Global Swarming Honeybees

(Feminist) Beekeeping in Turkey

2011-09-26T15:31:00.003-04:00

I've been remiss about keeping up with this blog—too much actual living, being, and doing—but every now and then something crosses the transom and I feel compelled to share.

Here's a pretty cool blog about beekeeping in Turkey—take an amble over there and let me know what you think.

Urban Beekeeping, Hong Kong

2011-05-24T20:44:00.004-04:00

Here's an absolutely lovely video about a beekeeper-artist-visionary in Hong Kong named Michael Leung. I love what he says about moving slowly, calmly, in a Zenlike way when working with the bees, and I love his steadfast attitude toward the work he's doing to promote all sorts of important connections that, for many, have been lost but now are found.

Nokia - HK Honey from The Silentlights on Vimeo.

Caffeinated Bees

2011-04-12T12:09:00.005-04:00

Interesting goings-on at the compost heap the other day, with the honeybees frenetically gathering coffee grounds in their pollen baskets. Not sure what was up with that, but the proof is posted below for all to see.
Given the dearth of pollen sources so early in the season up in the Northern Catskills, perhaps the bees were simply "taking what they could get" by gleaning the coffee from our discarded Melitta filters. I wonder what, if any, merit the grounds have from a nutritional perspective.

Or perhaps these bees (and, one can only hope, bees across the world) are hyping themselves up for a long overdue battle with homo sapiens for world dominance. If so, I'm rooting for the bees and will gladly serve as barista to the revolution.

What interesting or unexpected things have you observed honeybees gathering or doing of late?

Wildflowers as Mirrors

2011-03-28T08:50:00.006-04:00

The New York Times has just published a quite wonderful, and mournful, meditation on the lost flora of New York City by the Executive Director of N.Y.C. Wildflower Week.

I highly recommend taking a look, whether or not you live in NYC, as a motivating meditation on the importance of finding ways, large and small, to help replenish and restore this battered world.

Thinking of Japan

2011-03-14T13:15:00.004-04:00

Don't give up, Japan. Don't give up, Tohoku.
***

I am asking my friends to consider making a donation
to the Japan Earthquake Relief Fund.
I am confident this support will go to the right places in a timely way.

Apropos of Nothing

2011-03-02T14:13:00.002-05:00

This doesn't even remotely qualify as beekeeping-related, but I just had to share it. I found it on a great website called Braining Pickings that a friend turned me on to recently.

Drawing Inspiration from Wesley Louis on Vimeo.

Pollinators on Parade

2011-02-17T08:31:00.003-05:00

National Geographic, which can still be counted on for phenomenal visuals, has posted a breathtaking photo slide-show by Mark Moffett of pollinators great and small.

Take a look-see. You won't be disappointed.

"Secrets Honey for Yemen"

2011-02-02T09:01:00.001-05:00

Wren's folks recently returned from a trip to the Middle East. They're always very generous about seeking out honey to bring home to us, and once again they came through on this trip.Check out the swank set-up this gentleman from Amman has created for marketing his honey. I love those hexagonal display shelves. We've been enjoying the jar of honey pictured below with our morning yogurt—absolutely divine!
(Thanks to Fred Sanders for allowing me to share his photos here.)

Taking the Sting Out of Monday

2011-01-31T08:32:00.002-05:00

Marvelous photos showcasing the extraordinary diversity of bees.
Take a look!

Earthworms Deserve More Poems!

2011-01-25T10:14:00.005-05:00

A friend recently asked me for a copy of this poem I wrote back in 1999, while at a writer's colony in Taos, New Mexico.

I'm glad she did, for I'd forgotten about it and was glad to be reunited with the strong pleasure I feel when I remember to take the time to commune with the worms. Earthworms are one of the many unsung heroes of the natural world. For gardeners, they're good friends, but all of us who eat are directly enriched by the work they do.

And so I hope you'll enjoy my poem, "Reward."

REWARD
You must first be willing to kneel before the meadow.
Align your ear to its uneven surface and you will hear
the wheezing earthworms below, rubbery locksmiths
tunneling through their monotonous dimension. You
will hear the mild sucking of the earth entering into them,
the rasping friction of soil undulating uneasily through
them, and its loose translation into unstrung
baby bracelets of aerated loam. Look around you,
for you are kneeling amidst a sea of worm-castings,
amidst their labor and its souvenirs.
Then smell the worked-over soil their bodies revise.
And in that scent, find the echo of the sound,
its manifestation: the world passed through
the earthworm’s body
a key in its keyhole,
music through its bell.

Honeybee Exploring Metaphoric Flower

2011-01-24T10:13:00.000-05:00

One day last summer, an adventurous (or witty?) honeybee thoroughly investigated the plastic flower design on my watering can.

Honeybee Visiting Chive Blossom

2011-01-22T10:09:00.003-05:00

In this time of winter, memories of summer are an oasis. Think back to the honeybee stuffing her pollen basket with the chive's cheerful orange pollen.

Self-Portrait With Bees (A Poem)

2011-01-20T05:13:00.002-05:00

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH BEES

Entering the hive
is like falling down a black velvet staircase.

Off come the gloves, the hat, the veil.

Proudly, I pose for my portrait with sweetness,
my portrait with pain.

My Compost, Myself.

2011-01-19T16:34:00.010-05:00

Awhile back, I wrote this mini-essay for a literary calendar project a friend of mine was putting together.

Today, in the snowy Catskills, I happened upon it and thought it might be fun to reprise it here. At this phase of the year, the tactile pleasure of handling earthworm-y compost is a fond memory, buried under a foot or so of snow; these days, a trip to empty the compost is a vaguely life-threatening battle with deep snow and icy patches.

I miss the sight, smells, and yes, sounds of robust mid-summer soil. In that spirit, herewith, alongside my freshly unearthed meditation on compost and poetry, are some "action shots" of my beloved compost pile taken over the past couple of years.

In my compost pile at this very moment are: eggshells, a rotted zucchini, strawberry hulls, hot pink earthworms, fish bones, onion skins, hardworking ants, an old copy of The Joy of Cooking, aged cow manure (hauled in buckets from a farm pile 10 miles away where I force my girlfriend to take me every summer), deadheaded daffodils, weeds whose names I won’t bore you with, teabags, and the shredded drafts of old poems.

I love the idea of my words returning to the earth, since the inspiration for much of my writing and more and more of my living is the world of nature.Compost Happens, says a popular bumper sticker, but I think of compost the way I think of poetry: a process of thoughtful addition, disciplined editing, experimentation, and alchemy. Just the right amount of attention is required: too little, and you get a cold pile of nothing; too much, and you overwork the magic. Words squirm together on the page and life is born, but if the artistic choices aren’t right, you wind up with a stinking anaerobic sludge.

Like compost, writing should startle and surprise. My compost pile has revealed spotted salamanders, red-bellied snakes, handsome toad-elders, iridescent beetles, moles, voles, stupendously handsome red-bellied snakes, and luminescent worms so thin they’re barely there at all—each and every one of these animalitos de dios evoking a sense of gratitude and awe akin to the very best (and rarest) moments of creative pursuit. Like writing, compost is deep.

* * * *

Bonus compost-sagas:
Composted asparagus deciding it doesn't want to be compost. (Yes, I replanted it.)

Composted almond deciding to give it a go.

A snail "riding the wave" of an old cookbook.

Bee Watching

2011-01-11T11:53:00.003-05:00

How about a gorgeous slide show of New York City bees to get your wintry mind rolling in a summerly direction?

Poem

2011-01-04T18:38:00.001-05:00

I am every day
looking at the flowers.

This is the gift the bees
have given me.

Might Mighty Mite Have Met Its Match?

2010-12-22T08:37:00.004-05:00

Research is under way to genetically tweak Varroa mites in such a way as to cause them to "self-destruct."

Much as I'd love to see an end to the serious troubles Varroa destructor brings to honeybees, I'm always leery of this level of human intervention—so rarely do such things go as planned; so often do they bring an avalanche of unanticipated (and unwanted) consequences.

Take a look at this recent news item about the Varroa destructor self-destruction study and let me know what you think.

