by Catherine Haug
Thanks to fellow ESPer Steve Eisenberg for the attached post. See also Steve’s post: Notes from ‘Honeybees in the Ecosystem”; and Video: Honeybees and Colony Collapse Disorder.
Come to ESP’s Earth Day Gathering, April 22, 2009, to learn more about honeybees, native mason bees and native plants: Pollinators & Their Habitat.
- Tom Lawrence will talk about honey bees and native bees;
- John Holbroook will demonstrate how to make a bee motel for mason bees;
- Tamus Gannon will talk about native plants.
And Stephanie will have a wonderful dessert!
Honeybee, be mine
by Eric Mortenson, The Oregonian
Friday April 10, 2009, 11:52 AM
GLADSTONE — It’s “bee day” at Ruhl Bee Supply. In the warehouse, 1,000 small wooden boxes, each holding 10,000 to 12,000 honey bees and a single queen, are ready for pickup.
Half the bees are a breed called Italian, known for their mellow disposition. The others are Carniolan, said to be more tolerant of cold and wet conditions.
Hundreds of stragglers and lonesome local bees crawl along the outside of the boxes, smelling the royal party within and anxious to join. Ruhl employees gently vacuum away the “cling-ons” as they prepare for the coming swarm.
Of customers.
Because beekeeping is, yes, all the buzz among a rising class of urban gardeners, organic hipsters and retired hobbyists. Some are looking for a ready crew of pollinators to work their vegetable gardens or fruit trees, and others are smacking their lips at the thought of fresh honey.
Read the Oregon Live Blog post for the rest of the article.
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/04/honeybee_be_mine.html