About Bees, Culture & Curiosity

Season 8 Episode 5: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Wild Bee Care in the Spring  This podcast episode featured Ilan Domnich, the native bee stewardship specialist with the Alberta Native Bee Council, discussing how to support native bees in spring.   Ilan explained that Alberta has 370 species of native bees, with 70% overwintering underground and 30% in plant stems or elsewhere, emphasizing the importance of leaving leaf litter ("Leave the leaves.") until temperatures consistently reach 10 degrees Celsius (50F) and preserving hollow plant stems. We chatted about dandelions and their dubious benefit for bees, clarifying that while they provide early season nectar, dandelions lack essential nutrients and can divert bees from higher-quality food sources.   Ilan recommended three key actions for homeowners:  - delaying spring cleanup,  - planting native early-blooming flowers like Saskatoon berries and crocuses, and  - creating bare soil patches for ground-nesting bees. The episode concluded with information about the Alberta Native Bee Council's bumblebee box monitoring program, where people can create habitats and contribute to scientific research.   Alberta Native Bee Council:  https://www.albertanativebeecouncil.ca/ Recorded in Calgary, May 2026 Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 8 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Can Magnets Help Honey Bees Survive Winter?   In this episode, we examine the unusual controversial question of whether electromagnetic fields affect honey bees. We begin with the broader idea that the bees' world is surrounded by weak natural and artificial electromagnetic signals. The discussion includes Schumann resonance (the low-frequency electromagnetic background of the Earth) and considers why some beekeepers insist that bees may are sensitive to such energy, and why I think they are badly misstaken. From there, the episode moves into bee orientation, magnetoreception, and the possibility that honey bees respond to magnetic fields in ways that are still poorly understood. A central focus is a 2026 publication about a magnetic-disc overwintering experiment, which claimed improved colony survival and resilience when hives were fitted with magnetic devices. The episode looks at that claim and what the study suggests, what it does not prove, and what weaknesses in design or statistics would need to be addressed before strong conclusions could be made. In other words, I think that magnets under hives may be a good idea, but I don't think this paper's results are not based on a good experimental design. Overall, I try to give my typical skeptical exploration of bees, electromagnetic environments, winter survival, and the difficulty of separating promising biological effects from experimental noise. Recorded in Calgary, May 2026 Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 8 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – More than Packages   Bees can arrive in packages. Putting them into snow-covered hive boxes is exciting. We'll install packages and chat bees and more on this episode. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 8 Episode 2: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Dandelion: The Bee Plant That Doesn't Need Bees  Dandelions show up early. In many places, they're the first thing people notice in spring. Bright yellow, everywhere at once, and full of bees. It's easy to assume they are the first and best food source for honey bees. They aren't. Before dandelions bloom, bees are already working. Alders, maples, willows, elms, and even skunk cabbage come first. These plants provide much of the early pollen that gets colonies moving again after winter. Dandelions arrive a bit later, and by then, the colony is already expanding. Even then, dandelion pollen is not ideal food. It is abundant and easy to collect, but it lacks a complete balance of essential amino acids. Bees can use it, but they do better when it's mixed with pollen from other plants. In a diverse landscape, that happens naturally. In a simple landscape, it matters more. There's another twist. Dandelions don't need bees at all. Recorded in Calgary during April 2026 Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 8 Episode 1: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Apitherapy and the Joy of Bee Stings   Happy World Apitherapy Day, March 30, marked on the birthday of the founder of apitherapy, Filip Terč. Oh, and I heard that it's also Ron Miksha's birthday. Recorded in Calgary during March 2026 Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 8 Episode 0: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Spring 2026 Trailer and News Briefs    Starting off Spring 2026 with a preview of the season ahead plus some chat about 12 recent bee news stories.  