3/31/10

The Buzz About Big City Beekeepers

from takepart.com

It’s a resplendent Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles, that rare smog-free day. You decide to charbroil some burgers for lunch. You creek open the lid of your backyard grill and…bzzZZZzzzz! A bee-hive! In ten seconds flat, you’ve hightailed it back into the house, slammed the door, and Googled "exterminator."

Best to kill those sons-a-beeswax before they swarm, right? Wrong!

Slow your roll. Have a heart. And call Kirk Anderson at the Bee Rescue Hotline.

For a fee, Anderson, 61, a sort of bee Svengali in the City of Angels, will not only remove your unwanted bees, he’ll find them an adopted home through Backward Beekeepers, the organization of small-scale organic urban beekeepers that rely on sustainable, natural practices to keep their bees thriving.

“I’ve had people call me who’ve got bees in their dryer ducts,” said Anderson of the hotline, which receives up to 10 calls a day. “I’ve taken bees out of five-gallon paint cans, suitcases, chests of drawers, car glove boxes.”

At a recent Backward Beekeeper monthly meeting, Anderson held court like the Queen Bee—that is, if she sported Catfish Hunter’s mustache and wielded Yogi Berra’s wit.

READ more here

Info on Honey Bee from scientificbeekeeping.com

Fat Bees, honey bee nutrition

Varroa information
First Year info

3/30/10

Building Frames at #beeschool

Click Here for How to

3/29/10

Going Local from Guest Blogger @Fromfarmtotable

The last time I moved to a tiny town I loved, it was from "the big city". Once sleeping quarters were laid down, the next order of business was getting a shoe fixed. This, so I could walk around the downtown; the center of my new foundtown. The sole on my ten year old hiking boot had come loose, a symbol, no doubt, of the journey before landing (back) in Smallville. The internet didn't sub for the yellow pages back then, and a feeling of dread welled up, for a project as large as a boot-mending in a strange town. I asked a new neighbor to recommend the best place to get a boot patched. He chuckled, and promptly gave me directions to the ~only~ place, to get a boot patched. I showed up, was greeted by the owner, and invited to sit down and stay a while.

A few minutes later, I walked out of Jim's shoe repair. Delighted to be only $6 lighter, my hand wrapped around his business card in my pocket, and my mind around the conversation we just shared. Eager to see where my good-as-new hiker might take me, a short walk around the corner revealed the diner Jim recommended, for a meal he said I'd welcome after so much road and fast food. His brother owned a piece of land at the edge of town and provided produce for the eatery. Belly full and feet happy, the feel-good of the day washed over my other soul, for hours. It'd be years before I learned of the essays of Wendell Berry (such as this one on a local economy). But that first afternoon in Local Land felt as comfy to me as any worn shoe. It felt good, tasted great, and looked beautiful.

You don't have to live in a tiny town to reap the benefits of a local economy. Sonoma County is geographically pretty big, but home to many robust communities ever more concerned and active on the "go local" front. Small change can add up to a big difference - check out the 350 Project and see what you think of making small changes in a few spending habits.

As for me and my life, I'll pass on super-sizing it for an extra 50 cents. Heck, I'll take the smaller slice please, even if it costs a little more. And while you're at it, I don't mind if you super-slow it. My hurrying days are behind me.

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/299/

http://sonomacounty.golocal.coop/

http://www.the350project.net/home.html

Kim Ryals
www.fromfarmtotable.com
@fromfarmtotable

Josephine. She looks serious ...

It is hard to keep Tim the Mandarin out of the drinking water!

Feeding Chicken to Fish??

It isn’t atypical for aquafarmed fish to be fed chicken in their fishmeal. Dan Barber, the executive chef at Blue Hill, probes this reality by examining a farming system that rejects practices like this, in favor of an “extensive” system. In the south of Spain, Veta la Palma boasts a landscape that includes a 27,000 acre fish farm, where biologist Miguel Medialdea produces 1,200 tonnes of sea bass, bream, red mullet and shrimp each year. The restored wetlands are home to many aquatic species but also over 600,000 birds—the largest private bird sanctuary in Europe. While flamingos flock there to eat shrimp, shrimp in turn eat photoplankton. As Barber suggests, the health of predators and an organic food chain makes this ecological balance possible. His proposal for a restorative farm system in which communities around the world could feed themselves is presented through a symbiotic relationship with the land. - from civileats.com

3/28/10

That Buzzing Could Sweeten Tomorrow’s Tea - from NYT

Published: March 26, 2010

If you spy a dark-haired woman gliding down Mission Street, past the taquerias and bodegas, in a white, head-to-toe bee suit — picture a hazmat suit crossed with a fencing mask — chances are it’s Cameo Wood, en route to a beehive. Ms. Wood, the 32-year-old proprietor of the Mission District shop Her Majesty’s Secret Beekeeper, cares for 15 hives in “borrowed spaces” around San Francisco. These are hidden away in friends’ backyards, in a restaurant garden, and on the roofs of government buildings and apartment complexes.

