(Feminist) Beekeeping in Turkey

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

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.

Honeybee Luv

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

Nice Op Ed Piece on Beekeeping in NYC

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.

Take The U.S. Bee Loss Survey

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

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.

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

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!

Beekeeping is Legalized in NYC

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...

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.

Beekeeping in Tokyo

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.

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

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.

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.

Bee-Friendly Reporting

A reporter sent this my way, and I though ya'll might enjoy it.

Old Timey Sesame Street Beekeeping Spot

Beekeeping in Honduras

Going through the mile-high stack of papers and magazines in my office today, I happened upon this item about beekeeping in Honduras. It's from WorldArk, the publication of Heifer International, one of my favorite nonprofits.

Urban Beekeeping Explosion

Lots of fun stuff re. urban beekeeping these days. It's clear we're in the midst of a major upsurge in the department of cityfolk-doing-rural-things.

Visit the City Bees blog, where bee-blogger Toni takes us on a tour of the White House bee hives!

Meet the keeper of the Clinton Community Garden beehive in Hell's Kitchen, New York.

Listen to a recent WNYC profile on the NYC Beekeepers Association.

Check out this recent conversation about the value of beekeeping in NYC and the status of the efforts to make it legal with the Executive Director of Just Food and a leading honeybee researcher. (Scroll down until you see "The Buzz Around Town.")

Nice Radio Piece on Urban Beekeeping in NYC

Annual Beekeeping Survey—Please Participate

If you're already keeping bees in the U.S., please take a moment to complete this year's survey on how your hives are doing, to enable the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to compile a nationwide picture of what the heck is going on with our bees.

The deadline for turning in this simple survey is Friday, April 17th, 2009.

Unfortunately, the survey is not available in an online format (don't ask me why), but you can cut and paste the questions into an email, answer them, and e-mail your responses to: beeloss@gmail.com

According to the PR sent around earlier this week from the folks at Bee Culture:

The information you provide will be entered into a spreadsheet and will not be attached to your name or address in any way. In addition to this e-mail survey, you may be contacted by phone and asked the same questions. Please provide answers to both if you are asked to do so – but mention to the phone interviewer that you have already answered the questions via email.

The results of this survey will be compiled and published so that everyone can see how bees are doing in the United States. These results, along with those from the past two years, will be used to secure research funding and assistance for Bee health.

Be sure to send your survey response to the email provided above prior to April 17, 2009. And please feel free to pass this along to your beekeeping buddies—the more beekeepers participate, the more complete a picture can be gathered about what is happening to our honeybees, and why.

The survey questions are as follows:

1. In what state(s) and county(s) do you keep your hives? If you keep hives in more than one state or county, please answer questions 2-9 separately by location.

2. How many hives did you have alive in September 2008?

3. How many hives are alive now (March/April 2009)?

4. How many splits, increases, and/or colonies did you make/buy since September 2008?

5. What percentage of loss, over this time period, would you consider acceptable?

6. What percentage of your hives that died had no dead bees in the hive or in the apiary?

7. To what do you attribute the cause of death for the hives that died?

8. What percentage of your hives did you send to CA for almond pollination?

9. How many times, on average, did you move your colonies last year?

Download the reports from previous years here (winter 06-07) and here (winter 07-08).

Just Food in the New York Times

Spring is here on so many levels. And a welcomed groundswell of attention is being paid to sustainable farming, community-supported agriculture, urban food-growing, and all that good stuff.

We're pleased to see that the Executive Director of Just Food—a NYC-based organization that, among its many other good works, is seeking to get beekeeping legalized in our fair city—is being featured in one of the New York Times' Q&A columns.

So go ahead, Ask About Local Food in New York!

Urban Beekeeping in Frankfurt, Germany

Listen to the interesting and informative interview here.