An Introduction To Bees And Beekeeping
2015-06-10 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Did you know that you can enjoy honey, beeswax, pollen, and the miracle of bees in your own backyard? Yards of all sizes, and even rooftops, are often excellent locations for urban beehives. Working with bees is tremendously enjoyable, and a healthy hive can produce several gallons of delicious, healthful honey every year. In this workshop, gain an introduction to the fascinating world of the honeybee, and learn what it takes to keep a busy, productive hive of bees happy. Learn where to get bees of your own, how to set up and maintain a hive, and what types of activities and time commitment are required throughout the year for an urban beekeeper. Our second session will include a hive visit in Roxbury; details to be discussed in class.More information and signup…

The Buzz about Bees
2015-06-06 13:00 - 15:30
Learn about the importance of honey bees from art, experts, and local preservation organizations in the community. This buzz-filled event is inspired by Jarret Mellenbruch’s Haven sculptures in the Park.1–3 pm: Community OrganizationsDrop in to chat with local preservation organizations including Middlesex County Beekeepers’ Association, People Protecting Pollinators, Little Beehive Farm of Holliston, and the Watertown Friends of Bees.
1:30 pm: Talk with Dr. Noah Wilson-RichJoin an informative and lively conversation about the declining bee population with Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich, founder of The Best Bees Company, author of The Bee: A Natural History, and dynamic TED talk speaker.
2:30 pm: Dialogue with Brynmore Williams and Rachael BonoanIn partnership with Catalyst Conversations, an organization founded in 2012 to open a critical path for dialogue between the arts and sciences, Brynmore Williams and Rachael Bonoan discuss their respective interest in and mutual admiration for bees. An urban beekeeper and documentary filmmaker, Williams is fascinated by the sound of bees. Bonoan is a PhD candidate and researcher who studies how nutrition affects honeybees’ immune systems.
For more information, see their website.

Jacqueline Freeman presents The Song of Increase
2015-05-28 19:00 - 21:00
Follow the Honey is delighted and honored to host treatment free beekeeper, biodynamic farmer & author, Jacqueline Freeman, whose recently published, “A Song of Increase: Returning to our Sacred Relationshiop with Honey Bees” has met with rave accolades for its poetic prose, critical insights & prescient message.Please join Follow the Honey for a talk, book signing & light refreshments.
Jacqueline Freeman has been stewarding bees since 2004. In her first year, she attended bee school where beekeepers were taught to douse their bees with chemical treatments and pinch (kill) the queen each year. She instinctively knew that was not the route she wanted to take. She committed herself to treatment-free beekeeping, seeking ways to recreate the natural methods bees use to maintain good health.

Even with good intentions, she lost all her bees the first few years. Back then there wasn’t as much support for clean beekeeping and it was hard to find books and discussion groups that put the needs of bees first, but she managed to find a few. Meanwhile, she spent thousands of hours watching her bees, hoping to unravel the mysteries of responsible beekeeping.
After many years of bee study, she began to see subtleties in their behavior and to grasp larger lessons about the colonies themselves. She learned to be quiet and listen, watching them for hours on end, asking the bees how to care for them and what would help them thrive. She sometimes saw images in her mind that included information she had never read or known. She carefully recorded her notes and began to realize the bees were indeed communicating with her. Gradually, a richer understanding of bees emerged.
Honeybees were once thought of as heavenly messengers, an expression of the wisdom in the universe, a spark of cosmic consciousness and a gift to the world. When bees became a commodity of modern agriculture, this deeper understanding of their true nature was lost. Right now honeybees are in crisis; their populations dwindling at alarming rates. Prevailing attitudes and conventional beekeeping methods are designed to make beekeeping easier for humans, but not all of these methods are bee friendly.
Now a new, more compassionate movement is emerging. Asking first, “What is best for the bees?,” caring beekeepers are questioning human-centric methods and finding new principles to guide their bee care.
Jacqueline has been treatment-free for more than a decade and her hives are strong. She listens to the bees, observes their behavior and interactions to understand what goes on in the hive and how best to support them. She treats bees with respect and gratitude. This bee-centered approach re-establishes a reverent and respectful relationship with them and a meaningful manner of interacting with them.
Jacqueline’s book, “The Song of Increase: Returning to Our Sacred Partnership with Honeybees,” contains her observations and communications with the bees. This is not a typical user’s guide to beekeeping, rather it offers unique insights that inform and inspire, and in so doing, fundamentally alters our relationship to, and understanding of, bees in ways that help ensure their survival. Her talk is full of gorgeous images and recordings of bee life.
Originally from Massachusetts, Jacqueline has lived in Washington state for the past 25 years where she and her husband are biodynamic farmers.

