The Afroqueerized Beekeeper

The place to BEE for black beekeepers and curious folks. ISO growers to be part of the swarm. xoxo 2012 Honey for Sale 1/2 lb Cut-Comb Honey$3.75 USD 1Lb Cut-Comb Honey$7.50 USD

[theafroqueerizedbeekeeper]

ProTip: Farm to Table Pizza Hack

Last week, the first day of our multi-farm CSA fell just before Pi Day! Next to holloween, Pi Day is one of my favorite holidays so to honor it, I’d like to share my Pi Day hack for Farm-to-table Pizza. 

I hope it’s not a secret that farmers and people who are busy don’t always have time to cook, let alone make perfect pizza dough from scratch. I can do it, I just don’t always want to mix up dough then wait the 4 - 24 hours to let it rise (depending on your recipe).  Here’s a leisurely Saturday Pi Day hack for perfect veggie pizza.

Ingredients: 

1 Plain Cheese Pizza from a Delivery Spot Near You

Veggies, Eggs, and/or Meat from your CSA Share

1 Sautee Pan

1 Knife

Sense of Adventure

Directions:

Order a plain cheese pizza. Once you hang up the phone, preheat your oven to 475F OR turn your broiler on low. 

Start prepping your veggies by washing and chopping any greens; dicing garlic or slicing onions

Cube meats or cheeses on a separate surface. Any raw meat will have to be browned in the sautee pan before being put on the pizza. Cook until “rare” and set aside.

When your pizza arrives, give a devious look and a good tip to the delivery driver. Rip the box top off and arrange your toppings on top. Stick it in the oven in the original box for 10 minutes or until toppings are cooked to your liking. 

Taking it to the next level: I crack an egg or two over the top and consider the pizza “done” when my egg whites are cooked through but the yolk is still runny. 

**The pictures above are the before and after of Pi Night 2015 at my house. I made the mistake of having friends over for farm-to-table pizza and could barely get a good shot of the pizza before it was all gone. Oh well. Enjoy yourself!

[browngirlfarming]

I’m back ya’ll! And The Color of Food book is ready for pre-orders! 

I have been on radio silence and under the radar all summer working to finish this amazing book of stories and portraits from farmers of color across the country. (And also moving across states, pulling off a DIY wedding and getting married! whew!) But I’m back and have big news: the Release Date for the Book is April 10, 2015!

And You Can Pre-Order Your Copy Today!! 

:)

Look out for a lot more from me to come!

[simplelivingfarm]

We had an absconding swarm within the past two weeks. This is when ALL the bees leave the hive (including the queen) to find a new home. Fortunately, they left their honey behind. I fed some to the last remaining hive and kept a bit for myself.

This is my first year beekeeping so I am learning as a go.  

theafroqueerizedbeekeeper I channeled you all day today!! 

[theafroqueerizedbeekeeper]

Lovely. Just awesome.

[goodsensefarm]

#SporePrintDC is a culinary performance ritual. Brought to you by the deliciously fertile minds at Good Sense Farm, come enjoy three courses of creative bliss for all your senses. Our collaboration with The Waterhole, DC’s newest and flyest juicebar, warrants a focus on food to beat the winter blues. January 24th, 6-8pm in Mt. Rainier, MD. Tickets $20 in advance at: www.sporeprintdc.splashthat.com . Poster designed by pocstudios. 

[theafroqueerizedbeekeeper]

Epic! Don't miss.

[theafroqueerizedbeekeeper]

Here at Good Sense Farm, we #flockthevote. Meet Early and Often. 

[goodsensefarm]

#Sistersofthesoil was great!

[dynamicafrica]

NEW MUSIC: Blood Orange - You’re Not Good Enough.

Creative musical genius and dancer extraordinaire Dev Hynes shows off some sweet dance moves in his Gia Coppola-directed video for this single off his latest album Cupid Deluxe.

The video is also part of a series of music videos made in collaboration with US department store Urban Outfitters. The 18th video in the series, the music video follows the release of Palo Alto, Gia Coppola’s motion picture directorial debut. The film features a soundtrack composed by Dev Hynes.

For a closer look at the making of “You’re Not Good Enough”, follow Dev, Gia, and the rest of the crew behind the scenes here.

[novelniche]

Forgive me.

I was instructed not to pray for you, daughter who drowned her wrong child at our ocean’s worst fault.

Furrowed soil and scapular blades lie at cross purposes in a sea cavern. No one could knit it but you. At night, when all else fails to remember my name, I hear you, sewing drought...

[whenthespiritscall-blog]

On Saturday, Oct, 12, Dr. Marta Moreno Vega, Director and Producer of When the Spirits Call, will be sitting next to these wonderful women of color for a conversation that will offer an original perspective and point of view about what does it mean to be a female documentarian of color. Panel will take place at LIU Brooklyn Campus. ADMISSION: $7/ Tickets in advance:https://definingmyselfreelsisters.eventbrite.com/

[latinosexuality-blog]

who is meeting me there?

[dukeupress]

Radical History Review: Water

"Indeed, climate scientists tell us that dramatic shifts in weather, either too hot or too cold, too wet or too dry, will become commonplace, creating conditions where the struggles over and control of water will emerge as one of the central political, ecological, and public health issues of the twenty-first century." - Excerpt by David Kinkela, Teresa Meade, and Enrique Ochoa, editors, from "Water," in Radical History Review 116, Spring 2013

[gotthatglitteronmyeyes-deactiva]

We cannot blame the US beekeepers for turning to chemical control methods to keep their colonies alive. Their option was to let their colonies die and not fulfill pollination contracts. If honey bee populations were allowed to crash from the mites, what would happen to the 615,000 acres (~250,000 hectares) of almond trees in California that require bee pollination all at once? Or 1,000 acres (~400 hectares) of blueber- ries in Maine? Or, 100 acres (~40 hectares) of apples in Washington, or even 50 acres (~20 hectares) of pumpkins in Minnesota? The simple fact is that the American public would not have tolerated a reduced crop of bee-pollinated fruits and vegetables for the ten to twenty years it would have taken for the honey bee population to naturally evolve defenses against the mites and build up to pre-mite population levels. It was in the immediate interests of most people to keep our fruits and vegetables pollinated by honey bees so we could continue to purchase inexpensive, well-formed, and succulent produce.

from managing alternative pollinators (via farmerinthedelll)

[ohmisterfinch]

Textile Bumblebee by Mister Finch

[goodsensefarm]

This just happened! Scenes from today’s honey harvest. Diamond, Tavia, Katie, Ladan, Maxine & Johannes helped and got to take home a bit of the city’s best honey. Limited local availability. Email [email protected] for more info. 

[fatidale]

the beach and the bee

[goodsensefarm]

Yesterday was Ida B. Wells’ 151st Birthday and was the day I installed three new hives at Radix Farm. It was one of the most difficult installations I’ve ever done due to some unexpected surprises and some predictable challenges.

Today, 4 stings and an aching back later, I am aware of a powerful metaphor that connects the parallel behaviors and plight of bees and my community. We both want to live, want our communities to live in peace. We want it so desperately that we will make it clear in our actions and postures toward anyone who would challenge our survival that we intend to impose our living on the future no matter what.

[themightochondria-blog]

Visit Original Link

                                            SONIC PHOTO:

Good Sense Farm’s natural, foundationless hive installation at Three Part Harmony Farm in Brookland, D.C.  In unison, the sound of bees becomes a constant, vibrating white noise with soothing qualities.  Bask in their sonic flavor and check out the inspiring works of Good Sense Farm and 3 Part Harmony Farm.

[goodsensefarm]

Soinc Photo of the @goodsensefarm hive installation. Very Melodic. Thanks Ade!

[tpfnewsdesk-deactivated20181216]

Why The Death Of 37 Million Bees Matters To You

Honeybees are dying at astronomical rates in both the United States and Europe, a phenomenon which could potentially have dire effects on the world economy and agricultural ecosystem.

Ontario Beekeeper David Schuit recently reported the death of over 37 million bees (approximately 600 hives) during the month of June.

Note: Pictured above is J & P Apiary and Gentzel’s Bees, Honey and Pollination Company

Image by  Joe Raedle / Getty Images

This announcement came just two weeks after theunexpected death of over 25,000 bumblebees in the parking lot of the Wilsonville, Oregon, Target.

This photo provided by the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation shows some of the thousands of dead and dying bees found in the parking lot of a shopping center in Wilsonville, Ore.

Image by AP

The presumed cause of these deaths is a relatively recent phenomenon known as Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD).

Image by Matt Cardy / Getty Images

First reported in 2006, CCD has been attributed tothe rapid loss of approximately 33% of commercial honeybees from 2006–2011.

Image by Joe Raedle / Getty Images

This relatively high number — in comparison to anaverage loss of 10–15% — has many frightening implications for both the ecosystem and the larger world economy.

Image by Matt Cardy / Getty Images

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, bee pollination is responsible for more than $15 billion in increased crop value each year.

Image by Joe Raedle / Getty Images

The USDA estimates that about one in every three bites of food is either directly or indirectly made possible because of bee pollination.

Blueberries and cherries are 90% dependent on honeybees for pollination.

Via: Shutterstock

Almonds — for which California alone produces 80% of the world’s supply — are entirely dependent on honeybee pollination during bloom time.

Source: Shutterstock

As CCD continues to ravage commercial honeybee populations, scientists and governments are now stepping in to help determine the cause of this startling phenomenon.

Image by Joe Raedle / Getty Images

Some studies point to neonictonoids (fertilizers) as the potential cause behind CCD, though the evidence remains largely inconclusive.

According to the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, neonicotinoids can persist in soil for months or years after a single application. And though there is no direct link demonstrated between neonicotinoids and CCD, recent research suggests that neonicotinoids may make honeybees more susceptible to parasites and pathogens, including the intestinal parasite Nosema, which has been implicated as one causative factor in CCD.

Via: Shutterstock

In an effort to help determine what is causing CCD, the European Commission opted, in April, to ban the use of three pesticides belonging to the neonictonoid family for three years beginning Dec. 31, 2013.

Though in 2007 the USDA established a special committee to tackle the issue of CCD, they currently have no plans to ban the use of neonictonoids in the United States.

Source: Shutterstock

In 2012 the rates of CCD decreased to an average loss of 22% in the winter season. As of now it has yet to be determined what the average losses will be for 2013.

Image by Matt Cardy / Getty Images