Blog Archives

The Fantastic Flow™ Hive = easy honey Harvesting

2/23/2015

This brilliant father & son team have invented a device that allows you to harvest honey without taking apart the hive and disturbing the bees. Good for the bees and easy on the beekeepers.

On Sunday, Cedar and Stuart Anderson opened an Indigogo account site for crowd-funding and within 24 hours had raised over 2 million dollars=to become the most successful crowd-funding project ever!

BeePeeking is a proud sponsor of the Flow Hive and we are excited for the success of their venture.
Currently, we only harvest cut-comb honey, so this will be a nice addition to our already less invasive honey harvesting habits.

Please visit Flow Hive's Indiegogo campaign to get all the sweet details.
For your convenience and viewing pleasure, I have reposted one of Flow Hive's videos for you. Enjoy!

Hats off to those creative Aussies!
First the Sun Hive and now this:

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Google Analytics data = hello Samara Russia

2/22/2015

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радушный прием

I have been curious as to who might be visiting my BeePeeking website, as on any given day I will receive between 20 to 200 page views with an occasional spike over 400. Weebly only provides basic numbers, so I had no idea who my visitors were, where they were from, and which pages were the most popular.

I did two things to access data on my audience: I refined my SEO (search engine optimizer) and I signed up for free Google Analytics... WOW! What a surprise: it turns out that on Saturday 57% of my visitors were from Samara Russia! Привет Samara! Are you also keepers of bees? I am thrilled that you found my website.

Though I did get hits from five other countries, none of these visitors stayed longer than my home page, with a bounce rate of 64% (which dosen't seem too bad). It is fun to see who stopped in for a Peek ;^)

I also was able to note that of my US guests, 14 were Seattlites, with twelve regular visitors and two new peekers. Hello friends and neighbors! Also one visitor from Florida=Hi Mom ♥ and one from Texas...my nature-loving niece perhaps?

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Saving the Small Things that run the planet

2/21/2015

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"If we and the rest of the back-boned animals were to disappear overnight, the rest of the world would get on pretty well. But if the invertebrates were to disappear, the world's ecosystems would collapse." Sir David Attenborough

Buglife is a European organization devoted to the conservation of all invertebrates. Buglifers are actively working to save Britain’s rarest little animals, everything from bees to beetles, worms to woodlice and jumping spiders to jellyfish. Buglife researches what bugs need and then campaigns for bugs so that everyone will understand the importance of looking after biodiversity as a whole, and what we can each do to help. The goal is to save threatened populations, restore wildlife habitats and tell everyone why invertebrates matter. An information-rich site with Habitat and Species projects, field guides, activities, factsheets, and how to guides (like this) Wildlife Gardening. Be Inspired!

GROW WILD is also based in the UK and their motto is "Flowers to the People". Grow Wild's goal is to encourage communities and individuals to come together by sowing, growing, and enjoying native wild flowers. The idea is to transform spaces for nature, which increases biodiversity, and allows people to connect with nature and each other whilst nurturing biophilia. Grow Wild is publicly-funded by the Big Lottery Fund, which gives millions of pounds to good causes, i.e. community groups and projects like Grow Wild, that improve well-being, education, and the environment. Grow Wild is also sponsored by Royal Botanic Gardens-Kew, whose mission is to “inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide – enhancing the quality of life."

Now, the question is: how do we get something like this going here?

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Pollinator Pathway®...what is it really about?

2/14/2015

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If you have been inspired by the Pollinator Pathway® (perhaps you read the article in Popular Science which listed the Pollinator Pathway® as the one of the “25 Best Nerd Road Trips” 2013), and have flown cross-country to see it for yourself, I expect you will be underwhelmed by the dismal appearance of Sarah Bergmann’s highly publicized public art project. As you walk along Columbia Avenue between Nora’s Park and Seattle University…(wondering if you are on the right street) you might find yourself asking “What happened?”

In 2008, Bergmann received her first grant from the city of Seattle: $6,000 to make signs and design one garden in a 12-foot-wide parking strip of her Central District neighborhood. Her idea included a plan for a mile-long pollinator corridor. After seven years, and thousands of dollars of public funding, donations, and volunteer hours, it is hard not to wonder-where did all that money go?

Back in 2010, after Bergmann had received her second Department of Neighborhoods grant to transform 16 more parking strips, I used to bike across this route several times each week. As a BeePeeker–an advocate for urban pollinators– I was excited to watch the project develop. I visited the informational display at Seattle’s Olympic Sculpture Park, which explained the importance of urban habitat corridors replenished with native plants to benefit bees and other pollinators. I was curious to see what would happen, and I was both hopeful and enthusiastic for the success of the project.