Slovenian Hives and Beekeeper Tours to Slovenia
2015-05-19 18:30 - 19:30
Join us in learning about how bees are kept in Slovenia, the beautiful alpine country that is home to the Carniolan honey bee and has earned the nickname “Beekeeper of Europe”! In their presentation, Suzanne Brouillette and Mark Simonitsch (of the Barnstable County Beekeeper’s Association) will discuss the unique Slovenian hive and the Slovenian beekeeping tour they led in September 2014. They are also going to bring a Slovenian hive to show us how it works.When:Tuesday, May 19, 6:30 pm
Where: Tufts University, Granoff Music Center, Room 15520 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA
Transportation: Red Line (Davis Square), 96 (College Ave @ Dearborn Rd), 94 (College Ave @ Dearborn Rd), or by car (visitor parking available!)

The Birds and the Bees
2015-04-18 00:00 - 23:59
The Nave Gallery Annex (Somerville, MA) invites artists to participate in the curated exhibition The Birds and the Bees.The buzz of bees, the chirping of birds, vibrantly colored flowers, and green tender shoots pushing up from barren ground are dreamed of promises during these cold winter months. Rest assured, spring will come again, and with it:
Pollination!
The Birds and the Bees exhibition invites artists to explore and celebrate fecundity in all its guises. 2 and 3-D work as well as small mixed media installations which explore this topic literally, poetically, figuratively or metaphorically are welcome for consideration along with imagery exclusively of birds, or exclusively bees.
Brush up on bee lore, botanical illustration, nest building techniques, avian husbandry, honey hunting or ornithological sleights of hand. What might it all mean? Waggle dances? Colony Collapse disorder?
BUT then again-
Maybe it’s all just about LOVE, SWEET LOVE!

GUIDELINES:
– $15 entry fee payable through PayPal
– A maximum of 3 pieces may be entered for consideration
– Submissions will be accepted through February 20, 2015
– The Nave Gallery will retain a 30% commission for work sold
– Artist is responsible for cost of shipping work to and from the gallery
HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR WORK:-Send up to three artwork submissions as .jpg files to info@navegallery.org.
-Each .jpg should be 1200 pixels in the long dimension and named as “NAME_#.jpg” where # is the submission number and NAME is your last nam
-Include an image list with your jpeg submission email, indicating submission number, title, size, process and year, as well as a brief artist bio and statement
-There is a $15 submission fee, payable through Paypal. Paypal is available here. Please include “Birds and Bees” in the memo
Accepted pieces should be delivered to the Nave Gallery Annex located in Davis Square (53 Chester St, Somerville, MA) ready to install.
CALENDARDeadline for entries: Friday, February 20, 2015Notification: Sunday, March 15, 2015Artwork drop-off: TBAExhibition dates: April 18-May 10, 2015Opening reception: TBD

ABOUT THE CURATORAnnie Silverman is a printmaker, book artist and urban beekeeper. She is the proprietor of ABRAZOS PRESS, a teaching and professional print shop in Somerville, MA. She has been a part-time teacher at Mass College of Art and Design in Boston for over 20 years. Annie has been working with imagery concerning birds and bees since 2007. Her print and wire installation: VANISHING POLLINATORS, about bees and hummingbirds, has been exhibited at Brickbottom Artist Gallery in Somerville, The Boston Public Library, and at Holy Cross College in Worcester, MA. Annie is also an avid urban gardener, and was Somerville Artist of the Month in September 2013. Her artist books and prints have been exhibited nationally and internationally, most recently in Naples, Italy, Utrecht, Holland, and Peterborough, NH

BABA to "Follow The Honey” on Tanzania Nyuki Safari
2015-04-16 19:00 - 20:30
We are excited to invite you to join mother-daughter apis melliferous team, Mary & Caneen Canning, as they share their “honey for humanity” social entrepreneurship journey into the heart of Africa, bringing home wild Tanzania Asali.

The evening will kick off with light refreshments & a short video vignette featuring traditional to modern beekeeping in Tanzania, followed by Mary & Caneen sharing their journey to help alleviate poverty through “honey money” in alignment with Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda and business partner, David Camara, CEO of Tanzania National Beekeeping Supplies; a partnership forged to demonstrate how community based resource management protects wildlife and the environment while returning profit to human stewards.

