Screening: Honey Bee Blues

Posted on January 11, 2012 by | Leave a comment

The Urban Bee Guild is joining the Entomological Society of Victoria for a screening of Honey Bee Blues. This will give all our bee friends a chance to meet otehrs passionate about bees and insects in general!

Honey Bee Blues is a documentary about the world’s disappearing honeybees and the efforts of Australian scientist Dr Denis Anderson to save them from annihilation.

Bring some nibbles and enjoy this screening in the company of other bee friends and science friends!

For more information visit: http://ubgscreening.eventbrite.com/

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Posted in Beekeeping, Biosecurity, Events, Farming

Bee Press!

Posted on January 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

We have opened up the Bee Press page here. Go there for links to bee related pages and articles or to submit your own bee related web finds!

Have a look here!

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May the BeeForce be(e) with you!

Posted on January 7, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Our resident BeeForce advocate Sabine has put up some fantastic information on the BeeForce monitoring program in the “BeeForce” section. Here is a brief intro into the program:

BeeForce started as a community engagement pilot project in June 2010. Its aim is to recruit, train and evaluate a team of confident and motivated hobbyist to conduct in-hive monitoring and surveillance for early detection of exotic honeybee mites. BeeForce hobby beekeepers need to be located within short distance of the Melbourne and Geelong ports. Twenty BeeForce participants were handpicked by DPI apiary inspectors for this pilot and were trained to perform basic monitoring for Varroa on a regular basis.

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Posted in BeeForce, Beekeeping, Biosecurity

My First Swarm!

Posted on December 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I was thrilled to get the message from Vanessa last night – Swarm in St Kilda East – to attend my very first swarm catching! It’s something I’ve been wanting do do for a while during my bee-prenticeship and the swarm did not dissappoint!

My interest in swarms was sparked by reading the book Honey Bee Democracy (more info on our Book Page) which explains the fascinating process where scout bees search for new homes then engage in a waggle dance to advertise their prospective finds. The dances are then judged and eventually all the scout bees are doing the same dance, then they move! The idea of swarm catching is to relocate them to a controlled beehive before they make the move to whichever hollow tree takes their fancy.

When Vanessa & I arrived we found the swarm attached to a tree branch, the owner of that branch was very keen to learn more about the bees and was very accommodating, which was nice. We setup a small hive (known as a “Nuc” box) under the branch and Vanessa cut the branch which we then shook into the hive box to try and ensure the queen ended up inside the box. The bees seemed quite confused, and they tried to congregate on other branches, and for a short time seemed to fancy my head as a spot to rest, but after a few goes they seemed to be accepting their new home.

If the bees do take up residence in the new box, then we will go and collect the box at night time, when all the bees are inside, and relocate the hive to a more permanent home. All in all it was a pretty exciting first swarm experience, and wonderful to see these bees in such a fascinating time in their life.

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Posted in Beekeeping

Well…. Summer is here, apparently!

Posted on December 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment

We have made it through a super busy Spring with swarm collections, new hive rollouts and building up existing hives to production capacity.

We have seen lots of flowers come and go and the way in which it directly effects the local hives. We set up a some new hives in Northcote and saw the populations boom in each one of them as we struggled to keep up them. Returning in the last two weeks has seen the Melia’s (Mahogany) finish flowering and the Jacaranda’s, Grevillea’s, Paperbarks & Agapanthus taking over in the area, giving the bees a little slow down as they re-source their nectar.

Agapanthus Flower

One of the St Kilda hves had a setback with the loss of a queen, likely to old age and the introduction of a new Carniolan queen. Our follow up inspection showed pleasing results with frames of brood and tiny speck eggs everywhere and a much happier colony of bees in general, now that they have a new lady to live for.

The Heidelberg hive has been very confused because of an aging queen also. She was replaced with a Kangaroo Island pure Ligurian queen and six weeks on, it seems that there is still some lack of organization in the hive. The new queen is downstairs, filling brood boxes with her posse and the remaining bees seem to still be angry about the change of monarchy, taking it out on us whenever we try to get down to the bottom box, as though they have something to hide down there. There are 16 frames of uncapped honey sitting on the hive that hasn’t been touched for weeks now so it’s a waiting game until there is order amongst the crew.

Swarm season was mental with up to 4 calls a day at some points. I’m sure there are still a few slipped through the system and hopefully some other beekeepers have got our back. Most have been friendly bees and once removed, happy people. One thing that was noticeable this year was the level of awareness that seems to be making its way into households. In the past, bees were seen as a pest and there was always an inherent fear of them when they take a liking to your property, but this year the people who have discovered swarms in their gardens are sometimes sad to see them go.  We have had people show a lot of interest in beekeeping and the possibility of keeping the bees which is rewarding for us, as the message is getting out there about how important the bees are for us all.

Summer should see a slow down of the desperate need to swarm and we should expect a few of the hives to produce some delicious new flavours that we look forward to passing on.

