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.

Weekly 101 (9/2/11)

First, a message from Meg Paska

Hey Everyone!

Happy Friday! I'm very glad to report that everyone at Newton Farm was kept safe from the destructive, deadly flooding in Greene County caused by Irene this week. There was quite a bit of flooding at the farm but Lynn, Cindy and Co were able to salvage a ton of produce. Beyond that, we are fortunate that our farm is situated on very well drained soil so we expect many of the root crops to be just fine.

I am writing because I just received a call from Lynn that she will be back in BK with a HUGE haul of produce that we will need to sell ASAP! Please come by the Renegade CSA to purchase some and support the farm. We will be on N11th street near Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, situated behind The Bedford (a restaurant and bar that serves our produce). We'll be out on the stoop drinking wine and marveling at how great it is to be alive!

We will also have with us:
- LOADS of heirloom tomatoes
- wonderful, crisp cucumbers
- tender collards
- massive bins of fresh herbs
- heirloom squash
- sweet corn
- potatoes
- beans
- soybean free, organic eggs

If you purchase any of our $20 CSA bags in the past and would like to pick one up tonight, bring a tote bag with you and we will honor that arrangement. It will include a half dozen eggs, and an assortment of greens, veggies and herbs.

It is also worth noting that there are many other farms in the area that were far less fortunate than we were. Please consider checking out this link on how you can help farmers and residents effected by the devastation Irene caused. Clothing, supplies, non-perishable food and monetary donations are all needed to help the families and businesses that have lost everything because of the flooding this week. We will have a box for clothing and non-perishable donations that will be dropped off by our farmers upon our return to the farm.

Thank you for your time and we hope to see many of you this evening!

Lynn is great, and so is Newton farm, so you should come out TONIGHT, say 'Hi!' and support local, healthy, sustainable, organic agriculture and beekeeping. Upstate New York took all the shit from Irene that we didn't, so come and lend a hand!


If you can't make it tonight, you should come out to the Added Value Red Hook Community Farm tomorrow for a FREE public hive inspection. The bees survived Irene, and so I'm going to be doing my first post-hurricane inspection, making sure that everyone is healthy, happy, and productive. I'll also be moving the hives back to their regular stands, so I could use some help lifting because I am a giant weakling.

Feel free to bring your own beekeeping gear and actively participate in the inspection. I love hosting guest beekeepers of all ages and experiences!

If you can, you should plan to stick around and help out at the farm after the inspection! They got hit pretty hard by Irene and could use all the hands they can get to help clean up and get the farm productive again. Hope to see you there!

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.

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).

Finally, the NYC Beekeepers Association is hosting a free beekeeping talk on Tuesday, September 6th.

Welcome back bee lovers!

Join the NYCBA on September 6th at the usual place at 7PM. This month's speaker is NYPD's beekeeper, Tony "Bees" Planakis. Tony will regale us with his tellings of life as NYPD's beekeeper. From the 1970's when Tony started keeping bees with his father in Connecticut after the two of them spent a summer in Crete learning about beekeeping, which was a family tradition for the Planakis clan. Tony kept up with the bees as a teenager, and after a stint in the army, joined the NYPD and continued to work bees, large and small scale, until the present day. Most recently Tony has enjoyed some high profile sting operations in Chinatown and Little Italy, where he has captured swarms from mailboxes and lampposts, sometimes with some help from various NYCBA regulars.

Also, Honeydrop (www.Honeydrop.com) will be providing honey based beverages for everybody, so, come thirsty and drink up.

One and all always welcome in our urban hive.

Tuesday, September 6th
7pm-9pm
Seafarers & International House
123 East 15th Street

I probably won't be able to make it since I have to pick up my CSA, but it should be a really interesting talk. Tony was the beekeeper who rescued the bees from the damaged colony in Fort Greene Park, as recently featured in the NY Times.

Also, it's free. Hooray!

Weekly 101 (8/16/11)

I HAVEN'T DONE ONE OF THESE IN AGES OH GOD SO MUCH TO DO THIS WEEK!

The time has arrived! The first meeting of the NYC chapter of the Backwards Beekeepers is here!

Brooklyn Grange will be hosting on their vast rooftop farm, Sam Comfort will be there waxing philosophical about treatment-free beekeeping...growing strong bees, resisting the urge to rely on chemical crutches to keep your bees alve, catching wild bees, swarming, all of the things that make a beekeeper "backwards".

We hope that many of you can make it. We encourage folks to bring a small jar of the honey they harvested this season so that we can all . We'll have some fresh baked bread from Roberta's on hand to serve along side of it while we marvel at the genius of bees and the hazy Manhattan skyline.

