Category Archives: Strange, Odd Stuff
The Honey Threshers
A century ago, threshing crews worked their away across the American and Canadian prairies, harvesting farmers’ grains. When I was rather young (not quite a century ago) one of my Saskatchewan buddies signed up for a threshing crew job. Maurice … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged mobile extracting, pulling honey, robbing bees
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Black Pollen Day
Some bees eat coffee when they get desperate. I suppose some people do, too. We usually think that bees are always gleefully buzzing flower to flower, happy as ducks in water. But when food is scarce, anything goes. When my … Continue reading
Halloween Trick and Treat
If you grew up in the British Isles or North America, you probably dressed as a ghoul or a super-hero each year on Halloween. For those of you outside the sphere of Celtic autumn rituals, you might not know that … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Apocephalus borealis, Halloween, ZomBees, zombie
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What Do a Million Bees Look Like?
I hate to sound prickly and petulant, but the news media has done it again. Today, say the news folks, ONE MILLION BEES were removed from an Austin church. That’s a stupid statement. Someone working at the scene must have … Continue reading
Posted in Bee Biology, Culture, or lack thereof, Queens, Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms
Tagged Austin, church, dumb newspapers, super swarms
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Stinging Science
I wrote about this fellow last year. He likes to get stung for science. Below, I’ve repeated my blog, The Worst Place to Get Stung, from September, 2014. The big news is that the research scientist – intent on finding … Continue reading
Every Day is Labour Day
In Canada and the USA, a lot of people get a day off from work today. Unless your job is in a store, hospital, police station, prison, theatre, restaurant, hotel, airport, the military, or nuclear power plant. Or if you … Continue reading
Posted in Commercial Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Honey, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged Labor Day, Labour Day, value of honey
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English lady with bad teeth reportedly steals honey
From the Manchester Police Twitter feed: Police in Manchester, England, are looking for a woman with big-hooped earrings and bad teeth. They say she may have stolen three jars of honey. The honey jars were priced at £46 each – … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Honey, Humour, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged black teeth, sugar, tooth whitener
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Bees Prey at Church
In one of the most clever news headlines I have ever seen, editor Darcy Cheek of Ontario’s Recorder.ca writes: Honey bees go to Lyn church to prey. Any editor/reporter who can come up with a lede-line like that deserves mention. … Continue reading
Timeless
I was in England last week and saw some of the usual sights: Stonehenge, the Magna Carta at Salisbury Cathedral, King’s College along the river Cam, JRR Tolkien’s grave. To me, these represent timelessness. Tolkien, sleeping in eternity. The stones … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, People, Strange, Odd Stuff
Tagged evolution, JRR Tolkien, Oxford, Stonehenge
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Drones Deliver Beer
Drones get no respect. If not accused of lounging around the hive, their mechanical doppelgängers get accused of corporate espionage because they spy into office windows. Finally, a people-friendly use for drones that makes sense. A Taiwanese brewery will use … Continue reading
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