Weekly 101 (9/16/11)

Well, so I won't be hosting an inspection at Added Value this Saturday. But babies, don't you panic; you can get your beekeeping fix this Saturday at the FIRST ANNUAL NYC HONEY FESTIVAL!

I sure do like bees.  And festivals.
I REALLY like festivals.
Carnies everywhere.
That isn't true.

YES!

Come down to the Rockaway Beach Boardwalk at 96th St to check out more beekeeping activities and events than you can shake a package at.

Over the course of the day, we will be hosting:
LIVE EXTRACTION DEMOS!
BEEKEEPING 101 Q&A!
COOKING DEMOS HOSTED BY GROWING CHEFS!
HONEY TASTINGS!
SPECIAL BREWS FROM SIX POINT!
LIVE BEES!
AND MORE!

I AM PRETTY EXCITED!

Even better, if you are a local beekeeper, enter your honey into our Honey Tasting! The link to sign up is HERE! The honey deemed the best by our judges will receive prizes.

Good prizes.

An 8 frame copper top hive, donated by Brushy Mountain Bee Farm!
-and-
A matching 8 frame Ultimate Hive Stand, donated by Bee Smart Designs!

The Grand Prize for Best Local Honey!

Photo from www.BrushyMountainBeeFarm.com

PLUS, a sweet new Ultimate Hive Stand from Bee Smart Designs.
Jealous.  Ugh.

Honestly, I'm just sad that I can't enter.

So come out and say "Hi!" Meet some bees! Meet some beekeepers! See what all the buzz is about!

NYC Honey Festival
Rockaway Beach Boardwalk @ 96th St
Saturday, September 17th
10AM to 6PM
www.NYCHoneyFest.com

Week 9 Followup

While my talented apprentice, Emily, writes about the experience of doing her first solo hive check, here is a short film that was created by Adrian Bautista, Martha Glenn, and Brooke Tascona from footage taken during the Week 9 Hive check.

It looks fantastic, I don't sound like a complete goober, and it got picked up by Food, Inc. Even better, Kazumi, the other beekeeper featured in the video, is partnered with Phil, a student from my first ever Beekeeping 101 class at the Brooklyn Brainery! I'm totally proud of y'all!

Jawesome!


Urban Beekeeping: NYC from Adrian Bautista on Vimeo.

This short documentary explores the growing urban beekeeping movement in New York City and focuses on the stories of Tim O'Neal, creator of the Borough Bees blog, and Kazumi Terada, a novice beekeeper.

Adrian Bautista, Martha Glenn, and Brooke Tascona made this documentary for the Design and Technology: Sound and Vision course at Parsons New School for Art and Design during the summer semester 2011.

Shot on a Panasonic AG-HMC 150 HD Camcorder and a Canon EOS 7D Camera.

Tim O'Neal's website: http://www.boroughbees.com

Music: English by Paper Tiger

Thanks again for the pictures, video, and love!

Weekly 101 (Bees Are Finally Here Edition)

As you may have gathered from my previous post and the title of this post, we have active hives again! Hooray!

In terms of bee events going on around the city, this means that there is going to be a shift from theoretical/classroom based events to practical/field/hands-on classes, seminars, and talks.

Still, there isn't a whole lot going on this week.

WITH ONE EXCEPTION!!!

I am going to be hosting my first FREE PUBLIC HIVE INSPECTION at the Added Value Farm in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The nucs have been installed into their new homes and they'll be ready for their first inspection this Saturday, May 21st, at 1 PM. Everyone is welcome to attend and watch me work the bees. If you're feeling courageous and have a veil, you're welcome to participate and get some hands on experience with guidance from an experienced beekeeper! (Me!)

Starting at 1 PM, I will go through a basic inspection for each hive, starting with a lesson on lighting a smoker, moving on to visual inspections of the comb and a short talk on what to keep your eye out for (with examples!), and finishing up with another short talk on what we should expect to see in the next inspection.

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.

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.
F/G to Smith and 9th Street. Exit the station to the rear of the train (there is only one exit in this station). Transfer to the B77 (right in front of the station) Take the B77 to Van Dyke and Dwight street. You'll find yourself in front of the Liberty Heights Taproom. Take a left crossing Dwight Street and proceed up Van Dyke to Red Hook Community Farm (one block walk, from the bus stop you can actually see the farm at the end of the street).

This event is taking place during the Farm's open volunteer hours, so anyone who comes out should consider sticking around for a while after the inspection to help out! I'll be sticking around for a while to answer any lingering questions and hang!

Swedish meatball afterparty anyone?

