May 25, 2012:

“We took a step towards implementing urban beekeeping legislation within the City.  This morning, we submitted a motion that instructs various departments to begin exploring the possibility of allowing urban beekeeping within the City. I have included a copy of the the submitted motion for your benefit.  This is the first of many steps in the legislative process, but we wanted to share our progress and keep you up to date.”

- Emmett McOsker, Legislative Intern
Office of Councilmember Bill Rosendahl, City of Los Angeles, 11th District

PDF: Your Urban Garden is Better with Bees

[via feedthebees.org]

“The four major inventions transforming beekeeping from a sideline interest to an industry appeared within a fifteen-year span: the moveable frame hive (1851), the wax comb foundation (1857), the centrifugal honey extractor (1865), and the bellows smoker (1873).”

Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth = Bee Space / Langstroth Hive
Johannes Mehring = Wax Foundation
Fransesco de Hruschka = Extractor
Moses Quinby = Smoker 

 [via Bees in America - How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation]

CHARLES BUTLER: (1560–1647), sometimes called the Father of English Beekeeping, was a logician, grammarist, author, minister (Vicar of Wootton St Lawrence, near Basingstoke, England), and an influential beekeeper. [via wikipedia]
 

“It wasn’t until 1586 that it was recognized that the head of the honey bee colony is a female queen. This news was popularized by Charles Butler… prior to that, it was assumed the head of the colony must be a male – a ‘king’. Even William Shakespeare, in Henry V, refers to honey bees living in a kingdom, with a king as ruler.” [via buzzaboutbees.net]
 

“Soon after Queen Elizabeth I died, her beekeeper, Charles Butler, published The Feminine Monarchie (1609).  On the surface, the book reflected a dominant philosophy of seventeenth-century England- that is, nature was a model for human virtue.  Butler wrote of the bees: ‘In their labour and order at home and abroad they are so admirable that they may be a pattern unto men both of one and of the other’ The bees were loyal to the queen, refusing any type of anarchy or oligarchy.  They labored incessantly for the good of the commonwealth.  Therefore, according to historian Kevin Sharpe, ‘The keeping of bees was a pastime that was a lesson in statecraft and also one in personal conduct.’”
[quote from Bees in America - How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation]

HONEYLOVE <3

[photo via Angela Giorg]

“Here’s a great example of the different looks of capped honey [bottom] and capped brood [top]. In between are cells filled with pollen.” [via BeeMentor]

[via teetoo] “Bumblebee on a blue lupin in my garden”

(via andreadeal)

National Honey Bee Awareness Day is August 18th, 2012 

…and for those of you who joined us yesterday at our MEAD WORKSHOP - you know that we will have something ready just in time for the AFTER PARTY!! 

Mark your calendars!! More info coming soon…

LagunaBees Organic Raw Urban Honey!! <3
HoneyLove.org