Honeybee Luv

2010-12-03T22:19:00.000-05:00

Queen of The Sun Teaser Clip from Taggart Siegel on Vimeo.

Holiday Gifts for Beekeepers and Friends of Bees

2010-11-21T13:07:00.014-05:00

Continuing our (more or less) annual tradition of scouting out great gifts for beekeepers, we proudly present Global Swarming Honeybees' 2010 holiday gift list for the beeks, bee-lovers, gardeners, and ecosystem appreciators in your life.

1. First things first: Without a healthy planet, there are no healthy bees—or healthy anything. Honor your family members and friends with a donation in their name to an environmental organization. Two of my favorite earth-defenders are the Natural Resources Defense Council (which, among its many activities, has done great work to fight pesticides that harm bees) and The Center for Biological Diversity, which fearlessly fights for "a world where the wild is still alive." Other good groups include Friends of the Earth, The Xerces Society, and The Nature Conservancy.

2. Bookworm Beek Nirvana: Your book-loving beloveds will surely enjoy Honeybee Democracy, Thomas Seeley's book on "hive mind" and Rose-Lynn Fisher's Bee, a truly awesome visual feast of bee anatomy, rendered via scanning electron microscope. For those with an interest in homesteading, Philip Ackerman-Leist's Up Tunket Road looks like a refreshingly thoughtful and candid take on the subject.
3. Greening the Season of Sneezes: Two years ago, I converted from a lifelong Kleenex addict to a cotton handkerchief aficionado. My guilt over trashing a perfectly good tree every time I blow my nose is now a thing of the past, and my delicate schnoz greatly prefers a soft cottony dab when cold season arrives. Fun and beautiful retro hankies can be found in many thrift shops and antique markets—and believe me, once you make the change, you'll never go back. Consider making an eco-friendly stocking stuffing of this fabulous bee-inflected silkscreened handkerchief or of Muji's non-bee-related but profoundly stylish "historic city" handkerchief series featuring the cities of Tokyo, London, Paris, and NYC.4. Go Goth: For the hipster beek in your life, check out this stingingly cool vespid-inspired T-shirt, this scintillating bee girl silhouette magnet, or this alluring Acorn Queen.
5. iBeek Incidentals: Your iPhone-wielding beekeeper might enjoy the Bee Calm and Carry On iPhone Case or this possibly too cute bee-inspired slider case. iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users will get a kick out of the new game app, "Bee Patrol."
6. Stripey, Warming Fun: This handmade, yellow-and-black "buzzy bee" hat comes sized for children and (thankfully!) adults, so your entire social network can, should they so choose and should you be so generous, float around town with merry antennae aflutter and hive minds in perfect sync. Take the whole festive scene over the top with these Dickensian, bee-inspired fingerless gloves.
7. Pour It On: I'm wild about these fanciful pottery pieces from apualek. From the "Biking Bee in Flowers" bowl and "Biking Bee Chasing Rose" tumbler to the cheery yellow "Kayaking Bee" pitcher shown below, these marvelous pieces of usable art will thrill anyone with a good imagination, an appreciation of the handmade, and a love of pouring liquids in high style.
8. Share the Love: Native bees are in trouble throughout the U.S. and across the planet. Who better than beekeepers and bee allies to lend a helping hand by providing habitat in the form of an attractive bee box nest made of recycled wood for our native populations of leaf-cutter bees and mason bees?
9a. Kitchen-y Bee: I have a thing for tea towels, so it's no surprise I'm taken with this rustic Queen Bee burlap towel ...and this retro-style embroidered gem.
9b. I also have a thing for tote bags, especially this honeybear tote from Kenspeckle Press, which provides "19th century solutions to 21st century quandaries." (Don't neglect to ogle the wonderful letterpress honeybear cards while you're ambling around this charming corner of cyberspace.)
10. Wrap It Up: To personalize your gift, try these handsome, vintage-style honeybee tags, these super-sweet, hybridized honeybee/French Bulldog greeting cards, and/or this funky wrapping paper.For additional ideas, check out my holiday gift lists for beekeepers from years gone by. I hope your holidays are sweet and rich in the non-material joys of living.

Song of the Unsung Pollinator

2010-11-10T14:51:00.002-05:00

Thanks to Bug Girl's Blog for surfacing this gem!

The Great Pumpkin Bee (Happy Halloween)

2010-10-31T00:03:00.002-04:00

A she-bee visits the fruits of her labor...a hefty, bee-pollinated pumpkin. Happy Halloween!

"Winterizing"

2010-10-29T17:05:00.004-04:00

The bees are "winterized"—their entrances reduced, mouse protection added, and sky-blue sheets of Styrofoam insulation placed atop and along the false back of every hive.

Two of three look good to go. The third seems a little quiet, but time will tell. All three hives have been left their honey; I didn't harvest this fall and it will be interesting to see whether, with nothing stolen from them, they make it OK. So much depends upon the weather; the weather, luck, and whatever secret strengths or deficits reside inside those mysterious wooden hives with their brilliant clusters of thrumming beings.

Geese are passing overhead now, not just daily, but hourly. And so begins the countdown to winter which, for me (and for the bees?) is really just a countdown to spring.

Honoring John Lennon's 70th Birthday

2010-10-09T00:01:00.000-04:00

Well, you know, John and I share a birthday in common and he's always been real important to me, so I'd like to share this on what would have been his 70th birthday.

Gives bees a chance.

Saluting The Field

2010-09-29T10:14:00.011-04:00

We've seen it all before, the changing colors, the falling leaves. And yet, and yet.

I walk around the pond with cat and dog, thinking of James Schuyler's great field poem, "Salute," which ends with the lines: "Past/is past. I salute/that various field."

Which evokes Frank O'Hara's line, "Grace to be born and live as variously as possible." (These words are inscribed on O'Hara's gravestone, which I once had the honor of meeting in person.)

A field does live as variously as possible. Here, its variosity is of aster (several kinds); (red & white) clover; heather-like purple fists that seem to drive the bees wild; a spectrum of goldenrod, and cornflower, black-eyed susans, coreopsis, plus some intense purple flowers I cannot find a name for.

So many plant-inhabitants whose names I'm just learning: tear-thumb and smartweed, a wild mint I just call "mountain mint" for simplicity's sake. So many more names to learn or not. And beyond the names, the important unknown stories of plants and animals.

To this various field is now added a jumbled corridor of fallen leaves—ash and sumac, apple, pear (remnants of old orchard), hawthorne, and no-longer-whispering aspen. Perfectly placed in their disorder, like thoughts overturning their ancestors.The colors have been described a million times before—we know that story all too well. It escorts us to the threshold of cliche and right on through its frosted-glass door. Auburn. Magenta. Burnt umber. But color-words get in the way of it, can't begin to reach the thing itself, which originates way up high in the trees. An arboreal collaboration of sugar, wind, cold, and light. Trees, changing their minds, acknowledging their time.

My fingers are stiff trying to capture it on the page (tear-thumb?). I wish you could see it!

Hay, Handsome!

2010-09-15T20:31:00.009-04:00

One of the things I like best about the no-till, no-dig method of "surface gardening"—aside from saving my back—is the pleasure of playing with hay mulch, which is basically old, worn-out hay that, when placed in the vegetable beds between plantings, serves to suppress (some) weeds, maintain soil moisture, and stabilize the soil temperature.

Hay mulch is just the thing if you like to get down and dirty in the garden, communing with earth-bound sprites of all persuasions. It's a primordial ooze of fungal, bacterial, and insect life, squirming with quick-witted centipedes, sparkly worms, fuzzy spiders, glowing larvae, and a metropolis of unidentified whatnots. It's also home to wonderful snakes, salamanders, and rodents. Like the prize in the Crackerjack box, you never know what you'll find.

The other day, a substantial chill in the air signaled the need to get started on "autumn prep" for some of my vegetable beds. I decided to start with my asparagus bed, which has done its duty for the year. I added some compost to fortify this greedily-feeding perennial so as to feed greedily upon it come springtime. After adding the compost, I cut the string on a few square bales of mulch hay delivered earlier this summer (and nearly compost themselves at this point in time) and lay the thin "books" or sheaves of hay in the asparagus bed to inhibit weeds and provide a nice cover for wintertime.

