The Honeybee Conservancy

© 2011 NYC Beekeeping

Since the beekeeping ban in NYC was lifted in March 2010, urban beekeeping has taken off in The Big Apple. NYC Beekeeping is offering their annual free in-depth course in beekeeping, “The Bee Course,” which resumes December 8th.  Here is the description on their site:

If you are curious about bees and beekeeping, now is a great time to start The Bee Course.  We will be offering this in depth program in cooperation with NYC Parks Dept for the 4th year in 2011-2012.

The first sessions give you foundations in bee biology and behavior and will help you determine whether you’ll be ready to keep bees on your own this Spring, would prefer to join a community team, or just want to learn and volunteer with us. In spring as weather permits, we progress to hands-on sessions in our urban apiaries, exposing students to dozens of hives at various stages of growth.

The Course is offered free of charge.

Registration is here.

Feel free to share this info on your blog or social media accounts (esp. Twitter)!

There are a number of important reasons why the Carmel Forest should mostly be allowed to rehabilitate itself.

According to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies the temperatures across the planet between December 1, 2009, and November 30, 2010, show that 2010 ranks as the hottest year on record. And clearly after the worst-ever forest fire on Mount Carmel few Israelis would dispute the consequences of rising temperatures, prolonged droughts and intense heat waves.

European honeybee pollinating Prasium majus, Reches Etzba, Mount Carmel, Israel. CC image courtesy of Gideon Pisanty on Flickr.

It is heart-breaking for those of us who have spent many decades working in wild forests around the globe observing these magnificent and complex systems that were designed to be carbon dioxide sinks (that is to remove CO2 from the stratosphere), now becoming sources of CO2 – emitting the main rising greenhouse, temperature-trapping gas on Earth.

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“There is something palpable about these new MacArthur Fellows, about their character as explorers and pioneers at the cutting edge. These are women and men improving, protecting, and making our world a better place for us all. “   ~~ Daniel J. Socolow, Director of the MacArthur Fellows Program

Big news for the honeybee.

Earlier today, Marla Spivak, an entomologist from the University of Minnesota who is studying the impacts of nutrition, pesticides, and bee diseases on bee health, was named a 2010 MacArthur Fellow.  These so-called Genius Grants provide $500,000 to each fellow, with no strings attached.

Go Marla!

It’s nice to see people who are working to solve the mystery of colony collapse get a little recognition … and support!

Finding the answer will definitely make the world a better place for us all.

Thank you Häagen-Dazs for the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis, which is scheduled to open on September 11th.  The Haven will not only serve as a research and pollinating facility but as a tool to raise awareness about the plight of honey bees.  As the Sacramento Bee has reported, “America is losing its honey bees at an alarming rate for unknown reasons. Last winter, an estimated 33.8 percent of commercial hives died out.”

A map of the Haven.

In addition to honey bees, other bee species are benefiting.  It’s been reported that over 55 types of bees are already calling the Haven home including fuzzy bumble bees, metallic sweat bees, wood-dwelling carpenter bees and solitary mason bees. Read the rest of this entry →

Since 2006, more than three million honeybees in the U.S. and billions worldwide have mysteriously died, which affects one in three mouthfuls of food we eat.

Help raise awareness – share this new public service announcement.

Link to share: http://bit.ly/beetalk

Honeybees may soon be used for more than pollination.  Who knew that these insects could play a role in national security?  Scientists working with federal organizations, such as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, have been training honeybees to augment dogs used for bomb detection.  Honeybees have a very sensitive olfactory sense, “just as good as dogs,” says Timothy Harmaan of Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Honeybees use their sensitive olfaction to sense pollen carried in the wind, using the pollen to track specific flower species that produce nectar for the hive.  Harmaan’s team of scientists have used positive conditioning techniques to train bees to pick up scents and flick their proboscises when exposed to very low concentrations of TNT, howitzer propellant and liquid-explosives ingredients in the air. Read the rest of this entry →

Sweet! New videos to buzz about – and share!

Since 2006, more than three million honeybees in the U.S. and billions worldwide have mysteriously died, which affects one in three mouthfuls of food we eat. Get involved. Help us help us raise awareness by sharing our new public service announcement videos.

To share these videos, paste our video link below into an email or instant message, embed them into your web or blog page, or share them on Facebook/MySpace. Also send us your feedback – we especially welcome video responses on YouTube.

Bee Aware. Join the Honeybee movement.

Link to share:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtPGkGlLa6E

Did you see the Monday, July 5th episode on Good Morning America (GMA) titled, “Honeybees in Danger?”  The GMA host says, “”honeybees now in danger of disappearing and along with them things like ice cream and fresh fruit…”

“Hey farmer, farmer, put away your DDT.  I don’t care about spots on my apples.  Just leave me the birds and the bees, please.” Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell

Did you see this little news item that ran back in May:  “Italy Bans Pesticide for Bee Health”? I honestly thought at the time that it would generate more … um … buzz than it ultimately did in the media and among beekeepers, farmers, gardeners, nature lovers, as well as everyone else who likes to eat.  I’m not surprised, though.  We were likely all distracted by the 24/7 coverage of another end-of-times scenario playing out in slow motion in the Gulf of Mexico.  It has lately been a very intense news cycle, and I guess colony collapse is so very 2006.

In case you missed it, it seems that last year as a “precautionary measure” the Italian Agriculture Department banned the use of nicotine-based pesticides (known as neonicotinoids)  that coat or are infused into crop seeds – in particular corn, sunflower, rapeseed seeds — and their precautionary bet paid off.  Bee populations were restored!  There were no significant bee losses in the apiaries around the corn fields.  In southern Italian citrus groves and vineyards where these neonicotinoids were not banned, bee losses continue unabated.

Hmmmmm.

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