About Bees, Culture & Curiosity

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]