About Bees, Culture & Curiosity

Epizody

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  Killing the Drones 08.10.2026 34min

  Season 10 Episode 1:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Killing the Drones   As autumn arrives, worker honey bees turn against the drones they fed and tolerated all summer. But what triggers their eviction? Is it cold, shorter days, dwindling forage or something else? We explore the strange seasonal ritual known as the killing of the drones, including what happens in tropical colonies and whether an expelled drone understands what is happening to him.  This podcast was  Recorded October 2026 in Calgary.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.    Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site     About Ron Miksha: miksha.com     Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected] 
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  Building a Better Bee: Brother Adam to DNA 04.10.2026 1h 42min

  Season 9 Episode 12:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Building a Better Bee: Brother Adam to DNA   Brother Adam spent his life trying to build a better bee. Thirty years after his death, we can sequence bee genomes, scan more than 100,000 genetic markers and even edit honey-bee DNA. But have we actually made the bee better? This episode follows the journey from Buckfast Abbey to CRISPR — and discovers that genetics may have advanced faster than our definition of "better." LINKS:  Tribute to Brother Adam: https://www.melissocosmos.gr/2016/02/tribute-to-brother-adam.html Progress in Bee Genetics: https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4450/11/11/768 Natural Varroa Resistance in Europe: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33302465/ This podcast was  Recorded September 2026 in Calgary.  Please subscribe, like, love, and follow. We live or die by your adulation.    Podcast website: https://sites.libsyn.com/540327/site About Ron Miksha: miksha.com Finally: email your questions, comments, and angst:  [email protected] 
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  Getting Rid of Confusion in Beekeeper-Speak 23.09.2026 47min

  Season 9 Episode 11:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Getting Rid of Confusion in Beekeeper-Speak    What exactly is a bee colony?  The answer seems obvious. Until beekeepers, scientists and computers all need to agree.  In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, we explore an international effort to create a common language for bees and beekeeping. Researchers working with Apimondia and the EU Pollinator Hub are developing standardized terminology and the Pollinator Ontology, or PolOn: a structured system that defines concepts and shows how they relate to one another.  Why does this matter? Terms such as colony, hive, swarm, colony strength, winter loss, queenless, Varroa infestation, wild and feral can mean slightly different things to different people, research groups and countries. Those differences become important when scientists try to combine thousands (or millions) of observations.  Along the way, we look at old beekeeping words, multilingual terminology, Eva Crane's pioneering dictionaries, FAIR scientific data, and the growing importance of standardized information in an age of artificial intelligence.  Beekeepers have always exchanged bees, equipment and ideas across borders. Now researchers are trying to make sure the information can travel just as easily.  LINKS:  https://apimondia.org/one-language-for-bees/ https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0353382& This podcast was  Recorded September 2026 in Calgary.  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] 
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  Bees, Climate Change, Catastrophe 17.09.2026 52min

  Season 9 Episode 10:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Bees, Climate Change, Catastrophe     The tables are turned.  Instead of asking the questions on About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, I become the guest on Brady Podloski's Catastrophe podcast for a wide-ranging conversation about honey bees, native bees, climate change, insect decline, agriculture, and ecological collapse.  Are honey bees really helping the environment? Do managed colonies compete with wild native bees? What happens to bumblebees when temperatures rise, seasons shift, and flowers bloom at the wrong time? And why is a perfectly green suburban lawn useless to pollinators?  For this podcast, I draw on more than five decades of beekeeping experience, including years as a commercial beekeeper and later research in bee ecology at the University of Calgary. The discussion moves from canola fields and commercial pollination to wild bees, bumblebee hibernation, fires, floods, drought, habitat loss, pesticides, and phenological mismatch.  Along the way, I give a simple image for understanding ecological decline: slowly take away enough musicians from an orchestra, and eventually the music changes.  A conversation about bees, climate, resilience—and why resilience should never be confused with invulnerability.  LINK: Catastrophe - https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/catastrophe/id1772195133   This podcast was  Recorded September 2026 in Calgary.  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] 
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  Helicopters, Varroa, Tech Transfer, and a Life with Bees 09.09.2026 1h 22min

