Happy New Year!
We had a great holiday season and hope you did too. It’s always fun to look back at the previous year so I wanted to highlight a few things that happened at the apiary in 2019.
Beekeeping
Last year was a big year for me in terms of improving my beekeeping skills. I worked toward a few goals, in particular starting my Master Beekeeping Certification at Cornell University and becoming a member of the Italian Registry of Experts in the Sensory Analysis of Honey. I am looking forward to completing my certificate and becoming a Master Beekeeper later this year.
Queen rearing was another new skill I worked toward in 2019. I am very lucky to work with the folks at Green-Wood Cemetery where I am their Head Beekeeper and was able to set up a proper workspace to practice the delicate process of grafting eggs and raising them into queens. The results from last year were so-so, but I look forward to taking what I learned into the upcoming season.
Speaking of Green-Wood, we were able to partner with the cemetery to hold our first-ever Hive Tours. These were hugely successful and are in the works for 2020. Along with hive tours, I also taught beekeeping classes and a full beginner’s beekeeping course at the cemetery. We graduated 15 new beekeepers (pictured) through the course and hopefully sparked some interest in the hobby with the attendees of all the events. Look for more of these events in the coming season on our Events Calendar at Astor Apiaries.
NYC Honey Festival and the new Queens Beekeepers Guild
It was my 3rd year working with fellow Queens beekeeper, Tom Wilk, to help put on the 9th Annual NYC Honey Festival. I generally run social media for the event, as well as produce the event poster and media. Go follow the Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for the event!
An interesting development in the event is that this was the first year it was officially organized by the Queens Beekeepers Guild. This new organization was founded by Tom to help with this event and start developing a better community among beekeepers here in the city through regular meetings and events. I look forward to seeing what they do and possibly working with them in 2020.
Makin’ Honey
As far as honey goes, we produced the most local NYC honey we’ve ever produced and made it to January 2020 with the last few jars. In previous years we’ve never made it past Christmas before selling out. Unfortunately, we are sold out until the 2020 harvest in August. Sign up for the Astor Apiaries our mailing list (in the footer of any page on the apiary website) to get first notice when this year’s NYC honey comes in!
By the way, we’re doing our best to produce more honey in 2020. That means I’m looking for a new site or two to set up some hives. Do you have space or know someone who does? Get in touch at hello@astorapiaries.com and let’s talk!
The Press Took Notice
I was flattered for Astor Apiaries to be the feature of a handful of articles in 2019. Among them, we were the cover story for Boro Magazine in August. We also had features by Edible Queens and Come To Life, as well as my first time as a guest on the podcast She’s Got Issues, just to mention a few. It’s great for people to take notice, but it’s even better to have a platform to spread the word about why honey bees and pollinators are so important.
There was a lot that happened in 2019. I’m excited to do more in 2020 and hope to involve more people in events and beekeeping itself. If you are interested, click the Contact link in the menu at the top of the page and shoot me a message through the contact form. I also recommend you check out the Astor Apiaries Event Calendar if you’re interested in any of the classes or hive tours I’ll be running.
Bee good!
-Nick Hoefly