While you are at it, we hope you will "like" our Facebook fan page too! We'll post updates frequently and share pictures of our beekeeping adventures as well as dates for upcoming classes and workshops led by some of our members, like Tim O'Neal, Sam and myself!

Hope to see many of you urban beeks there!

p.s. Big, big, BIG UPS to Renee Garner for designing our logo. It's freaking awesome and we're so lucky to have such talented people willing to help us out! You're amazing, Renee!

The first meeting is being held at the Brooklyn Grange on Thursday, August the 18th from 6:30-9PM. It's right by the 36th st E/M/R Station in Queens! I'm a founding member, so the only reason not to show up is because you don't love me OR the bees!

It will also be followed by a drinking session at a local watering hole hosted by the Honeysuckle Rosies (I'm never not going to find that name ridiculous, Meg.)


Tomorrow (Wednesday the 17th) there is a FREE beekeeping round table and honey tasting at the Union Square Greenmarket:

Greenmarket's Beekeeping Roundtable
Wednesday, August 17th
6:30-8pm FREE
Bee-friend local beekeepers at a honey tasting and informational on keeping bees and harvesting honey at the Union Square Pavilion. Hear from experienced beekeepers, Greenmarket's own David Graves and Meg Paska a Brooklyn-based "Backyard Homesteader" and blogger, and taste an array of honey from light to dark varieties that result from a number of local flowers and processing techniques.

I am going to be there after I get a haircut! I'll try not to shed on you!


EXCITINGLY, now that I am back from vacation (still pale), I'll be hosting one of my FREE Public Hive Inspections at the Red Hook Community Farm, across the street from IKEA and starting at 11AM on August 20th. Come for the flatpacks, stay for the bees!

Starting at 11, 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.

In an exciting turn of events, one of the hives may have been robbed out and destroyed by its neighbor while I was gone! Come and see the aftermath of the CARNAGE!

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!

If you ARE feeling brave and want to help out, consider wearing light colored long pants and a collared shirt. I've got an extra veil I can lend out to particularly courageous volunteers!

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!


FINALLY, in a late breaking update, the NYC Beekeeping group is hosting a Sunday Morning Hive inspection in Manhattan:

Start time is 10.30am, but may shift so please check back toward the weekend. There will be an opportunity to help harvest after inspection, so bring a hat (or you'll have to wear a funny-looking shower cap in the kitchen.)

ID is required to enter this location. Directions will go out to all participants - Parking may be something of a challenge even on Sunday so please allow extra time if you are driving.

Please bring your veil/jacket & hive tool if you have. Standard attire is long pants and closed shoes with socks so you can tuck in your pants.

As always, those remaining on the wait list from last time have priority for this event. If you get wait listed for this one, you'll have priority next time.

It's happening Sunday, August 21, 2011 at 10:00 AM! If you want to find out where, you have to sign up at their website, or email them at nycbeekeeping@gmail.com!

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 (3/30/11)

Another slow week! All the beekeepers in the city are scrambling to get set up for the arrival of packages in April, so we don't have too much time to give talks and futz about on the internet.

HOWEVER, as I mentioned last week, the NYC Beekeeping Group is hosting a guest lecture by Prof. Dewey Caron!

This is the second in our Guest Lecture Series. Dr. Caron is a much appreciated speaker and the author of a major textbook on bees. This is an excellent entry point for new members, and promises to be enriching for those who have been attending class.

TOPIC THIS LECTURE:

The key to successful bee stewardship is a working understanding of two important cycles the life cycle of the workers and the seasonal cycle of the bee colony. Looking into a colony we review the life cycle and check that it is progressing normally for workers if drones and queens are being reared that provides us some additional clues as to what is happening.

Concentrating on the key features of the annual seasonal cycle, anticipating versus simply reacting to developments in the colony, can significantly improve annual harvest and/or enjoyment of your bees. I will discuss both life and seasonal cycles and provide an update on the bee loss epidemic.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER:

Prof Caron was a PhD student of Dr. Roger Morse at Cornell. Dewey filled in for Roger as a teacher of his popular introductory beekeeping course and helped insure completion of the Dyce Honey Bee Lab when Roger went on sabbatical. Following Cornell, Dewey was apiculturist at the University of Maryland, and then became Dept Chair at University of Delaware.

He served as Professor and Extension Entomologist, teaching introductory courses in entomology, and wildlife biology and beekeeping, and did research or pollination, bee mites, bee pests and queen replacement /swarming. He helped initiate the EAS Master Beekeeper program in 1981. He retired from U DE, but you wouldn't think he was retired from his schedule.

The talk is happening TONIGHT Wednesday, March 30th at 6:30 PM and has a suggested donation of $9.99. As usual, the talk is being held at the Central Park Armory.

