Without bees, there would be no garden, and if that weren't enough reason for me to love the little critters, they also produce liquid sugar in the form of honey. How awesome is that?
I bring this up because
Burgh Bees is currently waiting for permit approval to build their second community apiary right here in my neighborhood. I've always wanted to learn more about bee keeping in case I was able to get a hive of my very own in my yard many years down the road...a community apiary would make that goal far more tangible.
A friend of mine has a hive in the
first urban community apiary here in Pittsburgh, and when she posted asking if anyone wanted to come see her hive during a volunteer workday I took her up on it. It was so much cooler than I though it would be!
 |
| The sign outside the Burgh Bees community Apiary in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh. |
 |
| There are two (that I saw) water tubs inside the apiary so the bees have access to water. Floating corks act as tiny little bee platforms. |
 |
| My friend about to open her hive. I actually got butterflies here...I think I've only seen a bee hive up close on Mr. Rogers. |
 |
| There were many capped cells, but most on this frame were still uncapped. |
 |
| A bee on my arm (I got to wear one of the weird-looking bee suits!) |
 |
| Little bee faces sticking out of the hive. |
 |
| Down on the ground you can see a pile of bee corpses from the winter drone ejection. |
 |
| Many people painted or otherwise decorated their hives. |
 |
| This person painted a neat city-scape! |
 |
| I was told that these are ancient symbols of bee-keeping. How cool. |
 |
| I wonder if this guy is a saint of bee-keeping? |
No comments:
Post a Comment