Tag Archives: honey bees

Drawing the Bee – Here’s an Idea for You!

Posted on October 25, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Today, I’m repeating a post I made a few months ago. It’s about the importance of sketching and drawing stuff develops our observation skills. The reason I’m repeat this piece now is because tomorrow (October 26, 2016), the University of … Continue reading →

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

A Bee with Racing Stripes?

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Ron Miksha

My friend Stephen was helping a new beekeeper when they spotted these spotted honey bees. It almost looks like someone was doing a science experiment using marked bees. It’s probably sticky pollen that got glued to the bees’ blind spots … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Friends, Strange, Odd Stuff | Tagged | 12 Comments

Too Close?

Posted on May 22, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Today I have a photo essay for you. These are fantastic close-ups of honey bees – maybe too close for some people. All of these pictures are from the United States Geological Survey. As such, they are in the public … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

May 20: World Bee Day

Posted on May 19, 2016 by Ron Miksha

There’s a small country in Central Europe, a very beautiful alpine country, called Slovenia.  Slovenia has only about two million people, but this tiny country is very big in beekeeping.  Tucked between Italy and Austria, it has both mountains and … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, History, Outreach, Save the Bees | Tagged , , , | 13 Comments

Drawing the Bee

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Not long ago, Scientific American had a piece about drawing. The story, written by a biology professor, encourages us to look at nature and draw it. The case is made that drawing helps you understand what you are observing. But … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, or lack thereof, Science | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Almonds Doing Selfies

Posted on May 6, 2016 by Ron Miksha

Almond pollination season is over. The billions of bees working in California have moved on. They are now mostly scattered across the American plains. It’s not easy to be a bee in the almond groves during February and March. Colony … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecology, Genetics, Pollination | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

How Honey Bees Discovered Vaccines

Posted on August 8, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Last week, the popular press was claiming that honey bees discovered vaccines millions of years before humans did. It makes great lead paragraphs for news stories, but the tale is slightly off the mark. Honey bees don’t have scientists. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Diseases and Pests | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Uncommon Ancestory

Posted on August 6, 2015 by Ron Miksha

Creatures change with time. You might believe that God controls, guides, or designs those changes or you may have the opinion that random acts in the environment create mutations which change a species. The former idea is accepted by the … Continue reading →

Posted in Bee Biology, Genetics, Science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a 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