I have been an excited follower of stories about the first known White House beehive. As a complement to the organic garden, and to fresh, local eating that the Obama's make a priority, the White House has installed a lovely beehive on its grounds.
The Obama's gift precious jars of this honey to VIPs across the world, most recently as part of a wedding gift to British Royals William and Kate.
I do have a concern, though, that Charlie the White House beekeeper uses a leaf blower to violently remove the bees from the frames of honey he plans to harvest.
I personally want Charlie to be the beekeeping equivalent of Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. The whole nation is potentially watching Charlie as the 'First Beekeeper.' He's in a position to be a great teacher about honeybees, their plight, and how humans benefit from and enjoy these amazing insects.
What he does instead, is the equivalent of watching Cesar beat the dogs he's working with. At worst, he is injuring and killing these beings that produced this amazing honey he wants to harvest. At best, he is working with them in a way that shows poor husbandry and little respect for the honeybee.
The great thing that I have learned as a beekeeper is that there is usually always a better way of doing something. Fortunately, there IS a great way to remove the bees from the frames of honey that I want to harvest. I use a simple invention called a bee escape, which costs about $10 from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. The bee escape is placed between the surplus honey and the rest of the hive a 2 - 3 days before the honey harvest. This gives the bees that were on the frames of honey time to move down into the main hive area, and they cannot get back up into the surplus honey.
I've used it with great success - no harm to the bees and chemical free (yes, there are chemicals that beekeepers can use to 'fume' the bees off of the honey).
There are great, bee friendly options to beekeeping, if you just look for them!
Click here to watch the video about the First Hive and the honey harvest.
Click here for an interesting article about a lab analysis of the White House honey - and a picture of the First Hive.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Indulge me for a moment....a swarm and a package of bees are very different things.
I'm a bookworm turned beekeeper, so forgive me for being picky with my beekeeping vocabulary. I've been in conversations with beekeepers where words are slung around and I have to wonder sometimes if we really know what the other is talking about? I love my fellow beekeepers, and mostly take these conversations as learning opportunities for myself - rather than be too irked at another wonderful beekeeper.
There's one mis-use of terms that I cannot overlook, though. Beekeepers at times use the term 'swarm' instead of the word 'package.' 'So what?', you might be asking. Well, there's a very big difference. To me, swarms are sacred treasures. A swarm consists of a queen and her daughters and a few of her sons. Bonded together by their beloved queen, they are on a mission to find a build their new home. It is a likely a very healthy group of bees, and according to Gunther Hauk and Rudolph Steiner, a swarm has an amazing vitality. These sisters are primed and ready to build a new home for their mother to begin laying eggs. The drones (brothers) are a bit more mysterious in their roles - but there are definitely some included in the swarm.
Swarms can be from 'wild' hives and this can mean that they are from survivor stock - naturally bred to have the traits to withstand diseases and pests.
Swarms are key to our hope for honey bee survival. They are part of supporting genetic diversity and an overall healthy honey bee population.
Packages of bees are random bees dumped into a mesh and wooden box. Some of them may or may not be related. A questionably bred queen in her own little box is then attached to this package of bees, along with a can of high fructose corn syrup. This box is then shipped hundreds of miles or more, in strained conditions, and finally put into a new hive box by the end user beekeeper.
You can hopefully see how it's hard to bear hearing a well meaninged beekeeper mis-using the word swarm when they are referring to a package of bees.
Ok, stepping down off my horse. Had to get that off of my chest.
There's one mis-use of terms that I cannot overlook, though. Beekeepers at times use the term 'swarm' instead of the word 'package.' 'So what?', you might be asking. Well, there's a very big difference. To me, swarms are sacred treasures. A swarm consists of a queen and her daughters and a few of her sons. Bonded together by their beloved queen, they are on a mission to find a build their new home. It is a likely a very healthy group of bees, and according to Gunther Hauk and Rudolph Steiner, a swarm has an amazing vitality. These sisters are primed and ready to build a new home for their mother to begin laying eggs. The drones (brothers) are a bit more mysterious in their roles - but there are definitely some included in the swarm.
Swarms can be from 'wild' hives and this can mean that they are from survivor stock - naturally bred to have the traits to withstand diseases and pests.
Swarms are key to our hope for honey bee survival. They are part of supporting genetic diversity and an overall healthy honey bee population.
