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Presentation on Beekeeping and Pollenator Gardening

On June 30th at Phipps Garden, Master Beekeeper Joe Zgurzynski will discuss basic honey bee biology and beekeeping techniques, as well as how to make your garden bee friendly. Native plants that are important to honey bees in our region will be highlighted, as well as some of the many fruits and vegetables that depend on honey bees for pollination. One of the goals of this presentation will be to help potential beekeepers decide if beekeeping is something they might want to try.

Time: 6:30pm - 8:30pm
Location: Phipps Garden Center, 1059 Shady Ave., Pittsburgh, PA

Fee: $ 20 members; $30 non-members

To register, call the Garden Center at
(412) 441-4442 ext. 3925

“ARE YOU BEE-CURIOUS?”

Join four of the founders of Burgh Bees—Meredith Grelli , Alex Grelli, Robert Steffes and Jennifer Wood—for an evening exploring the amazing craft of beekeeping.

These sessions are designed to answer your questions about beekeeping and to help you decide if you want to participate in the full-year beekeeping training. We recommend you attend a “Bee Curious?” session if you haven’t been to visit an apiary and want to learn more about what it takes to become a beekeeper.

Please check back often for updated dates and times. You can also join our mailing list to be notified when a new class has been scheduled.

Rules of thumb for urban beekeeping

• Keep only gentle colonies and employ good swarm management techniques.
• Keep no more than four hives on a property of 1/4 acre or less.
• All hives within 20 feet of a property line should have a solid fence or vegetative obstruction 5 feet or more in height between the hives and the property line.
• All hives within 30 feet of a public sidewalk or roadway should have a solid fence or dense vegetative obstruction or be elevated so as to direct the flight path of the bees well above traffic and pedestrians.
• An adequate supply of water should be provided by the property owner or beekeeper from March 1 to October 31. --From MAAREC

Urban beekeeping Resources

• Cohen, Stefanie. Beekeeping in the city: That urban buzz you hear is not just the local gossip.
• Stojnic, Niki. Buzz kill: Can urban beekeepers save the world? Whole Life Times, July 2007
• Todaro, Lenora. Hives among us.  Salon.com.  2007
• Urban Apiary Blog

So you want to become a beekeeper. This is how you start:

• Take a beginners beekeeping course.
• Find a local mentor to help you learn the craft.
• Join the nearest beekeepers association.
• Register your hives with State Department of Agriculture.
• Take your time completing the initial steps. Do not get the bees and equipment first.
• Read our Suggested Beekeeping Calendar.

Recommended Equipment for the Beginning Beekeeper in the First Year

- Two complete Two-Story Hives
- Hive tool, 10"
- Smoker, 4" diameter (my Dad says the bigger, the better.).
- Veil and helmet, or a veil built into coverall or a jacket.
- Coveralls, unless purchased with the veil.

Click here for detailed information.

We developed an updated list of recommended supplies and estimated first year costs. You can download it by clicking on this link.

Here is a spreadsheet that Jamie Oliva outlined the estimated cost in keeping your own bees.

Are you interested in seeing our hives? Take our Bee Tour. We have posted a photographically tour of our hives as well as a short video.

Burgh Bees is pleased to announce its 2010 Training classes!

Click here for the schedule.

NOTE: The sessions will be scheduled at area beekeepers’ apiaries or at the two apiaries Burgh Bees is establishing (with your help!) in Braddock and Hazelwood. The other dates are tentative because they’re dependent on weather and other constraints that come with working with bees. The apiary sessions will most likely be held in the afternoon, as that’s the best time to go into hives. We’ll do our best to work the schedule out with all of our participants!

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