From the United Kingdom, Bee brain model offers insights into next-gen AI. https://www.theengineer.co.uk/content/news/bee-brain-study-offers-insights-into-next-gen-ai/ Social encapsulation of parasite eggs by honeybee colonies  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-40183-5 In Sweden, the trade association Beekeeping Entrepreneurs collected honey from Swedish grocery stores, sent samples to Estonia for analysis using new DNA method. https://www.landlantbruk.se/dna-test-av-importhonung-visar-omfattande-fusk From Spain:  New traps at Palma Port aim to detect deadly invasive hornets before they spread across Mallorca https://www.majorcadailybulletin.com/news/local/2026/03/05/140661/new-traps-palma-port-aim-detect-deadly-invasive-hornets-before-they-spread-across-mallorca.html From the NYTimes: A Study Is Retracted, Renewing Concerns About the Weedkiller Roundup  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/02/climate/glyphosate-roundup-retracted-study.html March 8, NYTimes: A Trump Order Protected a Weedkiller  https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/climate/bayer-white-phosphate-glyphosate-roundup-trump-executive-order-munition.html Canada's population declined by more than 100,000 people in 2025  Canada reports first annual population decline on record - The Globe and Mail Pascarella's 2024 paper on bee diversity Bombs versus bees: bee diversity on military bases and preserves in Texas, USA Wild populations of Apis mellifera have now been classified as endangered in the European Union following a recent reassessment for the IUCN Red List.  Wild honeybees now officially listed as endangered in the EU Bees Kneez Apiaries: Beechina emergency-level bushfire destroyed 50 hives, kills about three million bees  https://www.perthnow.com.au/wa/bees-kneez-apiaries-beechina-emergency-level-bushfire-destroyed-50-hives-kills-about-three-million-bees-c-21933066 From CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation making butter. https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/how-to-churn-butter-while-running-9.7127209 From Taipei Times, Beehive tech could help boost fruit production https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2026/03/16/2003853892 USDA American beekeeping statistics https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Todays_Reports/reports/hony0326.pdf   Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 12: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – March is Orange Blossom Month    Orange Groves, Honey Bees, and a Vanishing Industry Orange blossom honey begins in the groves—but those groves are disappearing. In this episode, beekeeper and writer Ron Miksha explores the history, biology, and quiet decline of North America's citrus landscape. From Florida's once-million acres of orange trees to today's shrinking groves, this is the story of bees, nectar, and a changing agricultural world. We begin with a simple question: why do oranges grow in groves, not orchards? From there, the episode moves into the ecology of citrus flowers—how they produce nectar, how bees detect scent compounds like linalool and geraniol, and how entire colonies mobilize during bloom. Along the way, we examine the numbers behind orange blossom honey production, including how a single acre can produce enormous nectar potential—but rarely does. We also look at the realities facing modern citrus: urban expansion, climate pressures, and the devastating effects of citrus greening disease spread by the Asian citrus psyllid. This episode blends personal experience, ecology, and history—from 1970s Florida bee yards to today's fragmented groves. It's a story about honey, yes—but also about landscape change, risk, and the uncertain future of beekeeping in citrus country. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in March 2026.  orange blossom honey citrus groves Florida honey bees citrus pollination how orange blossom honey is made citrus bloom beekeeping Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 11: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bee Poop, Yellow Rain, and the Bee Gut    Honey bees refuse to defecate inside their hive all winter—and when the first warm day arrives, thousands of bees take a sudden cleansing flight. In this episode, we explore one of the stranger realities of beekeeping: the honey bee digestive system and the dramatic spring event known as the cleansing flight. From my snowy backyard apiary in Calgary, Alberta, we begin with the subtle signs of early spring. The sun is higher, the hive entrance warms, and a few brave bees take flight—even when temperatures hover just above freezing.  Honey bees spend the entire winter confined inside the hive, eating stored honey but refusing to defecate indoors. Instead, they store waste in their hindgut until a warm day finally arrives. When it does, thousands of bees launch into the air to relieve themselves in spectacular cleansing flights. Today, we'll explore the biology of the bee gut, why hive hygiene is critical to colony health, and what happens when digestion goes wrong through dysentery or Nosema infection. We even take a detour into Cold War history, when mysterious "Yellow Rain" falling over Southeast Asia was eventually linked to mass defecation flights of giant Asian honey bees. Yes, really. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in March 2026.