Here are some of the handsome denizens of the hay I encountered during this process.

Speaking of handsome, comely, attractive, and adorable, our new kitten, Magnet, loves the hay as well. She turned up on our doorstep here in the middle of nowhere back in June and is now an esteemed member of the clan.

Weed-wise,

2010-09-07T16:42:00.010-04:00

I definitely fall on the liberal, live-and-let-live side—no surprise there, I reckon.

Still, I'm vexed by the partial takeover of deep-rooted goldenrod in my herb bed, the hijacking of my tender onions by plantain, and the increasing presence of burdock at the edges of our humble lawn. I try to keep up with the lambs quarter, purslane, and other edible weeds by...eating them, but really, how much can one person consume, especially when a thicket of officially sanctioned vegetables seductively beckons?

With fall settling in, the weeds in my vegetable beds tower in valiant certainty of their reproductive success—tough, intractable beings at the height of their power. In their midst, the cuke leaves die back, tomatoes falter, and potato vines shrivel away, reminding me that my influence upon this land is tenuous and short-lived indeed.

In such moments, despite my high-minded attempts at botanical egalitarianism, I feel a bit defeated by the persistence (even dominance) of weeds in beds I worked so hard to clear and maintain earlier in the season.

But then comes Labor Day weekend, and a visit with good and interesting friends. Peter quickly sets to gathering goldenrod flowers, bud by yellow bud, for an herbal infusion in Smirnoff's Vodka. He digs burdock roots for a tasty side dish for Friday's evening meal. He hangs branches, roots, and leaves of various weedy things to dry in the kitchen and speaks of tinctures, remedies, teas. Roni gathers yarrow, goldenrod, and purple aster to create two gorgeous floral arrangements, adding berried fronds of asparagus for an elegant flourish.

To these fresh perspectives must be added the bees' opinion of "weeds"—expressed in a frenzy of joyous attention when burdock sends forth its pale gray pollen, mullein raises its yellow flagpole to salute the season's end, and the autumnal duo of goldenrod and aster provide the last substantial provisions to lay away for the long, cold season ahead.

In short, I've been clearly out-voted in my ambivalence toward weeds—and the landslide nature of the pro-weed election doesn't even begin to take account of the dozens of goldfinches cheerily celebrating the abundant stands of thistle that, try as I might, I'll never get a handle on.

A Taste of Honey

2010-09-02T16:56:00.005-04:00

Not so much a taste as a whiff, a submergence, an infusion of honey—in that, when walking anywhere near the hives in these goldenrod days, the aroma of honey hits the body hard, overrunning all thoughts except: the bees are astonishing beings, too lovely, artful, and hard-working to steal their honey today.

Instead, I stand quite still and marvel at their unique creation—the simple honey that mankind, with all its alleged wit and wisdom, cannot produce.

I marvel, too, at how this ethereal scent embellishes the warm air like an additional layer of heat: runny, golden of thought, a fourth wall on summertime—making the summer and all its joys and labors realer, somehow, yet somehow more dreamlike.

Anticeptic vs. Clean

2010-08-30T15:04:00.009-04:00

This morning I finally got around to cutting some oregano to hang for drying. With the arrow-wood leaves reddening along the fence rows by the old pasture, it's past time to get ready for the cold months ahead, when fresh herbs will be a pleasant memory buried under a foot of snow.

The oregano grows in a small raised herb bed. It all looked very neat and prim a few short weeks ago, but at this point in the summer, the bed's nearly overrun with borage and dill that self-seeded in past years.

The bees don't bother much with the dill blossoms—that's wasp terrain, too light and feathery to for the "heavy-weight" pollinators. But honeybees and bumblebees adore the borage flowers, tumbling by the score into what's now a wild thicket of prickly leaves and blue star-shaped flowers, cheerful as those a child might draw. I grow borage exclusively for the good mood it puts both me and the bees in—and for its long blooming period, which keeps the bees busy even as the last of the goldenrod jumps ship.

Reaching with care into the chaos of dill umbrals, falling stars and intensely buzzing bees, I carefully cut a couple of dozen long springs of oregano to bind with twine and hang in the dry, warm attic until the leaves are dessicated enough to crumble into jars. It's one of the most pleasant late-summer garden tasks I know—the scent of oregano on my paws, the bee-loud soundtrack, and lustful thoughts of the well-spiced tomato sauces to come.

I lay the sprigs on a white tea towel and inspect them closely to get them as clean as possible. Of course, I find a biologically rich world embedded in those leaves and branches—a world of tiny snails and spiders, remnants of cocoon, miniscule black eggs shiny as caviar, leaves that have mysteriously wilted, leaves that have been not-so-mysteriously gnawed upon, and a myriad of other "imperfections" that tell one hell of a tale—the Lively Garden, a Place of Action.

As best I can, I shake off the major league bugs, then gently brush away the minor league critters. Next, I pluck as many of the blackened leaves as my attention span will allow, till mostly clean, green leaves remain. Even so, I'm left with a smattering of unfashionably discolored leaves and a few ethereal vestiges of insect travel and leisure.

In other words, though the drying process will hide some of the oregano's blemishes and the cooking process erase any conceivable risk that might be had in ingesting a trace of vintage spiderweb, my dried oregano won't be purged of the place from whence it came, like the mass-produced "food products" that get power-washed, anti-bioticized, and irradiated into oblivion before being marketed to our tables.

To me, these earthly, flawed sprigs of herbaceous delight are clean in the fullest, most vibrant sense, reflecting the multifaceted meanings you'll find when you look up "clean" in the dictionary—free from violations, spiritually or ceremonially pure, unencumbered, unadulterated.

I'll take all that over anticeptic any day of the week. And so will my bees.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way Through the Summer

2010-08-24T14:03:00.005-04:00

Four months have passed since my last post on this blog. What happened was I left the city and went upstate to spend some time among the bees and flowers, fully intending to blog about it all. But what I found (or was reminded of) is that being outside trumped sitting in front of my laptop.

And so have flown the days from spring ephemerals to goldenrod, asparagus to apples, tadpole-squirmy vernal pools to goldfinches aligned expectantly on wires. Now the weather shows signs of wearying, and clouds keep me inside more often—as does the desk-y work that pays the bills and makes possible my extended rural incarnations.

Thanks for your patience during my unexplained silence. Here are some photos from the past few weeks, my summertime offline. (Oh, and the honey bees hereabouts are doing fine! We did have a couple of swarms and managed to catch one, so we're now running three healthy and happy top-bar hives.)

More soon!

Bees Magnolia-fied

2010-04-28T01:08:00.003-04:00

These not-so-hot snaps of honeybees gathering pollen are from late March, when the magnolias in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens were in their pinup-girl-prime.Not much left of the magnolias now, except for one lovely late-bloomer in a shady portion of the grove...and my appreciative memories. These images offer little more than a sensory impression of a bee-loud moment of pink, branch, and blue in early spring. I hope you enjoy them.

Practical Pollen

2010-04-27T11:33:00.001-04:00

Nice bit in the NY Times this week on the clever nature of pollen.

Carpenter Bees 2.0

2010-04-27T01:51:00.002-04:00

Catching decent shots of carpenter bees with an iPhone isn't easy, but on this day at the Children's Garden in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens (back in March), the C-bees were abundant and relatively cooperative.

Carpenter Bees Part I

2010-04-25T11:24:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was a banner day at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. The lilacs were in their prime, working their mind-altering magic on the dazzled crowd of worshipers. Barely noticed on the ground beneath the showy lilac bushes, a thick carpet of deep-purple grape hyacinths played host to a robust constituency of honeybees.

With the honeybees keeping a low profile, the blatant stars of yesterday's pollinator show were the dozens of carpenter bees doing their thing on the glamorous azaleas near the garden's main entrance. I love the vigor and heft of these fuzzy, burly bees, especially in the context of the showy azaleas.The carpenter bees showed a special fondness for the neon-pink azaleas, and virtually no interest in the purple, red, or white ones. There was plenty of C-bee action on the purple wisteria, though, so I'm guessing the non-pink azaleas were not giving nectar yesterday or were simply offering a less delectable flavor profile. It raises interesting questions about what draws a bee to a particular plant at a particular time. The nuances are endless.
Lucky for me, the C-bees were so enraptured with the azaleas that I was able to get close enough with my iPhone to grab a few shots. There's something terribly 1940s about azaleas, don't you think? And (going out on a springy limb here) something so Orson Welles-like about carpenter bees (think driving force, ambition, unapologetic conspicuousness).

