Hip Chick Digs

A garden is only going to be as good as its soil quality, which is why we gardeners are obsessed with building better soil. Many of us are not blessed with perfect soil where we have planted our gardens. We also do not have the luxury of an endless gardening budget, allowing us to bring [...]

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The first post in this series covered the roles of different bees in the colony. The second post in this series talked about reproduction, swarming and environmental needs of a colony. This final post will focus on equipment needed to start keeping bees in the city and potential disease.
Glen Andresen advised that a love of [...]

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This is part two of a three part series on the beekeeping workshop I attended recently.
Reproduction:
It was interesting to learn that it is up to the female worker bees to determine when it is time to hatch a new queen bee, more worker bees, or drone bees. The worker bees are the ones who prepare [...]

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Last summer I was introduced to Glen Andresen, a local bee-keeper, at the Lents Farmers Market. He gave a short overview of bee-keeping and I signed up to receive notices about future workshops he typically hosts in the Spring. I was lucky to snag a spot in one of his recent “Intro to Beekeeping” workshops [...]

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Our urban homestead is now a certified wildlife habitat thanks to the National Wildlife Federation (and a small fee).
There is a house in our neighborhood with a metal plaque on one of their large trees stating they are certified, which is what originally piqued my interest.  A couple months later, the fine folks over at [...]

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