Category Archives: Tools and Gadgets

Podcast: Honey Harvest Time

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Ron Miksha

Season 1 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Honey Harvest Time After a few minutes pondering how some carpenter ants in Florida choose the profession of surgeon (sawing off sick comrades wounded legs), Bidzina and Ron settle into … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Commercial Beekeeping, Hive Products, Honey, Podcasts, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

A Langstroth Christmas Story

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Ron Miksha

I’ve been posting this piece nearly every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 214 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, Culture, or lack thereof, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Ducks in a row

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Ron Miksha

We’ve had unusually mild weather for September and October in Calgary. The heat gave us a chance to clean up some odd bits of beeswax – and turn them into ducks. I bought this melter, built by Uncle Lee’s Bees … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Climate, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | 1 Comment

The Synthetic Apiary Revisited

Posted on July 28, 2022 by Ron Miksha

I posted this piece a couple of years ago, but it’s timeless. I was reminded of this blog post when my WordPress splash alarm went off – someone was linking to this page on their own blog. That’s OK, of … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Culture, or lack thereof, Reblogs, Strange, Odd Stuff, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The invisible hive tool

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Ron Miksha

At last! A hive tool I can see! I am severely colourblind, which generally means that the difference between red and green makes little sense to me. I have been told (by enough people) that grass is green, so I … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Personal, Queens, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Langstroth’s Christmas Present

Posted on December 25, 2021 by Ron Miksha

I’ve been posting this piece every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 211 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his 85th … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Waxing in the Waning Days of Summer

Posted on September 15, 2021 by Ron Miksha

Our summer is drawing to a close. After record-breaking heat, we’re now getting seasonal temperatures (though no frost yet, which is unusual). Fortunately, we are having some much-needed rain. In the heat of summer, I set up our solar wax … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Hive Products, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Ready for the cold?

Posted on October 13, 2020 by Ron Miksha

Podcasts continue to grow in popularity. People are spending about two hours each day following the wise musings of their favourite word-weavers. I heard that Joe Rogan signed with Spotify for $100,000,000 (though he’s locked in for ten years). I … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Langstroth’s Christmas Present

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Ron Miksha

I’ve been posting this piece every Christmas for a while. If you’ve read it before, read it again. Or not. Christmas Day is L.L. Langstroth’s birthday. He’d be 219 years old, if he hadn’t been struck down in his 85th … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Books, History, Hives and Combs, People, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | 8 Comments

Making honey talk

Posted on December 21, 2019 by Ron Miksha

A biochemistry student at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, has been analyzing proteins in honey. Since proteins (for example, pollen grains, shown above) make up only about 0.1-0.5% (one to five parts per thousand) of the volume of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Diseases and Pests, Honey, Science, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , | 8 Comments