Their mutually held mission establishing sustainable beekeeping practices, utilizing modern equipment with traditional methods, is meant to empower local farmers’ entry into the global marketplace. Thus Follow The Honey has partnered with New York based architects Jaklitsch/Gardner to build the first state-of-the-art USDA certified facility in Dodoma, Tanzania. For the uninitiated, “nyuki” is Swahili for bee and “asali” is Swahili for honey. Haba na haba hujaza asali kibaba. [Little by little fills the honey pot.]

Do join us for a “hakuna matata” of an evening promising to be rich in cross-cultural bee education sweetened with tastes of molasses-like Tanzania miombo blossom honey.

DIRECTIONS: Follow the Honey is just a short walk from the Harvard T stop. For those who drive please note that Cambridge parking meters go until 8pm, so bring your quarters!

Urgent Meeting Re: Cambridge Beekeeping Regulation Recommendations
2015-04-13 18:30 - 19:30
Cambridge wants to push forward with a city ordinance on beekeeping and has set a deadline of Friday, April 17th by which he would like local beekeepers’ input regarding what the regulations in Cambridge should be. BABA is therefore convening an urgent meeting on this topic to garner community input from all who would like to have a say in this important issue! We will be circulating a draft letter of regulation recommendations in advance of the meeting on April 13th. A link to it will be posted here once available, as well as to our google group, so please stay tuned for further details.
Help us edit this document to be presented to the City of Cambridge.

Swarm Management: An intermediate level beekeeping workshop
2015-04-11 12:30 - 15:30
FREE, but space is limited so PLEASE PRE-REGISTER via Mass Audubon: http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/program-catalog#program:sanctuary=21:keywords=Swarm:program_code=39819
This intermediate level beekeeping workshop will discuss the causes of and reasons for honeybee swarms, how to manage and reduce the swarm impulse in your own hives, and what to do if you notice swarming behavior in your colonies.

If weather and time permit, we may head outside to the apiary. Please wear long pants, closed toe shoes, and bring your veil if you have one.

Instructor: Nancy Mangion, experienced beekeeper and owner of Beekeepers Warehouse in Woburn, MA

FREE of charge. However, raw local honey will be for sale, so bring some spending money if you’d like some.

An Introduction to Bees and Beekeeping
2015-03-22 09:30 - 12:30
Did you know that you can enjoy honey, beeswax, pollen and the miracle of bees right in your backyard? Urban yards (and even rooftops) are often excellent locations for beehives. Aside from the fact that a healthy hive can produce several gallons of delicious, healthful honey every year, working with bees is tremendously enjoyable.
In this one-session introductory workshop you will gain an introduction to the fascinating world of the honeybee. We will talk about what it takes to keep a busy, productive hive of bees happy; where to get bees of your own; how to set up and maintain a hive; and what types of activities and time commitment are required throughout the year. This is a beginner’s workshop, so no previous knowledge is required. The workshop will include time for Q&A, and a honey tasting.

Instructors: Stephanie Elson and Sadie Richards
Cost: $25 for Mass Audubon members, $30 for non-members
Online Registration now open for the Class.

2015 Spring Mass Bee Meeting
2015-03-14 09:00 - 16:00
Coolidge Hall (see #22 on map)
http://massbee.org/meetings/2015-spring-meeting

Speakers:
David Tarpy via webinar- Professor and Extension Apiculturist, North Carolina State University
Jarrod Fowler, M.Sc. – instructor of Entomological Horticulture, UMass Amherst
Bryn Clark, from New Harmony Center for Health & Wellness
Lunch can be purchased for $10 at the door. Soup and cold cut sandwiches.

Worcester County Beekeepers All Day Meeting
2015-03-07 08:00 - 16:00
They have two of the nations premier apiary scientists for this meeting in order for all of us to advance our beekeeping knowledge and skills. Dr. Spivak and Dr. Finstrom are both outstanding speakers and are a wealth of knowledge. They will be able to answer your advanced questions on honeybees and fill you in on current research to save our bees. For more information, see the WCBA website.
Note WCBA members get free admission, but there is a fee of $10 for non-members.
Agenda:
8 A.M.-9 A.M.-Free Coffee and Danish and Bee Talk (Free to all WCBA Members-Others $10 registration fee)
9 A.M. Opening-Norm Mercier, President WCBAIntroduction of Speakers-Ken Warchol
9AM-10:15 A.M.- Dr. Marla Spivak(see bio below)Topic: Ratchet,Hatchet,Pivot: The Bees Perspective: A historical perspective about the decline in bee populations and what is being done and can be done to reverse the trend
10:15-10:30- Break
10:30-12 Noon-Dr Mike Simone Finstrom(see bio below)Topic: Propolis and Honey Bees: What is the use of resin in the hive(see enhancent of talk below)
12Noon-1 P.M.-Lunch (Must be pre-ordered by March 1 on form below)
1P.M.-2:15 P.M.-Dr. Marla SpivakTopic: Good News and Research from Minnesota: A potpourri of very cool current research findings in my lab with graduate students and of legislative efforts to support pollinators
2:15P.M.-3:30 P.M.-Dr. Mike Simone FinstromTopic: Bees Defending the Hive: Interaction Between Individual and Social Community(See further description below)
3:30 P.M.-4:P.M. Raffle and Wrap up