  Season 9 Episode 9:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Helicopters, Varroa, Tech Transfer, and a Life with Bees     In today's episode, we interview Matthew Polinsky, Manitoba's Bee Technology Transfer lead. Matthew grew up around commercial beekeeping in Saskatchewan. His father kept bees, his brother keeps bees, and his grandfather Derek Alen was part of an earlier generation of Prairie beekeepers. But Matthew's own route through beekeeping has been anything but ordinary.  In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, we follow Matthew from the honey house in Saskatchewan to commercial bee operations in New Zealand and Western Australia—including the remarkable experience of moving honey bee colonies by helicopter.  Matthew later worked with the Saskatraz bee-breeding project, studied at Concordia University in Montréal, participated in bee research, and eventually became Program Lead for Manitoba's Knowledge and Research Transfer Program for Apiculture.  We talk about what "technology transfer" really means, new approaches to Varroa control, RNAi-based mite treatments, queen breeding, old feeding syrup (should you use it, fix it, or dump it?), Tropilaelaps, honey fraud, and why practical beekeeping knowledge and scientific research need each other.  We even travel to the Solomon Islands, where Matthew worked on a beekeeping development project.  It is a conversation about bees, science, family history—and the curious paths that turn a childhood summer job into a career.  Manitoba Knowledge and Research Transfer Program links:   KRTP Syrup Testing Service Explained: https://youtu.be/Vb_m8sEYIhI?si=in6eUKh6gzKH-_R0 KRTP YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@krtpmanitoba KRTP's RNAi Varroa Control Trial Results: https://youtu.be/VmoocGAvy3I?si=8bgAf0OpSIvq-4dj&t=2290 https://www.facebook.com/krtpmb Instagram: @krtpmb https://manitobabee.org/krtp/ This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  The Autumn Flower: Goldenrod, not really too stinky. 04.09.2026 42min

  Season 9 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The Autumn Flower: Goldenrod: not really too stinky.   Goldenrod is a 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 civilization.  Recorded in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in October 2025; Encore in September 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]
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  The American Honey Queen: Bees, Education and Advocacy 01.09.2026 43min

  Season 9 Episode 7:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The American Honey Queen: Bees, Education and Advocacy     Delanie Craighead, the 2026 American Honey Queen, joins Ron Miksha on About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity for a conversation about honey bees, entomology, education, honey and American beekeeping.  Delanie's route to the American Honey Queen crown is an unusual one. She studied animal biology, parasitology and forensic entomology, served with the Peace Corps in Guyana, participated in the California Master Beekeeping Program, and is now pursuing graduate studies in public health and epidemiology.  As American Honey Queen, Delanie travels across the United States representing the American Beekeeping Federation and talking with everyone from elementary-school students to governors and mayors. She explains why honey bees matter to agriculture, introduces people to regional American honeys, and helps connect the public with the people who keep bees.  Delanie and Ron discuss what forensic entomologists can learn from insects, her childhood raising alpacas and sheep through 4-H and FFA, life in Guyana, becoming a beekeeper, and what she has learned from beekeepers across America.  They also explore the remarkable diversity of honey (from California sage and avocado honey to Florida orange blossom) and the environmental challenges facing bees and beekeepers.  Curiosity, insects, bees, public service and the demanding job behind the crown of the American Honey Queen.  LINKS: https://abfnet.org/american-honey-queen-program/ This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  The End of the Honey Flow means Trouble 30.08.2026 41min

  Season 9 Episode 6:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The End of the Honey Flow means Trouble   The honey flow is over. The supers have been extracted. We had a nice crop (300 pounds from 2 hives). More than we can eat at one time. Now the trouble begins. Robbing. Varroa. Wasps. Crowding.  End of the season blahs. This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  The 50% Honey Tariff: When a Market Disappears 27.08.2026 53min

