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Hive Mind
Illegal beekeeping in New York City catches on
On a fall morning before work, 29-year-old Meg Paska climbs a rickety ladder, opens a trapdoor, and steps out onto the roof of her vinyl-sided row house in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Set incongruously against the Manhattan skyline and the satellite dishes of neighboring roofs, a healthy cloud of honeybees swoops in and around two white box hives.
Paska’s Brooklyn bees on honeycomb
Removing the honeycomb; pumping smoke into the hive to calm the
bees
Like opting for a dachshund rather than having a baby, city dwellers choose bees because they are easier and take up less space than other urban farming operations, like, say, rooftop vegetable gardens. Amy Azzarito, a New York Public Library digital producer who lives in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, desperately wanted to keep chickens but had no backyard in which to put a coop. A friend in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, had roof access, so they got a hive together instead. “Bees are like the gateway agriculture crop in New York,” says Azzarito.
Pumping smoke into one of her hives from a metal canister stuffed with burning burlap and pine needles, Paska pulls a frame out with her bare hands, tapping it on the roof so the dense mat of bees, mellowed out by the smoke, falls off with a swoosh. The frame is packed with honeycomb. Paska’s neighbors are predominantly Polish immigrants who are used to backyard beekeeping in their native country. They aren’t bothered, she says.
“The only question I got was, ‘Will bees get into my AC unit?’” says Paska. (Answer: no.)
OUTLAWS AND HONEY
Beekeeping is legal in most U.S. cities and Europe (you can buy honey made by bees that live in hives on the roof of the Paris opera house). It was outlawed in NYC in 1999, when bees were added to a list of banned “wild animals” in the city’s health code, along with ferrets and, oddly, zebras.
The fear is not that the honey produced on the mean city streets will be poisonous; on the contrary, the vast majority of the flowering trees that NYC bees drink from (like acacia) are not sprayed with pesticides.
Beekeeping was legalized in NYC on March 12, 2010.
RE: what Peg said. I suppose its possible that the neighbor's hive got taken over by africanized bees. Again, not an expert here.
Great article about bees. The old-timers used to tell me when I was a kid in Missouri just getting started beekeeping that once you get your head in a bug box you can never get it out.
Bees are so important to our livelihood. I really do hope the residents of NYC are able to lift the ban on beekeeping. Here in California the almond crops are totally dependent on bees for pollination that are...+READ
Great article about bees. The old-timers used to tell me when I was a kid in Missouri just getting started beekeeping that once you get your head in a bug box you can never get it out.
Bees are so important to our livelihood. I really do hope the residents of NYC are able to lift the ban on beekeeping. Here in California the almond crops are totally dependent on bees for pollination that are imported from out of state.
One thing to keep in mind a honeybee will not sting unless provoked or mashed. Once they use their stinger they die.-COLLAPSE
Attacked by a swarm? When bees are swarming, they are in a very peaceful state of mind, basically they're just following the queen to a new hive site, as already scoped out by scout bees. In this state, they are normally of no danger to humans. This occurs when the hive becomes too large, there's not enough room for honey storage, or the existing queen is injured or stops laying; a new queen is...+READ
Attacked by a swarm? When bees are swarming, they are in a very peaceful state of mind, basically they're just following the queen to a new hive site, as already scoped out by scout bees. In this state, they are normally of no danger to humans. This occurs when the hive becomes too large, there's not enough room for honey storage, or the existing queen is injured or stops laying; a new queen is reared and the hive splits, which is the natural progression of honey bee population increase and species propagation. Swarming can be controlled by the beekeeper keeping an eye on the workings of the hive and swarming occurs naturally in hives that are not domesticated, that is, living in the wild.
Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are rather docile creatures unless aggravated by intrusion into the hive or other disturbances. They mostly just want to get on with the business of honey production and raising baby bees. Perhaps the bees that attacked you were riled up by another situation, but I would not refer to them as a swarm. Knock over a hive and see what happens. Very angry bees.
I suppose if you ran into the midst of a swarm as they were moving, it could be construed as an attack, but if these bees were swarming, they were not interested in you.-COLLAPSE
Be careful - as someone who was once attacked by a neighbours swarm - you MUST know what you are doing if you keep bees (the swarm that attacked me had to be killed).
I hope Meg Paska is not her real name.
I can't believe I'm the first to suggest the NYPD should set up a "sting operation."
I'm an old beekeeper from NE; now that I have a backyard in Brooklyn, I'll be the first one on my block to start a hive when the NYC ban is lifted.
Pipenta - thanks for the informative comments.
You know... I'm hyper sensitive to most stinging and biting insects and arachnids. But after reading this article I almost want to try bee keeping.
My husband and I occasionally make Mead a type of honey wine, and it would be nice to use our own honey. Now that would be a mark of pride, Mead made with honey from our own bees. Too bad I live in an area where that would really be unfeasible.
Bees should be present EVERYWHERE outdoors, when the weather is not too cold, so the whole idea of liability from a random sting is pretty silly. That being said, the hives should not be where toddlers can get at them unsupervised. But if a toddler is up on a roof alone, the bees are the least of the problem.
