Category Archives: Swarms

It was bees, not the Prince, who pranked the Queen

Posted on April 11, 2021 by Ron Miksha

Well, I fell for this, too. It was too cute. And the story – Prince Philip dresses as a palace guard to prank the Queen of England – was enchanting. But completely wrong. Seems a swarm of bees descended on … Continue reading →

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The Bees at Times Square

Posted on June 28, 2017 by Ron Miksha

New York City beekeeper Andrew Cote just captured a swarm high above Times Square. The bees were perched on a ledge and the beekeeper went to their rescue, boxing them up before they jumped to their death.  In coastal New … Continue reading →

Posted in Save the Bees, Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Swarm Season

Posted on May 31, 2017 by Ron Miksha

It’s swarm season here in the north. That will end soon enough, but right now it’s pushed by long days and a heavy dandelion flow. Hives just can’t help themselves. In the old days of skep and gum beekeeping, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Friends, History, Swarms | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Long Live the New Queen

Posted on May 22, 2017 by Ron Miksha

Spring is typical requeening season. Sometimes you do it yourself; other times, the bees swarm or supersede. A young queen is the result.  When a queen is failing, you’re told: Kill the old queen and replace her.  Pretty straight forward, … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Queens, Swarms | Tagged | 8 Comments

Good News: No Killer Bees at the Olympics

Posted on August 21, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Whatever happened to the Killer Bees? Killer Bees – more accurately, hybrids of European and African honey bees – were supposed to destroy the world, or at least kill a lot of people trying. They started out in Brazil, not … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Culture, or lack thereof, Diseases and Pests, History, Humour, Killer Bees, Movies, Stings, Swarms | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Groundhog Day Again

Posted on February 2, 2016 by Ron Miksha

When I was a kid growing up in western Pennsylvania, Groundhog Day was a big deal. It didn’t hurt that it was also our elementary school principal’s birthday. We didn’t get the whole day off (unless Feb 2 was on … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Ecology, Humour, Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

What Do a Million Bees Look Like?

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Ron Miksha

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 , , , | 1 Comment

Russian plane attacked by bees

Posted on July 8, 2015 by Ron Miksha

The newspaper call it an attack. But we know better. The story being carried around the world yesterday is that a group of honey bees decided to attack a passenger plane (an Airbus-319, no less… that’s just a small step … Continue reading →

Posted in Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

A Swarm of Biblical Proportions

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Ron Miksha

The headline reads: Swarm of bees that turned sky over British town black was like “something out of the bible” Biblical. That’s the way frightened victims in the English town of Farnham reportedly reacted when their daily ritual of buying … Continue reading →

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Educating the Humans

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Ron Miksha

Killer bees used to be big news. Enough people are nervous around bees (even the pleasant, nearly harmless, garden bees) that the idea of massive stings is terrifying. “Bee venom is a cocktail of biologically active components that are designed … Continue reading →

Posted in Killer Bees, Stings, Strange, Odd Stuff, Swarms | Tagged , | 2 Comments