Thursday, October 13, 2011

Weekly 101 (10/13/11)


YESSSSSSSSSSSS.

While I may be swamped at work and otherwise, I made time specifically for this.

It's time for the second ever meeting of the Backwards Beekeepers of NYC!
Our October Backwards Beekeepers of NYC meeting is on Thursday the 13th for 7-9pm at 61 Local, the fine establishment in Cobble Hill. They've been kind enough to let us use their wonderful event space for the meeting, and then after we will be enjoying beers, refreshments and other tasty treats down in their bar! Come by, get to know your fellow beekeepers. If you aren't a beekeeper yourself but are interested in becoming one, or hosting a hive for a wanna-bee, you should come by and get involved! All are welcome.

During the actual meeting Megan Paska and I will take turns chatting the room up about our bees, the upside to urban beekeeping and methods of managing bees without the use of chemical inputs. There will be ample time for Q&A and we'll discuss what the future of the club holds! This is only our second meeting so there's tons of room for growth and participation!

61 Local is located at 61 Bergen Street off of the F and the G line (Bergen St.)

ZZZB.
Meg is going to talk about the basic tenets of Backwards Beekeeping; why we exist, why we don't believe that chemicals, pesticides, or treatments of any kind have a place in our hives, and why they might not have a place in yours either.

I'm going to be talking about a specific treatment free beekeeping method: a structured small cell regression. I'm going to cover my research on the subject, the arguments I've heard for and against it, and my experiences actually going ahead and doing it over the last year.

Backwards Beekeepers of NYC
Thursday, October 13th
7PM
61 Local
61 Bergen St, Brooklyn

Bring your drinkin' shoes.



If you're in Williamsburg and need something to do over the weekend, I'll be at the Harvest Festival Hoedown, hosted by City Life Wellness. Starting at Noon on Saturday, October 15th, I'll be giving a short talk on basic beekeeping information, skills, and practices. There's a suggested donation of $5, so please come out and help keep me in hives.

There's a joke in there, somewhere.

I'll also (hopefully) have some honey from Ralph Gaeta and Mizz Beehavin' Apiary FOR SALE. They took home second place in the NYC Honey Festival Honey Tasting, and I helped them extract another 50 pounds of the stuff over the weekend. It's dark, malty, and delicious. If you buy some, you can put it in your mouth.

Or my mouth, if you're into that sort of thing.

Harvest Festival Hoedown
Saturday, October 15th
12PM (Noon)
Meeker Avenue Vintage and Antique Warehouse
75 Frost St, Brooklyn


Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Weekly 101 (10/4/11)

It's that time of the month again.

Yeah.

First Tuesday of the month.

That means it's time for... A MEETING WITH THE NYC BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION! Hooray!

Michael Leung is the founder and creative director of HK Honey - an organisation of Hong Kong beekeepers, artists and designers that aim to communicate the value of bees and benefits of locally produced honey.

Michael will be sharing his stories of how he became Hong Kong's first urban beekeeper, showing us how he mixes beekeeping with design and how he markets and brands his honey and beekeeping related products in Hong Kong.

www.hkhoney.org

Tuesday, October 4th
7pm-9pm
Seafarers & International House
123 East 15th Street
OH YEAH.

I've been seeing a lot of Michael lately; he's been hanging out with my friends Meg Paska, the Brooklyn Homesteader, and Chase Emmons, the head beekeeper of the Brooklyn Grange. He was a huge help at the NYC Honey Festival. This is going to be a really interesting talk, and while I am sorry that I cannot make it, you should show up and tell him that Tim sent you.

DO IT FOR ME, WILL YOU!?


But have no fear, for even if you must miss this sweet meeting, you can always come join me for my FREE PUBLIC HIVE INSPECTION at the Added Value Community Farm in Red Hook, this Saturday at 11AM.

Taken with actual film.
None of that instagram crap here.
c2011, Michael Leung

I won't tell you what is going to happen, but I will tell you that it will be exciting either way. YES SIRREE BOB!  My car is in the shop, so I will be chauffeured by my lovely assistant, Emily Vaughn.  You'll get to meet her!  Ask her questions!  See her play with bees!  EXCITING!

I'll be there bright and early, rip-roarin' to go, and I'll start the talk and demo at 11AM or SOON THEREAFTER. Be on time! Get there early! Get your hands dirty on the farm! The demo will take place during open volunteer hours, so stick around afterwards! YES!

P.S. DID I MENTION THAT IT'S FREE!?

It's all going down at the Added Value Red Hook Community Farm, located at 3-49 Halleck St, Brooklyn, 11231, and I'll be starting the inspection at 11AM on Saturday, October 8th.

To get there by Subway:
A/C/F train to Jay Street/Borough Hall. Exit the station and walk west to Boerum Place and Joralemon Street. Take the B61 bus going towards Red Hook. Exit the bus at the IKEA store, and the farm is across the street.
R to 4th Ave/9th St. Take the B61 bus going towards Red Hook/IKEA on 9th st. Exit the bus at the IKEA store, and the farm is across the street.