Grevillea Robusta (Silky Oak)Jacaranda

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Urban Farming Movement

Posted on November 30, 2011 by | Leave a comment

At the Guild’ we are always thinking about how we can make our cities more productive, and more of a cohesive ecosystem, where we are participants in nature, rather than spectators. This thought leads us to find all sorts of interesting projects and ideas around the place relating to urban produce, and general livability. Here is a little of what we have found:

New York City seems to be the hub of this movement, as usual it was cool in NY first, and we can see a spectrum of projects pushing the boundaries on this issue, at the large end is Brooklyn Grange Farm, a project where a large rooftop has been turned into a commercial scale organic farm. Now, one look at their website and you will see that this is no veggie patch, this is a serious operation, and a pioneer in taking urban farming and produce seriously. A closer look at their website and you will see their beehives!

Beekeeping in New York has had a troubled recent history, being completely banned for a long time beekeepers had to keep their bees in secret, now the ban has been lifted and beekeepers in NY need only register their hives (much the same as here). The city has taken this change of heart a step further in funding local beekeepers to promote the pastime.

On the other end of the scale, the space poor New Yorkers led by a lady named Britta Riley have designed an out of the box system to efficiently grow veggies in an apartment, even without a balcony! The project is called Windowfarms, watch this TED talk to find out all about it:

The Windowfarms website has all the incarnations of the crowd designed system so those interested can try it themselves, and they are also running a KickStarter campaign to rais funds to manufacture out of the box kits to be sold.

After watching the above TED talk, making one of these window farms has made it onto my Summer projects list! Stay tuned for reports. The Grange style farm may take a while longer…

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21 Ways To Plant A Restorative City

Posted on November 24, 2011 by | Leave a comment

We are thrilled to bring you this guest post from Richard Louv. Richard is a journalist and author of eight books on the subjects of nature and the community. This blog was originally published on Richard Louv’s blog. Please enjoy and see below for more information on Richard Louv.

During the first week of November, members of the American Society of Landscape Architects and their colleagues from around the country – over 5,000 strong – met at the San Diego Convention Center. Saving the world was somewhere on the agenda.

Could they be the group with the most influence on human habitat in the future, particularly when it comes to the connection between children and adults to the rest of nature?  “Because of their training, landscape architects are big thinkers, or tend to be,” says my friend, Vicki Estrada, a landscape architect, urban designer, and president of Estrada Land Planning in San Diego.

Asked to speak at the conference, I offered a starter list of suggestions for how landscape architects, and the rest of us, could truly green our cities:

  1. Apply the Nature Principle: re-conceive your city as an engine of biodiversity and human health.
  2. Restore nearby nature and “create” new habitat: rebuild local food webs; encourage urban wildlife.
  3. Recognize and increase human-nature social capital, thereby creating healthier habitat for humans and other animals.
  4. Plant native species in your yard; create butterfly zones in your neighborhood; help build aHomegrown National Park*
  5. Create a De-central Park in every city. Button Parks, too.
  6. Establish new human/nature networks, including family nature clubs and green gyms.
  7. Connect the region with wildlife and humanlife corridors.
  8. Establish restorative transportation systems, including naturalized bike and pedestrian paths; quieter, more efficient public transit; shade parking areas with green roofs and/or solar panels.
  9. Challenge neighborhood CC&Rs and other barriers of law, regulation and rules.
  10. Adopt development policies favorable to green roofs, green walls, etc.
  11. Replace decaying shopping malls with urban ecovillages and natural park space.
  12. Create or retrofit homes as restorative habitats for humans and other species.
  13. Design and retrofit schools and libraries with biophilic design; green every schoolyard.
  14. Apply biophilic design to new housing and commercial developments.
  15. Weave nature into communities for older people, including assisted living homes.
  16. Create restorative workplaces that produce human energy.
  17. Encourage urban and suburban agriculture, from community gardens to vertical farms.
  18. Recognize and celebrate your urban bioregion’s natural identity.
  19. Establish a regional scorecard that includes the economic benefits of truly greening your city.
  20. Support a regional children and nature campaign; help build the New Nature Movement.
  21. Focus your city’s future envisioning process through the prism of nature: consider how planting the restorative city could reshape healthcare, education, law enforcement, redevelopment, tourism and other businesses.

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Posted in Farming, Media, Urban Ecosystems

See them up close

Posted on November 16, 2011 by | 1 Comment

As the story of honey bees, and their role in our ecosystems becomes more well-known, film makers are taking on the charge of bringing their stories to the masses. As you will have seen on the previous post, we will be screening a documentary on December 14th called Honey Bee Blues (click here), but I thought I’d show you some of the other pieces out there which also deserve attention.

The first, and the catalyst for showing you this is a TED Talk done by Louie Schwartzberg about the hidden beauty of pollination. Using high-speed camera work, Schwartzberg was able to capture many different kinds of pollinators including the honey bee in amazing detail. These images help to highlight the complicated and fragile relationship that honey bees and other pollinators have to nature. Whilst stopping short of really highlighting their importance to us, it certainly will amaze anyone who watches. Enjoy!