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 10: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – February means Almonds  Most California almond pollination takes place in late February and earlier March. In this episode, we look at the world's largest mass migration of livestock and the problems honey bees encounter during pollination season. We also examine how almonds are pollinated (looking closely at the flowers) and why honey bees remain essential to get the job done.  Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.   Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The Apiary in a Box  I had a great chat with Herman van Reekum of Beekeeping Innovations and BeeCube. BeeCube is what it sounds like, a cube of bees, an apiary in a box. We discuss the advantages of the BeeCube as well as new developments that Herman is involved in - a beekeeper's app (Bee the Bee) for recording and analyzing bee colony health and management, and also Global Bee, Digest a Substack newsletter that aggrandizes current news and research in bees and beekeeping. Links for Herman Beekeeping Innovations: https://www.beekeepinginnovations.ca/ BeeCube: https://www.beecube.io/ The Global Beekeeping Digest: https://globalmobility.substack.com/ Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Wintering at minus 50 in Singles!!  Let's go way up north to the Yukon with beekeeper Etienne Tardif. He experiments with wintering - in single storey hives - through minus 50 temperatures. His secrets, which he is happy to talk about, include carbon dioxide control guided by sophisticated monitoring. If you don't know how important tight space and excess CO2 can be to success wintering, you need to listen to this podcast. Etienne's North of 60 Beekeeping:  https://www.northof60beekeeping.com/ Hypoxia-Controlled Winter Metabolism in Honeybees https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0300962996000825 Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Sylvia Plath, the Beekeeper's Poet   Today's podcast is more about Bees and Culture, less about Beekeeping Curiosity. Today, February 11, is the anniversary of the death of a great poet, Sylvia Plath. The daughter of a bee scientist, Sylvia led a short life spent writing about love, loss, disappointment, and nature. Don't skip this episode. You will be surprised. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Organic Beekeeping on the Prairies   Tracey Smith, Executive Director of Organic Alberta, tells us about building up her beautiful Alberta honey farm, starting from two packages, and creating a sustainable farm and business over a ten-year period. Then, in three devastating years, viruses crashed all her colonies. We talk about how she built that bee farm, marketed the honey, and then moved on to research honey  bees at the University of Alberta. Today, Tracey helps farmers (including beekeepers) produce organic food. She has quite a story to share! Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 5: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Start the Year with New Bees!     In this episode, Ron Miksha and his brother Joe McShaw discussed Joe's greenhouse business and beekeeping operations. They covered topics including making beeswax crayons, installing bee packages, and the challenges of wintering bees in northern climates.  Joe shared his simple approach to beekeeping, which involves minimal intervention (just 5 trips to the beeyard!). Joe focuses on efficiency rather than detailed management.  They also discussed the greenhouse business at Honeymoon Acres, including starting cuttings from around the world and preparing millions of plants for sale. The conversation touched on customer interactions (Joe asked if the customer is always right), the changing workforce, and the potential impact of automation and robots in the future. Ron wants a Robo-suit, Joe wants a full android robot! Joe's greenhouse business: https://honeymoonacres.com/ Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in February 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Arizona is Swarming    It's been a bit wetter than last year in Arizona and the bees are swarming. I know that because I chatted with my niece, Monica King, who is based just outside Tucson. We talk about swarming, some serious pesticide damage, swimming pools, and bee rescue work. Southern Arizona Beekeepers Association   https://www.southernazbeekeepers.org/ Monica's YouTube channel  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkWNgs-ghd17D-QfKMIQbqw Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – What's Blooming in January?    What's Blooming in January?  Not much. Unless you're in the deep south, west coast, or Hawaii. We look at these places and we look at how to feed bees in colder areas. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 2: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast –  139 Ways your Bees Can Die  Enjoy this quick overview of 139 honey bee pathogens and pests that should be keeping you awake at night. Have fun! Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 1: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast –   Ten bee predictions for 2026 Here we go. I might be wrong more than right, but it's still worth a think. 