Covered in Bees

As we have discussed previously, we can all play a role in bee stewardship by making our backyards bee friendly.

I was reminded of this discussion the other day by a piece on the Pat Morrison show (direct link to RealPlayer presentation) on KPCC. Here's a summary of the piece. [I usually try to avoid wholesale copying of show information, but the KPCC website is not organized very well for linking to only one show or one portion of a show.]

Ah, bees -- nature's winged miracles, they keep agriculture going, they help us to sweeten our tea, and they're in big trouble - populations of honeybees have crashed. But in the nation's cities, urban beekeepers are working to bring back the buzz. Author Candace Sage and real-life beekeeper Russell Bates join us to talk about the incredible insects and about the rise of urban bee keeping here in Los Angeles.

* Candace Savage, author of Bees: Nature's Little Wonders
* Russell Bates, local urban beekeeper and a member of the backwards beekeepers

I found the concept of backwards beekeeping FASCINATING and if you're remotely interested in urban agriculture of any kind, this piece is worth a listen.

It inspired me to do a round up of bee-related posts. They fell into categories: explaining the issues related to bees, how to keep bees, how to help bees, what to do with honey, and what to do with beeswax.

Bee in Your Bonnet

Gristmill ties EPA to colony collapse.

Serious Eats explains how rising food prices are tied to the cost of renting bees.

Keeping Bees

Ask Metafilter has a number of informative discussions about bees. [Don't forget, with AskMeFi the good stuff is in the comments.] What is it like to live with bees?

Helping Bees

Re-Nest has also hopped on the bee bandwagon with a piece on What You Can Do to Help the Bees which includes some links to backyard beekeeping information, bee friendly plants for your landscape, and a few other suggestions. In fact, Re-Nest has been riding this bandwagon quite a bit this past year.

• How to Save Your Local Bees
  
• Bee houses
  
• Grow sunflowers to support bees
  

Honey

Serious Eats has a number of suggestions on what to do with honey.

• Pairing Cheese and Honey
  
• The great vegan honey debate
  
• Celebrate Mead Day August 2nd
  

Mind Your Own Beeswax

Re-Nest had an interesting suggestion: put those bees to work . . . making vases.

Ask Metafilter answered the question, "How do you make candles out of raw beeswax?"

Resurrection Fern's How to Make a Beeswax Garland via Whip Up.

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