  Season 9 Episode 5:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The 50% Honey Tariff: When a Market Disappears  The bees made the honey. Now who will buy it? A new 50% U.S. tariff on Canadian honey arrived just as Prairie beekeepers began harvesting the 2026 crop. The numbers reveal an uncomfortable imbalance: Canadian honey is only about 2% of U.S. honey imports, but the amount we send south is equivalent to roughly 14% of Canada's entire annual honey production. Canadian honey is not that important to American consumers, but American consumers are important to Canadian beekeepers. For some family beekeeping operations, the exposure is much greater. One Manitoba producer has historically sold about 90% of its honey into the United States. I also loook at Saskatchewan and Alberta beekeepers. In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, I look at the people behind the statistics, why the U.S.A. imports so much honey, and whether Canada could absorb more of its own crop by reducing the nearly 25 million pounds of honey Canadians import each year. The bees did their job. The difficult part now is finding a market. This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  Too Hot for Bees? Arizona Heat, Drought, and Rescuing Bees 14.08.2026 1h 20min

  Season 9 Episode 4:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Too Hot for Bees? Arizona Heat, Drought, and Rescuing Bees  Southern Arizona is beautiful bee country, but it's tough on bees and beekeepers. Temperatures climb above 100°F, water becomes critical, drought can shut down forage, and the ground itself becomes dangerously hot.  In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, Ron talks with Arizona beekeeper and Monica King about keeping honey bees alive and productive in extreme desert conditions. Monica describes bees foraging before sunrise, using water for colony cooling, providing water inside weak colonies, modifying hive ventilation, using robbing screens, and waiting for monsoon rains to bring mesquite and other desert plants back into bloom.  We talk Africanized bees, nucs, bee removals, a sensational "100,000 killer bees" news story, and the uneasy relationship between managed honey bees and native pollinators. Monica also tells us about a beekeeper tour of a Bayer agricultural research greenhouse in Arizona.  It is a wide-ranging conversation about bees, desert ecology, agriculture—and what changes when beekeeping gets too hot to handle. Enjoy this episode of obscene heat, killer bees, weed whackers, and GMOs. Links: Monica King Bee Rescue: https://www.monicamking.com/#/ American Honey Queen Delanie Craighead: https://abfnet.org/american-honey-queen-program/ Monica mentioned the documentary Kiss the Ground about soil, climate and carbon. Here's a trailer, you can find the film on line:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3-V1j-zMZw 100,000 Bees and the Weed Whacker: https://www.yahoo.com/news/science/articles/arizona-man-swarmed-100-000-021300567.html   This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  Sweet Clover: The Best Honey Plant? 09.08.2026 52min

  Season 9 Episode 3:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Sweet Clover: The Best Honey Plant?   Sweet clover is the best nectar-producing plant. Best honey quality; best for making lots of water-white mild honey. But not everywhere. Here's its story.  This podcast was  Recorded July 2025 and August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  No Bugs on the Windshield. Is it the Insect Apocalypse? 05.08.2026 1h

  Season 9 Episode 2:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – No Bugs on the Windshield. Is it the Insect Apocalypse?  A summer drive from Calgary to Banff used to leave my windshield covered with insects. A few days ago, the same 250-kilometre round trip left just three bug splatters. Three. It used to be dozens. Is this simply better automobile design, or is it ssigns of an insect apocalypse? In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, I explore the science behind what researchers call the windshield phenomenon. Beginning with observations from the Rocky Mountains, we examine decades of insect monitoring, including the famous Krefeld study from Germany, Britain's Bugs Matter citizen science project, and recent research on long-term insect declines across Europe. Along the way we check on alpine wildflowers, bumble bees, hoverflies masquerading as bees, Marilyn Monroe in Banff, and even a look back at my 2016 Bad Beekeeping Blog proposing some rather unorthodox solutions to insect roadkill. Are insects really disappearing? What does science actually say? And why should beekeepers, birdwatchers, and anyone who enjoys the outdoors care?   Links  1. Original Krefeld Study (PLOS ONE, 2017) Hallmann, C.A. et al. (2017) More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0185809 2. Krefeld Statistical Rebuttal (Nature, 2025) Hallmann, C.A. et al. (2025) Weather anomalies cannot explain insect decline https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08528-0 This is the response to the statistical reanalysis that argued weather explained much of the observed decline. 3. Bugs Matter (United Kingdom) Official website: https://www.buglife.org.uk/bugs-matter/ Survey information: https://www.buglife.org.uk/get-involved/surveys/bugs-matter/ This includes: annual reports the smartphone app methods volunteer instructions published results 4. Swiss 90-Year Study (Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2026) Neff, F. et al. (2026) Twentieth-century insect declines and partial recoveries driven by changes in land use and climate Abstract (PubMed): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42231010/ A freely available PDF (author repository): https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/437414/1/Ninety-year_trends_reveal_sharpest_insect.pdf Dave Goulson Silent Earth: Averting the Insect Apocalypse https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/677807/silent-earth-by-dave-goulson/ One of the best popular science books on insect decline. Brooke Jarvis The Insect Apocalypse Is Here The New York Times Magazine (2018) https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html Probably the best long-form magazine article introducing the subject to the general public.  This podcast was  Recorded August 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  What if a Part of Canada Leaves? Who gets the bees? 22.07.2026 1h 17min

