, it’s also the anniversary the first day of the “Scopes Monkey Trial”, which started on a sultry Tennessee morn, almost 100 years ago. And it’s Don’t Step on a Bee … Continue reading
Sylvia: The Red Comet
I discovered Sylvia Plath in the ’80s. PBS asked my oldest brother to pose as Sylvia’s father in their documentary of the great American poet. PBS was looking for a man who resembled Sylvia’s father, a German immigrant named Otto … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Movies, People, Personal
Tagged documentary, PBS, poetry, Sylvia Plath
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A rare seed guy
You know how the mention of a name from long ago can bring back memories that you thought had slipped away forever? I had that experience recently. Browsing American Bee Journal, this ad caught my eye. It was from the … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Honey Plants, People, Personal, Pollination
Tagged crownvetch, Ernst Seeds, native plants, Pennsylvania, podcast
5 Comments
Face-off
I was one of the first Facebook users on my block. I’m not usually an “early adapter” – I let others struggle with beta versions, then I move in when the system is actually working. But I heard about Facebook … Continue reading
Posted in Outreach, Personal, Strange, Odd Stuff
22 Comments
Resolutions
Most of my New Years’ days have passed without resolutions. This year, I resolved, would be different. Along with the typical (exercise more and eat less), the necessary (write more), the obvious (finish that grad degree), the impossible (learn Hungarian), … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Ecology, Native Bees, Personal, Save the Bees
Tagged Native Bees, University of Calgary
6 Comments
Big Bee Meet
This is sort of a public service announcement for Alberta beekeepers. Alberta is a place in Canada, population 4 million, north of Montana, home to the Calgary Stampede, some NHL teams, and the best honey in the world. Deer and … Continue reading
Posted in Outreach, Personal, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged bee conference, United Beekeepers
3 Comments
Seeing 20-20
What will the new year (and decade) bring? Although “20-20” denotes perfect vision, I doubt we’ll be so lucky. I suspect that we’ll continue with our near-sighted attitudes toward . . . everything. We can’t help it. We’re hardwired that … Continue reading
Interview at CJSW with Ian Perry
A couple of months ago, I was invited to chat about my research with Ian Perry, who runs a radio/podcast interview program (Keeping Green) at the University of Calgary’s CJSW. Ian is interviewing people who are studying ecology in western … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Ecology, Native Bees, Personal, Science
Tagged CJSW, urban beekeeping
6 Comments
. . . it’s like calling an old friend
I’m breaking my longest blogging hiatus since I began spewing my myopic insights on the internet, way back in the mid-90s. Several folks wrote, asking if I were still alive. I didn’t answer them. Then it occurred to me that … Continue reading
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