Packages of bees are random bees dumped into a mesh and wooden box. Some of them may or may not be related. A questionably bred queen in her own little box is then attached to this package of bees, along with a can of high fructose corn syrup. This box is then shipped hundreds of miles or more, in strained conditions, and finally put into a new hive box by the end user beekeeper.
You can hopefully see how it's hard to bear hearing a well meaninged beekeeper mis-using the word swarm when they are referring to a package of bees.
Ok, stepping down off my horse. Had to get that off of my chest.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Natural approaches to beekeeping - you mean organic, right?
When I teach a beekeeping class, talk with new beekeepers, or experienced beekeepers looking for a more natural approach, it's clear that we're throwing around terms that may or may not be used interchangeably. I have begun using 'natural beekeeping' as a nice broad term for various approaches of beekeeping that support the health of the honey bee. (btw - if it was 1991, we'd just go with 'alternative' beekeeping, right?)
Other terms you might hear:
Organic beekeeping/organic honey: You might already know that there's really no actual organic honey, as we cannot control where the bees forage. Many people don't realize, though, how chemical heavy and manipulative conventional beekeeping has gotten. Honey bees have not been exempt from the chemicalization and control that have come with industrialized agriculture. Here's a great link to read a more in depth article about the realities of 'organic' honey in the U.S.
One phrase that makes sense to me is 'organically managed beekeeping', used by Craig, the self titled "South Maryland Beekeeper" He's got a really interesting podcast that I've enjoyed listening to. The term he uses makes more sense. The beekeeper can control what they put into the hive, so it's really the beekeeper's methods that are organic.
Still, organic can sometimes come up short as a term. It refers more to the fact that chemicals are not used in the hive, but perhaps refers to not much else about the conditions of the honey bee or the beekeepers approach. Plus, when you buy organic honey from Brazil in the supermarket, you're missing out of the health benefits and community benefits from getting honey from your local beekeeper. Most farmer's markets now feature a local beekeeper or two, if you have any trouble finding local honey.
By the way, be sure to support and encourage your local beekeepers who don't use antibiotics , chemicals, or feed high fructose corn syrup to their bees. Many do.
Biodynamic beekeeping is a specific approach to natural beekeeping. I am drawn to Gunther Hauk and his biodynamic approach to beekeeping because it makes sense to me - do things that will strengthen the bees, not weaken them. Approach the bees in ways that works with them, not against them. If you want to know more about the nitty gritty of biodynamics, here's a great link: http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics
Gunther Hauk speaks to other root problems we've gotten ourselves into with honey bees and beekeeping - with solutions offered in his book Toward Saving the Honeybee.
Of course there is the Barefoot Beekeeper, Phil Chandler, who talks about chemical free approaches to beekeeping, and focuses on using top bar hives. He also has some excellent podcasts, plus free resources, online trainings, etc. He is a gift to beekeepers around the world. Phil also seems to like the 'natural beekeeping' as a comprehensive term, and started the Natural Beekeeping Forum.
My friend Sara is exploring the use of small cell honeycomb and recommends Michael Bush's website as a great resource: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm The idea behind small cell foundation is that the bees then build a smaller cell in the comb which seems to be an effective way to help control the ubiquitous varroa mite.
An exciting option that I've stumbled upon is with Certified Naturally Grown, which has developed some apiary standards which have a "primary focus on the health of honey bees and the sustainability of beekeeping." They have developed a nice guide of best practices and standards which brings another level of quality and health to the honey bee conversation. I'll be excited to see this process applied by local beekeepers, and would love to help get it as the standard operating procedure for local apiaries.
You can see there are lots of options and resources out there to approach beekeeping in a way different from what has become the conventional approach. Creating these communities to support each other locally and in the broadest of international scope will help us find solutions to our honey bee crisis. We need each other to learn from, talk with, make mistakes together, and share successes together.
As we venture toward saving the honeybee (to borrow a beloved phrase from Gunther Hauk) we'll continue to develop this common language that includes an understanding of all of these wonderful ways of natural beekeeping.
Other terms you might hear:
Organic beekeeping/organic honey: You might already know that there's really no actual organic honey, as we cannot control where the bees forage. Many people don't realize, though, how chemical heavy and manipulative conventional beekeeping has gotten. Honey bees have not been exempt from the chemicalization and control that have come with industrialized agriculture. Here's a great link to read a more in depth article about the realities of 'organic' honey in the U.S.
