Mad Urban Bees LLC

The Madison Bee Ordinance has passed! The city even passed it with an amendment allowing residential properties in commercial areas to keep bees. This means Madison has a really good law that other cities and towns can emulate. This means that you can keep bees in Madison and have the city on your side. This means I am open for business!

Hello Folks, I know it's been a bit since I last wrote, so here is quick list of what I've been up to.

• I have spots for all of my bees this spring with a waiting list that will allow me to go from 50 to 100 hives when I'm ready.
• The bees are ordered, and I have started assembling the hives and restoring some old equipment. Everything should look great when the bees arrive in late April!
• Madison should have it's bee ordinance passed by the end of March this year.
• I ordered 30 chicken waterers. That's right, chicken waterers. Under the new ordinance the bees need to have a water source next to the hive.
• I am working on a honey CSA. There will be a local, pick-up version and a domestically shipped version. More to follow.

Well that's all for now.

Thank you to the 153 backers that supported Mad Urban Bees LLC in raising over $10,000 with Kickstarter. This money will be used to buy the boxes, bees, queens, and equipment to start 50 new hives in the Madison area this spring.

Also thank you to everyone that promoted and shared links. This is really a community endeavor. I could not have done it without all your help.

I hope that everyone survived the holidays fairly well. My background is in publishing, and this time of year is usually quiet. I've usually been in the office, mostly because I didn't have any other vacation time to use. However this year was the first year that I've worked retail. It hurt.

My legs are definitely a sore from standing all day, but the worse part was the cold I picked up. This year, my colds seem to fill my head with epoxy. They could be a lot worse, and I'm glad of that. They still are dreadfully annoying. We need to take care of ourselves at this time of year. I try and dress warmly, drink lots of tea, and eat as health as possible. (As I write this, I have a tableful of cookies in front of me.) Bees also need to be taken care of to survive the cold.

Hive Prep.

In October, when the weather started to turn colder, I started feeding my bees a syrup of honey, cane sugar, and water. This is to help them round out their stores, and make it less stressful for them to find food. There are still plants that they can use, but they might be hard to find.In November I wrapped the hives in tar paper. This does two things. First, it keeps the draft out, and second, the black paper absorbs the sunlight to keep the hive warmer. The bees will then need to eat less honey to keep the hive warm. Even in the dead of winter, the inside of the hive won't drop below 50 degrees F.

Hats for Bees.

We can't put hats on the bees themselves. (As much fun as that could be.) We also don't want to completely seal up the hive either. Bees need to get rid of their waste, even in winter. They will fly out of the hive, do their business, and come back. Unfortunately the cold can kill off enough bees that the bottom entrance to the hive is blocked with dead bees. The bees need a way out of the top of their hive. That's why I have made caps for the hives.

These caps add a little insulation, allow moisture to escape, and let the bees fly out of the hives to do their business. On a warm February day, you will be able to see if your hive is alive, just by the little yellow specs in the snow. And late February is when I will find out if the bees survived the winter.If they are dead, I will clean out the hive and get it ready for a new colony. If they survived, I will start feeding them another mixture of syrup until the dandelions start blooming.

Stay warm, and enjoy tea with a little honey on a cold night.

Have a great New Year.

Mad Urban Bees LLC is partnering up with the film 'Vanishing of the Bees' and the Bee The Change campaign.

From here to the end of our Kickstarter on January 3rd, 2012, if you donate $60.00 we will send you a 5oz Jar of Urban Honey from Mad Urban Bees, and a copy of 'Vanishing of the Bees'. $10 of each donation will go to Vanishing of the Bees.

'Vanishing of the Bees' takes a piercing investigative look at the economic, political and spiritual implications of the worldwide disappearance of the honeybee. This feature-length documentary, which is narrated by Oscar-nominated Ellen Page, also examines the current agricultural landscape and celebrates the ancient and sacred connection between humans and honeybees.

This is your chance to help two organizations who are dedicated to the health, safety and importance of the honey bee.

Pledge. Help the Bees. Get Honey. Get the Documentary.

The final countdown for the Mad Urban Bees Kickstarter has begun. Two weeks from today is the end of the Kickstarter. We are already $2,200 above our $7,000 goal. I think we can break $10,000 in the next 14 days.

Pledge. Help the Bees. Get Honey.

The Daily Mail reports that he UK Food Standards Agency has placed a blanket ban on all Chinese honey and ordered it off the shelves.

10 out of 16 samples of Chinese honey contained the powerful antibiotic chloramphenico. These antibiotics are used to treat diseases in the bees and then end up in the honey. The honey laundering practice of removing all pollen grains from the honey to mask the country of origin, does not remove the antibiotics.

The EU and the UK have now banned Chinese honey. So where is it going to go? HERE. The illegal practices of honey smuggling, mean that all of this contaminated honey is going to end up on our supermarket shelves, in our cereals, and food products. You should know where your honey comes from. Support your local beekeeper.

That's right, Mad Urban Bees LLC made it's Kickstarter goal of $7,000 with over three weeks left to go!
I cannot express how fantastic this is. I am so happy that over 100 people believe in what I am trying to create.

I don't want to stop here. Let's keep the Kickstarter going. For every pledge Mad Urban Bees receives, it make it that much easier for me to raise other capital for equipment such as extractors, bottles, a vehicle, and waters for the bees. Let's keep it going!

Pledge. Help the Bees. Get Honey.

Thank you.

-Nathan Clarke

I just found out that the Chicago Honey Co-op will be closing down their apiary. The Co-op has been operating their apiary on West Fillmore St in Chicago since 2004. They took an abandoned industrial space, planted prairie plants in the spaces that weren't covered in concrete, and created a space for 50 hives.

They gave presentations to schools, museums and universities. They tended 20 hives and sold their honey at two local farmers' markets. They also bred their own Illinois Honeybee queens. But now the lot has been sold, and they will have to move .

I have not had the privilege of meeting the members of the Chicago Honey Co-op. It still makes me sad to hear that a locally grown organization has to close its apiary. I certainly hope that the hives will be able to make their way to other locations around the Chicago area.

Community involvement with local apiaries is paramount. That's why I am looking at having my hives hosted all around the city. If one location closes, another will open. I spent today talking with people who are exited to have bees in their yard and want to be part of something. I've toured their yards and have been impressed with their friendliness and willingness to give me a chance to create a diverse urban apiary.

Here is my Kickstarter Video for those that have not seen it.

Please visit my Kickstarter Site to learn more.