1. I expect more bees declines, but not kept honey bees. 2. Honey bee colony numbers will surprise researchers. 3. Climate-driven phenological mismatches will dominate ecology news. 4. In the USA, lax rules will allow easier registration of agriculture chemicals, resulting in more pollinator deaths.   5. I predict pollinator restoration projects will be big. 6. I expect a new pathogen jump from honey bees to wild bees. 7. In 2026, I think that there will be bee stories regarding extreme weather. 8. I expect at least one article titled something like "Tiny robots are replacing bees as pollinators." 9. Not a wild prediction, but I think bees will be less common on social media in 2026. 10. Robotic androids will not replace beekeepers in the field during 2026. In 2026, I don't expect to see: Robots lighting smokers Robots reading brood patterns Robots making judgement calls about nectar flows, weather, and beekeeper intuition Or even Robots carrying deep honey supers to the truck Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 7 Episode 0: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – 2026 Short Trailer   This trailer, our introduction to Season 7, sets the stage for season 7, the About Bees podcast's next 12 episodes. Our winter season. A great time to get caught up. Enjoy.   Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 12 About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – 2025: Ten Bee News Stories  Links to our ten featured news stories from 2025:  62% Bee Losses Honey Bee Health  https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/survey-reveals-over-1-1-million-honey-bee-colonies-lost-raising-alarm-for-pollination-and-agriculture/ Washington State study on colony losses  https://news.wsu.edu/news/2025/03/25/honey-bee-colony-declines-grow-as-wsu-researchers-work-to-fight-losses USDA pinpoints reason for colony collapse  https://www.dvm360.com/view/usda-pinpoints-cause-of-recent-mass-honeybee-collapse Michigan State  https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/reports-of-high-honey-bee-colony-losses-and-how-farmers-and-growers-can-support-honey-bees USDA study shows virus magnification via mites  https://www.ars.usda.gov/news-events/news/research-news/2025/usda-researchers-find-viruses-from-miticide-resistant-parasitic-mites-are-cause-of-recent-honey-bee-colony-collapses/ UBC Pheromone signalling reduced by viruses, leading to supercedure  https://www.med.ubc.ca/news/ubc-research-reveals-why-honey-bees-overthrow-their-queen/ Developmental and Caste Regulation (weak queen resistance to pesticides)  https://d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net/documents/publicationstatus/241858/preprint_pdf/b569fa5471ba21b61111b60552fd7aa0.pdf California Almond Growers PDF https://www.almonds.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/Cover%20Crops%20Best%20Management%20Practices%20BMPs_0.pdf Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems – natural mix of pollens leads to better bee success  https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sustainable-food-systems/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2025.1555238/full Engineered yeast provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees. Nature   https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09431-y First continent-wide bee strategy (Canada and USA) plan to protect bees  https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/NABS/ Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 11: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bees or Greenhouses?   Bees or Greenhouses? Which would make more money as a business?  Ron chats with his brother Joe of Honeymoon Acres, a Wisconsin greenhouse business. We engage in a race to the bottom. I make the case that beekeeping is definitely the less profitable business. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 2025. Ricky Nelson's Garden Party: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60XTeHM9iLQ Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 10: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – A Langstroth Christmas   Let's look at the inventor of the modern North American beehive. It's Christmas and it's L.L. Langstroth's birthday. Hope you enjoy this!  Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – A Candid Chat with Alberta's (former) Agriculture Minister  In this episode, I enjoy a conversation with the Honorable Oneil Carlier, former Agriculture Minister of Alberta. Alberta is cowboys and ranching and enormous forests and wheat fields and wide-open spaces. Alberta, where I live, is also the biggest honey-producer in Canada. All of this is handled through the Agriculture Ministry which was directed by Oneil Carlier. We touch on Oneil's experiences growing up in the cowboy town of Val Marie, Saskatchewan, working in geosciences, helping workers through collective bargaining, and enabling agriculture in Alberta. Mr. Carlier is candid about his life and his job as the Honorable Minister. Hope you enjoy this! Stompin' Tom's Bud the Spud song   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtySGSuKZe8 Ian Tyson's Will James song   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_u4vzZ4gO_w Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Buzz Pollination in the Greenhouse  I was looking around for something in bloom here in December to talk about on this podcast, but I didn't feel like stepping outside into the deep snow and arctic temperatures. Then I realized that greenhouses are full of blooming plants – pollinated by bumble bees, mostly. So, that's what we're doing on this short episode. We talk about the risks and benefits of bumble bee pollination inside greenhouses. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in December 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – What's it like to run 6,000 hives of bees?   What is it like being responsible for 6,000 colonies, a couple dozen employees, and 150 apiary locations?  And producing and selling over a million pounds of honey each year? Here's your chance to find out. We visit with Murray Hannigan of Hannigan Honey. The operation is in Saskatchewan, eight hours north of the US border. Honey crops in his area are usually big but depend on keen management. We discuss queen production, disease control, and crew management. Murray tells us what works for him. Whooping crane music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFzkXdZjQJM Hannigan Honey:  https://www.hanniganhoney.com/ Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in November 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Is All Manuka Honey Fake?   Is all manuka honey fake? I used to think that manuka is overrated. Not much there, there – if you know what I mean. Yes, of course I'm a cynic, or at least a skeptic. But follow along with this episode and see why I changed. It's a path of discovery. We will cover the fraud fights, the discovery of manuka's antibacterial qualities, how honey kills germs, and my conversion to an appreciation of this amazing honey. How does it work? What does it taste like? You'll have to listen to find out. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in November 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 5: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Philosopher-Beekeeper Richard Taylor   Dr. Richard Taylor's 106th birthday memorial is this week. That's as good of an excuse as any to open up his best-selling book, The Joys of Beekeeping, and chat about his life as a commercial beekeeper and philosophy professor. We look at his life and explore his thoughts on being a better beekeeper and a better person. Enjoy! Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in November 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Brother Joe: Bees & Greenhouses  Joe and I talk about neonicotinoids (and other poisons), problems with wax worms, the greenhouse business, our oldest brother, David, and innovations, a BrainPopping drink, politics, economics, and "Why be good?" Hope you enjoy this episode. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025. Honeymoon Acres: https://honeymoonacres.com/ BrainPop - New Age Drinks: https://newagedrinks.com/ Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – A Halloween Shorty   Do you celebrate Halloween? Beekeepers should. Listen to find out why. Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 2: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Down in October   It's October and things are shutting down here in North America - at least the part of North America that's north of Mexico. Just before it all ends, there are a few final bursts of flowers to treat pollinators of all shapes and sizes. Today, we talk about Asters, the stars of fall, and Brazilian Pepperbush and Melaleuca, the intruders of Florida's deep south. All three of these plants give a little end-of-season honey and support before winter to your bees and to wild pollinators.   Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 6 Episode 1: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Apimondia 2025   Ron is back from Apimondia Scandinavia 2025. If you missed this world bee event, listen up as we walk through the Global Honey Bar, hundreds of posters, the mega-exhibition hall, and the heart of the conference - the presentations. This is not an exhaustive review, but this overview will give you a sense for the dizzying amount of bee knowledge on display in Copenhagen at Apimondia 2025.   Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 12: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The Autumn Flower: Goldenrod. Plus a bonus - the end of human civilization   Goldenrod is the keystone species for plant, animal, and ecological survival in a huge part of North America. It is also suffering from an unexpected problem, which is hurting bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. That's this episode's bonus - the collapse of human civilzation.  Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 11: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bright Shiny Bees   Our guest today is Ilan Domnich of the Alberta Native Bee Council. We dig deeply into the care and appreciation of native bees in North America.  