Very soon, I began to have misgivings about Bergmann’s approach to creating her pollinator pathways; the website states “The project is a collaborative effort between the homeowners and the project. It requires buy-in from homeowners to adhere to the program guidelines”, but this is misleading as the original project relied on volunteers to design, plant, and maintain parking strip gardens, rather than on owner engagement and education. The homeowners were asked to “host” a Pollinator Pathway® in their parking strip, and the opportunity was lost to nurture all kinds of enthusiasm and community Biophilia. As a teacher and parent, I knew right away that this was a recipe for disaster and disinterest. Also, rather worryingly, it was explicitly stated on the Pollinator Pathway® website that the public should not disturb the owners or ask them questions about the project!

In the beginning, it was clear that Sarah Bergmann was not a gardener but an artist; it has been interesting to watch the development and marketing of both Bergman and the Pollinator Pathway®– as well as the subsequent monetizing of what had begun as a publicly funded art project. The pathway for pollinators was conceived to connect people, landscapes, and pollinators. Bergmann is now touted as an ecological architect and designer and is the sought-after expert on all things pollinator-pathway related. What an opportunity she has to bring resources, links, and information to the public (I thought) with a focus on pollinators and ecological stewardship! Alas, this has not been the trajectory of the project, and instead of inspiring and encouraging homeowners to “simply plant plants that are native to your region, and choose not to use pesticides” (Bergmann FAQs 2015), Bergmann outlines the need for experts, designers, and an ongoing payment plan to become a certified Pollinator Pathway®. Gone are the plant and pollinator ID guides of the original site, and links to garden templates and plant lists from early PR articles now lead to dead-ends: "Well this is embarrassing. The page you are looking for was not found" (Grist, 9/19/12). This doesn't seem right considering they were paid for with public funding.

The original Pollinator Pathway® project is disappointing on several counts, with only 20 of the 60 parking strips converted, the interest in this corridor has waned and the project seems to have been abandoned by Bergmann. This is apparent in the rag-tag and forlorn look of many of the parking strip gardens. If you have taken a walk along Columbia Avenue, between 12th and 29th, it is easy to understand why the signs have been removed and why there are few (hard to find) images of the gardens posted on the website. You will also notice that Bergmann has succeeded in creating pollinator pockets rather than an interconnected pathway, ironically undermining Pollinator Pathway®’s own rigorous certification requirements. Bergmann is currently working on cashing in on the certification of the dreaded “pollinator pocket”, and though not encouraging their creation, a certified "pocket" will have the chance to be incorporated into an official pathway in the future.

If the point of a pollinator pathway is to heal our fractured relationship with nature while healing our fragmented landscape, then–in order to be successful–homeowners must be invested. It seems that this has been the "problem" with the Columbia Street vision, a lack of sustainable community engagement. The ugly truth is that the Pollinator Pathway® has not achieved several of its underlying goals, and the result is that Bergmann is now soliciting funding (and volunteers) for the long-term maintenance of the one-third completed/abandoned project. Which brings me back to my opening question: Pollinator Pathway® What is it Really About?

Though the Pollinator Pathway® began as a publicly-funded Neighborhoods Grant, it has blossomed into something much bigger: a slick corporate Bergman marketing campaign. The term “pollinator pathway” is now a ® registered trademark, and in addition to the initial cost to certify your parking strip as a Pollinator Pathway®, Bergmann will charge a yearly fee for your parking strip to remain certified. There are many ways for the public to support native pollinators, but donating money or volunteering time to the Pollinator Pathway® seems to undermine the opportunity for homeowners to become excited, engaged, and invested in rewilding their own parking strips.

Leaving the harsh reality of the failed parking strip project behind, Bergmann has a new & improved version of Pollinator Pathway®, her website–which is an extraordinary example of repackaging and marketing. When visiting the site, I am struck by the lack of information on, or images of, pollinators. In fact, as of today in the main pages you will find: a photograph of a honeybee, a drawing that shows three unnamed native pollinators, and the black silhouette of a butterfly on the original Pollinator Pathway® crossing sign. (Very odd really, when you think about it. And somewhere along the way, the butterfly disappeared. Hmmmm.) Instead of a site rich with information on pollinators, the Pollinator Pathway® website focuses on certification and funding, with a bit of broad and generalized urban planning and landscape design mixed in. The Pollinator Pathway® website does not provide links to websites, books, or other local resources that could inspire homeowners to action and enable them to feel confident in their own ability to provide suitable habitat for urban pollinators. And what about Pollinator Pathway's® commitment to "science"? Strangely, no data on pollinators, such as bug counts (species/numbers), has been published.

