Six Great Gifts for Beekeepers and Bug-Lovers

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

Greenpeace

See also the New York Times interview with the new Executive Director at Greenpeace.

On Frogs and Leaf Litter

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

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.

White House Bees

The New York Times has recently posted an entertaining confection on the "First Bees."

Grand Central Honeybear

A great plate seen in one of the shops in Grand Central Station.

Did You Thank a Honeybee for Your Great Pumpkin?

Hats off to our honeybees for this year's hefty haul of pumpkins.

A Poem Is Like A Social Wasp

10/22/09

A vespid alights
on the latex-white puddle
of melted vanilla—
desperate for October’s stolen flower.

—Gerry Gomez Pearlberg

Artist of the Day

Been looking at a fair amount of art lately, and was especially thrilled last week by the plum blossoms, willows, and critter-renderings of 18th c. Chinese artist Luo Ping at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If you're in NYC, check it out, and while you're there do not miss the amazing Astor Court—a hidden treasure nestled deep in the quiet recesses of the museum's Asian galleries.

Meanwhile, a bit closer to home—on the desktop, in fact—I've been enjoying the paintings and drawings of Zane York, a Brooklyn-based artist whose wide-ranging interests include bugs, birds, and critters of the mammalian persuasion.

What I like about this work is its meticulous accuracy and intelligence, through which, in subtle ways, a sense of appreciation and fondness for the subject matter percolates through.

Some of my favorites are:

A dragonfly.

A squirrel.

A hapless bug stalked by two cats.

An oil painting of a dead blue jay that evokes a 19th century specimen study, but with heart.

A horned beetle rendered in all its talismanic glory.

An in-your-face blowfish.

NRDC Member Alert!

Are you a member of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)?

If you're a beekeeper AND an NRDC member, NRDC is looking for your help in gathering information on pesticide use and its effects on bees.

NRDC members who keep bees and would like to assist this great organization in going to bat for bees are encouraged to contact Levi Jones at ljones (at) nrdc (dot) org.

Bee Photography Tips

A friend was kind enough to send this impressionistic shot of a bee in flight over a sea of pink flowers.

The photographer, Ronan Palliser , provides a detailed explanation of the techniques used to take the photo and his musings about the challenges inherent in photographing bees and butterflies. It's a nice little conversation starter.

I've actually been pleasantly surprised at little camera-power I've needed to get some pretty cool shots of my honeybees and the local population of bumblebees and other flying insects. I certainly don't aspire to greatness on this front, but my little Canon Elph has come through well much of the time.

Patience is, perhaps, the most important ingredient for successfully photographing the fast-moving insects. A macro lens, even a basic macro setting option, helps too. Learning through time and observation how different insects move about is useful as well. In any event, it's fun to go outside, find some bees working the flowers, and snap a few photos in the least intrusive way possible.

Shakespearean Bee

Signage from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Honeycomb on the Go

Whilst walking, minding my own beeswax, I happened upon these.

Kid Bees in NYC

My bro sent me this picture, taken over the weekend at some sort of eco-event at Madison Sq. Park in Manhattan.