NYC Rooftop Beekeeper

November 19, 2008 7:28 AM

NYC Rooftop Beekeeper - At 6:30 in the morning I met David Graves of Berkshire Berries outside a lower Manhattan building whose rooftop plays host to one of the 15 beehives he keeps on roofs around New York City... At Zina Saunder's blog filled with her portrait work. [previously]
posted by jim in austin (12 comments total)

That's a pretty amazing story. Not only in his dedication, but in the the fact that so many others help to set up and maintain these hives. A nice little story of people working together. Very sweet (pun intended)
posted by scarello at 8:06 AM on November 19, 2008

Awesome... I'm always afraid of being stung by bees. I can definitely tell the difference between a honey bee, a wasp or a hornet. Doesn't make a difference. I even find myself flinching at Carpenter Bees and they're completely harmless (I've heard the females can sting). Stories like these inspire me to get over my irrational fears though.
posted by yossarian1 at 8:24 AM on November 19, 2008

Personally, I think I'd want to test what sort of pollutant exposure that honey gets before I'd consider it an "urban edible."
posted by Pollomacho at 8:37 AM on November 19, 2008

Cool post. Sad that he lost all of his colonies to CCD. We'll miss the bees once we've eradicated them for good.
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:12 AM on November 19, 2008

This practice is more common than you'd think. In Paris in particular including the Opéra Garnier.
posted by i_cola at 9:32 AM on November 19, 2008 [1 favorite]

Urban Bees
posted by adamvasco at 9:57 AM on November 19, 2008

A Pushing Daisies joke about secret urban beekeeping needs to be made here....
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:58 AM on November 19, 2008

We'll miss the bees once we've eradicated them for good.

No one is sure what causes CCD, so your "we" is a little premature.
posted by electroboy at 2:33 PM on November 19, 2008

I wonder what kind of nastiness is found in the honey of city-raised bees. Back in the day of leaded gasoline, I'll bet it would have outrageously high levels of lead. There must be tons of toxins that bees would pick up in in their travels.
posted by five fresh fish at 4:36 PM on November 19, 2008

I wonder what kind of nastiness is found in the honey of city-raised bees.

According to this, not much. Also, keep in mind that Europe didn't fully switch over to unleaded gas until the 90s, so their results may skew higher.

Besides, rurally produced honey isn't pristine either. Crop pesticides, GMO crops and the like can be contaminants as well.
posted by electroboy at 9:01 PM on November 19, 2008

I'll bet why that natural medicine dude's infected leg fell off when he treated it with only honey. Damn fool!
posted by five fresh fish at 9:37 PM on November 19, 2008

Awesome post. I really love Zina Saunders work, her art, writing, intelligence and interests. Loved knowing about the urban beehives. There's one in my hood in Hell's Kitchen, in a local community garden. It's really nice to have bees around.
posted by nickyskye at 2:39 AM on November 20, 2008