Thus it was that, while reveling in all the bee-on-bud action yesterday, my mind unfurled a full-blown mental mash-up involving a Technicolor version of Sunset Boulevard + Busby Berkeley dance moves + Paul Masson wine ad—all populated solely by hearty, gallivanting C-bees. Beware spring's potent cocktail of hot pink flowers, aromatic lilac, and shimmering pollinator charm.

Cranky Thoughts/Earth Day

2010-04-21T13:00:00.004-04:00

It's the day before "Earth Day" and bloggers everywhere will be blogging about Earth Day and so I too shall blog (briefly) about Earth Day.

I must confess, given the horrible state of planetary affairs, I'm feeling a bit cranky about Earth Day this year....the logical outcome of one too many articles about imperiled bats, deformed frogs, industrial beekeeping practices, and dead whales with garbage in their bellies—that kind of thing.

Of course, I support the concept of Earth Day, which marks its 40th anniversary this year. I applaud any effect to mobilize awareness of and action on environmental issues. I was seven on the first Earth Day and I remember it as a significant influence when I was a kid; Earth Day is an old, familiar friend.

My crabbiness, I guess, has to do with the name "Earth Day," which implies that the other 364 days aren't quite as urgently "earthy," and perhaps takes us off the hook after we're done attending to that one great (and successful) marketing campaign. (I am not saying that the Earth Day folks are suggesting as much—just noticing the way these word, this year, are resonating for me.)

Earth Day is every day. We live here every day. We sleep here—or lay awake worrying about diseased bats and light pollution—every night.

And we need to be doing a better job, every day and every night, of protecting this earth—her people, her water, her creatures, her land, and her sky (including that beyond our earth's atmosphere, which we have also, incredibly, managed to gum up with our junk).

I know I'm preaching to the converted here, so I'll also confess that perhaps what I am feeling is not really crankiness so much as sorrow. Because it's clear that all we're doing to protect the Earth, collectively and individually, is light years short of enough. As the environmental casualties, horrors, and insults mount, I'm left yearning for a better way to effect the changes we so desperately need.

What—besides blogging, donating to effective environmental organizations, planting bee-friendly gardens, recycling, cooling it on the consumerism, insisting upon serious campaign finance reform, signing online petitions, informing ourselves and sharing what we know with others, and promoting environmental awareness via clever marketing campaigns—should we be doing to turn this sad mess around?

I'd welcome your thoughts.

More Insect Photos

2010-04-19T09:55:00.004-04:00

Folks are making some real nice insect pics these days—including the eye-popping colorama snapshots discussed in my previous post.

On the opposite end of the visual spectrum, here are some dreamy black and white insect photos I think you will enjoy. Amble on over to this website and click the "in progress" link at the top of the page to get a look at some sweetly spooky insect-lurkers.

Dew Drop In...

2010-04-18T08:32:00.002-04:00

These closeup photos of insects covered in early morning dew have been going around the Interweb for a few weeks now, and for good reason. Looky here.

I love it that the guy who took these is relatively new to photography. He gets up in the middle of the night to hunt for the insects before the dew has dried and they awaken from torpor to resume their active, sun-warmed lives.

Ferreting out the insects is no easy task. Nor is identifying them once they are found and photographed. The photographer, Miroslaw Swietek, says his insect identification books are so dew-soaked as to be pretty useless. In that rich metaphor, one senses the ultimate meaning of life.

Get your fill of Swietek's grand photos here.

Bugging Out on the NYC Subway System

2010-04-17T01:00:00.001-04:00

There's a lot of great public art in subway stations throughout NYC thanks to we the taxpayers and the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Arts for Transit program.

En route to the New York Botanical Gardens earlier in the week, I was pleased to find this bee walking the wall at the Bedford Park Blvd. stop on the 4 train.
The bee is a detail from a glass mosaic by Andrea Dezsö titled Community Garden, 2006. As the name suggests, these whimsical, shimmering images evoke the flora and fauna of a garden setting, with plenty of great-looking bugs lurking here and there.

Several of the subway art installations in NYC focus on natural subjects, including kinetic dinosaurs at the stop near the American Museum of Natural History, dramatic undersea creatures at Houston Street, and stately penguins at Fifth and Fifty-Ninth Street (near the Central Park Zoo).

You can take a virtual, station-by-station and line-by-line tour of this art on the MTA website by clicking any of the links above and then navigating (bottom left of the page) to the station or line you'd like to explore.

Thought for the Day

2010-04-16T01:58:00.001-04:00

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."—Carl Sagan

Three Bug Blogs I Like A Lot

2010-04-15T00:03:00.000-04:00

I respect people who unabashedly put their love(s) out there, so let's start with I Love Insects, an info-rich blog by an entomology student who professes a "perhaps unreasonable appreciation for arthropods." Perhaps, maybe, yeah...But I say, nothing unreasonable about it; bugs are a most worthy obsession!

The Marvelous in Nature covers a lot of ground. Literally. The author, Seabrooke Leckie, is a fabulous writer who really does her homework and in so doing, conveys deep delight in and knowledge of the natural world in ways that are always enriching and enjoyable. Moths are one of her Big Things, but she writes about whatever Mother Nature presents to her, whether it's a spring peeper on her porch, the trout lilies heralding spring, or a cardinal obsessed with the rear-view mirror of her car.

Bug Girl's Blog is also well worth your attention, though the author is on (what we hope will be a temporary) hiatus. There's more than enough here, though, to satisfy your burning desire for eclectic and funky insect-related info for a long time to come.

Soon or soonish, I'll roundup some of my favorite bee and beekeeping blogs. Right now, I'm having too much fun being out and about, syncing my winter-steeped system with the onset of this most glorious spring.

On Golden Pond

2010-04-14T01:54:00.005-04:00

Got a little freaked out on Friday afternoon when this sulfurous yellow dust appeared on the surface of our pond. Being perpetually conditioned for bad ecological tidings, my mind immediately went to thoughts of evil pollutants and Hazmat suits.

Happily, after some eco-sleuthing (walkin' & lookin'), I realized that the "deadly fallout" was actually pollen blown by high winds from the locally abundant bog willows (one of the first pollen producers of spring).

Thus was my eco-fretting averted. Bouyant spring mood was restored by the unassuming little willow shrubs/trees that give the bees plenty to work with, pollen-wise, when they need it most. Joy to see the plants abuzz with honeybee industry and the butter-yellow pollen baskets of the workers arriving at their hives.

Dressed to Squill

2010-04-13T01:28:00.003-04:00

Pollen counts and allergy-induced sneezing notwithstanding, pollen is a pretty exciting topic if you are a beekeeper or bee-watcher. I've written quite a few pollen-related posts on this blog, with photos of honey bees gathering pollen from jewelweed, crocuses, goldenrod, portulaca, and (as shown below) thistle.This weekend, Wren and I had a great time watching the bees gather buttery yellow willow pollen in the old pastures behind our house. We also saw, for the very first time, a bee packing her pollen baskets with the handsome shimmery blue (!) pollen of Siberian squill, which we'd planted a mass of two years ago with precisely that goal in mind. If you're looking for a great plant to provide early spring forage for your bees + the coolest colored pollen on Earth, look no further than Siberian squill.

This excellent pollen color-chart includes a photo of the blue pollen of which I speak, while providing a guide for those who wish to identify the various pollen types their bees are bringing home to the hive.

I only wish the little bee with the blue pollen hadn't eluded my camera lens. I'll be trying again soon, of that you can be sure.

Feeding Bees With Fondant in the Top Bar Hive

2010-04-12T08:28:00.004-04:00

Awhile ago, one of our readers—a top bar hive beekeeper named Gord who keeps bees in Ontario—mentioned that he was seeking out a good method for adding fondant to his top bar hives. Fondant—which is basically a soft, creamy sugar-water mix—is used by some beekeepers to offer their bees a supplementary food source in late winter/early spring or at other times when cold, wet weather or lack of forage places the colony at risk for starvation.

