The Rooftop Beekeeper

I just received my advance copy of 'The Rooftop Beekeeper: A Scrappy Guide to Keeping Urban Honeybees' which features my photographs. I started working on this project with my beekeeper and author friend Meg Paska back in 2011. It has been a long and enjoyable journey during which I have made many new friends and I am proud to finally see it in print. It is is published by Chronicle Books and now available to buy on Amazon.com. 

Urban Beekeeping

Beekeepers performing a routine inspection of the Gowanus Canal Conservancy's bee hives in Brooklyn, New York. 

Brooklyn Grange Bees

 

Installation of 20 new hives at the Brooklyn Grange Apiary on the roof of Building 292 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, April 2013. The nucleus hives, each containing around 10,000 bees, were driven up from Florida by beekeeper Mark Negley and installed in their new homes. Please CLICK HERE for more information.

The Nectar Of Brooklyn: Inside Brooklyn Grange Bees, The City’s First Commercial Apiary

Nona Brooklyn just ran a great story featuring my photographs on the Brooklyn Grange Apiary. Please CLICK HERE to read the full article.

Ghost Bees

Varroa mites are parasites that attach themselves to honey bees and feed on their blood as well as larvae in the hive. Powdered sugar is one chemical pesticide free method to control a varroa infestation. The fine sugar clogs up the suction feet of the mites so that they are no longer able to cling to the bees' bodies and fall off.

Man Down

If you keep bees sometimes you get stung. To reduce the effects of any allergic reaction to the bee venom it is best to remove the stinger a soon as possible.

Brooklyn Grange Apiary Update

Mountain Dew?

Bees are resourceful creatures, so when there is a dearth in nectar supply they look for alternative sources like discarded soda cans. Could the green cell shown above be a result of a bee drinking Mountain Dew?

Fire Hydrant Hive

A few weeks ago, I was there to document the apprentices at The Brooklyn Grange Apiary removing a feral bee hive from inside a fire hydrant at The Brooklyn Navy Yard.

Macro Bees

A new worker bee emerges from its cell

Bees constructing wax honeycomb

Bees consuming honey

Entrance to the hive

A dead bee hangs by its stinger and part of its own intestinal tract

Honey

Fresh Honeycomb from a hive at The Brooklyn Grange Apiary, 2012

Adventures in Beekeeping

Kate Neckel painted hives at The Brooklyn Grange Apairy, 2012

Weak bee hives, that are unlikely to survive on their own, can be combined using a sheet of newspaper to seperate them. This allows the different bees time to acclimate to each others' pheremones, so that when they have chewed through the paper they will form a single, happy hive.

More Bees!

While I was at the Brooklyn Grange Apiary I also made a short time-lapse video of the new hives being installed. Watch it with the sound on and in full screen HD and see if you can spot the bees buzzing around their new homes!

Brooklyn Grange Apiary Project

My friends over at The Brooklyn Grange Rooftop Farm along with Tim O'Neal of Borough Bees are setting up New York City's biggest commercial apiary at The Brooklyn Navy Yard this Spring. I will be working as an apprentice in the program and was there to document the inaugural hive installation this weekend.

The apiary will actually be spread across several rooftops. This is Building 58, where the first few hives will be set up on wooden pallets.

Installing a package of bees into their new hive.

Bees getting acquainted with their new homes. The hives were painted by local artist Kate Neckel.

The Brooklyn Grange Apiary is raising funds for this amazing project through a Kickstarter campaign.

There are only 10 days to go, so please click below for more information or to make a donation:

HK Honey

Ngau Tau Kok Rooftop Bee Farm, Hong Kong 2011

HK Honey is an organization of beekeepers, artists and designers that was founded by my friend Michael Leung in 2010. Last month I visited Ngau Tau Kok, an old industrial district, to document Hong Kong's first urban bee farm.

CLICK HERE to find out more about HK Honey and urban beekeeping in Hong Kong.

Eggs and Honey

Eggs from Brooklyn and natural cut comb honey.

Sam Comfort and "The Love Song of the Drone"

For the last few months, I have been working on a series of photographs documenting urban beekeeping. One of the coolest beekeepers I met this summer was Sam Comfort. Here is a short video of him singing his "Love Song of the Drone" in the Hudson Valley in upstate New York.

Please click here to find out more about Sam and his bees: http://anarchyapiaries.org/

Urban Beekeeping

Bright Magazine, Vol. 7 #37