  Season 9 Episode 1:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – What if a Part of Canada Leaves? Who gets the bees?  What if part of Canada separates from the rest of the country? I take a deep dive into this subject because the province of Alberta has a hearty band of separatists who have been arguing for Alberta to leave Canada and either be a separate country, or more likely, become part of the USA. Mostly, I look at what this would mean for beekeeping and beekeepers in Alberta.  But the first half of today's podcast looks at a few recent bee news stories, a recap about my backyard colonies, and then a look at the effects that becoming the 51st American state would mean for Alberta.  Recorded July 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  The 3-in-1 Bee Tree: Linden, Lime, and Basswood 09.07.2026 1h 39min

  Season 8 Episode 12:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – The 3-in-1 Bee Tree: Linden, Lime, and Basswood  Discover why linden, lime, and basswood trees have been used and abused for centuries by beekeepers, herbalists, and woodworkers in this About Bees episode.  The basswood (aka linden and lime) is one of the world's finest honey trees. Join me, Ron Miksha, as we explore the tree's weird little flowers, fragrant honey, soothing sleepy-time herbal tea, fascinating history, and the surprising myth of the basswood. Along the way we bump into legendary beekeeper C.C. Miller, visit Scotland and Berlin, talk to the basswood growing in my front lawn in Calgary, uncover the truth behind dead bees under basswood trees, and discover why planting a basswood is what you can do for people you will never meet.  Recorded July 2026 in Calgary.  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]
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  Joe's Greenhouse and Bees Philosophy 27.06.2026 1h 43min

  Season 8 Episode 11:  About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Joe's Greenhouse and Bees Philosophy  Today we visit Ron's brother Joe McShaw at Honeymoon Acres in New Holstein, Wisconsin. We'll explore his management philosophy, running a business with family, selling 3,000,000 plants, and working with 14 colonies of honey bees that live beside his 15-acre pumpkin garden. Honeymoon Acres Greenhouses Dark Horse Hive Mind Episode Recorded June 2026 in Calgary. 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]
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  Left Behind: After the Honey Bee Rapture 20.06.2026 1h 7min

  Season 8 Episode 10: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Left Behind: After the Honey Bee Rapture  What happens inside a honey bee hive after a swarm leaves? In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, Ron Miksha follows the parent colony after half the bees depart with the old queen. The story explores why bees swarm, how many bees leave, what remains behind, why swarm queen cells often produce excellent queens, and how new research on queen-cell architecture suggests that bees do more than feed queens royal jelly - they build specialized royal nurseries. The episode also examines virgin queen piping, queen fights, afterswarms, mating flights, genetic turnover, honey crop losses, and the remarkable resilience of the old hive. Swarming may frustrate beekeepers, but for honey bees it is colony-level reproduction - one of nature's oldest and most successful survival strategies. Recorded in Calgary, June 2026 ·       Fang, Y. et al. Queen cell architecture shapes honey bee queen development. Nature. 2026. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-026-10534-3. PubMed record: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42236932/ ·       UC Riverside News. "How honeybees really crown their queens." June 3, 2026. ·       Chemical & Engineering News. "Queen bees emerge from special wax chambers." June 3, 2026. ·       University of Florida IFAS Extension. "Swarm Control for Managed Beehives." ENY-160/IN970. ·       Jim Tew, Bee Culture. "General Honey Bee Swarm Biology and Management (Part 1)." ·       Thomas D. Seeley and Martin Lindauer traditions on swarm decision-making and nest-site selection, especially as discussed in Seeley's Honeybee Democracy and related American Scientist coverage. ·       E.O. Wilson's Pulitzer Prize books: On Human Nature (1979); The Ants (with Bert Hölldobler, 1991) ·       Tom Wenseleers. "Superorganism Revisited." BioScience 59(8), 2009, noting William Morton Wheeler's early use of the superorganism concept. 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]
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  Scotland through a Beekeeper's Eyes 05.06.2026 32min