Bright green bees, yellow-faced bees, bees that make cellophane (sort of), mine into the sand, plus tiny, tiny bees. Bees that turn their blood into wine? This episode is a trip. We talk about taking care of native, wild bees and helping them help us. Bee hotels? Maybe they do more harm than good. Sticks and leaves? Your excuse to let your garden go wild in the fall. Build your own bumble bee nests? We chat about that, too.  Learn more about wild bees:  Alberta Native Bee Council Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 10: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Apimondia: The World's Bee Meeting     This short introduction to Apimondia will be of interest to all beekeepers, whether attending Apimondia 2025 in Copenhagen or not.  I hope you are among those going to the conference! Apimondia 2025: https://apimondia2025.com/ Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Beekeeping along Canada's Sunshine Coast      Canada has a sunshine coast. That's where I met up with my friend Steve Clifford. Steve is a honey producer (mostly Himalayan blackberry honey) and he produces and sells queens and nucs. It's a really different part of Canada - a rainforest where it seldom snows, but summers can get hot and sunny.  This episode was recorded in Halfmoon Bay, British Columbia, in September 2025.  See Steve Clifford interviewed by Coast Magazine Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Chile for Avocado Pollination, Queen Production, and Adventure      Today's guest is Francisco Rey, a Chilean beekeeper and avocado farmer. We talk about the country of Chile, Francisco's 43 years of beekeeping, queen breeding, Francisco's friendship with researcher John Kefuss, Francisco's family-run bee farm, avocado pollination, avocado honey, exporting queens, and we talk about why you should visit Francisco in South America.. This episode was recorded in August 2025.  Francisco Rey's Chilean Bee Farm:  www.pacificqueens.com Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Buckwheat: Our Favourite August Honey Plant      Buckwheat is quirky. Both the plant and the honey. We look at both - plant and honey - in today's podcast. Especially the black, chokingly-strong honey. Buckwheat, though often mistaken for a cereal grain, is actually a member of the Polygonaceae family, kin to rhubarb and sorrel. First cultivated in China more than 6,000 years ago, it spread westward along trade routes and became a staple in Eastern Europe for its short growing season, tolerance of poor soils, and high-protein, gluten-free grain. Farmers turned it into groats, roasted kasha, soba noodles, dumplings, pancakes, and beer. In North America, buckwheat once covered millions of acres, especially in Pennsylvania, New York, and later Manitoba. Today, only about 50,000 acres remain in the U.S., with North Dakota as the largest producer. Farmers planted it as a rescue crop when other fields failed, and its continuous bloom provided nectar during mid-summer gaps. For bees and beekeepers, buckwheat is both boon and bane. Yields could soar to 200 pounds per hive in good years, but hot, dry weather can shut nectar off completely. The honey is almost black, rich in minerals and antioxidants, with a flavor that people either cherish or despise. Folks often describe it as barnyard-like, molasses-like, or medicinal. Culturally, buckwheat honey was prized by Eastern European immigrants and Jewish communities, especially for Rosh Hashanah. Today, production is rare, but the memory and distinct taste linger. I know. I made a few thousand pounds of buckwheat years ago in Pennsylvania and I spill some memories here today. This episode was recorded in August 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Laura Sends us Deep into the Beekeeping Groove      This wide-ranging beekeeping podcast takes us from Wales to New Zealand and then Alberta, Canada, with beekeeper Laura Barritt. We look at commercial beekeeping in New Zealand and touch on Sir Edmund Hillary, manuka honey, queen breeding, package shaking, honey producing by under supering, migratory beekeeping, favourite honeys, the Bee Cube®, viral 13-year-old harvesting honey in his house, maintaining queen bee lines, aging of beekeepers, fireweed honey production, honey bee adaptaions to new crops, and becoming a commercial beekeeper. Links from this episode: Rata honey in New Zealand Bee Cube®  13-year-old beekeeper Oliver Taylor This episode was recorded in July 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 5: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – World's Most Interesting Bee Museum - and more...       I am just back from a quick trip to central Europe, where I visited bees in Slovenia and family in Hungary. You don't want to miss what this curious beekeeper has to say about what he saw! Among other things,, I explored the world's most interesting beekeeping museum. What would you put into the museum if it were yours? This episode was recorded in August 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bees, Greenhouses, and 18-hour Work Days      It takes 18-hour workdays to keep a greenhouse that produces 3 million plants a year, and to keep a dozen hives of bees on the side to pollinate a10-acre pumpkin patch. Our guest is Joe McShaw, of Honeymoon Acres in Wisconsin. Joe is Ron's youngest brother, so we have a lot of fun on this episode. We do bees, wintering (or not), raising plants to retail, and we answer that old question, "Why be good?" Visit Honeymoon Acres: https://honeymoonacres.com/ This episode was recorded in July 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Ask Me Anything for July 2025       Ask me anything.  