Friday, February 18, 2011

Report From Home

"Bee report: Good population and honey in all four hives. :-)"

As texted from my dad in Ohio after his first early spring check.  You can see the bag of grease patties he is about to give the hives in the baggie he's holding.

In Ohio, we have a hive of Minnesota Hygienic hybrid bees, as developed by Marla Spivak, and multiple Carnolian hybrid hives that were captured as swarms.  The latter hives are a bit more aggressive than the Hygienics, but they seem to be remarkable producers and overwintering well.

I'm looking forward to my next trip home to Ohio, so that I can work with them some more!

Monday, February 14, 2011

Weekly 101 Update (2/14/11)

It's GROUP ORDER TIME! SORRY FOR THE LATE NOTICE, BUT ORDERS ARE DUE TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 15th! THAT'S TOMORROW!

If any of y'all were planning on ordering bees or equipment for the coming Spring, now would be an excellent time to do it. The NYC Beekeeping Group is putting together their yearly group order and the more people who participate, the cheaper it'll be for everyone! Socialism! Hoo-ray!

Packages of bees will be trucked up overnight from GA and delivered directly into the city, and will cost ~$80/package. I'm ordering my own new bees with this order, so you should as well.

If you need to order and aren't already on their mailing list, email Liane at nycbeekeeping@gmail.com.
Greetings all NYC Beekeeping Bee Lovers, Beekeepers & Beginners:

We welcome you to participate in our Spring Co-op Order this year -- We are stronger together!

If you are currently registered or bought with us last year, you should already have received the link.

If you have not yet received a link to the [order] form and want to participate, please reply to this email and we'll get you on the right lists.

Thanks for your interest, and please forgive us if you are receiving this in duplicate.

Kind regards,

The Spring Order Team

There is NO NYC Beekeeping Group class this week. Instead, they are hosting a super-exciting talk by a serious expert on bee society this Saturday!
Dr. Tom Seeley - "Honeybee Democracy: How Bees Choose a Home"

Honey bees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honey bees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective group decision making. Dr. Thomas D. Seeley, a professor of animal behavior at Cornell University and a passionate beekeeper, will tell the amazing story that he and others have unravelled of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees.

He will describe how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together—as a swirling cloud of bees—to their new home. He will also suggest that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority will should be counted on for a dependable resolution.

We must charge a modest admission fee to defray the costs of this event. The talk is open to the public, but you can pay here online via Amazon to reserve, as seating is limited. We will also have copies of Tom Seeley's books available for purchase at the event.

The cost will be $9 and seating will be limited, so RSVP on their site here: LINKY

The talk is being held on Saturday, Feb 19th from 2pm to 4pm, at The Arsenal in Central Park.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Twitterpated!

Thank You to everyone who came out to the Brooklyn Kitchen for the honey extraction today!

I've been twitterpated!
Original imaged twittered by The Brooklyn Kitchen

I had a lot of fun talking with you all and answering your questions, and I hope that you enjoyed yourself as well.

With your support, we sold enough honey to pay for the new extractor! That is both A.) Amazing, and B.) Awesome. You'll be able to see it in action again this summer. Or maybe sooner!

The Brooklyn Kitchen is owed a HUGE thank you for hosting us! Hopefully we can hang out again soon!

P.S. If you were at the event and took pictures, would you please share them with me? My email is BoroughBees@gmail.com!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Something Awesome This Way Comes

Guess what I've been reading. . . .

Anyhow, as I alluded to in my last post, there is going to be a SUPER AWESOME BEEKEEPING EVENT this Saturday the 12th of February!

Are y’all up on tenterhooks? You should be.

This Saturday, the Red Hook Beekeeper's Co-Op will be hosting a public honey extraction at the Brooklyn Kitchen in Williamsburg! We're going to bust out our brand-new extractor and spin out all the bright-red maraschino-cherry-factory honey that we have left under the watchful eyes of the bee-loving public.

We're going to be selling Red Hook Red Honey gift sets—1oz. Pyrex test tubes filled with maraschino cherry honey, corked, sealed with local beeswax, and set in a handmade wooden base created from salvaged warehouse structural beams.

The perfect gift for the bee lover in your life!

Test tube samples are only $5, and the set including the base is only $15.

There will also be a very limited quantity of local, NON-red honey from David Selig's hives in Rockaway, Queens. Jars and bottles for filling will be purchasable at the Brooklyn Kitchen and we'll fill them at $10/pound (this may change) until we run out.

Hope to see you there!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Weekly 101 Update (2/9/11)

I just got wind of a special event being hosted by the NYC Beekeeping Meetup Group:
Dr. Tom Seeley - "Honeybee Democracy: How Bees Choose a Home"

Honey bees make decisions collectively—and democratically. Every year, faced with the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home, honey bees stake everything on a process that includes collective fact-finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. In fact, these incredible insects have much to teach us when it comes to collective wisdom and effective group decision making. Dr. Thomas D. Seeley, a professor of animal behavior at Cornell University and a passionate beekeeper, will tell the amazing story that he and others have unravelled of house hunting and democratic debate among the honeybees.