Lunch (non-vegetarian option only) is an additional $15 and must be pre-registered for by March 1, 2015
You do not have to pre-register to attend this event unless you would like to buy a lunch.

If you do not wish to pay for lunch, you may bring your own or go to nearby restaurants.
Lunch Form (Must be emailed to Ken Warchol at kenwarchol2[at]msn.com by March 1, 2015)
Name:____________________________
Number of lunches Ordered___@$15 each=Total remitted to WCBA $___________”

Mike Simone-Finstrom
USDA NIFA Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Department of Entomology
NC State University
Campus Box 7613Raleigh, NC 27695

Research Website

BIO:Originally from Southern Maryland, Mike has found himself North Carolina for a large part of his academic career. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with degrees in Marine Biology and English. Then he went to the University of Minnesota to earn his PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, where he fell in love with the wonders of honey bees. He pioneered a line of research with Dr. Marla Spivak regarding how and why bees collect plant resins and use them as propolis in the hive. Since 2011, Mike has been working back in North Carolina with David Tarpy (NC State University). Mike has worked on a number of different projects including a collaboration with NC State and Olav Rueppell (UNC-Greensbroro) to understand stress resistance in honey bees. He also completed a USDA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship to conduct research on the interactions between individual immunity and social, behavioral immunity in honey bees. As part of this large-scale project, he has examined the integrative effects of propolis, grooming, hygienic behavior, genetic diversity and honey bee physiology on colony health. More recently, Mike has further expanded his research program and began a collaborative project with NC State and Tim Linksvayer (University of Pennsylvania) to understand the sociogenomics of queen quality. The overarching goal of all of his projects tends to relate to how honey bees can be made stronger, healthier and more productive using their own natural defenses and traits.

Talk 1
Propolis and honey bees: What’s the use of resin in the hive?
Honey bees defend themselves and their colonies against parasites using various tactics. One exciting and poorly understood behavior that has potential benefits to colony health is the incorporation of plant resins into the hive architecture as propolis. He will share information on the natural history of resin use by honey bees and explain some recent research relevant to beekeepers concerning the health benefits that honey bees may gain from using resin.

2nd Talk option 1
Defending the Hive: Interactions between individual and social immunity
An in-depth study looking at the interactions between individual immunity and social, behavioral immunity in honey bees. As part of this large-scale project, I examined the integrative effects of propolis, grooming, hygienic behavior, genetic diversity and honey bee physiology on colony health. Really the goals of this project were to understand if there are any trade-offs between the different types of defenses that bees use and how bees invest in these different defenses. Once we have a better idea of this, we can use this for more informative breeding programs, etc. This talk would be an extension of Talk 1, in that it then expands upon the other defenses honey bees use.

2nd Talk option 2
Breeding for quality: Assessing morphological and genetic variation of queens across strains of honey bees
This talk would be on research that I’m currently working on as we speak. We’re trying to characterize what the natural variation is among queens from different commercial stocks (Russian, Carniolan, MN Hygienic, VSH and Italian) from both hive reared queens and queens that we rear completely in the lab. We’re also trying to determine the genetic component of larvae that become queens, both hive reared and those reared in the lab.

Marla Spivak
Marla Spivak is a MacArthur Fellow and McKnight Distinguished Professor in Entomology at the University of Minnesota. Her research efforts focus on protecting the health of all bees, breeding bees for their natural defenses against diseases and parasites, and propagating floral rich and pesticide-free landscapes to support the nutrition, health and diversity of bee pollinators.
Marla’s Talks:
1. “Ratchet, Hatchet, Pivot: The Bees’ Perspective” : A historical perspective about the decline in bee populations and what is being done, and can be done, to reverse the trend.
2. “Good news and new research from Minnesota” : A potpourri of very cool current research findings by graduate students in my lab, and of legislative efforts to support pollinators in Minnesota