The next video, and all you will get (for now) is an incredibly enlightened eleven year old giving us his take on our food system. In a wonderfully frank and honest talk he questions the current system and asks why we don’t consume logically, as he put it: “I don’t know why we choose to pay hospitals instead of farmers”. Watch and enjoy.

We will continue to post interesting videos as they come up, and if you know of any, please email them to us at urbanbeeguild@gmail.com

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Posted in Farming, Media

Say Hello!

Posted on October 27, 2011 by | 2 Comments

The Urban Bee Guild is moving from an idea in a few people’s mind to and actual organisation, and that first step starts with you! We want to meet all the lovers of bees in urban Melbourne, and we want to talk to you about how we can come together to support each other and promote sustainable beekeeping in Melbourne.

We would like to start by taking you to the movies, or at least playing a movie for you. On 14th December 2011 at 6pm in St Kilda we will be holding a screening of ‘Honey Bee Blues’, a documentary about the world’s disappearing honeybees and the efforts of Australian scientist Dr Denis Anderson to save them from annihilation. We’d like you to come along, we’ll provide some soft drinks, maybe you could bring a plate of your favourite movie snacks, we’ll watch the movie then have a chat about what you love about beekeeping and how we can promote this wonderful past time in urban Melbourne.

So if you’re bee-curious, love gardening, keep bees, or are concerned with sustainable food sources, come along and enjoy the company of other like-minded folk! The screening will be held at 6pm on 14th December 2011 at our St Kilda home, click on the “Register Now” link below to let us know you’re coming.

Register for Screening: Vanishing of the Bees in Melbourne, Victoria on Eventbrite

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Posted in Events

Entering the world of honey bees!

Posted on October 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

This was my first blog on the subject of beekeeping published on www.dumbofeather.com by the magazine that introduced me to the wonderful world of honey-bees!

Hello, dumbofeather.com world! For those of you who don’t know me. I am Simon, the Chief Finance Guy here at Dumbo Feather & Small Giants. Those of you who do know me are probably expecting me to go on and on about budgets and invoicing, but no; today I am here to talk about bees!

After Dumbo profiled Mat & Vanessa from Rooftop Honey in Issue 28, the guys at Dumbo decided to team up with our new bee friends to hold an ‘Introduction to Beekeeping’ workshop at our home in St Kilda. I hadn’t really paid that much attention to the bee craze that was taking over the office—I  always thought that I would never be able to keep bees, so why get excited? It wasn’t until the day of the course that our boss Dan called me with a spare ticket asking if I wanted to come; it was a beautiful sunny day, so I readily accepted an opportunity to spend the day in the garden.

The beekeeping course started like most educational days: some nice slides, lots of questions, and lots of different honeys from around Melbourne to taste. Mat and Vanessa’s passion for bees was quickly evident, and it became clear why: bees are absolutely essential to our ecosystem! We learnt the basics of why bees are important (they make it possible to grow 1/3 of what we eat), and what challenges bees are facing in a world of GM crops and disease.

Soon enough it was time to get on the roof (that’s where the hives are) and get into it. Keen to make the most of the day I was one of the first volunteers to don the white bee suit and get into the hives. Once in the hives, the other reason why Mat and Vanessa fell for bees became clear: they are incredible. I was immediately struck by how peaceful, inquisitive, and intelligent the honeybee is. It’s one thing to read and hear about the complex world of the honeybee, but until I saw it in action I had no appreciation for how advanced they are. (I am currently reading a book called The Honey Bee Democracy about this very topic.)

As the afternoon progressed, we were treated to some amazing honey-based treats from Amber at Dumbo and we got to hear more about the day-to-day of keeping bees. I was surprised by how unobtrusive rooftop beehives are; most people will never know they are there! One of the important points the Matt and Vanessa made clear about beekeeping is that whilst it is fairly low-maintenance, regular maintenance is crucial to ensuring a healthy hive and making sure they do not swarm. Swarming is a natural and harmless occurrence, but being a responsible beekeeper means controlling this so that a swarm does not end up on your neighbour’s roof. (Although if it does, call a beekeeper to come get it, don’t call pest control!)

Towards the end of the day it was hands on time again. Some people suited up, and we went to our second hive, located in the garden. Again I was struck by how calm the bees were, and when Mat asked if anyone wanted to handle the hive themselves I was quick to put up my hand. If I wasn’t completely mesmerized by the bees I would have remembered that I wasn’t one of the few with bee suits on, but that didn’t seem to matter—I knew I wasn’t going to get stung, and if I did, it would not have been malicious, just self defense. It was such a thrill to handle the bees barehanded and to feel them interact with my hand without aggression—fairly  amazing seeing this giant person had opened the roof of their home!.

I can honestly say that this course has changed my life—our bees are really part of our family here at the White House, and everyone in our building has benefitted from having them around. This course also taught us how achievable inner city beekeeping is, and how important it is. If you would like to learn more about bees or beekeeping have a look at Mat and Vanessa’s website: http://rooftophoney.com.au/ or pick up The Bee Book by Ann Cliff. And stay tuned for more Introductory Beekeeping Courses, and more updates on our new family members.

Simon

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