I asked Gord to get back to us when he found a recipe that he thought would work well in the TBH context, and he was kind enough to do so. Behold, his very useful guide on Using Fondant As Hive Insurance. The post appears on Gord's Seldom Fools Apiculture website, which I highly recommend for its good discussions of chemical treatments and other aspects of beekeeping that embodies a respect for bees.

Lilac: The Original Purple Heart

2010-04-06T07:50:00.000-04:00

I had some serious pruning to do a couple of weeks ago, and much of it focused on some very old lilac bushes that, after eons of neglect, had grown tangled with dead and fallen wood. It took me three long sessions over three days to do all the pruning, clearing, cutting, and hauling to get the site where it needs to be.

During this time, I remembered how deeply I enjoy cutting wood with a handsaw—especially on cold days. Along with being a warming exercise, the physical and aural repetition associated with sawing is profoundly meditative, as is the opportunity this activity brings to explore the wood and the plant's habits up close. The tangible sense of accomplishment at the end of the task is icing on the cake.

As I began clambering around the tangle of old lilacs and sawing off some of the most accessible of the many dead and damaged branches, I noticed for the first time the burgundy and pinkish coloration swirling in the heartwood—like compacted candy canes or splashes of wine. I guess it should be no surprise that a plant as lovely as the lilac should have a trick or two up its sleeve. Here's what I discovered as I worked.I also enjoyed the diverse textures and coloration of various lichens, mosses, and fungi colonizing the dead branches.Below you can see that the lilac offers not only beauty, but utility. Rabbits foraged on it this winter when food was scarce, and squirrels helped themselves to the malleable wood—presumably for nesting material (and perhaps as a food source). In nature, as we know, nothing is wasted.

Nice Op Ed Piece on Beekeeping in NYC

2010-04-05T09:09:00.004-04:00

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a wonderfully supportive Op Ed piece about the legalization of beekeeping in New York City. Take a look.

A Quicky on Evolution

2010-04-04T01:00:00.000-04:00

If Only...

2010-04-01T01:21:00.000-04:00

R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Circa 1400

2010-03-31T10:55:00.002-04:00

Check out this wonderful article about the Rosslyn Chapel's beehive.Carved of stone 600 years ago, with a beautiful flower-shaped passage for the bees, this hive nestled within the ancient chapel's complex architecture appears to have been designed solely as a haven for the bees, rather than a beekeeping or honey-getting ploy. Now that's what I call sacred!

And Now A Word About Healthcare Reform

2010-03-31T10:10:00.002-04:00

Straying off topic for a moment to share this bit of sanity with ya'll.

Take The U.S. Bee Loss Survey

2010-03-30T10:40:00.003-04:00

The Apiary Inspectors of America, USDA, and Penn State are running their annual online survey to assess honeybee colony losses for 2009-2010. Take the survey here.

Unfortunately, the survey (which is clearly aimed at commercial beekeepers but inclusive of all) doesn't include many questions that, to my mind, might help illuminate what's going so very wrong with beekeeping these days. Not a word about colony management in terms of chemical treatments, feeding practices, winter prep/insulation, other environmental factors, etc. Interesting that these important areas are omitted.

Nevertheless, the survey results may at least provide a snapshot of the patterns of losses throughout the U.S. (and, for the first time, the Caribbean). So it's worth the 5 minutes required to participate, and at the end you can sign up to receive the report on the survey findings to be released this summer.

Thought for the Day

2010-03-29T09:56:00.004-04:00

Last week was a good and productive time in the bee yard. I made a lot of headway preparing for the two new packages of bees due to arrive sometime in the next several weeks.

The really great news is both of our existing hives are apparently well. Amazingly, Hive Orange, one of the two original hives we started off with in April 2007, has survived yet again and is going strong, with plenty of honey and, it appears from my views through the observation window, plenty of bees. This is with very little intervention and no chemical treatments, ever.

I can't take credit for any of this as the beekeeper, especially since last year, due to some difficult personal circumstances, I did almost no colony "management" in the spring, summer, or fall. Aside from reducing the hive entrances in winter and adding a layer of insulation to the top of each hive and the area behind the false backs, I did little to support or interfere with the bees' natural processes. This has been my general approach overall, but it certainly reached new peaks (or lows) of nonintervention last year. And yet the bees survived. Perhaps there's a message in that.

Where Would We Bee Without Willows?

2010-03-20T01:27:00.000-04:00

I spent a marvelous afternoon in the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens on Wednesday, bee-watching. Finally getting a few minutes to post images from the happy outing.I saw many honeybees working the crocus, lenten-rose, winter honeysuckle, and Cornelian cherry blossoms—all good things to plant if you're a city gardener looking to provide the bees with forage in early spring, when their options are limited and their need for pollen and nectar sources is great.

The really hot and heavy bee action on Wednesday afternoon was to be found at an unassuming pussy willow shrub that overhangs the little stream that runs through the center of the garden. At this subtle yet marvelous (and marvelously useful) plant, hundreds of honeybee workers painstakingly filled their pollen baskets with fiery-yellow pollen to bring back to the hive. There, other workers will store the pollen or, more likely, mix it with honey to make "bee bread," a nutritionally rich food that combines pollen-protein with honey carbs. This will be fed to the larvae and young bees to raise the next generation of strong, energetic workers, who, once they have matured a few weeks from now, will carry on the whole cycle again, drawing from a different mix of blossoms than those available in this, the first glimmers of spring.

Bee-Watching @ The Liz Christy Community Garden

2010-03-19T10:16:00.005-04:00

The Liz Christy Community Garden, at the corner of the Bowery and Houston, is a fabulous little gem with the distinction of being NYC's first community garden.

Not much is in bloom there yet, but the lone honeybee gathering pollen from the miniature tulips generously allowed me to grab some nice shots of her beautiful self with my iPhone. With assistance from the afternoon sun, she cast lovely shadows on the tulip's petals. (As always, click the pic for a bigger, better view.)

Kinda Wishing It Was My Birthday...

2010-03-19T01:20:00.001-04:00

because I'd ask for this...

(Photo by Jake Guevara/The New York Times)

Press Coverage Round-up on the Legalization of Beekeeping in NYC

2010-03-17T10:55:00.004-04:00

Ahhh...I feel lighter today as if...a ban...has been lifted...from my shoulders....It's great to wake up in the city where keeping bees is no longer a crime.

One of my hive-mates at the NYC Beekeepers Association was kind enough to round up some of the extensive press coverage on the overturning of the beekeeping ban in NYC yesterday.

Before presenting the media coverage, though, I'd like take a moment for the "First Things First" department. Let's recognize and honor the hard work of the people at Just Food, which led this charge so ably and so well. Here's a summary of their efforts. We all owe them a debt of thanks.

Here are some of the many media stories about the "banning of the ban," for the newshounds among you.

NBC News, "Big Apple Lifts Beekeeper Ban"

The Globe and Mail, "The Big Apple, Where Honey Talks"

The New York Times, "NYC Abuzz: Sweet Deal Makes Bees Legal"

On Earth, "Sweet News: New York City Dumps Beekeeping Ban"

LA Times, "Sweet News for Colonies: NYC Legalized Honeybees in a Boon for Keepers of Rooftop Hives"

HuffPo, "New York City Officials Decide to Allow Beekeeping"

Have you seen other notable coverage on the lifting of the ban? Leave a comment and let me know!

Beet the System

2010-03-16T11:49:00.001-04:00

Cool stuff over here at Black Sheep Heap, T-shirt-wise, logo-wise, and slogan-wise.

Beekeeping is Legalized in NYC

2010-03-16T11:27:00.003-04:00

It's official. As of this very sunny morn, the ban on beekeeping here in New York City has been lifted!

All hail the many individuals and organizations who worked so hard to make this happen.

The week begins...

2010-03-15T10:51:00.004-04:00

with the hope that, in the next few days, some good news will be coming down the pike for New York City beekeepers and wanna-beekeepers. See this article in today's New York Times.