“Delicate Balance” - Traditional Swarm Management with Ken Warchol
2015-02-27 19:00 - 20:30
In this presentation, Ken Warchol (Worcester County Beekeepers Association President) will discuss the dynamics and signs in the beehive that beekeepers should recognize in order to prevent swarming and then prescribe options that beekeepers can take to prevent an emerging swarm, particularly in congested neighborhoods. After decades of swarm prevention, Ken has recognized that there are clear-cut signs from early in the process right up to the point of swarm emergence that he will present in a visual power point presentation. This talk is a must particularly for the urban beekeeper. Ken will also present some pretty amazing swarm stories from his 60+ years of beekeeping and inspecting.Meeting location: Geological Museum Building, 24 Oxford Street, Haller Hall/Room 102 (nextdoor to the Harvard Natural History Museum)
Ken is a 6th generation beekeeper going back to Poland. He was introduced to beekeeping early on in life. After college and a stint in the army, Ken started teaching and coaching at Northbridge High School and remained there for 37 years until he retired in 2009. He started as a seasonal apiary inspector in Massachusetts in 1976 and has been in the position ever since inspecting beehives all over Massachusetts in addition to managing his own 120 colonies. In 2009, Ken was called upon by the USDA to help Dr. Jeff Pettis of the Beltsville Bee Lab run a 40 colony study in the Asian Longhorn Beetle Quarantine area to see the effects of tree injection on honeybees and he worked on that study until 2013. Dr. Lu of Harvard called upon Ken in 2009 as well to help direct a study on the effects of neonics on honeybees for 5 years which he still is at. In a recent symposium at the Ratcliffe Institute at Harvard, Ken was asked to do a presentation to a worldwide group of beekeepers,scientists and regulators on what he has seen in his inspections over the last 5 years. Ken has been actively involved in the Worcester County Beekeepers Association since 1950 as Vice President,President, Program Director and Bee School Director. He has been a Massachusetts Beekeeper of the Year and has received a number of other awards. Needless to say that Ken is involved in bees up to his ears.

BABA Jan/Feb 2015 Meeting
2015-02-17 00:00
Local Bee Research Update – Tufts UniversityRachael Bonoan, Kelsey Graham and Natalie Kerr are Tufts graduate students researching bees in the Boston area. We are thrilled that, after touring us around their field research sites last summer, these scientists have offered to share the findings of their recent research with us! Kelsey and Rachael will both be talking about their research which was featured in this Tufts Now article and Natalie will be discussing bumble bee population dynamics.
Slides from Natalie Kerr, Rachael Bonoan and Kelsey Graham at Tufts Crone Lab
Logistics (UPDATED)
Tufts University, Perry and Marty Granoff Music Center, Room 15520 Talbot Ave, Medford, MA
There is a visitor parking lot on the College Ave side of the building. The closest T stop is still Davis (15 min walk off the red line) and the 94 and 96 buses both stop across the street from the building (College Ave @ Dearborn).We’ll be in Granoff room 155.

Organic Bee School
2015-01-22 19:30 - 21:00
We will cover the basic techniques of “organic” beekeeping, including materials and equipment, beehive structure, the life cycle of bees, hive development and dynamics, seasonal apiary work, honey and hive products, common pests and diseases, and organic hive management “organic” hive management (with an emphasis on treatment-free and ecologically-friendly management techniques). We will taste local and varietal honeys, and learn about harvesting and using bee products. You will learn everything you need to know to set up your own backyard apiary!

DATE & TIME: Six consecutive Thursday evenings, January 22rd – February 26th, 7:30pm – 9:00pm. There will also be a hands-on field date in April, date TBD.Space is limited! Register today! Pre-registration required.
Cost: $165** COURSE FEE INCLUDES A HANDS-ON WORKSHOP ON A DATE TBD IN APRIL
Course books will be provided on the day of the class, for an additional $12
Course instructors: Stephanie Elson and Sadie Richards are on the Steering Committee of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association (www.bostonbeekeepers.org), and organizers of the Tour de Hives (an annual bike tour of Boston’s urban apiaries). Together with other area beekeepers, they operate a ‘Teaching Apiary’ at the Boston Nature Center. Stephanie has been keeping bees for 6 years. She runs The Benevolent Bee (www.thebenevolentbee.com), a local business selling honey, candles, and other handcrafted bee products. Sadie is a 5th year beekeeper. She keeps her bees at the Leland Street Community Garden, at the Boston Nature Center, and at her home in Melrose, MA. She is on the Board of Classroom Hives (www.classroomhives.org), an organization that has been placing observation hives in classrooms in the Boston area since 2001. Guest lecturers will also visit the class on occasion. Both Stephanie and Sadie trained in beekeeping under local organic beekeeper, Jean-Claude Bourrut.

