BEES

"This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me."

As you may or may not know, honey bees have gone missing around the country. A Feb. 23, 2007 article, written by Alexei Barrionuevo, in the NY Times summarizes the situation. The article begins with an anecdote about a bee keeper who "found half of his 100 million bees missing." This is not an isolated experience. The explanations for this occurrence are varied and reading this article, or related articles is encouraged. You might be asking what this has to do with Farmer David. As mentioned in the last blog, David, along with Bent Spoon Gab, have placed three bee hives on Gravity Hill Farm. For those not familiar with the value of bees, bees are an essential part of fertilization of plants. No bees, no fertilization, no fruits and vegetables. (Overly simplistic, but this is not a scientific forum.) Bee that as it may, David and Gab have plans to place hives at other locations and when that occurs you will be informed.

Manifesto On The Future of Food (Produced by the International Commission on the Future of Food and Agriculture) {Can be found at www.slowfood.com)
"The growing push toward industrialization and globalization of the world's agriculture and food supply imperils the future of humanity and the natural world. Successful forms of community-based local agriculture have fed much of the world for millennia, while conserving ecological integrity and continues to do so in many parts of the planet."

Support local agriculture and your local farmer.

To bee or not to bee? Are you a good bee?

These are the 'boxes' into which the bees will be placed. Each hive will have one queen and various worker bees.

A beatific moment with Gab and David. Can't wait for fresh honey ice cream made from fresh Gravity Hill honey.

Let's suit up and play ball. As you might think, taking safety precautions when dealing with bees is often suggested.

Gab and David- safety first. Posing to impress the bees.

In the boxes are frames. It is in the frames that the bees will deposit their honey. When you see the hives, the bees, and the honey it is impressive. It is easy to take the miracle of bees for granted.

In April, Gab and David took a three day bee class at Rutgers. It was taught by Bob Hughes, past president of New Jersey Beekeepers Association. (njbeekeepers.org). That is Bob showing David the finer points of holding a slat of bees. Don't try this at home unless you are a trained professional.

This is just one slat from a hive. And there are three hives. That is a lot of bees. These are the little guys who are essential to the process of helping fruits and vegetables, and other growing things grow. Don't let this picture fool you, the shortage of bees has been documented by a variety of sources.

This shows the three hives. Notice the hive on the left; a second story has been added. As the bees do their thing, the hive fills up. As the hive fills up another box is placed on top. This process will continue. Honey will be harvested from the upper boxes. The lower boxes will be left for the bees to eat and continue to produce more bees.

Please bee kind to your local honey bees.

Happy and healthy eating to all.