Video: Bees on a Hot Summer Day

I filmed the above video this afternoon. Please forgive the mess up on Bee Glad... The view finder is so hard to see in the bright sun.

Video: Honeybees On A Plum Tree

I took this video last week and neglected to upload it until this morning.

Beelandia.com is Online

Monta and I have finally put the finishing touches on a new website named Beelandia.com. This new website will serve as a companion to this blog.

The Beelandia.com contains summaries of the bee projects I am working on, articles and reviews I've written, thoughts on issues and topics of concern to beekeepers, as well as videos and photos from the Beelandia apiary and bee activities in and around Winona Minnesota. Artist, Monta May, designed the site.

I hope you all read and enjoy the site. Please visit it often.

Beelandia in August

Video: A Walking Tour of Beelandia

Videos From Beelandia (3/6/10)

I took some videos this afternoon in the the Beelandia apiary of the 5 hives. All were active on this bright, 40 degree day. The first hive is Lib-BEE-taria .



The next is Bee Glad....



The third is Metpropolis:



Fourth, Nuc To Be Named Later:



And last, Plan Bee From Outer Space.

Videos of Saturday's Winter Flights

I got my cellphone working right and was finally to upload two short videos I filmed yesterday in Beelandia. The first shows some initial activity at the top entrance of Lib-BEE-taria,the langstroth hive inhabited by carniolan bees. The second is activity in front of Metpropolis, the top bar hive containing a colony of italian bees. The board most of the bees have landed on in this video is leaning against the hive in order to keep the entrance from receiving direct exposure to cold winds.

Please pardon the poor quality of this video as it was filmed from my phone. Next time I will out there with our proper video equipment.

Video: Natural Beekeeping Class Preparing for Winter

Video: Monta's Mead A-Brewing

My partner, Monta, uses some of the honey produced in Beelandia to brew mead. This video shows three batches started on Labor Day bubbling away.

Video: Afterswarm

Here is a video of an afterswarm that issued from Plan Bee... No, I did not catch it.

Video: Bee Activity At the Entrance to "Bee Glad..."

A short video of the entrance to one of the hives in Beelandia. Look closely and you will notice a number of interesting behaviors occurring: "wash boarding", ventilation of the hive, the exit and return of foragers.

Video: Top Bar Hive ConstructionSimply

I like top bar hives for a number of reasons, including their ease of construction. Top bar hives can be constructed simply using recycled and reused materials. The following video shows just how simple it is to build one of your own.

A special thanks to Outofabluesky for uploading this video on youtube.

Video: Russian Bees in a Warre

I finally got to read Kim Flottum's column in this month's Bee Culture. He suggests we all move to keeping Russian honey bees because of their resistance to mites. As a northern United States beekeeper, I would expect these bees are also more suited to my colder environment. I would eventually like to maintain some but, as of yet, these bees are not available within a reasonable distance from me. I suppose I could install a queen the hives I have.

Larry, a poster on the Warre email list, posted a short video of his Russian bees. So in honor of my pondering, here it is:

Video: Metpropolis

Video: Bees Drinking in Lake No-Bee-Gone

Video: NYC Swarm

The only thing that concerns me about this video is the way the announcer subtly reinforces negative stereotypes about the bees... However, it is good seeing bees reinhabit urban areas.

Experiences in My Global Issues Course

This semester I am using Michael Schacker's A Spring Without Bees in my Global Issues course. It has been serving as the basis for helping my students think about environmental global issues. I have supplemented this reading with the wealth of videos about honey bees and CCD available on the internet. The reaction toward this topic has been phenomenal. I am being constantly bombarded by student questions and interest. I am approached in the hallway after class with even more discussion about bees and their social and ecological environment. In all, this topic has peaked their interest in a way no other topic has.

I am left with mixed feelings as I do this, however. On the one hand, it is wonderful to discuss this topic with truly engaged students for a change. In my 27 years of university teaching, this has been a very rare experience. On the other hand, it has increased my bitterness toward the university that will not support me in expanding this topic into a full semester Global Issues course. I wish the institution trusted my intuition and experience more than they do.

Video: Disturbing Video and Comments

This video and the comments it has received on youtube are rather disturbing and depressing, but it does demonstrate the need for more "bee" education, as well as, environmental/ecological awareness. The comments, mostly by what seems to be male posters, do seem to support the contentions of ecofeminism, however.