NOFA Mass Winter Conference
2015-01-10 00:00 - 23:59
Interested in organic farming, backyard gardening, or food justice? Don’t miss the NOFA/Mass Winter Conference on January 10 at Worcester State University.Featuring 70 workshops on: beekeeping (Breeding Honeybees with Bonita & Dan Conlon of Warm Colors Apiary and Beekeeping for Beginners with Sanne Kure-Jensen), vegetable production, health, livestock, skill building and lots more.
More information at www.nofamass.org/winterconference

Meet the Author: THE BEE : A Natural History
2014-12-14 16:00 - 18:00
Enjoy an informal meeting with Author Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich.
Complimentary light refreshments will be served and limited copies of his book are for sale on site so be the first to get yours.

This book takes an incomparable look at this astounding diversity, blending an engaging narrative with practical, hands-on discussions of such topics as beekeeping and bee health. It explores our relationship with the bee over evolutionary time, delving into how it came to be, where it stands today, and what the future holds for humanity and bees alike.

The book also contains a wealth of information for would-be beekeepers on the benefits of backyard hives and practical advice on how to get started. There is mounting evidence that bees (honey, bumble, and others) are bioindicators and that their population decline indicates larger ecological, environmental, and agricultural concerns. Getting a 360˚ picture of the past, present, and future of bees in the world is an important first step to tackling these larger issues and, in this respect,THE BEE is an invaluable resource.
If you are curious about beekeeping, THE BEE provides a quick overview of the basics whether your goals are to generate honey for consumption or simply to provide homes for new populations of bees. Wilson-Rich is the founder of The Best Bees Company and there are few people who could provide better advice or a more comprehensive understanding of this hobby.
THE BEE: A Natural History is the most accessible source of information about all bee species, written for non-scientists by some of the world’s leading bee experts and researchers. This book is for everybody.

Class: Print, Wax, Poke & Stitch
2014-10-21 18:30 - 21:00
FALL CLASS OFFERINGS AT ABRAZOS PRESS:Gain new skills, or just try something out of the ordinary to gather your acorns for the winter!
1. THE LAYERED PRINT: 6 alternate Wednesday evenings Starting : Oct.1
2. PRINT,WAX, POKE & STITCH: Dimensional Prints: 4 sequential Tuesday Evenings: Starting : Oct. 21.
3. IMPROVISATIONAL WOODCUT: 6 alternate Tuesday mornings : Starting : Oct. 21
Evening classes are from 6-9:30PM, Mornings: 9:30-1PM
BEGINNERS are heartily welcomed and applauded for trying new things. Classes are small and individually oriented.
FULL CLASS Descriptions,costs and registration information at: ABRAZOSPRESS.com
More information about Annie is available at her web site: anniesilverman.com

Discussions on Proposed Pipeline
2014-10-19 18:00 - 20:00
A natural gas pipeline is in the works out in the North Quabbin region of MA, where Follow The Honey’s bee farm abides in protected forest, next to certified organic dairy Chase Hill Farm. Most folks in Boston area, which relies on clean water from this protected region of the state, are unaware of this Kinder-Morgen project which will affect our state’s land & wildlife wellness. To join the conservation conversation (complete with nibbles & libations) click below to RSVP.
http://www.mountgrace.org/follow-honey-open-house-cambridge1019

BABA October 2014 Meeting
2014-10-07 18:30 - 20:00
The October 2014 meeting of BABA will be held at the Hoffman Lab at Harvard. Our guest speaker will be Heather Mattila, a Knafel Assistant Professor of Natural Sciences and Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences and Wellesley College. She’ll be talking about how honey bee queen’s extremely unusual mating helps to produce colonies with active work forces of dancers and foragers.The entrance is around the side of the building. Look for the courtyard off of Oxford Street, walk into it, and look for the entrance on the right. Take the elevators up to the Hoffman Lab, and look for the conference room.

Worcester County Beekeepers Conference
2014-10-04 09:00 - 16:00
Dr. Tom Rinderer, Team Leader at Baton Rouge USDA Bee LabTopics: Managing Russian Bees and Building your bees for Resistance

Dr. Tom Seeley,Cornell UniversityTopics: Wild Bees in the Forest that are surviving and Why The Beehive as a Factory and what really goes on inside the hive

To buy lunch for the event, go to WCBA website.