If you're a New Yorker with an interest in beekeeping, now is a great time to become a part of the New York City Beekeepers Association. Join NYCBA's Facebook page to keep up with the latest. And sign up for our official mailing list by visiting the NYCBA website.

Monday Fun

2010-03-15T01:00:00.000-04:00

Bugs, Up Close and Personal

2010-03-13T01:09:00.000-05:00

In the mood for bug?

These insect "micrographs" by Steve Gschmeissner will, I promise, blow your mind. They were taken using a Scanning Electron Microscope, which (so I read) can magnify its subjects up to a million times—a concept I can't even really wrap my brain around (but then I'm not an SEM).

The full gallery appears on the Telegraph website. When you go to this page, after you take in the phenomenal blue flea, note the small photo gallery on the upper right side of the page and arrow through the entire gallery of 12 stunning shots.
To whet your appetite, the image above is a colored SEM micrograph of the head of a bee (Photo by Steve Gschmeissner).

The Idiots at Fox News

2010-03-11T17:55:00.001-05:00

Stupid wingnuts vs. bugs, libraries, science, preservation, and brains. Read all about it here.

Sex. Plants. Pollen.

2010-03-10T07:39:00.004-05:00

I guess, what with the weather and all, pollination is on everyone's mind.

Take a look at Olivia Judson's latest in yesterday's New York Times. It's called Breezy Love, Or The Sacking of the Bees.

Oh and thanks, Eva, for bringing this to my attention.

Go Forth and Pollinate

2010-03-09T13:43:00.007-05:00

We're getting a delightfully unexpected spate of warm weather and around here; the crocuses are going nuts and even some dandelions are blossom-poppin'.

This, of course, turns the mind toward bees. Wren and I were pleased to see a couple of honeybees hovering around the witch hazel blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on Saturday, but may have arrived a bit late in the day to catch the action on the crocuses.

I remember our first spring of beekeeping, the thrill of realizing that our hives had successfully overwintered. We arrived upstate early one Saturday afternoon in April and found the bees gathering pollen from our purple crocuses. The photo below was taken on that day.As we all continue our blissful (if temporary) Vulcan mind-meld with Springtime, I've collected links to a few good sites on the pollen plants bees depend on.

For those of you who garden, I hope these lists will inspire bee-friendly choices. The more good stuff (nectar, pollen) is out there for the bees—especially in early spring and during "dearth" periods like late summer—the better off they'll be. For the rest of us, beekeeper and bee-worshiper alike, I hope knowing a little more about the pollination aspect of things will be enriching.

New Jersey Beekeepers Association list of pollen-nectar plants.

Nectar and pollen plants of the Pacific Northwest.

A list of good things to plant for bees if you're located down South.

An "intro to pollen" from Wikipedia.

A list of crop plants pollinated by honeybees.

A super-cool pollen color chart (also from Wikipedia).

Below, one of our honeybees packing her pollen basket with the asparagus blossoms' bounty.

Underrated Ants

2010-03-07T12:02:00.005-05:00

Keeping bees has greatly increased my appreciation for ants—not that I was ever bored by them. Like bees, ants are social insects that exhibit impressively complex behaviors and lead wildly diverse lives.Last summer I bought a cool ant-identification guide that, while difficult for a total amateur like myself to use, blew me away with the sheer variety of ants to be found in our North American backyards. This doesn't even begin to touch upon what's out there in other parts of the world—or the literally thousands of "undiscovered" species. How wonderful and appealing to be an undiscovered species in 2010; I like the sound of that!

This rather amazing video from The Smithsonian provides a "guided tour" of some of the more exotic and interesting ants out there. Enjoy!

The (Truly) Great Plains

2010-03-05T01:31:00.001-05:00

Feeling a little cooped up this winter? Take a few moments to breathe in some serious beauty....

robot bee

2010-03-03T01:13:00.000-05:00

Killing time with 2 Googlin' word-combos that just crossed my mind:
Robot bee.
Robotic insect.

Snowbound Hives

2010-03-01T08:41:00.005-05:00

Isn't this a wonderful photograph? It was sent yesterday by Bettina Utz, one of my fellow core members in the NYC Beekeepers Association.

Aside from the incredibly pleasing aesthetics at play, what's kind of great about the way the snow is capping these hives is that it mirrors the natural, bell-like shape of honeycomb itself, as seen in this picture from one of my top-bar hives taken a couple of summers ago.
One hopes and imagines that the colonies in Bettina's hives are benefiting from the insulation of their gorgeous "hats" of snow, and that spring will soon release them (and all of us!) from this long winter's nap.

Off Topic

2010-02-28T01:04:00.000-05:00

Nothing to do with bees.
Everything to do with cheese.

Now! In Your Very Own Home! Avian Skulls in 3-D!

2010-02-25T01:39:00.001-05:00

Nature's forms are so awesome when we take the time to really see them (i.e., study, stare, gaze, gawk). I mean awesome in the old-fashion, thunderstorm-and-lightning-awesome sense, not in the "this taco is awesome!" sense.

Take, for example, the bone structure of birds. Works of art, not to mention aerodynamic genius. Give yourself treat and amble on over to this astonishing National Science Foundation-funded website called Aves 3-D.

Here, you can browse the breastbone of an American Robin or marvel at the mandible of a Wood Thrush. By following the site's directions, you can use your mouse to rotate each bone in three-dimensional perspective as examining it with your own hands. Peruse the site by skeletal element, geographical location, scientific name, and, of course, common name.

Explore our wonderful bird friends from the inside out, and be prepared to swoon.

Psychic Crickets?

2010-02-23T01:20:00.000-05:00

When we're not thinking bees, we're helping the Cricket Crawl crowd to maintain their Facebook page. Which means we keep our eyes peeled for cricket- and katydid-related material.

So we were pleasantly surprised to come upon this strange item about cricket moms and baby crickets and dangerous spiders and demented science experiments in the New York Times over the weekend.

Bugging the Supermodel

2010-02-21T01:04:00.000-05:00

I do so love the Internets!

My recent travels in OnlineLand has led me to the marvelous, intricate work of Julia Stoess, who creates "greatly enlarged, scientifically correct" insect models that shimmer with beauty.

Take, for example, her stunning rendition of the Common Grasshopper, or her exquisite Common Green Lacewing. Meditate for a moment on a May Bug. Or eavesdrop on the tete-a-tete of this pair of Black Garden Ants.

So many bugs, so little time."Common Grasshopper" by Julia Stoess

There's An App for That

2010-02-19T01:30:00.002-05:00

Yessiree bob.

Biodiversity Heritage Library

2010-02-17T01:28:00.000-05:00

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is a nifty portal in which to while away the cyber-hours. As described on the BHL website,

"The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL), the digitization component of the Encyclopedia of Life, is a consortium of 12 major natural history museum libraries, botanical libraries, and research institutions organized to digitize, serve, and preserve the legacy literature of biodiversity. The European Commission’s eContentPlus program has recently funded the BHL-Europe project, with 22 institutions, to assemble the European language literature. In addition, negotiations are being pursued with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Atlas of Living Australia and contacts in Japan, India, and Russia to join the BHL consortium. These projects will work together to share content, protocols, services, and digital preservation practices.Prior to digitization, the resources housed within each BHL institution have existed in isolation, available only to those with physical access to the collections. These collections are of exceptional value because the domain of systematic biology depends – more than any other science – upon historic literature. Consequently, the relative isolation of these collections presented an antiquated obstacle to further biodiversity investigation. This problem is particularly acute for the developing countries that are home to the majority of the world’s biodiversity."

As you can see, this is a major worldwide undertaking—a trove of amazing information, images, and ideas. You'll happen upon more data-sparks than you'll know what do with with just sailing through the tag cloud on the main page. That cloud will lead to you a veritable heaven of research on bees, trees, entomology, natural history, pictorial works, and tons of other interesting stuff.

On the left side of the page are BHL updates noting new additions to the collection, books of the week, and other news. You can subscribe to these updates via RSS feed. Have fun, and let us know what you find there.

Beekeeping in Tokyo

2010-02-15T01:09:00.000-05:00

As we eagerly await word on whether beekeeping will be legalized here in NYC, the timing seems good to share a couple of items on urban beekeeping—this time from Tokyo.

