Wild About: Bees

Wild About is a celebration of the flora and fauna commonly found in our cities. Instead of fact sheets, this space will showcase books, art, music, societies, and whimsical objects about urban-adaptable plants and animals. If you would like to see your favorite urban-oriented plant or animal featured, please email us at info at localecology dot org.

Image: Stenotritus pubescens by Sam Droege, USGS Bee Lab (flick/source)*

Two things inspired this edition of Wild About. The first is Laline Paull's excellent novel titled The Bees. The second is a Your Wild Life blog post about urban native bee research at North Carolina State. If you need to expand your summer reading list, I strongly recommend The Bees.  Emma Straub reviewed the book for the New York Times.

I was browsing issues of Edible East Bay for photographs of iced tea (!) and came across two bee-related essays, one about native bee habitat restoration and the other about backyard bee keeping.  Edible Austin profiled Brandon Fehrenkamp, owner of Eastside Honey Company.

Image: Rococo Bee Bar, screen capture from Candy Blog (source)

In addition to my love of iced tea, I like candy. I have not eaten the Rococo Bee Bar, but Candy Blog gave it high marks: 7 out of 10, or "worth it."

Did you know that there is a bee box in Union Square Park?!  And that you can buy NYC rooftop honey at the Union Square Greenmarket?

Image: Nomia species by Sam Droege, USGS Bee Lab (flick/source)

This Wild About would not be completed without a nod to children.  An adventure with Ms. Frizzle and her students is a great way to learn about the natural world and scientific concepts.  The Magic School Bus: Inside a Beehive does not disappoint.

Finally, Design*Sponge has a nice round-up of objects inspired by bees. 

Would you like to read more Wild Abouts? Check out other posts in the series: Horses, Snowy owls, Squirrels, Eating insects, Chipmunks, Pigeons, Ginkgo.

P.S. Want to raise bees in the city? Listen to this hands-on guide by beekeeper James Fischer on WNYC.

* I discovered the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab Flickr via Legal Nomad's Tutorials on the Art of Photographing Wildlife.

Wild About was inspired by the Animal Love series at Design*Sponge.