  Season 8 Episode 9: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Scotland through a Beekeeper's Eyes  Join me on a journey through Scotland as I explore Edinburgh, Inverness, the Highlands, Loch Ness, and the famous Scottish heather moors. What began as a visit with my daughter, who studies at the University of Edinburgh, quickly became an opportunity to see Scotland through the eyes of a beekeeper. Along the way, I discover why Scotland's landscapes are so different from those of western Canada, learn about the country's history and culture, sample authentic heather honey, travel by train through the Highlands, and reflect on the people, language, food, and scenery that make Scotland unique. We'll talk about heather, honey bees, canola, bramble, Gaelic place names, Dolly the cloned sheep, haggis, and even a surprising Scottish heat wave. Whether you're interested in bees, travel, history, or simply curious about Scotland, I think you'll enjoy coming along for the ride. Recorded in Scotland, 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]
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  Black Locust: Appalachia's Gift to World Beekeeping 24.05.2026 34min

  Season 8 Episode 8: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Black Locust: Appalachia's Gift to World Beekeeping  One of Europe's most famous honey trees actually came from the Appalachian Mountains of North America. In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, we follow the remarkable story of Robinia pseudoacacia, black locust, also known across Europe as "acacia." Originally a minor honey plant of disturbed Appalachian forests, this fast-growing legume escaped its native range and became one of the most widely planted trees on Earth. We explore how black locust spread through France, Hungary, Korea, Japan, and beyond; why beekeepers prize its short but spectacular nectar flow; and how its pale, mild, slow-crystallizing honey became one of Europe's best-known honey types. Along the way, we look at:      the confusion between true acacias and false acacia      why black locust often performs better outside North America      its use for fence posts, mine reclamation, and erosion control      the tree's role in carbon capture, and      the controversy over how this bee tree is also an invasive ecological threat 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]
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  World Bee Day, No Mow May, and Do Bees Dream? 18.05.2026 46min

  Season 8 Episode 7: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – World Bee Day, No Mow May, and Do Bees Dream?   It's No Mow May, World Bee Day is coming up, so, of course, I was wondering if bees dream. 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]
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  Tupelo Honey: Swamps, Bees, and Southern Taste 14.05.2026 42min

  Season 8 Episode 6: About Bees, Culture & Curiosity Podcast – Tupelo Honey: Swamps, Bees, and Southern Taste   In this episode of About Bees, Culture, and Curiosity, we travel into the flooded river forests of Florida and Georgia to explore the remarkable story of tupelo honey - one of the rarest and most celebrated honeys in North America. Produced mainly from the blossoms of the Ogeechee tupelo tree, Nyssa ogeche, tupelo honey has fascinated beekeepers, scientists, musicians, and food lovers for generations. We examine the ecology of the tupelo swamps along the Apalachicola River, the brief spring nectar flow, and the unusual chemistry that gives tupelo honey its legendary sweetness and resistance to crystallization. The episode explores the early history of tupelo beekeeping, including the era when bees and honey were moved through flooded forests by boats and barges. We also examine modern pressures on the tupelo industry, including environmental change, river management, overcrowding of bee yards, and authenticity concerns in premium honey markets. Along the way, we connect the science and folklore of tupelo honey to Van Morrison's classic song "Tupelo Honey" and the film Ulee's Gold, starring Peter Fonda. From native pollinators that visited tupelo trees long before honey bees arrived in North America, to the modern commercial honey harvest, this is the story of a landscape, a tree, and one of the most distinctive honeys ever produced. 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]