One phrase that makes sense to me is 'organically managed beekeeping', used by Craig, the self titled "South Maryland Beekeeper" He's got a really interesting podcast that I've enjoyed listening to. The term he uses makes more sense. The beekeeper can control what they put into the hive, so it's really the beekeeper's methods that are organic.
Still, organic can sometimes come up short as a term. It refers more to the fact that chemicals are not used in the hive, but perhaps refers to not much else about the conditions of the honey bee or the beekeepers approach. Plus, when you buy organic honey from Brazil in the supermarket, you're missing out of the health benefits and community benefits from getting honey from your local beekeeper. Most farmer's markets now feature a local beekeeper or two, if you have any trouble finding local honey.
By the way, be sure to support and encourage your local beekeepers who don't use antibiotics , chemicals, or feed high fructose corn syrup to their bees. Many do.
Biodynamic beekeeping is a specific approach to natural beekeeping. I am drawn to Gunther Hauk and his biodynamic approach to beekeeping because it makes sense to me - do things that will strengthen the bees, not weaken them. Approach the bees in ways that works with them, not against them. If you want to know more about the nitty gritty of biodynamics, here's a great link: http://www.biodynamics.com/biodynamics
Gunther Hauk speaks to other root problems we've gotten ourselves into with honey bees and beekeeping - with solutions offered in his book Toward Saving the Honeybee.
Of course there is the Barefoot Beekeeper, Phil Chandler, who talks about chemical free approaches to beekeeping, and focuses on using top bar hives. He also has some excellent podcasts, plus free resources, online trainings, etc. He is a gift to beekeepers around the world. Phil also seems to like the 'natural beekeeping' as a comprehensive term, and started the Natural Beekeeping Forum.
My friend Sara is exploring the use of small cell honeycomb and recommends Michael Bush's website as a great resource: http://www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm The idea behind small cell foundation is that the bees then build a smaller cell in the comb which seems to be an effective way to help control the ubiquitous varroa mite.
An exciting option that I've stumbled upon is with Certified Naturally Grown, which has developed some apiary standards which have a "primary focus on the health of honey bees and the sustainability of beekeeping." They have developed a nice guide of best practices and standards which brings another level of quality and health to the honey bee conversation. I'll be excited to see this process applied by local beekeepers, and would love to help get it as the standard operating procedure for local apiaries.
You can see there are lots of options and resources out there to approach beekeeping in a way different from what has become the conventional approach. Creating these communities to support each other locally and in the broadest of international scope will help us find solutions to our honey bee crisis. We need each other to learn from, talk with, make mistakes together, and share successes together.
As we venture toward saving the honeybee (to borrow a beloved phrase from Gunther Hauk) we'll continue to develop this common language that includes an understanding of all of these wonderful ways of natural beekeeping.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Gunther Hauk to visit Louisville for film screening of "Queen of the Sun" and biodynamic beekeeping workshop - April 1st and 2nd, 2011. Don't miss it!
While I've had many generous spirited people contribute to my bee learning, I consider Gunther Hauk my Teacher - my honey bee guru, if you will.
The first year I became a beekeeper was exciting - but most of the common practices for beekeeping involved ways that didn't make sense to me. It's very common to feed bees high fructose corn syrup (I was guilty of purchasing a 'starter' 5 gallon bucket of it myself!). So common, that in almost every bee supply catalog I've seen, there's a picture of a semi truck full of high fructose corn syrup . You can "buy 1/2 or full truckloads" of the stuff with only a minimum 24 hour notice. Wow.
Beekeepers have gotten in the habit of treating the bees in the hive with antibiotics, putting pesticides in the hive to kill mites, and a number of other pracitces that seem more toxic than helpful. For almost every need a beekeeper has, the chemical companies offer their version of a solution.
The more I learned about the conventional ways of beekeeping, the more that I had very mixed feelings - excitement but also concern - about becoming a beekeeper. Then I heard about Gunther Hauk, and had the opportunity to participate in a workshop with him at Foxhollow Farm Center. Gunther is a lifelong student of Rudolf Steiner and the biodynamic approach to agriculture. He has been integral in biodynamics in the United States, and is a master beekeeper.
What I heard him talking about was another way of interpreting the causes of colony collapse disorder and the plight of the honey bee (and our own plight!). He offered methods of beekeeping, which include a better understanding of the honey bees, which made more sense to me - and were healthier for the bees, for us, and for the environment.