Hive Opening at Keown Orchard
2014-09-20 00:00
Hive opening by Ken Warchol on preparing your hives for winter months. For more information, contact them at (508) 865-6706.

Preparing Your Beehive for Winter
2014-09-18 19:00 - 20:30
Panel Discussion – Free for Mass Audubon Members $5 for non-members (of Mass Audubon)

Registration link: http://www.massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/program-catalog#program:sanctuary=21:keywords=hive:program_code=35423
One of the greatest challenges to beekeeping in Massachusetts is getting colonies through the winter. Last year Eastern MA beekeepers lost over 50% of their colonies over the winter months; the bees (and beekeepers) need all the help they can get! Come learn from a panel of experienced local beekeepers the techniques they have used and found to be successful for overwintering! The panel will include beekeepers tending Langstroth and Top Bar Hives (all of whom have successfully overwintered their hives). This session will be indoors and include instructions for how to prepare your hive for winter, with time for Q & A after the panel presentation.

Note: Due to a scheduling conflict, there will no longer be a Warre beekeeper on the panel.

Celebrate the arrival of fall with cider, honey, and a book signing
2014-09-17 18:30 - 20:30
Celebrate the arrival of fall with cider, honey, and a book signing on Wed. Sept. 17th. In partnership with the Museum of Science there is going to be a bee-related event at the Bantam Cider Tap Room in Union Square, Somerville.Local bee expert and author Noah Wilson-Rich, PhD, and Alex Lu, PhD, will talk about the 20,000 species of bees that exist today, the causes of Colony Collapse Disorder, and the link between neonicotinoid pesticides, bee populations, and human health.
Venture to the Bantam Cider Tap Room in Union Square, Somerville for good conversation and tastings of Bantam’s artisanal cider and honey selections from Follow the Honey. You’ll also have the chance to purchase Wilson-Rich’s new book,The Bee: A Natural History. As food is not included, please consider supporting one of Union Square’s many eateries for dining options before or after the program.
Tickets are $10 and are suspected to sell out; they are available here:
http://www.mos.org/public-events/buzz-about-bees

Urban Agriculture Fair & Bee Smoker Contest
2014-09-14 10:00 - 14:00
Beekeepers, start your smokers! Enter the smoker contest at the Urban Agriculture Fair for a chance to win a shiny new hive tool and bragging rights. Object of the contest; keep your smoker going longer than anyone else. That’s it. You’re given five strike-anywhere matches, a full sheet of the Jamaica Plain Gazette, and 10 minutes to forage for your fuel on the Loring Greenough property. A scale will be used to equalize the amount of fuel each contestant uses. Green vegetation, and trim, siding and other contents of the Loring Greenough house not permitted. Each contestant has three minutes to light their smoker. After the smoker is lit and the three minutes are up, the winner is determined by how long the smoker continues to smoke without squeezing the bellows. The last smoker smoking wins.
Contest will begin around 12:30 p.m. Check www.AgHall.com/fair-2014.html for a full schedule by Friday, 9/12.
There will be tons of other activities, games, demonstrations, music, and more. Fun for all ages. There is no entrance fee. Rain cancels event.

Author Discusses His Book "The Bee: A Natural History"
2014-09-12 19:00 - 21:00
Harvard Book Store and Follow the Honey welcome honey bee expert and founder of The Best Bees Company, Noah Wilson-Rich for a discussion of his book The Bee: A Natural History.The event is co-sponsored by The Harvard Bookstore & Follow the Honey, and books are 20% off. Follow the Honey will also host a honey tasting at the event.
Bees pollinate more than 130 fruit, vegetable, and seed crops that we rely on to survive. Bees are crucial to the reproduction and diversity of flowering plants, and the economic contributions of these irreplaceable insects measure in the tens of billions of dollars each year. Yet bees are dying at an alarming rate, threatening food supplies and ecosystems around the world. In this richly illustrated natural history of the bee, Noah Wilson-Rich and his team of bee experts provide a window into the vitally important role that bees play in the life of our planet.
Earth is home to more than 20,000 bee species, from fluorescent-colored orchid bees and sweat bees to flower-nesting squash bees and leaf-cutter bees. This book takes an incomparable look at this astounding diversity, blending an engaging narrative with practical, hands-on discussions of such topics as beekeeping and bee health. It explores our relationship with the bee over evolutionary time, delving into how it came to be, where it stands today, and what the future holds for humanity and bees alike.
More information about the event at http://www.harvard.com/event/noah_wilson-rich

BABA September 2014 Meeting
2014-09-09 18:30 - 20:00
Free & welcome to all! Refreshments provided courtesy of Follow the Honey!
After a summer of hands-on apiary excursions we return to the meeting table, this time at one of our favorite community hubs! On the agenda for this gathering is to formalize our status, mission and vision as Boston Area Beekeepers Association, nominate officers for a one-year term (this could be you!), set a regular meeting schedule for the coming year, discuss upcoming beEvents, and check in about our apicultural adventures.

