Bees are perfect subjects for visual artists.
Marinna Wagner sent us a great bee drawing earlier this year, and now comes this:
Hello there Kirk and company,
I saw you lecture at Farmlab a few weeks back and was inspired to make this art piece (attached)!
What I was really interested to learn about was the difference between wild bees and commercial bees, I had no idea!
Anyways,
Happy Holidays,
Sonia Romero
http://www.SoniaRomero.com
We had a great turnout at yesterday's Backwards Beekeepers meeting, held at downtown LA's Farmlab.
First off, respect must be paid to the amazing beehive cake created by Barbara Monderine, co-owner of Village Bakery & Cafe in Atwater. She is a superstar.
Kirk showed off his mohawk, Steven demonstrated his extremely well-crafted bee vacuum, and a great deal of knowledge changed hands.
And Dennis blazed new trails in Christmas/Beekeeping fashion.
Thanks to Rick Poon for sending photos!
Kirk says:
I did this reality show thing. Episode coming soon. Here are two pics of the film crew getting suited up.
kirkobeeo
...the bees are back to business with their usual frenzy.
I got to thinking out there in the backyard sogginess...what about the bees on Noah's ark? Two of each kind means a queen and a drone, I guess. So who did all the work—building comb, collecting food, keeping the place tidy?? Okay, okay, it's just a myth, but inquiring minds need to know...
Kirk says:
Some people worry about their bees getting cold. Here is a pic of a nuc I have in China Town. They are in a cardboard box. Through the rain. Checked them today. Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing away.
Also a pic of my other two hives.The one with the Gray box are the bees I got in San Pedro. The Ag agent ordered the lady to remove them. They're kinda mean. I will check them out in a few weeks to see if they are still mean.
Backwards Beekeepers Dennis and Steven did a tree hive removal recently, and Dennis has the whole story on his blog:
Steve did most of the bee collecting. The new beekeeper Ed G. was filming the event for posterity and jumping in to help when he could. The neighbors came over for a glance from time to time but most kept a good distance.
Feral Hive - New Home - Redondo Beach (The Buzz In The Dale)
The cold doesn't appear to be slowing our bees down a bit. The morning sunlight on the hive seems to help get them up and working right away.
How are everyone else's bees looking in this chill air?
The next meeting of the Backwards Beekeepers will be held on Sunday, December 20th.
Details will be forthcoming, but there will definitely be a short film screening, a bee-vacuum demo by Steven, and the new Backwards Beekeepers t-shirts will be available for purchase at $15 each.
When: Sunday, December 20 at 11am
Where: Under Spring outdoor space at Farmlab in downtown L.A.
Farmlab Directions
You want to follow the above directions most of the way, but park on Aurora and walk through the alley (under Spring) to the meeting.
Check out this view to see what it looks like from the street.
Snacks/questions/newbies always welcome.
Ron Fleming and Brent Stickels at YYES Design generously took on the Backwards Beekeepers as a pro bono project and made us this sweet logo:
We got some t-shirts printed (by Tomas at Gyomedia in Atwater), who did a beautiful job. The shirts are printed on brown or gray American Apparel and cost $15. We can ship you one (in the US) for an additional $5. We've got adult sizes small, medium, large and XL. Let us know if you want a different size and we can special order you one in the next batch. Here's a closer look at the two different colors & logo:
You can get a shirt at the next meeting on December 20th, or you can order one by clicking the button below.
A few weeks back, Kirk and Russell brought the railroad tie bees over to our house to live. They plopped the bee-filled hunk of wood on top of a nuc box and we left them alone to get comfortable.
We decided to cut them out this weekend. Russell started the cut out with a regular saw, but soon graduated to power tools. It was a long & sweaty endeavor. 
It was kind of neat inside the railroad tie, but most of the bees had absconded and the comb was full of wax moths. There was a little bit of honey. but it was filthy and looked old. The whole thing went into the trash.
We're hoping to catch a new swarm in the spring. We're happy to have one healthy hive and a bunch of bee friends.
