Tag Archives: Calgary

Support the Students

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Ron Miksha

I don’t usually ask readers to help (even with good causes), but you will feel great about this one. The University of Calgary, where I am looking at the interaction between honey bees and native bees, has a smart group … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Ecology, Native Bees, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

April 7: Day in the bees

Posted on April 7, 2022 by Ron Miksha

April 7. Our backyard hives are collecting real pollen! Last week, I showed you some fake pollen coming into the colonies. Nothing beats the real stuff. Although desperate honey bees will carry worthless sawdust as a pollen supplement, nothing inspires … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Beekeeping, Ecology, Native Bees, Personal | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Early Pollen?

Posted on March 25, 2022 by Ron Miksha

A couple of days ago, on March 22, we had sunlight and heat. Honey bees were gathering pollen. I don’t remember such a rush of pre-season pollen in this area. It’s a lot earlier than expected. I figured their goodies … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Honey Plants | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Bees in the Snow

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Ron Miksha

New beekeepers (and some of us old ones) worry when we see ‘lots’ of bees in the snow during winter. The black dots (above) are frozen stiffs – bees that left their hive and didn’t make it back. To me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Look at me! I’m green!

Posted on October 18, 2021 by Ron Miksha

A Calgary oil company’s office tower has a bee just around the corner. This beautiful wall-poster points the way to the bee. Yes, ‘the bee’ according to the sign. I would be quite embarrassed if I had allowed such a … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Ecology, Save the Bees | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Not the only bees in town

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Ron Miksha

Although my life has centred on honey bees, I realize that they are not the only bee species in town. Here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, we have about 200 species of bees – from giant bumble bees to rather petite … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Ecology, Friends, Native Bees, Outreach | Tagged , , | 8 Comments

Winter’s coming – are you insulated?

Posted on September 23, 2019 by Ron Miksha

When I kept bees in Florida, I didn’t wrap my hives for winter. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, we sometimes wrapped hives with thin black building paper. That was supposed to keep wind out of the cracks and heat … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Hives and Combs, Tools and Gadgets | Tagged , , | 34 Comments

It’s Canada Day

Posted on July 1, 2019 by Ron Miksha

It’s Canada Day. I moved to Canada in the 70s to keep bees. It was a good move for me. Yesterday, I noticed that the conservative news magazine, US News and World Report, has placed Canada as number one (for … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

The reason we don’t raise April queens in Alberta

Posted on April 28, 2019 by Ron Miksha

It snowed again. After weeks of sweet weather, balmy enough for T-shirts, the bees quit hauling pollen and focused on hibernation.  This is the reason so few queens are bred in Canada.  We can do it, but freaky weather gets … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Climate | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

A Year of Backyard Beekeeping

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Ron Miksha

Regular readers of this blog know that I once kept hundreds of hives in Florida and Saskatchewan. That was a long time ago. Now that I’m all grown up, I’ve got just two colonies in my Calgary backyard. Much more … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Yards, Beekeeping, Honey | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 9 Comments