We hope to see you at Follow the Honey at 6:30pm on Tuesday, Sept. 9th – Please RSVP to Sadie if you plan to attend.

Hive Dive with Anita Deeley
2014-08-24 13:00 - 15:00
Anita is a Biologist and MA State Bee Inspector who runs between 30-50 treatment free hives in my apiary. Four years ago she started out as a backyard beekeeper full of enthusiasm and trepidation, with only a single hive on her rooftop. Her passion and quest for beekeeping knowledge led her on an adventure across America that would change her path forever. You can read about her journey since day one here on her beekeeping blog.Please bring your veils/protective clothing (ticks also abound at this apiary site) and let Sadie know ahead of time if you will be attending by emailing her (space may be limited if there is a lot of interest).
Directions
Enter BNC’s grounds from the big gate on Walk Hill street (address is 500 Walk Hill Street). Head straight down the shaded drive and at the first fork (at the clearing just past the 3 brick houses on your left) take a LEFT. Wend your way toward the community garden (which consists of two areas, both on your left) and if you look RIGHT across the meadow you may see several hives (or not, grass & hugelculture may block them). You can park along the road near the brick “shed” with green roof and the yellow building with picnic overhand (which houses really nice clivus multrum composting toilets), or continue around the bend and pull into a space in front of the larger field of garden plots that is the Clark Cooper Community Garden. There is a path across from the brick “shed” that will take you toward the apiary site. Before you get to the grove of trees walk right into the meadow (this is the same meadow that you saw on your right driving in) and keep the tall sumac/grove of trees, composting system, etc on your left, this “path” next to the patch of high bushes curves around and you will find yourself in front of the hives (so you probably want to suit up before entering the meadow). Call Sadie’s cell phone if you get lost: (978) 771-8570.

National Honey Bee Day at Follow the Honey
2014-08-16 12:00 - 13:00
For more information, see their full announcement.
NATIONAL HONEY BEE DAY 2014
and
3RD YEAR ANNIVERSARY of
FOLLOW THE HONEY!

Tufts Beehive Tour
2014-08-12 17:30 - 19:30
Rachael Bonoan, Kelsey Graham and Natalie Kerr are Tufts graduate students researching bees in the Boston area! They (and we) are excited to take us on a tour of their apiaries and introduce us to the research they are conducting, including investigations on honey bee nutrition and brood development, bumble bee population dynamics and how an invasive bee (the wool carder bee) affects foraging behavior of a native bumble bee.We will meet at 5:30pm on Tuesday August 12th in the parking lot across from Tufts Sports and Fitness Center (161 College Ave in Medford) which is very near where Rachael and Kelsey have hives and do all of their field work.
If people are late, we will be easy to find, but if you arrive after 6:00pm you may miss some bee action because, depending on the weather, foraging tends to die down between 6:00pm and 7:00pm.

Call or text me (Sadie @ 978.771.8570) if you need to get in touch last-minute.

We also hope to resume (bi?)monthly meetings in September so stay tuned. If you have a good space for meeting once or repeatedly in the future please be in touch. Please also mark you calendars & stay tuned for upcoming announcements about a Hive Dive (Aug. 24th at 1pm) & a Winterization Prep Panel (Sept. 18th evening) to be hosted by us at Boston Nature Center.

Meanwhile, I hope to see some of you at Tufts next Tuesday!

Kids In the Hive
2014-08-03 14:00 - 16:00
Signup for Event

Is your child or teen a nature-lover? Give them the ultimate experience of seeing the fascinating world of a honeybee colony up close in this intimate, discovery-oriented exploration of honeybees in their natural environment. We will provide a basic overview of honeybee life, observe and act out the infamous waggle dance, watch young bees being born, try to spot the queen as she lays her eggs, and taste honey straight from the comb! Children ages 7 and up are welcome to participate, and will be provided with a protective veil. Parents welcome too! Please wear or bring long pants, sleeves, closed-toed shoes and bring kids’ sized gardening/work gloves if you have them.This class will be led by Sadie Richards and Jacqueline Beaupre, both experienced beekeepers and educators who have experience opening hives with youth of all ages.
