Category Archives: Pollination
Beekeepers becoming wary of pollination
Compared to almonds in California, blueberry pollination in British Columbia is small potatoes. But there are some similarities. Commercial beekeepers migrate long distances from cold northern prairies to the mild coast with thousands of colonies. They are paid for … Continue reading
Rotten: Lawyers, Guns & Honey
I’m invariably cautious – even cynical – about beekeeping movies. But I just saw one that breaks the mold and restores faith in the potential for delivering a great story about the honey industry without lies and exaggeration. The one-hour … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Movies, Pollination, Save the Bees
Tagged bee documentary, Honeygate
33 Comments
2017: The Year in Bee Review
As 2017 draws to a close, let’s look back at the year’s best beekeeping stories. With lower honey prices in 2017, some beekeepers left the business and colony counts fell a little. Back in 2016, I reported that honey bees … Continue reading
Posted in Apitherapy, Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Friends, History, Hive Products, Honey, Honey Plants, Killer Bees, Movies, Outreach, People, Pesticides, Pollination, Queens, Save the Bees, Science
Tagged blogging
6 Comments
Unseen Pollinators
If you are interested in ecology (and especially pollination), there’s a great piece you’ll want to read on Jeff Ollerton’s website. Dr Ollerton (University of Northampton) has just released a comprehensive paper on pollinator diversity in Annual Review of Ecology, … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Ecology, Pollination, Save the Bees
Tagged Jeff Ollerton, pollinators
22 Comments
National Pollinator Week: Shrews and Mongooses, too.
National Pollinator Week is June 19 – June 25, but summer is an odd time of year to celebrate pollinators. The big honey bee migration to California’s almonds ended in March. Bees, birds, bats, and butterflies have finished their work … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey Plants, Humour, Pollination, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged China, elephants, Pollination, pollinators
3 Comments
Return to PolliNation
Last month, I mentioned a great new podcast, PolliNation. It’s produced by Andony Melathopoulos, a university professor at Oregon State. The PolliNation podcast series is very nicely produced and Andony has a voice made for podcasting. As a bonus, he … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Friends, Outreach, Pollination, Queens
Tagged Andony Melathopoulos, Meghan Milbrath, podcast, Pollination, queen breeding
4 Comments
PolliNation Podcast
Here’s a great new podcast. I’ve just listened to the first episode (twice!). If all the future episodes will be as good as Episode 1, PolliNation will be a great resource and a fun listen for beekeepers. Since beekeepers spend … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Friends, Outreach, Pollination, Save the Bees
Tagged Andony Melathopoulos, Oregon State University, podcast, Pollination, Ratnieks, urban beekeeping
10 Comments
Bee Rustling Undone
Ever been robbed? I have. It’s a pretty sick feeling when you realize that someone has broken in and taken your stuff. Imagine how a Montana beekeeper felt when he entered his apiary to work his bees but almost 500 … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Pollination
Tagged bee theft, migratory beekeeping, Montana
8 Comments
A Two-minute Pollinator Break
Jonathan sent a link to this little video. It was filmed in northeastern France (in Marne) this summer. He says it took Mukibrain about a month to film, edit, and compose the accompanying music. In this lovely little piece called … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Pollination
Tagged France, Mukibrain, pollinators, video
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Upside-Down Almond Pollination
It’s September, but some beekeepers are just wrapping up almond pollination and moving their bees to canola. Sounds late. California’s almonds finished in March. Canola blossom ended months ago, too. But not for Australian beekeepers. Here’s a news piece from … Continue reading
Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Pollination
Tagged almond pollination, Australia
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