Bees are rather docile animals. If these were Africanized honey bees, there would be a...+READ
Bees should be present EVERYWHERE outdoors, when the weather is not too cold, so the whole idea of liability from a random sting is pretty silly. That being said, the hives should not be where toddlers can get at them unsupervised. But if a toddler is up on a roof alone, the bees are the least of the problem.
Bees are rather docile animals. If these were Africanized honey bees, there would be a problem. But at this point those bees are not cold tolerant.
From the point of view of the joy of small scale animal husbandry, I'm all for this. But what most people do not understand is that the honeybee, "Apis mellifera", is NOT a native bee. It is an invasive species brought here by settlers from Europe. We have many species of native bees, at least several hundred that could potentially be found in NYC, at least range-wise. The big problem is habitat. Asphalt and concrete are, I guess, unavoidable. But lawn just sucks. For most people, lawn doesn't really serve much purpose except as a display of property and wealth and conformity. But ecologically, lawn is a wasteland.
If your motivation for keeping bees is to support pollinators, then plants some flowers or let that empty lot go to weeds. Native bees are often solitary species. They need nesting sites, but the sites don't have to be very big.
Honeybees are great for modern agri biz. They can be moved around in the hive and put where they can do the work when needed. Modern factory agriculture tends to push animals beyond their limits. Look at the conditions for chickens, pigs and cows. Perhaps the honeybees protest by dying. Drive the hives around on trucks and you not only stress the bees, you also hasten the spread of disease and parasites.
But even on those modern farms, honeybees are not doing all the work. Honeybees are incapable of pollinating certain crops, like blueberries, that need to be sonicated (BUZZZZZT). Any of your friendly neighborhood bumble bee species can do it, or the equally charming but less well known Melissodes. Lots of pollination happens in the early morning before the honeybees have even left the hive. Hundreds of native bee species are great pollinators. But it is not just bees, beetles and flies, yes flies, are also great pollinators. Take a close look next time you are in a flower garden. A goodly number of those handsome striped creatures working the blooms will turn out to be true flies.
I've spent the last two summers collecting bees and the only time I've been stung is when I've had my hands in the net with them. In other words, when I've been asking for it. In the field, I stick my face right in the blooms to get a good look at them. I backpedal when I see a white-faced hornet. Other than that, I don't worry about bees or even most wasps.
As for pesticide, I believe it isn't as much a problem for honey as it is for wax. Binds to the molecule, if I'm not mistaken. I have heard, in fact, that you cannot get bee's wax without it being loaded with pesticide. Think of that the next time you're in the natural market. I've often wondered about the health issues of burning beeswax for candles and the like.-COLLAPSE
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure that it's specifically European honey bees that are not native to North America. There are several varieties of solitary bees (such as mason and leaf-cutter bees) which are.
Nonetheless, great article and bravo to the beekeepers!
Support Article 161 lifting ban on beekeeping in NYC.
Contact:
Ms. Rena Bryant
Secretary to the NYC Board of Health
125 Worth Street CN-31
New York, NY 10013
http://nyc-bees.org/community/index.php?topic=12.0
I definitely want to get a few illegal zebras for my rooftop now.
I read this, and I thought what a great idea it was, and pictured myself there giving away honey to friends.
But then I remembered, I hate honey, and I'm scared of bees.
Not sure you have an accurate perception of what it takes to smoke a hive. They are not setting a bon fire alight atop your brownstone, it is a small covered canister with a bellows attached that you would light a small strip of burlap and add a handful of leaves or needles.
This is a hand held device, that is fully contained.
You would be shocked if you knew just what goes on inside some...+READ
Not sure you have an accurate perception of what it takes to smoke a hive. They are not setting a bon fire alight atop your brownstone, it is a small covered canister with a bellows attached that you would light a small strip of burlap and add a handful of leaves or needles.
This is a hand held device, that is fully contained.
You would be shocked if you knew just what goes on inside some peoples homes!! Even though they are not supposed to lots of people grill on balconies and decks and rooftops, slow smoking brisket all night long on rooftops etc.-COLLAPSE
"Pumping smoke into one of her hives from a metal canister stuffed with burning burlap and pine needles ..." Oh boy, just what I'd want on the roof of the row house adjoining my own -- some beginning beekeeper fiddling around with fire. Never mind being stung; how about being burned to death by amateurs?
NYC should change the law. There is commerce to be made.
I kept bees years ago in the wilds of the 'burbs and loved it. Bravo to you guys!
The nice thing about the bees though is that they do not wear collars and name tags. There are already plenty of stinging insects and feral or wild honey bees in and around NYC so I think the idea of assigning responsibility to an insect sting is quite unlikely.
We are in great danger of losing pollinators in this country, this is not a joke in agricultural areas so I say the more the merrier.
interesting but i am wondering, since it is illegal to harbour these bees, if one of your bees stings a person that is allergic to them and they die wouldnt you be charged with manslaughter?? i know from where i am if your dog attacks and kills someone the owner can be charged with murder..