RSVP by emailing Liane at nycbeekeeping@gmail.com or going to their website at www.nycbeekeeping.com.

Weekly 101 (3/8/11)

Okay, so I'm pretty excited about tonights FREE Winter Beekeeping Course lecture, hosted by the NYC Beekeeping group tonight:

"There's No Place Like Comb"
Instructor: Jim Fischer

When a beekeeper looks at a hive, the beekeeper looks at combs. Combs and their condition are the best way to gauge a hive's health, robustness, past problems, and future fate.

We will take the accumulated knowledge we have gained of bee behavior and the factors that contribute to and hamper their ability to thrive, and look at high-resolution photos showing good examples of what the beekeeper should look for when looking at a hive.

To show you all these different conditions "in the field" in one season would require us to carefully inspect hundreds of hives and have unprecedented luck. These photos are the accumulated "best examples" found by the instructor in over 25 years of beekeeping.

There is true beauty in the work of bees, so while we all play armchair detective, we will also take a moment now and again to admit just how humbling beekeeping should be.

Class starts tonight, Tuesday March 8th at 6:30PM.

As always, classes are held at the Central Park Armory and RSVPs are a must. To get on the list, email Liane at NYCBeekeeping@gmail.com! I'll see you there!

Weekly 101 Update (3/1/11)

Oy. . . .

Things have been busy! Spring is a beekeeper's busiest time, when a young (wo)man's fancy turns into a box of stinging insects and delicious, delicious honey. On top of (not) writing articles for my blog, I'm in the midst of teaching my Beekeeping 101 course at the Brooklyn Brainery, assembling equipment, and prepping my apiaries for the new bees that are coming April 9th.

For those of you who have just GOTTA GET YOUR BEEKEEPING FIX RIGHT NOW, today is your lucky day.

There are TWO schweet lectures happening tonight! It's disappointing that you'll have to choose between the two because they both sound very interesting, but such is life. You can't go wrong with either of them.

As usual, the NYC Beekeeping Group is hosting a session of it's FREE Winter Beekeeping Course, tonight at 6:30. Tonights lecture topic is:

"PACKAGES, SPLITS, NUCS, AND STUPID BEEKEEPER TRICKS"

Last time, "making a split", was mentioned as one way to deal with a hive showing clear signs of swarm preperation. Beekeepers makes splits, nucs, and even shake bees into packages to make two colonies from one.

We will walk through the process of making various types of splits, and discuss which are most appropriate for an urban beekeeper.

Since splits and nucs are small colonies, and need extra care and attention, what we learn here will also be applicable to captured swarms, colonies that have not expaned as much as the beekeeper might like due to poor weather, and colonies weakend by Nosema or other illness.

The "stupid beekeeper tricks" will be a quick review of the myths and myth-conceptions that might mislead you into making a split that is doomed. As usual, many preconceived notions and pronoucements found in books and on the internet will be trashed and thrashed without mercy. Our focus is the welfare of the bees.

This is the talk that I'm going to. Knowing when to make splits and how to prevent swarming is absolutely key to keeping bees in an urban environment, and I feel like I'm a little rusty.

The NYC Beekeeping Association is ALSO hosting a lecture tonight:

Mike Palmers: Colony Management for Honey Production: A beekeeping management plan for a year in the apiary with focus on honey production and successful wintering.

Mike Palmer began keeping bees in 1974 with two packages of Italians from Georgia. In 1982, with 250 colonies of his own, he took a job managing the 500 colonies of bees belonging to Chazy Orchards in New York State. In 1986, he bought their apiary and added apple pollination to my business plan. For 15 years Mike managed 800-900 colonies in the Champlain valley of Vermont and New York for pollination and honey production. In 1998, he began raising his own bees and queens. Eventually, no longer having to buy replacement stock, he was able to give up apple pollination and concentrate on honey and queen production. He now winters 750 production colonies, 400 nucleus colonies, produces some 1200 queens and averages about 40 tons of honey per year.

Mike lives with his wife and Blue Tick hounds in the northern Champlain valley of Vermont. They have two grown daughters, one working at The Juilliard School in NYC, and the other pursuing her Masters degree at C.W. Post on Long Island.

This sounds like a really interesting lecture, especially if you are interested in maximizing your honey crop! The NYC Beekeeping Association hosts a lecture like this on the first Tuesday of every month, and they are ALWAYS interesting. The talk is happening tonight from 7:00 - 9:00PM at the Seafarers & International House, 123 East 15th Street.

As always, remember to check the Calendar page for any and all upcoming beekeeping events in NYC!

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.

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.

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.