I left the workshop elated to know that was another way to approach beekeeping. Gunther and his amazing wife have been developing a learning lab for their work and a sacred space for their honey bees at the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary. Fortunately, it's within driving distance of Louisville - located in the Blue Ridge Mountatins in Floyd, Virginia. I travelled there last year to study with Gunther - and am really looking forward to my next trip there in May to learn from him more about honey bees, swarming, and expanding the hive naturally.
Because of my gratitude to Gunther and Vivian for the work that they are doing - and my belief that their work is critical to developing solutions for beekeeping and honey bees, I wanted to do something to help support the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary.
So, after several months, I am excited to share with you that Gunther and Vivian are returning to Louisville for three very special events. Foxhollow is generously providing a space free of charge for these events, and the proceeds will go towards the Hauk's efforts to purchase the land for the Spikenard Honey Bee Sanctuary.
The Waldorf School of Louisivlle is hosting one of the events and has been very supportive of Gunther's visit. (To note: Rudolf Stiener who developed the biodynamic approach to agriculture is the same person who created the Waldorf method of education).
The goal for their visit is to raise $5,000 toward support of the Honey Bee Sanctuary. Please consider attending one of both of these very special, very exciting opportunities.....
Foxhollow Farm and the Waldorf School of Louisville are pleased to host Gunther Hauk, biodynamic beekeeper and author of Toward Saving the Honeybee for two days of learning and inspiration.
Please join us for these exciting events:
Friday, April 1st 9:00-11:00 am: “Out of the crisis the Future is born.”
Colony Collapse Disorder: symptomatic for our economic, environmental and cultural crises." Gunther will dialogue about understanding root causes and creating solutions to address the crisis that the honey bees have shown to us.
Location: Waldorf School of Louisville. Donation of $25 per person requested. This is a special event for the parents of WSL students.
Friday, April 1st 7:00 pm: Exclusive film screening of Queen of the Sun.
This event will be an opportunity to screen the internationally acclaimed film Queen of the Sun along with Gunther Hauk, a biodynamic beekeeper for 35 years, who is featured in the film.
A discussion with Gunther Hauk will follow the film screening.
The filmmakers have generously permitted us to hold this screening as a fundraiser for Gunther’s work with the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary.
Each participant is requested to donate a minimum of $50 to directly benefit the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary, and support the next generation of solutions to save our honey bees.
More about the film: “QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us?” is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON
FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of
bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting
film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers,
scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther
Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems. Learn more about the film here: http://www.queenofthesun.com/
Location of the film screening: Foxhollow Farm, 8905 Highway 329, Prospect, KY 40059
Saturday, April 2nd 9:00 - 12:00 noon: Gunther Hauk presents "Toward Saving the Honeybee": An Introduction to Sustainable & Biodynamic Beekeeping principles and practices.”
This workshop is for those who are currently beekeepers and those who are interested in learning more about beekeeping with natural approaches, including biodynamic beekeeping. Don’t miss this exciting and rare opportunity to learn from the master himself! Gunther’s beekeeping workshops are full of information, lively discussion, Q&A, and inspiration.
A requested donation of $50 will benefit both the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary and the children’s education programming at Foxhollow Farms.
Location: Foxhollow Farm, 8905 Highway 329, Prospect, KY 40059
 |
| Honeybee hives at the Spikenard Farm and Honeybee Sanctuary. Notice how Gunther names the queens of each hive, and puts a nameplate on the hive. There's as much science to this practice as there is affection for the bees. |
Beekeepers have gotten in the habit of treating the bees in the hive with antibiotics, putting pesticides in the hive to kill mites, and a number of other pracitces that seem more toxic than helpful. For almost every need a beekeeper has, the chemical companies offer their version of a solution.
The more I learned about the conventional ways of beekeeping, the more that I had very mixed feelings - excitement but also concern - about becoming a beekeeper. Then I heard about Gunther Hauk, and had the opportunity to participate in a workshop with him at Foxhollow Farm Center. Gunther is a lifelong student of Rudolf Steiner and the biodynamic approach to agriculture. He has been integral in biodynamics in the United States, and is a master beekeeper.
