Start the Year with New Bees!
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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...
info_outline
Arizona is Swarming
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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 Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in January 2026. Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die...
info_outline
What's Blooming in January?
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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: About Ron Miksha: Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst: miksha@gmail.com
info_outline
139 Ways your Bees Can Die
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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: About Ron Miksha: Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst: miksha@gmail.com
info_outline
Ten Bee Predictions for 2026
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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...
info_outline
2026 Short Trailer
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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: About Ron Miksha: Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst: miksha@gmail.com
info_outline
2025: Ten Bee News Stories
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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 Washington State study on colony losses USDA pinpoints reason for colony collapse Michigan State USDA study shows virus magnification via mites UBC Pheromone signalling reduced by viruses, leading to supercedure Developmental and Caste Regulation (weak queen resistance to pesticides) California Almond Growers PDF Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems –...
info_outline
Bees or Greenhouses?
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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 , 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: Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation. Podcast website: About Ron Miksha: Finally: email your questions,...
info_outline
A Langstroth Christmas
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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: About Ron Miksha: Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst: miksha@gmail.com
info_outline
A Candid Chat with Alberta's (former) Agriculture Minister
About Bees, Culture & Curiosity
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...
info_outlineSeason 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: ron@aboutbees.net