Category Archives: Save the Bees
Should you feed a tired bee?
Feeding bumblebees that are resting in a garden has become a thing. I’ve seen some twitter tweets with concerned citizens gallantly virtue signalling their good deed – giving a bee a drink of sugar water. Here’s a sample: You can … Continue reading
Posted in Ecology, Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged bumblebee, Carniolan honey bees, feeding bees
8 Comments
Celebrating Pollination Week
National Pollinator Week is coming, June 18-24. You have less than two weeks to get your affairs in order. I’m not always sure what a person is supposed to do when National (fill-in-the-blank) Day/Week/Month is celebrated. Well, it’s pretty obvious … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Outreach, Save the Bees
Tagged National Pollination Week, pollinators
3 Comments
Bees (of a sort) on Postage Stamps!
Canada has something called ‘permanent’ stamps. We call them “P” stamps. The first ones, issued ten years ago, had a small letter P on them, next the the Queen of England’s face. P stamps have become B stamps, at least … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Outreach, Save the Bees
Tagged bumblebees, endangered species, postage stamps
4 Comments
World Bee Day: May 20, 2018
Time to party like it’s 1734 all over again! May 20th should be a big date on the beekeeper’s social calendar. It’s World Bee Day. Why did I mention 1734? That’s the year Anton Janša was born. He was baptized … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach, Save the Bees
Tagged Anton Jansa, honey bees, Slovenia, World Bee Day
1 Comment
Crazy Russian Hacker lost all his bees!
My son is a fan of a YouTube sensation who calls himself the “Crazy Russian Hacker.” Taras Kulakov came to America from the Ukraine as a child refugee. He’s 30 now. A few years ago, he began making fun videos … Continue reading
Have you lithium-chlorided your bees yet?
A friend (Thanks, Thomas!) sent a note this morning about a new mite treatment. It was developed at the University of Hohenheim, Apicultural State Institute, Stuttgart, Germany. Findings were published in Nature. So, I am guessing that the science – … Continue reading
Posted in Diseases and Pests, Save the Bees, Tools and Gadgets
Tagged lithium chloride, varroa mites
24 Comments
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
Bad Beekeeping Blog 