Urban beekeeping, or backyard beekeeping, is taking off in a major way in the Bay Area, as a growing brood of city dwellers is raising bees on rooftops, patios and small plots of land; harvesting the honey; and, in some cases, selling the yields in local shops and bakeries.

CLICK HERE TO READ ARTICLE

Cool. CHICAGO HONEY CO-OP

In the winter of 2004, three passionate urban beekeepers conceived and created Chicago Honey Co-op.

Our goal is to provide job training opportunities for the under-employed while operating a small business model that is dedicated to sustainable agricultural practices and aims for the highest product quality standards. Owned by our members, our Chicago bee farm is home to over 100 hives.

Good resources reccomended by Chicago Honey Co-op

Honey Bees And Beekeeping -
A Year in the Life of an Apiary - Keith Delaplane/University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education

The Backyard Beekeeper - Revised and Updated: An Absolute Beginners Guide to Keeping Bees in Your Yard and Garden - Kim Flottum/Quarry Books

Natural Beekeeping - Natural Approaches to Modern Apiculture - Ross Conrad/Chelsea Green Publishing

At the Hive Entrance - H Storch/European Apicultural Editions (out of print)

Beekeeper's Backpocket Reminder - Michael Rainville/Self Published (found on Ebay several years ago)

I don't think I have "Happy Worms"

Some tips from allthingsorganic.com for good "happy" worm bins.

These are a few good practices for the new worm bin. If you do these, you need not worry about having any significant problems.

Do not add water to the worm bin unless a large part of the bin material lacks water. Some worm bin manufacturers suggest that water be poured through the worm bin and captured for use as "worm tea". The problem is, this is leachate, containing undecomposed food waste.

Dig under the bedding now, and every few weeks, to peek at the bottom-most material. If even a little bit is becoming waterlogged, that's a sign that you need to promote more aeration and/or drainage.

Smell the worm bin. If there's any foul odor, think "what did I add or do differently, recently, that could have led to this odor?" I once caused a terrific stink in my worm bin by adding some fermenting barley I'd picked up from a brewery.

Check to see that the temperature remains reasonably good. With changes in season, and the amount of sun that shines, a worm bin can change temperature significantly. Watch out you don't cook the worms!

Watch for worm predators if this is an outdoor bin. Moles find worms delicious, as do birds and some dogs! Make sure the bin has a lid (and a secure bottom, if necessary for your location).

More good worm advice

Home Vermicomposting

The Compost Guy

The Teachers Guide

My Call Ducks enjoying a spring day!

3/26/10

Join Chop Chop Magazine's Fan Page

CLICK HERE to join the Facebook Fan page

Egg CSA from Cooking Up a Story

WOW, thank you Lis!

See more work here

and here is Giant Robot, to go see Lis's work (is that where you put the apostrophe??)

Rooftop Farms. Cool

Welcome to Rooftop Farms, a 6,000 square foot organic vegetable farm in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

CHECK THIS OUT,
In Brooklyn, Lettuce, Not Steel, Scrapes the Sky

"The IT Bird" - @SusanOrlean The New Yorker

Top photo by Tamara Staples: My hen named after Susan Orlean
Bottom photo: Susan Orlean and me.

THE IT BIRD by Susan Orlean

"If I had never seen Janet Bonney reënact the mouth-to-beak resuscitation of her hen Number Seven, who had been frozen solid in a nor’easter, then was thawed and nursed back to life—being hand-fed and massaged as she watched doctor shows on TV—I might never have become a chicken person. But a few years ago I happened to watch a documentary called “The Natural History of the Chicken,” which opens with the story of Bonney and Number Seven, and for the first time the thought of owning chickens entered my mind. I had watched the film with no preëxisting chicken condition."

Too-Busy Bees , from NYT

By MARCELO AIZEN and LAWRENCE HARDER

Published: March 24, 2010

IN the past five years, as the phenomenon known as colony-collapse disorder has spread across the United States and Europe, causing the disappearance of whole colonies of domesticated honeybees, many people have come to fear that our food supply is in peril. The news on Wednesday that a Department of Agriculture survey found that American honeybees had died in great numbers this winter can only add to such fears.

