With the ascension of Donald Trump to the U.S. throne, and the rise of small-minded nationalists in Europe and Canada, one doesn’t have to look far to find derogatory comments about immigrants. However, this article is not about people. Until a few years ago, I paid no attention to bumblebees or our other native bee…
I see lots of questions from people interested in keeping bees about top bar hives. When I was first asked, I didn’t even know what a top bar hive was. Since then, I have learned what a top bar hive is, and also that some people are big advocates. I do not currently have, nor…
I just returned from a one week vacation in Cuba. Naturally, while there I wanted to see what I could learn about beekeeping in Cuba. A little research before I went yielded a few nuggets: Cuba is one of the few places in the world that can truly call its honey “organic”, because there are…
This was originally published in the Regina & District Bee Club winter 2016 newsletter. If someone knows you’re interested in bees, then someone will have also asked if you’ve seen this neat invention called the Flow Hive. Likely, this has happened to you a couple dozen times. There’s no shortage of grandiose statements from the…
One of the reasons that I didn’t want a full-sized hive in the city is that I did not want to have an extractor taking up space in my house or garage. I also didn’t want to have that much money invested in my hobby. A stainless steel extractor will set you back a few…
After two unsuccessful attempts to winter my micro hive, I checked my bees last week and they are alive! There were three things that I did differently last winter and I think all helped my colony survive: 1. I added a bottom board so that there was a bigger entrance and thus hopefully better ventilation.…
You might find what I’m about to say surprising, even shocking. Wasps don’t deserve all the bad press. Like most people I have long held a rather uncharitable view of wasps. However, a number of experiences over the years has convinced me that there are almost as many untrue myths out there about wasps as…
Unlike TLC’s popular program, What Not To Wear, this post is not about fashion. But just like Stacy and Clinton, I can give you advice about what not to wear, and what to wear. I’m not going to throw out your wardrobe however (nor give you $5,000 towards a shopping spree). This is after all,…
When people find out I grew up on a bee farm, one of the first questions I get is “Have you been stung?” And I tell them far too many times to remember. My rough estimate is between 1,000 and 2,000 times over 10 years. It wasn’t unusual to get stung ten times in a…
I am all for urban beekeeping, but in the last couple of weeks I was reminded again of the need to proceed with caution and why it may not be the best idea for there to be hundreds of new urbanites taking up the craft. American foulbrood (AFB) is a highly contagious and very serious…
My City Bees 