How it all started
Ron Miksha grew up on a farm that had honey bees, vegetable crops, and greenhouses. At age 16, with a freshly-acquired driver’s license, Ron’s father put him in charge of the family’s 300 colonies of bees, located on 15 widely-separated locations in the Appalachian foothills.
Ron’s experiences in beekeeping
Ron Miksha: ron@aboutbees.net
1980-2010 Commercial beekeeper and queen breeder
2000-2023 Articles published in American Bee Journal, Bee Culture, BeesCene, British Beekeepers’ Quarterly, Deutsches Bienen-Journal
2010-2024 Hobby urban beekeeper
2015-2023 Instructor Calgary and District Beekeepers Association Beginning Beekeeping Course
2018-2023 ABee Landing Board editor
2018-2023 Mentor to Tsuut’ina beekeepers; led Native Beekeepers’ Conference with Chief Crowchild
2019 Presented two papers at International Federation of Beekeepers (Apimondia) Conference, Montreal
2019-2020 Teaching Excellence Award, University Calgary
2019-2023 University of Calgary bee ecology Masters’ research
2019-2023 Interviewed by Global, CTV (local and national), CBC (See here, here, here, and here – among others)
Recent:
2024 March: Co-presenter of Bees and the Physics of Frequencies, with Chief Lee Crowchild at Telus Spark Centre Indigenous Program
2024 February 15: Panelist for Alberta Government’s CitSci Forum
2023 October 1: CBC Calgary beekeeping interview
2023 September 29-October 1: Presented three talks at Northern Lights Beekeeping Conference (Honey Bee vs Native Bee; Sweetest Honey in the World; Beekeeping Economics)
2023 September CBC Interview: Bumble bee plight
2020-2023 Alberta Director, Western Apicultural Society
2022 Canadian Vet Med Assoc Symposium (SCVMA) presenter, Honey Bee Diseases Module
2022 Alberta Farm Animal Care Association: Beekeeping Training Videos
2022 co-author The Beekeeper’s Role: Caring for and Protecting Alberta’s Honey Bees (This book is also available in Spanish)
2022 April ABJ “Do Bees Feel Pain?”
2021 April ABJ “Keeping Honey Bees for the Wrong Reasons”
2021-2023 Designed and taught beekeeping vocational course, Drumheller Correctional Institute
2002-2024 Owner of About Bees, the teaching arm of ALBERTA 989460 LTD.
Our approach
Beekeeping is best learned from an experienced professional teamed with a newer beekeeper who knows what it’s like to play with the bees for the first time. Ron and Linda will set you at ease and will be sure that you know everything you need to know to have a successful beekeeping year.
About Bees 