He will describe how these bees evaluate potential nest sites, advertise their discoveries to one another, engage in open deliberation, choose a final site, and navigate together—as a swirling cloud of bees—to their new home. He will also suggest that what works well for bees can also work well for people: any decision-making group should consist of individuals with shared interests and mutual respect, a leader's influence should be minimized, debate should be relied upon, diverse solutions should be sought, and the majority will should be counted on for a dependable resolution.

We must charge a modest admission fee to defray the costs of this event. The talk is open to the public, but you can pay here online via Amazon to reserve, as seating is limited. We will also have copies of Tom Seeley's books available for purchase at the event.

The cost will be $9 and seating will be limited, so RSVP on their site here: LINKY Edit: The talk is being held on Saturday, Feb 19th from 2pm to 4pm, at The Arsenal In Central Park, New York. (Thanks, Emily.)


For those of you who have been attending the New York City Beekeeping Meetup Group FREE Winter course (you should be), there is a lecture Thursday night , 2/10/11 (tomorrow), at the Central Park Armory.

Today's topic:
38 Days ‘Till Spring!

The Spring Equinox is March 20th, and bees are at their most energetic in spring.

We will compare a feral hive in a tree with an overwintered colony in the care of a beekeeper, and then compare both with “packages” and “nucs” in newly-established hives.

The issue of why plants provide nectar and pollen will be considered and the “arms race” between plants who want to get pollinated and “pollinators”, who merely want groceries, will be revealed and illustrated with some of the more complex and devious weapons evolved by each.

As always, RSVP with the group on their website.


And for those of you who have been wondering why I've been so lazy updating my blog, don't you fret. I've been planning some fun stuff with some other folks. For instance, were you to be in Williamsburg on Saturday, February 12th, say around 12PM, near the corner of Frost & Meeker, you might run into me.

And other, local beekeepers.

And awesomeness.

Faux serious? NO! FOR SERIOUS!

Stay tuned for details.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Weekly 101 Update (2/1/11)

For those of you who have been attending the New York City Beekeeping Meetup Group FREE Winter course (you should be), there is a lecture Thursday night, 2/3/11, at the Central Park Armory.

Today's topic:
"Wooden? Where?"

In preparation for our Co-Operative equipment order, we will review choices that the beekeeper has in hiving his bees, and cover the advantages and drawbacks of each of the major woodenware equipment types, comparing each to the natural home for bees, a rotted-out tree trunk.

We will review Langstroth in the various box depths, Kenyan Top Bar and other "horizontal hives", the Warre hive type and other "foundationless frame" approaches, with an eye to how they respect "bee space", and encourage the bees to build moveable comb that can be inspected without doing damage to the comb or the bees.

We'll also go over the extensive array of complex gadgetry offered to beekeepers buy the supply house, and compare them with the very small set of simple tools we suggest beekeepers use.

Those who attended the Demo Session on November 13th may find this repeats some of what was covered in that session.

However if you did not attend that session and you are preparing to keep honeybees, this is a very useful session. This is also a good entry point for anyone who joined us recently.

As always, RSVP with the group on their website.


I have also been informed of two other classes that will be offered this Winter/Spring.

The New York City Beekeeping Association will be offering it's annual beginner's course in February and March. Here's their blurb:
TAKE A BASIC URBAN BEEKEEPING COURSE AND BE READY FOR 2011!

The NYCBA is offering a course in 2011 for the absolute beginner and novice beekeeper. This course is 12 hours long, spread out over four Sundays, PLUS an apiary visit in April.

The fee is $150.00 for the entire course. Our volunteer instructors are professional beekeepers with a collective half century of experience.

COURSE DATES:
Sundays 12:00 - 3:00 pm
February 13th, 20th, 27th
March 6th (make up date March 13th, in case of bad weather)

The visit of the York Prep rooftop apiary will take place in April, exact date tba

LOCATION:
York Prep
40 W 68th St
New York, NY 10023

I haven't attended or participated in their beginner course, so I can't offer any advice regarding the quality of the class itself, but I will say that the organization is fantastic and hosts wonderful, monthly guest lectures by some great beekeepers from all over the country. At the very least, you should attend their regular meetings! You'll definitely see me there.


On top of THAT, I have been informed (thanks, Adam) that HoneybeeLives.org will be offering their own weekend-long Intro to Organic Beekeeping course February 5&6 at the Commons in Brooklyn:
Learn about the basic requirements and responsibilities for organic beekeeping. Understand the community of a hive, the tools involved, elements of site selection, where you can obtain honeybees and equipment, and an understanding of a naturalist approach to their needs. This class introduces students to a nurturing way of beekeeping, and a philosophy of respect and love for these amazing creatures. There is a hands-on demonstration of assembling a wooden hive, and extensive class handouts to help new beekeepers.

Topics will include: hive congruency and design to benefit the colony; Honeybee health and disease management the organic way; seasonal concerns and methods; as well as imparting the value of respecting the lives and needs of your bees. Top Bar Hive beekeeping will be discussed.

I have not worked with anyone in or affiliated with this organization, so I cannot attest to it's quality. The course costs $200 dollars, and you can register by going to their website.