First, a charmingly illustrated blog post on the Tokyo Green Space blog on the Ginza Honey Bee Project. (See also this Japan Times article about beekeeping in Ginza.)

And don't miss this intriguing NPR piece on Tokyo's "war" on crows, and how beekeepers are getting involved.

Peruse the topic further via the World Wide G-Spot, here.

Happ-bee Valentine's Day, Ya'll!

2010-02-14T01:23:00.002-05:00

This wonderful card is brought to you by...

Dead/Fly/Art

2010-02-10T01:34:00.003-05:00

You may not think you need to see this, but trust me, you do.

Wendell Berry's "Questionnaire"

2010-02-08T02:08:00.000-05:00

I just found this poem called "Questionnaire" by one of my heroes, Wendell Berry. Berry's poem is a provocation—a series of questions we all need to ask ourselves as we continue down (up?) the tricky path of figuring out how to live with kindness, justice, and meaning in this difficult world.

Food for Thought

2010-02-06T02:17:00.000-05:00

A beekeeper friend made me aware of this new enterprise. Looks worthwhile.

While we're on the subject of food, food politics, and the hope of moving in a sane direction—I urge you to see this extraordinary film, which I saw two weeks ago and was blown away by:

Do The Honeybee

2010-02-04T02:27:00.000-05:00

Facial Recognition (Sheep Do It, Bees Do It, Even Educated Fleas Do It...)

2010-02-02T12:30:00.004-05:00

Our lunch break was made a bit brighter today by our newspaper-scouring pal over at Cook's Log Blog, who made us aware of a New York Times article on the recently "discovered" fact that bees recognize faces.

This reminds me of the last "big discovery" along similar lines: crows' capacity to recognize human faces, as charmingly reported on NPR and in this New York Times item. As always, the critters know way more than we give them credit for.

You can find a whole lot of interesting stuff along these lines by googlin' "animals recognize faces," including the fascinating fact that children recognize faces better than adults.

NYC Denizens—The Time to Help Legalize Beekeeping is Upon Us!

2010-01-29T15:23:00.007-05:00

Folks, there are only a few days left to do your part to get beekeeping legalized in NYC! On or before 5 p.m. on Wed. Feb. 3rd, please take a moment to send your message in support of modifying the NYC health code to allow beekeeping by emailing your message to: RESOLUTIONCOMMENTS (at) health.nyc.gov

You can learn more here. And, to spark your creative juices (if, indeed, juices can be sparked), here's the letter I emailed to the NYC Health Department just moments ago:

It is my pleasure to submit these comments in strong support of legalizing beekeeping in New York City. As a lifelong resident of this city, I know how important it is to improve the ecological balance here and to support a level of biodiversity that benefits human, plant, and animal alike.

As a weekend beekeeper and gardener in upstate New York, I have come to love the company of honeybees. Their extraordinary role as key pollinators has increased my garden’s yield exponentially. The pleasure of observing them at work is unparalleled. The hum of their labor is a joy to the ear. I seek these aesthetic pleasures in the city too, and rejoice when, come springtime, I am lucky enough to see a honeybee working the blossoms of a crocus in a neighbor’s garden. I only wish such sights and sounds were not so rare.

My neighbors in Brooklyn—many of them old-timers who have been here for many decades—lament the disappearance of honeybees in their gardens—a presence they enjoyed and benefited from. They seem fascinated when they find out I am a beekeeper—they want to know more about the bees; they want to tell their own bee-related stories; they are concerned about the threats bees face.

I mention all this because I think it’s become almost second nature to underestimate the toll on urban residents when, bit by bit, traces of the natural world are eradicated, threatened, or diminished. I think we lose our sense of history and place, and humanizing opportunities to revel and participate in the fascinating world of nature—which is, of course, our world (even in the city).

By legalizing beekeeping, we can increase public education about the importance of bees and the natural world so often overlooked in our busy urban lives. We can more openly educate urban beekeepers on safe, neighbor-friendly beekeeping practices. Our local gardens will certainly benefit. Our connection with self-sufficiency and awareness of where our food comes from will increase. The rich aesthetic pleasures associated with the sights and sounds of bees and their hives will become more available to those who desire them. And we’ll all be able to increase our access to local, New York City honey produced by the sophisticated, urbane bees who call New York City home.

Thank you for considering these perspectives.

Sincerely,

Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Those, gentle reader, are my two cents—now go ahead and add your two cents to the discussion if you're a New Yorker with an interest in this issue. We really need to make this happen! You can learn more about this effort and the hearing next week by visiting our friends over at Just Food, who are working so hard on this venture.

Pondering the Universe and Our Place In It

2010-01-29T00:13:00.001-05:00

Pour yourself a nice cup of tea (or whatever) and enjoy this tour of the cosmos from the American Museum of Natural History.

A Mac in His Backpack

2010-01-27T02:17:00.002-05:00

From the Department of Unexpected Delights (and on this day of much anticipated Apple-related revelations), here's an amazing New York Times article, complete with an amazing poem by the Very Great Gary Snyder about his Mac entitled "Why I Take Good Care of My Macintosh."

Yin & Yang

2010-01-26T14:10:00.000-05:00

Two studies of "snowbound" bees found outside the bee tree down the road.

See also: A Honeybee in Snow.

Breaking All the Rules

2010-01-25T01:34:00.001-05:00

I (illicitly) snapped this descriptive plaque at the Henry Darger show at the American Folk Art Museum a couple of weeks ago. I risked death-by-museum-guard to get this for you, my blogged beloveds. My sneaky snapping resulted in a less than excellent framing.If you're in NYC and want to check out the small but fun show of Darger's work, I do recommend it. There's not much in the way of bee-related stuff, beyond this placard, but the museum is a blast, and can be enjoyed from top to bottom in an hour or so. Don't miss the great weather vanes, duck decoys, and fish decoys while you're there. The museum's anti-photo rules suck, but the place is a treasure trove.

Anthills Chillin'

2010-01-23T01:10:00.000-05:00

We have some impressive ant hills in the old pasture behind our property. During a recent snow-shoe excursion to follow the meandering coyote tracks wherever they might lead, I came upon a few of my favorite anthills in all their snowbound glory.
Are the ants living below this blanket of snow sleeping in these days, or (as is more likely) are they, like the bees in slowdown mode within their hives, doing small errands and working their way, bit by bit, through their winter food supply?It's fun to imagine thousands of ants safely hidden away inside these protective mounds, deep below the cold white surface, loafing a bit in this, the "off-season." For verily, if anyone deserves a chance to chill, it's the hard-working ants.

Thought for the Day

2010-01-22T16:40:00.003-05:00

Seen at a local farmstand.

A Honeybee in Snow

2010-01-22T00:01:00.002-05:00

Yesterday, on my afternoon walk around the pond, I found this sweet girl in the snow. Perhaps the warm day lured her too far from the hive and when the weather chilled, she couldn't make it back. Or perhaps she felt her end was near and ventured from her sister bees into the white abyss with a sense of final purpose. Whatever the story, I hope her end was quick. She was a lovely creature.

"Vanishing of the Bees" Fundraiser in NYC on 2/4/10

2010-01-21T09:39:00.004-05:00

If you're planning to be in NYC on February 4th, consider lending your support to this fundraising event for "Vanishing of the Bees," a documentary that explores the potential causes of Colony Collapse Disorder.

Tickets are only $20 and the directors of the film will be on hand to show selected clips and discuss their work on this timely project. Space for this event is limited, so RSVPs are required by January 28th. I'm ordering my tickets just as soon as I upload this post.

Learn more about the "Vanishing of the Bees" project here.

Brooklyn Bees

2010-01-19T00:57:00.001-05:00

Last August, some locust blossoms fell on the hood of a car here in Brooklyn. The intrepid Brooklyn bees didn't let that stop them. Here are some pictures I took (and then tweaked, just for the hell of it) on my iPhone.

January 17, 2010

2010-01-17T19:38:00.001-05:00

The morning walk uphill in deep, new snow:
On which dead honeybees are scattered like sunflower hulls—

Upon this field of white that radiates absence &
presence, dead bees form the patterned language

that tells us: Deep inside the January hive,
the colony is still alive.

—Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Flower Powder: The Art of Wolfgang Laib

2010-01-17T15:44:00.004-05:00

First off, many thanks to Peter, who, in response to my recent post on bees in art, mentioned the work of bee-related art of Wolfgang Laib.

I'd never heard of Laib before, but today I spent some time learning more about this artist, who works in various materials, from milk and rocks, to beeswax and pollen he gathers himself (painstaking work! ask any honeybee!) in the meadows of rural Germany, where he resides.

Laib studied to be a doctor and jumped ship for art. Now he goes around collecting flower powder in fields and rearranging it on the floors of urban galleries. His beeswax sculptures make me immediately want to go and formulate earthy, totemic sculptures from the extra wax I have lying around in the shed. I like it when art makes me want to go out and make my own art!

Here are some data-nuggets I dug up on Laib, just for you.

An essay on his work entitled "Bee-ing and Nothingness."

Images of his work.

An Art in America article on Laib.

A slideshow and link more info and details on a retrospective monograph of Laib's creations.

And while you're at it, take a gander at this video walk-through of a recent gallery show of Laib's work, including his strangely moving and meditative pollen art.

The Lowdown on Landings

2010-01-15T01:00:00.002-05:00

If you've kept bees for any length of time, you've probably spent many hours watching your bees touchdown on the landing boards of their hives before scrambling inside to deliver their gleanings. Sometimes, the landings are smooth and elegant, other times (especially when the bees are laden with pollen), the landing is...well...kind of bumbling.The fine art of returning safely to terra firma (if you're a bee) is the topic of an interesting research item summarized in a recent Science Daily article entitled, Final Moment of Bee Landing Tactics Revealed.

How often, amidst the busy days of beekeeping and its attendant chores, do you remember to simply sit by the hive and enjoy watching the bees come and go? One of my New Year's resolutions is to do much more of this in 2010.

Bees in Art

2010-01-13T01:05:00.004-05:00

Here's to more art and less television in 2010!For your viewing pleasure, here are five bees-in-art sites to get you started...

1. Bees in Art- Operated by the Land Gallery & Foundation ("Home of leading British wildlife art"), this site offers plenty of images, books, cards, and other bee-related items to keep you buzzing around awhile.

2. Bee Dreams/Unique Bee Photography- Photographer Rick Lieder's luminous honeybee portraits celebrate the elegance, dignity, and lithe energy of our airborne friends.

3. The Bee Photographer- Eric Tourneret has traveled the world to photograph honeybees, beekeepers, and their environs. His astonishing photos from Cameroon, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, and Romania will—I guarantee it—blow your mind.

4. Adrianne Rubenstein- We interviewed this wonderful artist awhile back, and I encourage you to explore her fascinating bee-inspired images. Check out Adrianne's interview with Global Swarming Honeybees here.

5. BEE's Project - A perusal of MoMA's website has yielded a few meditative bee-related images by Portuguese artist/designer Susana Soares, accompanied by a thought-provoking audio commentary by another artist working with similar themes—namely, the interactions between animal/human senses, health care, technology, and the need to develop more indigenous/human-friendly settings for the delivery of medical services. (Anyone who has spent any time in a hospital of late will know exactly whereof this speaker speaks, and will no doubt agree with her assessment that these alienating, aesthetically empty environments cannot possible aid in the promotion of well-being.)

I am always on the lookout for quality websites and resources related to bee-inspired photography and other visual arts. What's your favorite resource along these lines?

Bee-getting Justice

2010-01-12T00:08:00.002-05:00

The Natural Resources Defense Council, together with the Xerces Society, achieved a big victory for our bee friends at the end of 2009, and now that I'm back at the bloggin' desk, I wanted to make sure all of you know this bit of positive news.

We're all aware that bees and other pollinators are under severe pressure from the innumerable, often under-tested pesticides that saturate our environment. One pesticide in particular—spirotetramat (manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the trade names Movento and Ultor)—has been found to harm bees, yet was OK'd by the EPA for nationwide use last year.

The NRDC-Xerces lawsuit has righted that wrong. In late December, a federal court in New York ordered the EPA to reevaluate the chemical in compliance with the law, making future sales of this substance illegal in the U.S. Learn more here.

I'm glad that organizations like the NRDC and the Xerces Society are out there fighting the good fight.

Happy....

2010-01-11T10:52:00.003-05:00

I may be 11 days late in extending the "Happy New Year" greeting, but the sentiment is no less sincere for its delay. Just back from a trip to the Yucatan, where Wren and I met some lovely beekeepers, tasted some yummy honey, paid homage to the bee-god at the Tulum ruins, and sat on the beach doing nada.

Here's to good things as we open the page on 2010—for all of us: human, animal, vegetable, mineral, earthward, skyward, and especially beeward.

Six Great Gifts for Beekeepers and Bug-Lovers

2009-12-16T10:55:00.010-05:00

It's that time again—so, adding to the holiday roundup of gifts for beekeepers and insect enthusiasts from last year and the year before, here's this year's list. I know, it's a little late in coming, but that's just the kind of year it's been....

Happy holidays to all, whatever you celebrate (and there is ALWAYS something to celebrate)!

Great Gift #1. Handkerchiefs with a silk-screened bee motif:
I pretty much started boycotting tissues once it sunk in how wasteful and destructive they are (although things on the Kleenex front improved in August of this year thanks in good measure to a five-year-long Greenpeace campaign). These days, I use low-cost cotton hankies, which are soft, reusable, and way greener and cheaper than tissues.

That's why these cool bee hankies rank #1 on this year's gift list—they're practical, reusable gifts for the ecologically and aesthetically minded beekeeper.

Great Gift #2. Vinyl Wall Graphics for Bug Freaks:

If these images grab you, check out the entire WilsonGraphics collection of customizable vinyl decals and wall graphics, featuring butterflies, moths, beetles, and tons of other cool stuff, including: the lovely retro "Kindness to Animals" silhouette-style motif shown above, "Creepy Crawly Tarantula Spiders," and "5 Mushroom Decals."

Great Gift #3. Power Bee T:This is one hunky bee, and I love the assertive simplicity of this design. Cafe Press has zillions of other fun bee-themed thingamajigs, including mugs, aprons, bumper-stickers, clocks, and caps.

Great Gift #4. For the formal beek:
How about a silk-screened necktie?
Great Gift #5...For the Eco-Beek Who Neither Needs Nor Wants More Stuff:
By supporting a healthy environment, we're giving a gift to our beekeeper friends, our bees, and ourselves.

One way to do this is to donate to the environmental group of your choice in honor of your beekeeper friends. Some of my favorite groups are: Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Friends of the Earth, Environmental Advocates of New York, The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and Just Food (which is working hard to help get beekeeping legalized in NYC).

Great Gift #6. For the Timely Beek....
Beekeeping is all about knowing the seasons and working within the realities of time. For that, a great calendar is called for. In that department, I recommend the work of Nikki McClure. While not bee-specific, her woodcuts are earthy, inspiring, and smart. Check out McClure's 2010 calendar here.

And on that forward-thinking note, I wish you, your bees, and all residents of earth a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year!

Thought for the Day

2009-11-22T00:29:00.001-05:00

Greenpeace

2009-11-21T00:05:00.000-05:00

On Frogs and Leaf Litter

2009-11-18T10:44:00.006-05:00

This neat item on frogs' affinity for fallen leaves and the tasty morsels that reside therein just came across the transom, and I thought I'd share.

As it happens, I spent awhile raking on Saturday afternoon (with the aim of adding grist to the compost pile mill). Whilst doing so, I noticed loads of critters in the leaf litter and decided to stop raking and just leave things bee, as it were. So this item is timely, and may inspire others to skip the leaf-raking altogether next time!

Check it out and meditate on the beneficial implications of the proverbial messy yard.

Help the Honeybees Go Postal

2009-11-16T12:07:00.003-05:00

This just in from our comrades over at "Down to Earth":

December 25, 2010 is the 200th birthday of L.L. Langstroth, the "Father of American Beekeeping." The US Postal Service Stamp Advisory Committee will be considering a Langstroth commemorative stamp at its January meeting.
Find out what you can do to help the honeybees (and Mr. Langstroth) go postal.