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  • mistress beek 9:24 am on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , plants   

    Grow Yer Own: Bee Friendly Plants from Seed 

    Tis the season — restless and cold-weary — to dream up the summer’s homegrown delights. This year, consider adding a few nectar-rich items to your smorgasbord for neighborhood bees.

    Bee Balm (Monarda citriodora)

    Bee Balm

    Used by Native Americans to brew a tea; replaced black tea during the Boston Tea Party. Citrus-flavored leaves can be minced and added to fruit and used for jellies. Beautiful purplish bracts, 24-30″ tall, aromatic and colorful in fall. Excellent bee forage plant. Hardy perennial in zones 5-9.

    Available at SeedSavers

    Bee’s Friend (Phacelia tanacetifolia)

    Bee's Friend

    Can be used to strongly attract bees to your garden. “Bienen-freund” in German translates as “bee’s friend.” Subtle lavender-blue flowers with curved spikes that are absolutely covered by many different species of bees. Excellent results when used as an annual cover crop. Approximately 16,000 seeds per ounce. Annual, 12–24″ tall.

    Available at SeedSavers

    Borage (Borago officinalis)

    Borage

    Bushy, fuzzy-leafed plants produce edible 1 in. blue flowers that bees love. Tasty in tea and salads, the flowers also make pretty cake decorations.

    Available at SeedsofChange

    Cleome, Spider Plant (Cleome hasslerana)

    Cleome

    Bees and hummingbirds love this flower! Multi- branched plant produces whorls of pale pink to purple flowers at the top of the stems. Flowers have long protruding stamens, giving a spidery appearance.

    Available at SeedsofChange

    What else?

    What have you found attracts bees in the ‘hood?

     

    • Nora 3:37 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Mom learned fairly quickly that if she’s bringing cut irises to people, she can’t cut them in the morning, because sometimes they came with a bonus sleeping bee in them.

      • mistress beek 3:47 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply

        Now that’s just adorable. Sweetest. Thing. Ever.

    • Loretta 5:08 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Bees in our suburban area (north front range in CO) love our hyssops. A lot of the native bees like the currants we’ve planted. The humming birds always stop by in the fall on their way home for the nectar from the hyssops.

    • dancingmorganmouse 6:24 pm on January 30, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      Rosemary and tomatoes, our local native bees love tomoato flowers.

  • mistress beek 8:24 am on January 4, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , NYC, urban   

    Bees no longer public enemy in NYC 

    Soon, beekeepers in New York City may no longer be breaking the law.

    After months of prodding from rooftop beekeepers and proponents of community agriculture, the Department of Health on Thursday took the first step toward removing honey bees from a list of animals that residents are prohibited from raising within the five boroughs.

    Read more at: http://www.onearth.org/article/nycbees

     

    • Barbara 8:28 pm on January 5, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      This is awesome news. I have my bees in the city now and they are doing very well (I’m in Ontario).

      • mistress beek 9:31 am on January 7, 2010 Permalink | Reply

        Congrats on the urban hives. Are your girls in Toronto?

  • mistress beek 9:14 pm on December 27, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: hives, poland   

    Beekeeping in Poland (and other tales of my sudden demise) 

    Poof! Like a hive intent on new horizons, I disappeared this autumn for a long vacation in E. Europe. Some might call it a honeymoon, but my man and I preferred to call it an exploration.

    Among the things ingested both visually and orally on our 6 week sabbatical (honeymoon? never!) were these sweet hives at the edge of the primeval Białowieża forest. Technically, they’re not on the protected UNESCO land but rather on the former palace grounds of Polish princes and Russian tsars.

    bialowieza honeybees

    Honeybees at the edge of the Bialowieza Forest in Poland

    Though we didn’t see evidence of this hot new beekeeping revival or these sexy little rustic hives on our drives through the country, we saw backyard hives everywhere. Really, everywhere. Tiny villages in the rolling green countryside invariably had at least one local beekeeper selling “miod.”

    At Białowieża, we bought honey mixed with propolis which is a thick sour-ish affair that my better half enjoyed deeply.

     

    • Barbara 11:16 pm on December 28, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Your trip sounds really interesting. I like those shingled roofs on the hives.

    • Sarah 1:26 pm on January 3, 2010 Permalink | Reply

      I hope you meant “rumors” of your sudden demise.
      This photo is a “feel good” photo for me. I like it.
      What fantastic experiences you must have had. My best to you both. Rol says “hey” too.

  • mistress beek 1:13 pm on September 15, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , zen   

    Bee Zen 

    Mornings like this one, I forget about to-do lists and ten year business plans. I forget too about pesticide kills and chemical-coated produce.

    The hum of at least one healthy hive up early for their morning munchies is enough for me.

    Rise + Shine

     

    • Gord 8:50 am on September 16, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      That early morning light is beautiful. Sitting and watching the traffic is one of the utter joys of beekeeping.

    • Tyler 10:12 am on October 19, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      I have a hive in my garage wall at my rental in Albuquerque Unfortunately my new renter is not comfortable with the bees so they have to go. I don’t mind cutting drywall and repairing the holes to get them a new home. Can you point me towards some help?

  • mistress beek 6:42 pm on September 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , death   

    Another bee kill in Albuquerque 

    This week, another local (and longtime) beekeeper was devastated by a massive kill in one of his strongest hives. If only bees could form a class action lawsuit…

    This is the first of the bee kill from Sept 9th which continued into today the 10th. I have tried to find out who sprayed what where and will hopefully have some leads tomorrow. This hive WAS three stories with a brand new queen.. WAS… Better Living through Chemistry… .

    A massive bee kill in Los Ranchos

    A massive bee kill in Los Ranchos

     

    • Brian Morris 6:34 am on September 11, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Better Living my foot… have you heard of the No Agenda podcast? They are convinced that CCD is from “our Friends” at Mon$anto.

    • Gord 7:06 pm on September 11, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Jeez, that’s heart breaking. I don’t think pesticides are the only cause of CCD, but one of a witches brew of ingredients.

  • mistress beek 4:42 pm on September 7, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , pesticides   

    Chemical Kill @ The Polski Hive? 

    Overnight, the Polski Hive seems to have been poisoned and just like last year’s bee massacre in July, it was sudden and excruciating to witness.

    Apparently, pesticide poisoning is a neighborhood tradition.

     

    • Gord 3:51 pm on September 8, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Oh, jeez, that’s terrible! That’s not exactly a tradition that one wants to continue.

      • Brian Morris 5:42 am on September 10, 2009 Permalink | Reply

        That is really weird. And you have no idea how it is happening? You may want to send some of those to the state university for testing.

  • mistress beek 11:10 am on August 29, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , prey   

    The Bee Exploiters 

    Apparently, I’m not the only one.

    The Bee Exploiters The Bee Exploiters
    The Bee Exploiters
    The Bee Exploiters

     

  • mistress beek 8:33 am on August 28, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Mantis attacks my bee hive 

     

  • mistress beek 3:36 pm on August 27, 2009 Permalink | Reply  

    Gift from the Frankenhive 

    We harvested honey from the monster this weekend. And 35 pounds of it too, which stretched our tiny kitchen to its limits. Every ladle, crock and strainer was entirely occupied by the operation.

    Here are a few photos from the sticky endeavor.

    Honey Harvest Honey Harvest
    Honey Harvest
    Honey Harvest Honey Harvest

     

  • mistress beek 7:34 pm on July 30, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Silence of the Honeybees 

    As we speak PBS is airing a documentary about colony collapse disorder, “Silence of the Honeybees.”

    If you missed it, watch it online at PBS.org.

     

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