Bergmann has gained national recognition for her genius and vision and continues to solicit funding for her projects and to promote herself. In July 2014, after announcing the retirement of the “pilot” Pollinator Pathway®, Bergmann stated that her efforts would be now be focused on creating a new partnership and the second "official" Pollinator Pathway® along 11th Avenue. It is easy for you to donate: on the support page you can choose $10,000, $3500, $500, $50, or $20 donation amounts.

When I visit Bergmann’s Pollinator Pathway® site, I come away with a feeling of sadness-on one hand she has brought the plight of urban pollinators into the public eye...but, why do I not feel that that pollinators and education are truly the goals of this project? What does it really take to successfully create an urban pollinator corridor? Are certifications and registered trademarks necessary? On the home page of the Pollinator Pathway® website, Bergmann recommends that homeowners engage expert help in order to get started: a landscape designer, a botanist, a native plant expert or entomologist…and that Pollinator Pathway® would be happy to consult with you for an hourly fee. Ultimately, with the branding of the Pollinator Pathway®, Bergmann is capitalizing on what ecologically-aware gardeners have always attempted to do, and what urban landscapers and professional gardeners do everyday: create safe havens in the landscape to support a healthy and biodiverse ecosystem.

Replanting your parking strip with native plants and pollinators in mind is an achievable goal for the committed homeowner. I strongly encourage gardeners to take the long view when considering what their goals are and to plant for future generations, as healing our fragmented and degraded landscape takes both time and understanding. I invite you to take a walk around Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, where you will see a plethora of parking strip gardens, garden boxes, and pollinator corridors. Over the last twenty years, my husband and I have been caretakers of our own backyard wildlife sanctuary and we have gained the satisfaction of researching, designing, purchasing, and planting an arthropod-friendly parking strip. In the process we have become more knowledgeable about the habitat needs of native plants, fungi, bugs, birds, and other small creatures that find refuge in our un-certified pollinator plantings. As a result we have become more intimately connected to our landscape and we take great delight and find solace in our garden.

As an advocate for Backyard Wildlife Habitats, urban wildlife corridors, and all the inhabitants of our neighborhood ecosystems, I encourage you to rewild your parking strips in a community effort to make our neighborhoods more beautiful, biodiverse, and arthropod-friendly!

Wondering where to start?
Please visit my Biodiversity and Biophilia page for resources, and courtesy of Nancy Seiler and the US Forest Service, a pollinator and native plant gardening guide for you to download and share~

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Patron Saint of Beekeepers

2/13/2015

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Saint Valentine: patron of beekeepers, the plague, fainting, and travel.
How handy is that?
Enjoy!
© Ithelda

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Little Things Matter

2/9/2015

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Did you know that the animals and people of the Arctic carry more mercury and PCBs in their bodies than any other living beings on earth? Investigative report Silent Snow by Marla Cone.

This video, by the Canadian Environmental Health Atlas, was recently posted by the Pesticide Action Network. Three types of environmental contaminants, that have been linked to falling IQs and that have been found in the bodies of the U.S. population, are discussed.

One of the three is a group of commonly used pesticides known as organophosphates (OP), the second group includes flame retardants PBDEs, and the last toxin is lead, a known nerve poison. These chemicals wreak havoc in human bodies–even in minute amounts, and the combined effects of these poisons impact developing brains.

More Bad News: not only are we poisoning ourselves and our children, but "tons of dangerous chemicals and pesticides from the United States, Europe, and Asia are carried to the Arctic by northbound winds and waves. As a result, Inuit women who eat seal and whale meat have far higher concentrations of PCBs and mercury in their breast milk than women who live in the most industrialized areas of the world."

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Arboretum walk & tiny things

2/8/2015

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It felt like spring again today, and I caught some tiny things growing in the Washington Park Arboretum.

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Bird & Moon

2/7/2015

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Science and Nature comics by field naturalist Rosemary Mosco.

I was really excited to discover Rosemary's work when I was looking for some materials for a 2-day birding course I am organizing. The poster Bird Sound Mnemonics led me to her cartoon page, where I was delighted to find many more whimsical, insightful, funny, and kid-friendly options. I find these both fun and inspiring and hope you do too!

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The Fantastic Flow™ Hive = easy honey Harvesting

Google Analytics data = hello Samara Russia

Saving the Small Things that run the planet

Pollinator Pathway®...what is it really about?

Patron Saint of Beekeepers

Little Things Matter

Arboretum walk & tiny things

Bird & Moon

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