CLICK HERE for entire article

3/25/10

Diet for Chickens

Healthy Diet For Chickens
Daily intake should include

60 % balanced pellet or crumble

20% scratch
cracked corn, oats, black oil sunflower seeds

20% fresh
greens (not iceberg- no nutrition)
fruits (melon- esp. watermelon), grapes, raisins, tomatos, banannas, etc.)
vegetables (cucumbers, cooked corn on the cob, etc.)
pasta, rice, whole wheat bread
cooked egg- the absolute favorite (harboiled and mashed- shell and all).
Safe Backyard Plants
Ground Cover plants:
English Thyme
French Thyme
Peppermint
Strawberry
Oregano
Rosemary
Grass fescue, oat, wheat, blue mix
White clover
Aronia Berry/ Black Chokeberry
Red Lake Currant
Service Berry Bush
Yellow Raspberry
Red Raspberry
Blueberry

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution - Season 1 Episode 1, part 2/3

Sign the petition

My Review of Chez Panisse

When I was out in San Francisco I was lucky enough to have dinner at Chez Panisse. I even got a tour of the kitchen and a talk with the Chefs! It was so cool. Here are a few things that ate. I didn't know what many of these things were before eating there.

A Bowl of Churchill-Brenneis Orchard Page mandarins and Barhi dates

Willey Farm artichoke salad with parsley, lemon and parmesean
Pizza with rocket, Riverdog Farm sund-dried tomatoes, and ricotta

Pink lady apple and sour cherry tart with Marshalls Farm Honey Ice cream
Chocolate Pave with hazelnut cream
Fresh mint Tisanse

Beetight.com - SO COOL

Beetight is a free web application for beekeepers and is the best way to manage your hives and track them online or on your phone or PDA.

Easy inspection records
Easily record details of inspections and manipulations
Record treatments and feeding
Track colony temperament
Record honey harvests, including records of nectar sources and batch codes

Apiaries
See all apiaries and hives sites at a glance.
Show locations on a map, and view current weather at each site
Record primary forage at each site

Smart hive labels
Quickly identify your hives with printable labels
Most smartphones can read the special barcodes using their built-in camera
Pull up hive records instantly
Unique short "hive.es" link for every hive

3/23/10

NYC Rooftop bees

Check out ChopChop in Boston Globe

By Karen Weintraub
Globe Correspondent / March 23, 2010

As any parent of a finicky eater knows, children are more likely to eat something they made themselves. Yet until now, no one has thought to make cooking part of the battle against childhood obesity, says Watertown cookbook author Sally Sampson.

Kids in the Kitchen

Recipes for easy and fun dishes you can make with your kids.
But Sampson believes that her new, free 32-page quarterly magazine will lure elementary school children into the kitchen.

Copies of the inaugural issue of ChopChop were mailed out yesterday. Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone of Somerville ordered enough to put in every elementary school backpack in his city, and copies will soon be “prescribed’’ at most of the major pediatric practices and hospitals in the region.

Sampson started off thinking she would just deliver a few child-oriented recipes to Boston-area hospitals and doctors’ offices. But she said the idea stirred so much enthusiasm that the first printing of 150,000 copies will be distributed to more than 30 states, and she hopes to move to monthly publication quickly. The magazine’s nutrition advisory board is packed with local luminaries. A companion website is expected to go live this week.

“Our goal is to reach every kid in America in this age range,’’ she said.

The debut issue includes 11 recipes, as well as cooking tips, explainers about kitchen tools, a food-related word search, and a short profile of a Newburyport seventh-grader, Orren Fox, who raises chickens and dreams of starring on Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.’’

What Sampson made sure it doesn’t include is any mention of the obesity epidemic or lectures about what to eat and what to avoid.

“She’s created a kind of Trojan horse here — a stealth, fun way to eat healthy,’’ said Gary Hirshberg, chief executive of Stonyfield Farm, which is an adviser to and sponsor of ChopChop. Childhood obesity “is serious stuff,’’ Hirshberg said, “but that doesn’t mean we need to be serious all the time. We can have fun. And frankly, if you want anyone under 22 involved, then it has to be fun.’’

Stonyfield Farm and other sponsors have no say in the content, according to Sampson, but they do get attention. The first issue, for instance, does not feature advertisements, but there is a coupon for Stonyfield Farm yogurt, an article about growing a garden in a box that features a picture of pansies in a recycled Stonyfield container, and a small promotion for OXO cooking tools, another corporate sponsor. Other early backers include Boston Medical Center, Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, MassGeneral Hospital for Children, Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center, and Children’s Hospital Boston.

Sampson said she intends to keep a tight rein on which commercial products appear in the magazine, and won’t accept financial support from companies that don’t fit the healthy food message.

The magazine has raised about $100,000, she said, money that went into printing and shipping the first issue. Writing, editing, photography, design, and promotion were done pro bono, though all involved expect to be paid for future work.

Hirshberg said he hopes other companies will see the wisdom of investing in ChopChop, even if they can’t quantify their return on investment.

“The calculus we make is ‘is it consistent with our values?’ ’’ he said, and “how many people will it reach?’’

Pediatrician Margaret Coleman, of CHA Cambridge Pediatrics, who was not involved in producing the magazine, said she’s looking forward to giving it to patients — and their parents.

A major reason children don’t eat well is that parents don’t eat well, Coleman said.

“Parents don’t cook. They don’t know anything about cooking,’’ she said.

About 17 percent of elementary school children are now obese, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, up from 6.5 percent 30 years ago. According to one recent study, the vast majority of overweight children grow up to become obese adults.

The magazine offers very basic, simple instructions — such as “throw the shells away’’ after cracking an egg — and inexpensive ingredients that can be found even in small urban grocery stores in low-income neighborhoods.

“ChopChop is providing much needed alternatives to Ronald McDonald for meals that can be fun and healthy at the same time,’’ said Dr. Walter Willett, chairman of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. As a member of the magazine’s nutrition advisory board, Willett reviews all recipes before publication.

ChopChop also has a children’s advisory board, which includes Orren and 9-year-old Julien Alam from Cambridge. The fourth-grader said it makes him “feel pretty cool’’ to be part of the magazine, testing recipes and offering his opinions to Sampson. He even has some ideas about future editorial content.

“I think she should make an apple crumble,’’ Julien said. “I’d like to test that recipe.’’

3/21/10

Francisco enjoying a sun bath

Washington DC Residents Lobby to Raise Chickens on Capitol Hill

Concerns over industrialized food system prompt supporters of locally-raised poultry

Washington, D.C., home to presidents, senators, ambassadors, and — if some residents have their way — urban chicken farmers.

These poultry pioneers are part of a growing movement of Americans who are promoting local production as an alternative to the country's industrialized food system.

But not everyone in Washington thinks chickens will make good neighbors.

Chickens on Capitol Hill

Amanda Cundiff raises three Rhode Island Red hens behind her modest yellow townhouse just a few kilometers from the U.S. Capitol.

While backyard poultry are a common sight in the developing world, they're hardly ever seen in America, where most chickens are raised on large commercial farms.

READ WHOLE ARTICLE HERE

Bees in the City? New York May Let the Hives Come Out of Hiding

“The real danger is the skewed public perception of the danger of honeybees,” said Andrew Coté, of the New York City Beekeepers Association.

By MIREYA NAVARRO
Published: March 14, 2010

Kathleen Boyer suspects the mailman.

She said she could not think of anyone else in her neighborhood who would have complained about the two beehives she kept under a pine tree in her front yard in Flatbush, Brooklyn, leading the city’s health department to fine her $2,000 last fall.

“I was kind of surprised,” said Mrs. Boyer, an art director with a media company. “People see us in our bee suit and they’d bring their kids to watch us and ask us questions.”

New York City is among the few jurisdictions in the country that deem beekeeping illegal, lumping the honeybee together with hyenas, tarantulas, cobras, dingoes and other animals considered too dangerous or venomous for city life. But the honeybee’s bad rap — and the days of urban beekeepers being outlaws — may soon be over.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s board will take up the issue of amending the health code to allow residents to keep hives of Apis mellifera, the common, nonaggressive honeybee. Health department officials said the change was being considered after research showed that the reports of bee stings in the city were minimal and that honeybees did not pose a public health threat.

Read entire article here

3/19/10

Happy Chickens in Springtime

#beeschool, I've started a hashtag for notes from Bee School

Check out #beeschool

I have started a hashtag so you can follow notes from my class

My Yellow BeeHaus arrive 4/1!

ChopChop Magazine - I'm part of their advisory board!

Sally Sampson is launching Chop Chop, a fun cooking magazine for kids and families. "As a cookbook writer with 20 titles and counting - and as a mother whose child has a chronic illness - I've gotten a lot deeper into the healthcare system than I'd ever thought I'd be. Chop Chop is the perfect way to get involved in healthcare and use my cooking skills," says Sampson. The magazine is filled with kid-tested real-food recipes to make at home, along with puzzles, games, and fun food facts for the Sesame Street crowd. Set to launch in mid-March in 30 states, the quarterly magazine is a non-profit venture, supported by public-health departments, pediatricians, and corporations. It's guided by a team of award-winning national magazine editors, designers, and writers, and all the content has been vetted by an advisory team of academics and medical professionals. "Pediatricians are wild for the magazine. They have started talking to parents and kids about real food, but they didn't have a tool to give them," says Sampson. Why is she doing this? "We have to change the way America eats, one bite at a time."

From Stuffboston.com

PLEASE VOTE for Tamara Staples, may favorite photographer

CLICK HERE TO VOTE

The Radical Necessity of Cooking: Mollie Katzen, Vegetablist from CIVILEATS.COM

Vegetable expert and bestselling cookbook author Mollie Katzen’s handwritten and illustrated cookbook, The Moosewood Cookbook, (not to mention The Enchanted Broccoli Forest and her cookbooks for children, Pretend Soup and Honest Pretzels) introduced many to the love of cooking. She was inducted into the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame in 2007 and her most recent book, Get Cooking, was recently nominated for an International Association of Culinary Professionals Award. Beloved by many, new to some, Katzen continues her clarion call for taking back our food system one delicious meal at a time. I recently spoke to Mollie about vegetables, the new Good Food Movement, and the radical necessity of cooking.

CLICK HERE to read interview with Civileats.com

3/10/10

Follow Nathan my friend on twitter @follownathan

4,300 Miles across the country.

Countless Adventures.

One Long conversation with America.

Buy Local.

Support Family Famrs.

Trust your fellow Americans

"While on the road I had come to witness countless people doing great things in their communities all over America. Despite all of the negative talk you see and hear in the main stream news outlets. America is still the kind of place where you can ask a complete stranger for help and you will find an answer. America is still a place we can all be proud of."

White House Inspires Beekeepers Across the U.S.

My Bee Mentor!

Would you be willing to sign my petition?

CLICK HERE to sign my petition
to encourage the White House to add a small flock to their White House Organic Garden and White House honey bees.

#beeschool building frames

CLICK HERE FOR A PDF Building Frames

JUST ordered 2 packages of BEES!

Bees on the way back from Georgia with Nancy of Beekeepers Warehouse

Veterinarians for Chickens

PETER BROWN

First State Veterinary Supply

(410) 546-6137

He is amazing

"Over the past 20+ years Peter Brown has helped literally thousands of poultry enthusiasts with their poultry problems. So much, that he has been named the "Chicken Doctor" by those he has helped. Everyday more people call seeking his advice for their latest problem. "

DR. SALINGER

DR. GRILLO

Newbury Animal Hospital
(978) 465-2777

96 Hanover St, Newbury, MA 01951
They are very helpful and compassionate

Dr. WENDY EMERSON
Putnam Veterinary Clinic
(978) 887-3836
374 Boston St, #2
Topsfield, MA 01983
Haven't used her but comes highly recommended

HERE IS A GREAT LIST FOR VETS AROUND THE US

3/9/10

Where is my milk from?

Honey Bees

A Taste of the Honey Business

By: Anne C. Lee from FastCompany
September 1, 2009

The bees of America have been working hard all summer: To make a pound of honey, they have to fly the equivalent of eight roundtrips between New York and Paris. Now it's time to enjoy the fructose of their labor. Have a taste of the facts and figures on honey.

Last year, 161 million pounds of honey were produced in the U.S., up 8% from 2007.

North Dakota produced 35 million pounds, worth $47.4 million -- more than any other state.

Häagen-Dazs has donated $500,000 to Penn State and UC Davis for Bee research; 50% of its flavors are made with ingredients requiring bee pollination.

Honey bee pollination supports $15 billion worth of agriculture in the U.S.

Crops such as apples cherries, and avocados are 90% dependent on it.

1,600 commercial beekeeping ooperations produce 60% of American honey.

The world's most expensive honey is Believed to be Trgothnan manuka honey from Britain.

Only 100 4-ounce jars are made per year; each sells for $80, about $11 a teaspoon.

California, which produces more than half of the world's almonds, needs almost 1 million colonies of honey Bees to pollinate that crop.

The U.S. had 2.3 millon honey-producing Bee colonies in 2008.

Honey bees tap 2 million flowers and fly more than 55,000 miles to make one pound of honey.

Wholesale honey prices rose in 2008 to an all-time high of $1.41 per pound, up 30% from 2007.

The average American consumes 1.29 pounds of honey a year.

The mysterious Colony Collapse Disorder has killed more than 33% of U.S. commercial honey Bees since 2006.

There average worker bee makes 1/12 of a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime.