apoidea apiary

summer solstice week is national pollinator week! If you want to celebrate both, hang out with me and the Garden Dreams crew @gardendreamspgh this Friday from 4:00-6:00pm for a Bee ID review workshop and honey tasting. It’ll be Friday “Hapbee Hour” so we’ll have some bee-inspired bevs . Garden Dreams is a Certified Natural Wildlife Habitat in Wilkinsburg, PA and a great example of how extensive native and cultivated plant-life diversity can be achieved in urban lots. Check out Garden Dream’s Facebook page for RSVP. It’s a free event! Reminder that Burgh Bees @burghbees Urban Beekeeping Association will be having the annual picnic on Saturday, June 30 from 10:30-3:00pm. Register at Burgh Bee’s website www.BurghBees.org. $10 per person includes a catered meal. Kids under 18 free. Being your plant ID questions! #pollinatorweek2019 #bees #beekeeping #beegrateful (at Garden Dreams Urban Farm & Nursery) https://www.instagram.com/p/By3SmX8n-rV/?igshid=225i5m6gm36t

happy mom’s day to all the queenies our there! After over 2.5 months of increase prep and swarm management, feel like a tired honey bee midwife. Had very low hive mortality (6%) overwintering almost 80 hives last winter. Been managing increase this season with a focus on strong stock that has shown good northern overwintering characteristics (varroa resistance, efficient brood zone honey storage, good spring population increase without rapid swarm cell production, just plain nice to bee around). Looking forward to using Randy Oliver’s developed methodology for efficient mite testing this season for more accurate selective natural breeding. Planning to start monitoring mite levels as soon as natural free mating has completed in a few weeks and brood breaks are over. Dandielion and fruit trees peaked 2-3 weeks ago and autumn olive currently full blooming . Been tracking closely the major spring tree and berry blooms coming on. Of course, we are now getting 3 straight days of rainy cold weather right when the black locust tree bloom is kicking into high gear. #happensalmosteveryyear #happymoms #bees #beekeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/BxYWczEH-KA/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1pekax46occq3

Caught a rare glimpse of a honey bee queen in action foraging for sunflower pollen! Guess she decided to go out for some “me time” with a shopping spree instead of staying home with the kids. #Helianthus #honeybees #bees #checkyourcalendar https://www.instagram.com/p/BvuO047npAu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ifz4y4ptlg22

one of my fav honey housekeeping moments of 2018 @rivendalefarms where the nectar was flowing well all season long this past year amidst a number of broader climate challenges! I think one of the happiest moments as a beekeeper is the bee excitement when they are gearing up for potentially strong nectar flows. But rest is important too. It’s winter so our overwintering hives here in the Northeast are in a quieter space dreaming of maple bloom in February. Wishing another season of plentiful resources in 2019! #hapbeenewyear #bees #beekeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGjDzAh05K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vdbzt2kvtej6

one of my fav honey housekeeping moments of 2018 @rivendalefarms where the nectar was flowing well all season long this past year amidst a number of broader climate challenges! I think one of the happiest moments as a beekeeper is the bee excitement when they are gearing up for potentially strong nectar flows. But rest is important too. It’s winter so our overwintering hives here in the Northeast are in a quieter space dreaming of maple bloom in February. Wishing another season of plentiful resources in 2019! #hapbeenewyear #bees #beekeeping https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGjDzAh05K/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1nppoymjdjnpc

Had some 11yo niece backup today helping give our honeys their Christmas bee candy and installing their moisture quilts for final winterization. It’s our holiday tradition to remember the bees as part of our family and thank them for their harvest work over the past year. If needed, I usually give them their first candy installment the week of Winter Solstice/Christmas and it may continue every few weeks through March or April depending on weather and cluster position. Soft solstice sunlight was super nice for our annual family Christmas hike, too. #holidayoutdoors #bees #christmas https://www.instagram.com/p/Br1dgSmBtc2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ut6bnz2w90tv

happy winter solstice! (officially 5:23 pm today). Bees are having a cold weather rest so carved out a little time to volunteer this past Tues. helping decorate FL Wright’s Fallingwater @Fallingwaterwpc with a white pine staircase garland based upon a historic record of holiday decor. Was instructed by Ann Talarek, FW’s lead horticulturalist and the skilled Liz Scott to make the completed piece. We foraged for white pine branches in The High Meadow then assembled with floral wire in the maintenance shop. Loved the soft winter light moving across the hills of the Laurel Mountains and filtering through the rushing water, bare woods and into the house as we worked. The small Tiffany window in the west living room window lit up like jewels in the setting winter sun. #stoppingbywoods #wintersolstice2018 #fallingwater (at Fallingwater) https://www.instagram.com/p/Brq7Y-gh9Vy/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1h8veztjt87kk

All Soul’s Day - Remembering the 11 innocent people murdered for practicing their faith by semi-automatic gunfire at Tree Of Life Temple in Pittsburgh last Saturday. All of it is still very surreal to me. I was scheduled to be at this same location the week prior for a Na’amat event. The gunman was clearly fueled by the current politically-manipulative frenzy of irrational and delusional hate towards immigrants. It’s been an eerie and sad week for my city of Pittsburgh, known for its neighborly friendliness. The current seasonal shift towards darker days of winter seem to parallel the need for introspection at the dark forces at play in our nation fueled by divisive rhetoric, particularly white Nationalism’s incessant impulse for homogeneity. Nature, on the other hand, teaches us billion year-old lessons that diversity is the pathway to greater health and strength, if we only listen. #showupforshabbat (at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqO0J5HXy9/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fw2odnmjbzg3

dark amber Fallopia (aka “knotweed”) nectar flow coming in very heavily for my #Pittsburgh city bees! Lots of burr comb being drawn on hives that aren’t heavily supered. The knotweed flow still a few days to a week from full in the more rural/suburban yards. Love how the smell of ripening honey from the bees fanning in warm August weather fills the air with the smell of earthy molasses. Most of the 80 hives I’m tending are running so strong this year I can barely keep ahead of constant supering with foundation, particularly in urban yards. Drawn comb production hasn’t slowed much which is not the norm every year. #beesbestrong #nectarflow #beebloom2018 #falliscoming (at Hazelwood) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCwlP5Hz0U/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jbyfaiw51fsq

dark amber Fallopia (aka “knotweed”) nectar flow coming in very heavily for my #Pittsburgh city bees! Lots of burr comb being drawn on hives that aren’t heavily supered. The knotweed flow still a few days to a week from full in the more rural/suburban yards. Love how the smell of ripening honey from the bees fanning in warm August weather fills the air with the smell of earthy molasses. Most of the 80 hives I’m tending are running so strong this year I can barely keep ahead of constant supering with foundation, particularly in urban yards. Drawn comb production hasn’t slowed much which is not the norm every year. #beesbestrong #nectarflow #beebloom2018 #falliscoming (at Hazelwood) https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCwlP5Hz0U/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=164cxaztikbsy

#TourdeFrance La dernière étape 21. Houilles to Paris Champs-Élysées. Intense #TDF2018 . Englais/Francais #beekeeping words of the day. Fr. “Bourdon” = Eng.”Bumble Bee” (yay! G. Thomas - Maillot Jaune), Fr. “Abeille Halicte” = Eng. “Green Metallic Bee” (yay! P. Sagan- Maillot Vert), Eng., Fr. “Abeille a Pois rouge = Eng. “Melissodes Bee” (yay! J. Alaphilippe = Maillot à Pois Rouge). My fav TDF/ Zucchini Season recipe is “Gâteau chocolat et courgette” from Clotilde Dusoulier @clotildenet ! It’s basically zucchini bread tricked out with Dutch cocoa powder and chocolate chips. Only substitution I make is swapping out the brown sugar for summer honey ... and making a summer honey ganache for a drizzle. I use the olive oil option, too. #bonappetit https://cnz.to/recipes/cakes-tarts/chocolate-zucchini-cake-recipe/ (at Paris, France)

#TourdeFrance Stage 20 Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle to Espelette. Indy Time Trials in Basque (and Piment d'Espelette) Country. Englais/Francais #beekeeping word of the day : Eng. “Sunflower” = Fr. “Tournesol”. Tournesol means “Turn On The Sun” and is one of my most favorite French descriptive flora words because it describes the phenomenon of #heliotropism in which the leaves of some plants, including sunflowers, shift to be perpendicular to ray of the sun as the sun moves over the course of the day to maximize photosynthetic efficiency. Some #Helianthus (aka. sunflower) flower buds do track the sun over the course of the day, as well. #tdf2018

#TourdeFrance Stage 19 Lourdes to Laruns. Welsh yellow. Englais/Francais #beekeeping word of the day: Eng. “young honey bee” = Fr. “jeune abeille domestique”

#TourdeFrance Stage 18 Trie-sur-Baïse to Pau. Last day in Pyrenees ... Englais/Francais #beekeeping word of the day: English “crapapple blossom” = French “fleur de pommetier”

#TourdeFrance Stage 17 Bagnères-de-Luchon to Saint-Lary-Soulan Col du Portet. Go Nairo! Englais/Francais #beekeeping word of the day: Eng. “corbicula (pollen basket)” = Fr. “corbeille à pollen” #tdf2018

#TourdeFrance Stage 16 Carcassonne > Bagnères-de-Luchon ... flying pepper spray & flying Gilbert. Pyrénées nostalgia. Englais/Francais #beekeeping words of the day. Flower Anatomy with a Stargazer Lily... Eng.: “Stigma” (female pollen reciever) = Fr. “Stigmate” & Eng. “Anther” (male pollen producer) = Fr. “Anthère #tdf2018

To all honey crafters with a holistic focus, the Good Food Awards entry period is open untilJuly 31! Happy to be Co-Chairing The Honey Category this year with SF beekeeper @erinfrgsn . The purpose of the program is to highlight producers of unique regional honeys. Scroll through the images here for Honey Category Guidelines and connect with @goodfoodfdn for entry details. The Honey Committee members this year include Bee Culture Editor Kim Flottum @beeculturemag , Master Beekeeper Mark Carlson from @roundrockhoney and Billy Synk, director of Pollination Programs for Project Apis m. @projectapism Many thanks to Honey Sommelier Marina Marchese @redbee honey and The Honey and Pollination Center at UC Davis @ucdhoneyandpollination for their continuing refinement of judging judging criteria based heavily on authentic flavor. Thanks to GFA committee chair manager @itsalliball for all her coordination work too! #goodfoodawards #honey #bees #beekeeping (at United States)