Rachel Whitman, who blogs for Mother Nature Network, paid us a visit recently and wrote a nice piece about the experience.
During my visit to the Feral Bee hives, Russell and Amy introduced me to Los Angeles honey bee wrangler extraordinaire, Kirk Anderson. Kirk has a ton of experience with bees, and is an excellent ambassador for the Backwards Beekeepers. His bee-loving spirit is infectious, and his way with hives is amazing. Kirk urged me to check out one of his inspirations, the apiarist Charles Martin Simon, who's a pretty intense guy. Simon grapples with the full spectrum of honey bee behavior: the swarming, the social order, the naturally occurring wisdom and the wildness that leads to their inexplicable, sometimes fatal decisions. Tending honey bee hives as Simon does is not just about entomology — it holds a touch of philosophy, as well.
Suffice it to say, I'm hooked. And in my quest to become more environmentally connected in the urban jungle that is Los Angeles, and to share my eco-adventures with the MNN audience, I joined the Backwards Beekeepers Yahoo! Group and am planning to mix and mingle with them and others interested in local agriculture and the like at the meeting later this month.
Bees Gone Wild (Mother Nature Network)
