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

Weekly 101 (7/5/11)

It's a busy time in Beekeeping! There are 5 great events going on this week!

In lieu of my regular hive inspection, I offer you this.  Same location, more convenient time!

Calling all beekeepers and wanna-bees! We've got an exciting weekend of bee-ness coming up in early July. Kirk Anderson from the Backwards Beekeepers (Los Angeles) is coming to NYC to wax philosophical about treatment-free beekeeping and letting bees be bees. These are two aspects of the method of apiary management that he and his club practice known as "Backwards Beekeeping." I'm a big fan of Kirk's and I'm sure you will be too. Check out this video to see him in action in Los Angeles!

Joining us for a 1PM lecture at Brooklyn Brainery on Saturday, July 9th, will be Sam Comfort from Anarchy Apiaries in the Hudson Valley. After the talk, we'll walk over to Added Value's Red Hook Community Farm around 3:30 for some hive inspections and demos. Tim O'Neal from Borough Bees will also be there as he has been kind enough to let us take a look at some of his hives!

On Sunday , July 10th, Kirk and I will be over at Eagle Street Rooftop Farm for a 2pm workshop on ways to propagate bees naturally and a Q&A session on Backwards Beekeeping. Eagle St will be hosting an Ice Cream Social Fundraiser after, and then the Honeysuckle Rosies will be hosting another Bees N' Beers at 4PM in Greenpoint to allow all the beekeepers who attended to talk shop and share ideas (and of course drink some beerskis in the process!)

Best of all, the events are free. So come out, open up your mind and get ready to let the bees get in yr brains! :)

Yup... This is going to be good. I am going to be at all four events (Brainery, Red Hook, Eagle Street, and Bees N' Beers) so come out, say hi, and learn a metric shit-ton about alternative beekeeping practices.

While my own personal beekeeping style is somewhat more conservative than that practiced by Misters Anderson and Comfort, I am seriously looking forward to learning about their techniques and picking their brains.


Finally, the NYC Beekeeping Group is offering a small group hive inspection this Saturday, July 9th, from 9-Noon:

Been waiting to get a taste of hands-on beekeeping?

Been to class and ready to experience the real thing, but no hives of your own?

Hives of your own, but got questions and want the benefit of an experienced eye?


Here's an opportunity to join us for a guided inspection of a Community Apiary -

We have a limited number of open spots for this session.

Those waitlisted will have priority for the next one.


Please email with any questions: nycbeekeeping@gmail.com

Thanks!

As always with the NYC Beekeeping Group, the event is free and is likely to be very enlightening!

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.

Weekly 101 (Meg Paska Edition)

I have been informed that I missed a couple of upcoming events in my latest Weekly 101 update! Not being one to let INJUSTICE stand, here is a special update, just to make up for it!

First and most excitingly, the Honeysuckle Rosies, a Women's Beekeeping Social Club based in Brooklyn (and the brainchild of Meg Paska), is hosting its FIRST EVER Gab-N-Guzzle.

Come out to the BACK BAR at the Bedford (on Bedford and N 11th) on Tuesday, April 19th for some drinks and bee-talk. This will be a great opportunity for beekeepers in the area to share experiences from the past season and share what they are planning for this current season.

The Bedford has graciously allowed for us to gather at their fine establishment where they serve really great food and outstanding drinks at a reasonable price.

So come on out, all you beekeepers and wanna-bees!

Check out our Fan Page here: http://www.facebook.com/HoneysuckleRosies

It's free, it'll be fun, and there'll be drankin'. I'll be there wearing plaid, trying not to giggle at the name of the club, and sharing my BEE WISDOM. It starts at 7.

GOOOOO!

Meg Paska, on a good day.

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.