Special thanks to Added Value for hosting this, and future, FREE PUBLIC HIVE INSPECTIONS! They're doing great work, and are always looking for volunteers. If you'd like to help them out, check out their website here!

Weekly 101 (4/20/11)

I have no internet at home right now (it went up in smoke), so please bear with my lame update.

For those of you who may have missed it on my calendar page, there is a showing of Vanishing of the Bees happening Thursday the 21st (tomorrow)at 6PM, sponsored by Whole Foods!

Vanishing of the Bees

http://www.vanishingbees.com/events/?event_id=191

Hosted as part of the Whole Foods 'Do Something Reel' Film Festival

Time : Thursday, April 21 2011 6.00 PM to 12.00 AM
Venue:City Cinemas Village East
Address
181-189 2nd Avenue
& East 12th St
New York, NY. 10012

Tickets are $13
For more information contact 212-529-6799
http://www.villageeastcinema.com
http://www.dosomethingreel.com/.

After the film, there will be a panel discussion and Q&A featuring YOURS TRULY, Jim Fischer from the NYC Beekeeping Group, my beekeeping apprentice and Slow Foods International Biodiversity Wizard Emily Vaughn, and other cool like-minded folks! Exciting!


Also exciting, I am going to be giving two short talks on beekeeping in the city at the Brooklyn Children's Museum on Friday the 22nd as part of their Earth Day Celebration!

Celebrate Earth: Busy City Bees

11:30 and 1.30, for ages 4 and up

Farming is the last thing most people think happens in NYC, but bee farmers help keep all community and window gardens full of fruits and veggies. Find out why bees are so important and what it is like raising bees in the city.

If you stop by, they'll be showing a short film and I'll be answering questions starting at 11.30AM and 1.30PM!

I'm going to have cool props and a cooler assistant (Emily!)

Admission to the museum is only $7.50. The chance to see NYC's largest snake is worth that price alone! It's shedding! So cool!


For those of you that have missed the latest crop of Beekeeping 101 courses offered in the city this spring, Meg Paska is teaching a late session of her excellent "Rooftop Beekeeping 101" course at 3rd Ward in Brooklyn, starting May 1st.

Beekeeping isn’t just for farmers anymore! Learn the ins-and-outs of keeping bees in an urban environment. Maintaining an apiary is easier than you think. All one needs is a relatively accessible rooftop with a lot of sun, 15 minutes a week and tolerance for the occasional sting. With some patience, you can harvest your own distinctive, local honey and contribute to the pollination of your community’s flora!

In spite of what you might think, Honeybees thrive in urban areas like New York City. With an abundance of flowering trees and weeds, pollinators have their pick of as much nectar and pollen as any country bee might. In addition, they don’t come into contact with pesticides like rural bees do, so colonies tend to be healthier.

In this class you will learn about honeybee anatomy and behavior, hive function and construction, neighborly relations, urban beekeeping pros and cons, disease and pests, legality and safety and much more. You will leave this class with enough understanding and confidence to start your own colony in the Spring.

It'll be too late to start a colony for 2010, but that doesn't mean you can't start getting ready for 2011! The class is $80 for 3rdWard members and $100 for non-members. Spaces are limited and Meg is a great beekeeper to learn from, so snag a spot WHILE YOU STILL CAN!

Sign up at www.3rdWard.com.


Finally, the NYC Beekeeping Group was kind enough to remind me that they have an upcoming seminar on solitary bees on Wednesday, April 20th! If you aren't ready (or interested) in keeping honeybees, hosting a solitary bee nest is an absolutely fantastic way to help support native pollinators with minimum fuss!

Bee Lovers !

Sign up now at the Solitaries Program (form link) to be included in the Bee Lovers's Solitary Bees program this year. You'll receive a nest with bees ready to hatch, and two seminars: an Introduction presented on [April 20th], and a Fall Lab Seminar where you'll check the health of your nest and discover what other pollinators may have laid there. PLEASE PICK UP YOUR BEES SATURDAY APRIL 16th AT THE HABANA EARTHDAY EVENT (12-5)

We're collecting $25 per unit to defray costs. All funds are used to support exclusively charitable and public purposes. Please bring payment, check or cash (checks preferred) when you pick up your bees.

$25 is a small price to pay for the satisfaction of helping to maintain a healthy and diverse population of pollinators!

Remember to RSVP at their website, www.NYCBeekeeping.com.

Oh God... I'm on Twitter.

Servin' up bee facts and answering questions!

Follow me @BoroughBees!

I even put a fancy little widget on the right of my blog so you can see what I'm jabberin' about. So fancy! So modern! Such a sell-out!