The third annual National Pollinator Week ignited much buzz and festivities throughout the week starting off with the first annual Beekeepers Ball hosted by South Street Seaport’s Water Taxi Beach. I attended the ball clad in a too short and too tight modernesque yellow and black dotted dress wearing heels too high and flamboyant.
That didn’t stop me from chowing down like a starved fatboy on passed hors d’oeuvres including honey glazed donut hamburgers (mushy, odd, short of gross, not a match made in heaven), honey glazed ribs (undercooked but soft and chewy), chicken skewers (dry but sweet), honey glazed roasted veggies (didn’t taste the honey, a bit bland), and honey mustard hot dogs (my favorite from the menu, simple and spicy sweet).
Guests seemed very giddy with an excuse to don costumes ranging from Cinderella the bee princess, the trashy and pregnant queen bee, the green mutant construction worker drone, handsome flashy white suited beekeepers, and jumpy sand ecstatic kiddy bees. Many others wore wings and antennas and celebrated the event with much food and laughter.
There were tables set up with local extraordinaires such as Long Island Meadery who served honey wine (sweet wiht a hint of berry) and my new favorite ice cream servers (next to Van Leeuwan) People’s Pops who handed me a very refreshing and healthy tasting strawberry rhubarb and honey popsicle with chunks of fruit. It was divine. There was also an author selling her book about beekeeping, a venture I’m curious about as I learn about the importance of these local pollinators and their vital role in contributing and sustaining an urban natural environment from gardens and farms to parks and sidewalk botany.
Honeybees help in producing a thriving and healthy local economy and with their recent disappearance due to colony collapse disorder, these heroes need our help in building colonies so they may contribute to an urban agricultural system. They help grow fruit, flowers, vegetables and of course, honey. It is illegal to keep bees in NY unlike other progressive cities such as San Francisco and Seattle and Just Food alongside David Yassky is busting butts to legalize beekeeping and have been gathering signatures to petition for a reversal of law. You can do your part by signing the petition here.
The Honey Fest at Union Square yesterday wasn’t as eventful, I was expecting a myriad of local honey to indulge in but there was only Stone Barns offering tasting of local honey, but I can’t complain because it was beautifully textured with a bit of grain and the rest a smooth flow down your happy throat. There were mostly info desks from the folks at Just Food, Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture, and NYC Beekeepers Association. There were petitioners clad in bee costume calling in a crowd that seemed more willing to contribute and learn than I would expect from a disgruntled New Yorker, especially on such a humid and sticky day and that sure put a smile on my face. Jacquie Berger, the executive director of Just Food informed me we can be very hopeful of seeing positive effects from such loud community efforts that’s been buzzing around town.
Click on the links below to see pictures and learn more about the importance of legalizing beekeeping in NY!
- Beekeeper Ball pictures. I’m in there somewhere.
- New York Times, Light Hearted Locavore, Serious Eats, Time Out New York, Associated Press, and WNYC keep the buzz alive.
- Jacquie Berger interviewed for NYT and on Brian Lehrer
A few more images below:
1 Comment
June 27, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Nice!