I start off with a powerful phrase you can always use when a pesky new beekeeper wants advice with their bees. Keep this phrase in your toolkit. Also, just a bit about putting supers on and taking supers off. Summer management questions, answered in this AMA. This episode was recorded in July 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 2: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – July's Best Honey Plant      What's July's best honey plant? In much of the northern hemisphere, if the soil is sweet alkali, the answer is sweet clover.  It's a spectacular honey plant, one of the best in the world, but it originated far away from the western plains. It's invasive. Wild. Part of today's episode considers what this means - native, invasive; old, new; wanted, unwanted. This episode was recorded in July 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 5 Episode 1: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Beekeeping on Canada Day      It's Canada Day, up Canada way, on the first day of July. We talk bees, sunshine, swarms that refuse to be retrieved, and of course Stompin' Tom Connors. Enjoy, eh? This episode was recorded in July 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Slovenia, the Country that Buzzes     In preparation for a trip to central Europe, I have been learning about beekeeping in the small country of Slovenia. I always learn a lot about beekeeping by looking at beekeeping in other parts of the world. It's amazing how many good ideas, and a few bad ones, I pick up this way. Anyway, I wrote a bit about beekeeping in the quaint country of Slovenia, and today I am reading my story to you. One of the first things I discovered during my research, is that the two million people in Slovenia are almost all beekeepers. Or they know a beekeeper. Or they know where to buy good local honey from a beekeeper. With ten thousand beekeepers, that's a lot more than the number of people keeping bees in many much larger and more populous countries. The country of Slovenia borders on Austria, Hungary, Croatia, and Italy. What a mix! And the scenery goes from ice-capped Alps to Mediterranean seaside. We have a lot of history, culture, and beekeeping to do – so, let's get going! This episode was recorded in June 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Late Spring Beekeeping    Rain brings flowers, flowers bring nectar, nectar brings bees, beekeepers make honey. We are getting heavy rains here, so, of course Ron is predicting a big honey flow. This gets Bidzina's attention. He is thinking about making comb honey with upside-down glass jars, but Ron throws cold water on the idea. Find out why. We discuss the four things to avoid or reduce granulation, before removing the honey as well as after it's been extracted. These include the fructose/glucose ration, which depends on nectar source. We talk a lot about this and the other factors that contribute to granulation. Listen for number four, you won't believe it! Bidzina backtracks away from the inverted jars idea and begins to consider comb honey. Marketing an interesting and unusual product, like comb honey, can be difficult so we consider places that he might go with the honey. Bidzina describes a mixed-martial arts competition coming up in Calgary where he will be selling some honey. Conversation shifts to bees, with reference to hives that have multiple swarms and after-swarms, and the potential for a big honey crop in the Calgary area. Next, we consider that most outreach bee presentations are for children. However, Ron spoke to elderly folks this week at two retirement homes. Maybe we are focusing on the wrong groups? Kids don't vote and few send letters to the government to beg for morsels of help for the bees. The seniors might. Maybe we're not involving them enough. In discussing how senior citizen beekeepers can help, we acknowledge that some old advice doesn't stand the test of time but other ideas may be forgotten gems. This includes something that Ron learned 50 years ago about treating European Foulbrood. Next, Bidzina shows some craft work. He has been experimenting with attractive wraps that surround a hive all year round, partly as camouflage, partly as a work of art. He wants to put lights on the decorations around the hives. I suggest that he use red light, otherwise bees may be attracted out of the hives at night. This obviously leads right into a discussion about parasites that turn honey bees into light-seeking zombies. This episode was recorded in June 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Judging your Honey   Today we judge your honey. Not by flavour, but by the tiniest nuances of bottle fill and floating specks of bee smoker ash. Our guide is the accomplished Calgary honey judge, Linda Symmes. If you have ever considered participating