What I heard him talking about was another way of interpreting the causes of colony collapse disorder and the plight of the honey bee (and our own plight!). He offered methods of beekeeping, which include a better understanding of the honey bees, which made more sense to me - and were healthier for the bees, for us, and for the environment.
 |
| Gunther Hauk teaching a biodynamic beekeeping workshop at Foxhollow Farm Center, Spring 2008. |
I left the workshop elated to know that was another way to approach beekeeping. Gunther and his amazing wife have been developing a learning lab for their work and a sacred space for their honey bees at the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary. Fortunately, it's within driving distance of Louisville - located in the Blue Ridge Mountatins in Floyd, Virginia. I travelled there last year to study with Gunther - and am really looking forward to my next trip there in May to learn from him more about honey bees, swarming, and expanding the hive naturally.
Because of my gratitude to Gunther and Vivian for the work that they are doing - and my belief that their work is critical to developing solutions for beekeeping and honey bees, I wanted to do something to help support the Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary.
So, after several months, I am excited to share with you that Gunther and Vivian are returning to Louisville for three very special events. Foxhollow is generously providing a space free of charge for these events, and the proceeds will go towards the Hauk's efforts to purchase the land for the Spikenard Honey Bee Sanctuary.
The Waldorf School of Louisivlle is hosting one of the events and has been very supportive of Gunther's visit. (To note: Rudolf Stiener who developed the biodynamic approach to agriculture is the same person who created the Waldorf method of education).
The goal for their visit is to raise $5,000 toward support of the Honey Bee Sanctuary. Please consider attending one of both of these very special, very exciting opportunities.....
Foxhollow Farm and the Waldorf School of Louisville are pleased to host Gunther Hauk, biodynamic beekeeper and author of Toward Saving the Honeybee for two days of learning and inspiration.
Please join us for these exciting events:
Friday, April 1st 9:00-11:00 am: “Out of the crisis the Future is born.”
Colony Collapse Disorder: symptomatic for our economic, environmental and cultural crises." Gunther will dialogue about understanding root causes and creating solutions to address the crisis that the honey bees have shown to us.
Location: Waldorf School of Louisville. Donation of $25 per person requested. This is a special event for the parents of WSL students.
Friday, April 1st 7:00 pm: Exclusive film screening of Queen of the Sun.
This event will be an opportunity to screen the internationally acclaimed film Queen of the Sun along with Gunther Hauk, a biodynamic beekeeper for 35 years, who is featured in the film.
A discussion with Gunther Hauk will follow the film screening.
The filmmakers have generously permitted us to hold this screening as a fundraiser for Gunther’s work with the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary.
Each participant is requested to donate a minimum of $50 to directly benefit the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary, and support the next generation of solutions to save our honey bees.
More about the film: “QUEEN OF THE SUN: What Are the Bees Telling Us?” is a profound, alternative look at the global bee crisis from Taggart Siegel, director of THE REAL DIRT ON
FARMER JOHN. Taking us on a journey through the catastrophic disappearance of
bees and the mysterious world of the beehive, this engaging and ultimately uplifting
film weaves an unusual and dramatic story of the heartfelt struggles of beekeepers,
scientists and philosophers from around the world including Michael Pollan, Gunther
Hauk and Vandana Shiva. Together they reveal both the problems. Learn more about the film here: http://www.queenofthesun.com/
Location of the film screening: Foxhollow Farm, 8905 Highway 329, Prospect, KY 40059
 |
| Gunther and apprentice, David Hosey (a KY native!), utilize the Spikenard Honey Bee hives as part of the hands on teaching for students during a workshop in August 2010. |
 |
| Gunther Hauk teaching about biodynamic beekeeping methods during a hands on learning experience at the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary in Floyd, Virginia. Students travelled from Kentukcy, Tennessee, and several other states to attend. |
Saturday, April 2nd 9:00 - 12:00 noon: Gunther Hauk presents "Toward Saving the Honeybee": An Introduction to Sustainable & Biodynamic Beekeeping principles and practices.”
This workshop is for those who are currently beekeepers and those who are interested in learning more about beekeeping with natural approaches, including biodynamic beekeeping. Don’t miss this exciting and rare opportunity to learn from the master himself! Gunther’s beekeeping workshops are full of information, lively discussion, Q&A, and inspiration.
A requested donation of $50 will benefit both the Spikenard Honeybee Sanctuary and the children’s education programming at Foxhollow Farms.
Location: Foxhollow Farm, 8905 Highway 329, Prospect, KY 40059
Urban Rooftop Beekeeping - an example from Chicago
While I don't yet have experience with rooftop beekeeping (but am ready to help someone get the first rooftop hives started in the urban core of Louisville!) - I've been researching it quite a bit. Chicago is doing some exciting work in urban beekeeping - from the Chicago Honey Co-op to some really great rooftop hives. Here's a video about one group integrating roof top bee hives into their green initiatives...
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
March and April beekeeping events
If you live in or near Louisville, Kentucky, there are some great opportunities in March and April to learn more about beekeeping and support an amazing master beekeeper. Mark your calendars!
March 4th: Kentuckiana Beekeepers Association meeting, 7:30 pm at the Bon Air branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. The evening will focus on "natural approaches to beekeeping and using top bar hives." I'll be introducing the biodynamic approach to beekeeping (in 10 minutes or less) and sharing resources with the group. Hopefully, the local top bar hive expert, Sara Fazio, will also be speaking about her experience using top bar hives. Sara is amazing and passionate about honey bees and beekeeping and I look forward to hearing more about her experience.
http://www.kyanabees.com/
March 8th: Louisville's 3rd Pecha Kucha night. It will be at 21c. I'll be presenting on the importance of Louisville's urban beekeepers - and showcasing several of them. The interviewing process was really fun, and I got to visit several urban apiaries! Here's more about the event:
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/louisville/3
March 12th: The annual Bluegrass Beekeeping School. It's held on the KY State University campus in Frankfort. Hundreds of people attend - from all walks of life. It's really fun - one of my most favorite days of the year, in fact! There are so many types of classes, you get to meet other great people who love talking about bees, and there are vendors selling lots of great beekeeping related supplies, books, etc. Including one of the Louisville beekeepers, Bekah Lunn, who created really cool honey bee inspired items.
I'm doing a workshop on Urban Beekeeping. Here's the description:
"Small backyard? Living in the city or near other neighbors? Curious about roof top hives? Maintaining hives in populated areas brings special challenges and considerations. Join
Carrie for some tips on how to be a great urban beekeeper as well as creating a community of
great honey bee neighbors. If you're currently an urban beekeeper, please join the conversation to share your experiences."
Here's more about the school:
http://www.kyagr.com/statevet/bees/bee%20schools/KYBeeSchoolFrankfort.htm
March 13th:
Fresh Start Growers is hosting a great workshop where I'll be doing a 45 minute class for new beekeepers "5 key decisions a new beekeeper must make." I'll bring some fun beekeeping supplies with me.
March 13 Workshop: BeeHave!
Get bee savvy, tame your weeds, and get your plant starts going.
- Introduction to urban beekeeping with Carrie Van Winkle of Fleur de Bee.
- Organic plant starts with Kim Jordan of Wilson Nurseries.
- Organic weed management techniques with Steve Paradis of Fresh Start Growers' Supply.
WHERE: Creation Garden Marketplace, 725 East Market St., Louisville, KY 40202
WHEN: 1-5pm, Sunday, March 13
COST: $15 per person
RSVP: (502) 442-7883 with credit card
All proceeds go to The Shelter for Women & Families Raised Bed Garden Project.
March 4th: Kentuckiana Beekeepers Association meeting, 7:30 pm at the Bon Air branch of the Louisville Free Public Library. The evening will focus on "natural approaches to beekeeping and using top bar hives." I'll be introducing the biodynamic approach to beekeeping (in 10 minutes or less) and sharing resources with the group. Hopefully, the local top bar hive expert, Sara Fazio, will also be speaking about her experience using top bar hives. Sara is amazing and passionate about honey bees and beekeeping and I look forward to hearing more about her experience.
http://www.kyanabees.com/
March 8th: Louisville's 3rd Pecha Kucha night. It will be at 21c. I'll be presenting on the importance of Louisville's urban beekeepers - and showcasing several of them. The interviewing process was really fun, and I got to visit several urban apiaries! Here's more about the event:
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/night/louisville/3
March 12th: The annual Bluegrass Beekeeping School. It's held on the KY State University campus in Frankfort. Hundreds of people attend - from all walks of life. It's really fun - one of my most favorite days of the year, in fact! There are so many types of classes, you get to meet other great people who love talking about bees, and there are vendors selling lots of great beekeeping related supplies, books, etc. Including one of the Louisville beekeepers, Bekah Lunn, who created really cool honey bee inspired items.
I'm doing a workshop on Urban Beekeeping. Here's the description:
"Small backyard? Living in the city or near other neighbors? Curious about roof top hives? Maintaining hives in populated areas brings special challenges and considerations. Join
Carrie for some tips on how to be a great urban beekeeper as well as creating a community of
great honey bee neighbors. If you're currently an urban beekeeper, please join the conversation to share your experiences."
Here's more about the school:
http://www.kyagr.com/statevet/bees/bee%20schools/KYBeeSchoolFrankfort.htm
March 13th:
Fresh Start Growers is hosting a great workshop where I'll be doing a 45 minute class for new beekeepers "5 key decisions a new beekeeper must make." I'll bring some fun beekeeping supplies with me.
March 13 Workshop: BeeHave!
Get bee savvy, tame your weeds, and get your plant starts going.
- Introduction to urban beekeeping with Carrie Van Winkle of Fleur de Bee.
- Organic plant starts with Kim Jordan of Wilson Nurseries.
- Organic weed management techniques with Steve Paradis of Fresh Start Growers' Supply.
WHERE: Creation Garden Marketplace, 725 East Market St., Louisville, KY 40202
WHEN: 1-5pm, Sunday, March 13
COST: $15 per person
RSVP: (502) 442-7883 with credit card
All proceeds go to The Shelter for Women & Families Raised Bed Garden Project.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
The First Honey Harvest - an event of great joy.
You likely already know my priority with beekeeping - to support a healthy hive of honey bees - while they teach and inspire me.
Honey has never been a driver for me - I think that a beekeeper who is 'hungry' for honey ends up exploiting the bees in her care - leading to unhealthy hives. Many beekeepers have taken off too much honey to either consume or sell, and then feed the bees high fructose corn syrup or sugar water as an unhealthy, inferior substitute.
Ok - stepping down from the soap box - a surplus of honey can be shared with humans - which is wonderful! By July, the bees had stored over 150 pounds of honey in their hive - wow.
My friend Wendy documented the honey harvest and Rich shared his basement 'brewhouse' space to do the work.
I wanted to find out the simplest, lowest cost way to harvest honey - and after some research online found a wonderful video of the 'crush and strain' method done my 'online mentor' Linda. See here for the video: Linda's Bees.
I first used a bee escape from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm to separate the boxes with honey frames (called honey supers) that I was going to harvest from the rest of the hive. The bee escape allows the bees on the honey supers to move down into the rest of the hive, but not get back up into the honey supers. This worked really well with only a few bees left on the honey supers (vs. thousands) after having it on for a few days. I love this option, as it's chemical free. Often, beekeepers use a chemical to make the bees leave the honey frames.
I pulled 22 frames off of the hive and put them into a plastic bin with a lid (to keep bees from flying back onto the honey frames). I took them around to our screened front porch as a 'holding area' to let any hiding bees fly off before taking them into the house. No stray bees were found!
I had set up a little work area in the basement - with the recommended cardboard to minimize honey tracking everywhere!
Here's the set up:
Plastic bins and nice stock pot - donated from Rich's brewing supplies (many of you know that my husband is a top of the line homebrewer); I used a baking pan to cut the comb from the frames; I bought a bottling pail (which you could make yourself and just buy the 'gate') and 3 mesh filters that fit nicely on the rim of the pail. Total bought was about $45 including the shipping. This was a huge difference from the hundreds of dollars to buy a honey extractor and the other supplies that are often 'needed.'
With my little harvest it was perfect. If I have a larger honey harvest with the addition of hives I'm keeping for others, it could require a bit more of a set up.
Key steps:
Above is the honey comb that's been filtered overnight. Underneath the filter is a pail of beautiful honey ready for bottling.
This is a pic that shows one of my critical 'learning moments' (trying to forgive myself for screwing up and affecting the hardworking bees). These are comb cells packed with precious pollen. It's different colors from different sources (thanks neighbors!). You can see how it's packed in layers. I should have left the frames that had much pollen in the hive for them. They need this source of protein and nutrition to have healthy brood -esp. as they are building up their hive population for the winter. Now I know. : p
Honey harvest! The bottling gate really makes the job easier and less messy. Otherwise, you would use a soup ladel to get the honey into jars. I ordered sweet little honey jars - but ended up loving the simple jelly jars for my own personal daily honey use. For the experienced beekeeper, you'll have already noticed that the honey is flowing over top of the honey gate. Hee hee hee - when I screwed the honey gate into the hole in the pail, I had wondered if there was a certain way to position it. Of course there was - and I did it upside down! It wasn't that bad - but Rich was a little horrified by the incorrectness of it all.
I'll leave you with one of Wendy's 'art pics' - beautiful chunks of wonderful honey comb.
It felt sacred and celebratory to harvest some of their surplus honey. I think this is the gift to the hobby beekeeper - relishing each moment.
Honey has never been a driver for me - I think that a beekeeper who is 'hungry' for honey ends up exploiting the bees in her care - leading to unhealthy hives. Many beekeepers have taken off too much honey to either consume or sell, and then feed the bees high fructose corn syrup or sugar water as an unhealthy, inferior substitute.
Ok - stepping down from the soap box - a surplus of honey can be shared with humans - which is wonderful! By July, the bees had stored over 150 pounds of honey in their hive - wow.
My friend Wendy documented the honey harvest and Rich shared his basement 'brewhouse' space to do the work.
I wanted to find out the simplest, lowest cost way to harvest honey - and after some research online found a wonderful video of the 'crush and strain' method done my 'online mentor' Linda. See here for the video: Linda's Bees.
I first used a bee escape from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm to separate the boxes with honey frames (called honey supers) that I was going to harvest from the rest of the hive. The bee escape allows the bees on the honey supers to move down into the rest of the hive, but not get back up into the honey supers. This worked really well with only a few bees left on the honey supers (vs. thousands) after having it on for a few days. I love this option, as it's chemical free. Often, beekeepers use a chemical to make the bees leave the honey frames.
I pulled 22 frames off of the hive and put them into a plastic bin with a lid (to keep bees from flying back onto the honey frames). I took them around to our screened front porch as a 'holding area' to let any hiding bees fly off before taking them into the house. No stray bees were found!
I had set up a little work area in the basement - with the recommended cardboard to minimize honey tracking everywhere!
Here's the set up:
Plastic bins and nice stock pot - donated from Rich's brewing supplies (many of you know that my husband is a top of the line homebrewer); I used a baking pan to cut the comb from the frames; I bought a bottling pail (which you could make yourself and just buy the 'gate') and 3 mesh filters that fit nicely on the rim of the pail. Total bought was about $45 including the shipping. This was a huge difference from the hundreds of dollars to buy a honey extractor and the other supplies that are often 'needed.'
With my little harvest it was perfect. If I have a larger honey harvest with the addition of hives I'm keeping for others, it could require a bit more of a set up.
Key steps:
 |
| The honey comb has thin caps of wax over each honey cell, which indicates it's finished honey (vs. nectar). |
I used a fork to uncap each side of honey on the frame. I just lightly run the fork down the length of the frame and it nicely breaks the caps to open the cells of honey. After uncapping, I took a sharp knife and cut the comb out of the frame - as I'm doing above. Next year, I'll use a bigger roasting pan - this one was a little too small for the job.
 |
| An action shot taken by Wendy Zent of cutting the comb out of the frame. It was really beautiful. |
 |
| I used a potato masher to mash the comb. I then poured the chunked honey and comb into a filter which was resting on the bottling pail. After researching, I decided to just filter once, which leaves the honey pretty raw, but most of the pollen and comb are well filtered out (some people dont' like 'bits' in their honey!  |
This is a pic that shows one of my critical 'learning moments' (trying to forgive myself for screwing up and affecting the hardworking bees). These are comb cells packed with precious pollen. It's different colors from different sources (thanks neighbors!). You can see how it's packed in layers. I should have left the frames that had much pollen in the hive for them. They need this source of protein and nutrition to have healthy brood -esp. as they are building up their hive population for the winter. Now I know. : p
Honey harvest! The bottling gate really makes the job easier and less messy. Otherwise, you would use a soup ladel to get the honey into jars. I ordered sweet little honey jars - but ended up loving the simple jelly jars for my own personal daily honey use. For the experienced beekeeper, you'll have already noticed that the honey is flowing over top of the honey gate. Hee hee hee - when I screwed the honey gate into the hole in the pail, I had wondered if there was a certain way to position it. Of course there was - and I did it upside down! It wasn't that bad - but Rich was a little horrified by the incorrectness of it all.
I'll leave you with one of Wendy's 'art pics' - beautiful chunks of wonderful honey comb.
It felt sacred and celebratory to harvest some of their surplus honey. I think this is the gift to the hobby beekeeper - relishing each moment.
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