in the fine art of preparing for a honey competition, we spill some secrets from the hidden, anonymized world of the judge: what do judges actually look for when they consider your jar for the top prize? Does it pay to bribe the judge? These and other hints and suggestions are on today's  episode. This episode was recorded in June 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Spring Honey Bees   Bidzina and Ron talk about the status of their hives, leading to a discussion about dandelion honey, which Ron's colonies produced in abundance this year. An intense early flow can lead to swarming, which happened to some of Bidzina's hives. Two migratory beekeeping mishaps are mentioned – one in Oregon, the other in Washington state. Pretty messy. Finally, should you register your bees with the government? And related - do people every level shotguns at bee inspectors? This episode was recorded in June 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 5: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Alberta Native Bees in Trouble   We chat about the troubles facing native bees with Alberta Native Bee Council (ANBC) Executive Director Megan Evans. Pollinators of all sorts are essential to the health and success of our environment. Understanding the habitats and lifecycles of the 371 known species of bees in Alberta is the first step towards ensuring the prosperity of these pollinators. This is part of ANBC's work. Learning about the issues that hinder bee success is necessary before remedies can be found. Megan discusses climate change (bees can't survive if flowers finish blooming before the bees have raised their brood); habitat loss (due to human encroachment and invasive plant species expanding into native vegetation); invasive species spreading diseases; and the impact of pesticides. To help native bees, there also needs to be enhanced awareness of the difference between wild native bees and managed bees. Among many projects, ANBC is developing a Living Lawns App to help homeowners create or restore native bee habitats – starting with a goal of one square meter (or one square yard) of landscape for the bees. A million homes following this model would add a million square meters (or yards) of living space and floral resources for native bees. We also look at calls to action that everyone can implement: learn the difference between native and managed bees; work on ecological literacy; create habitats for native bees; and get excited (bee watching is an actual event)! Finally, it was reassuring to learn that Megan, who dedicates her work to helping native bees, wasn't always comfortable around bees. She overcame her reluctance (fear) of bee encounters by becoming curious about pollinators. Listen to this episode to see how that happened! Visit Alberta Native Bees Council to learn more. https://www.albertanativebeecouncil.ca/ This episode was recorded in June 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 4: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Thousands and Thousands and Thousands of Queens   Dedicated to the memory of Florida queen breeder David Miksa  This episode was recorded two days before David Miksa passed away. His son Ted and I chat about this remarkable beekeeping family and about queen breeding in general. We jump right into our conversation, catching up with Ted at the end of a long day of his work on the farm. Among the topics covered are running mating nucs through the hot Florida summer; banking queens in Florida (and how that might work in Canada); queen importation into Canada; the way that inbreeding stock can yield unfortunate surprise results. We note that about 10% of all the managed honey bee colonies in America have queens (or queen cells) that originated at Miksa honey farm in Lake County, Florida - so we talk about the logistics of producing and selling all those queens, the nine stock lines involved and strategies to keep Africanized stock out of those queens. We wrap up noting the importance of nutrition, especially for nurse bees that are feeding developing queen larvae. And the sage advice: "Take care of the bees and they'll take care of you." This episode was recorded in May, 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]

Season 4 Episode 3: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bee Thievery  Pay close attention and you may pick up a few clues to reduce honey bee hive thefts. Listen even more closely and you may pick up tips on how to steal colonies. But please don't. It's not worth time in the big house. We also chat about the apiary in a box (BeeCube), Apimondia's upcoming conference in Denmark, Ron's queen-rearing presentation for Western Apicultural Society, a scheme to raise queens from one single colony (Ron is a skeptic), and ideas around swapping Canadian bees for southern hemisphere bees once a year. But mostly we talk about a honey bee heist that happened here in Alberta, Canada. This episode was recorded in May, 2025.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.  Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: https://about-bees.org/about-ron/ Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected]