G R A C I A S

Burgh Bees Community Apiary Ribbon Cutting: Friday, May 14, 2010

Friday afternoon, under the tent on Susquehanna Street, was the most serendipitous, genial, gathering of 'good neighbors' you would ever hope to attend.

You should have been there.

We had Irish cheese and apple slices, brownies and homemade cookies, and iced-down sham-pon-yuh (Christopher Walken sent his apologies).

We had Councilman Patrick Dowd and daughter Evyn, Councilman Bill Peduto in finest form, Christy Berger representing Mayor Ravenstahl's office, Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak (to whom we owe a new pair of shoes), and both Mike Masiuk and Sandy Feather from the Penn State Cooperative Extension. We had Susquehanna Street neighbors, Burgh Bees Co-Founders, and Burgh Bees members and friends. And we had the real 'guests of honor' - a demonstration hive buzzing with some of the newest Susquehanna Street residents: brand new members of one of the apiary's six resident colonies of honeybees, transplanted to their new home from neighborhoods all around Pittsburgh. Braddock, Mt. Washington, Shadyside, Hazelwood: four neighborhoods representing the diversity of Pittsburgh all at home today in Homewood.

(For more on the actual 'hive move' and what that entailed see the blog entry for Saturday April 9th.)

"Bees Gone Wild"

Before the Apiary Ribbon-Cutting actually got underway we had an interesting visit, from beyond the busway fence, from two Port Authority employees out investigating bus driver complaints - about yellow jackets further down the line. En route they were stopped by another driver alerting them to the fact that there were a "bunch of bees" further along the busway that might need to be checked out as well. These two gentlemen, Jack Hodge and Timothy Eubanks, really knew their bees. Mr. Eubanks: " Bees are essential. They're essential to our crops. And now they're endangered - and they have been for, oh, at least five years now." We swapped conversation for brownies, and were given good advice on how to contact Port Authority Customer Service if we wanted to discuss having Burgh Bees members weed the busway strip in lieu of having PAT spray weed killer so close to the hives. Messrs. Eubanks and Hodge: G R A C I A S !

Short & Sweet

Severe thunderstorms and flash flooding moved in and around the Pittsburgh area briefly on Friday afternoon, and our guests kept their comments and kudos short, sweet, and to the point. Since a picture truly is worth a thousand words, we will do the same.
Our Apiary Ribbon Cutting Photo Gallery:

1) Behind the scenes at the Apiary Ribbon Cutting
2) Burgh Bees Co-Founder Meredith Meyer Grelli welcomes the apiary's guests
3) Pittsburgh City Councilman Bill Peduto holds forth
4) Pittsburgh City Councilman Patrick Dowd shares a story
5) Frank, Scott, and Joan share a laugh
6) Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak greets the group
7) Burgh Bees member Terri Howard takes the stage
8) Penn State Extension Director Mike Masiuk makes a point
9) Christy Berger, Community Outreach Coordinator for Mayor Ravenstahl's office
10) Burgh Bees members Ashley Brickman and Meredith Meyer Grelli unveil the demo hive
11) Burgh Bees members Ashley Brickman and Terri Howard cut the ribbon - photo 1
12) Burgh Bees members Ashley Brickman and Terri Howard cut the ribbon - photo 2
13) Good food, good neighbors, a good cause
14) Neighbor Alfie Newberry and Penn State Extension's Sandy Feather
15) Burgh Bees' indispensable catering duo, Ashley Brickman and Kimberly Musial
16) End of the day---what goes up, comes down
17) Our true colors - - - busway fence beautification by Lucia Aguirre and Christina Neumann
- - - click on photos for a full-screen view

Noted in passing . . .

- - - Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Natalia Rudiak was glad to see that many aspects of the apiary's development remained somewhat fluid, essentially a work-in-progress: "The process is the journey." Amen. Ms. Rudiak also mentioned revitalization efforts underway in neighboring Beechview that are most definitely worth a look-see: check out the PUB blog at http://cleanupbeechview.blogspot.com/.

§ From the website: "Pretty Up Beechview is an all-volunteer, community-based organization that is dedicated to the creation and maintenance of a clean, healthy, safe and prosperous neighborhood and the promotion of those qualities therein through community action, partnership and awareness."

- - - Sandy Feather, Commercial Horticulture Educator with Penn State Cooperative Extension, noted an upcoming FREE community screening of the film Food, Inc. at our nearby Homewood Branch of the Carnegie Public Library. This MUST-SEE film will be shown on Wednesday, June 9 at 5:30 PM, and will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic, “What we can do to improve the health of our neighborhoods.” For more information check out Penn State Extension's really cool new spinoff, "yumpittsburgh." Here's the scoop: " yumpittsburgh is part of a Penn State project which strives to strengthen the local food infrastructure in Western Pa by connecting the supply and demand sides of our foodshed. This site will highlight timely info for and about farmers, food, events and resources in our community." And here's the link for more info about the showing of Food, Inc.: http://yumpittsburgh.com/?p=573.

§ From the website: " Food, Inc., a feature-length documentary by director Robert Kenner, lifts the veil on our nation’s food industry, exposing a system controlled by international corporations that prioritize profit over the health and safety of consumers. Please visit http://www.foodincmovie.com/."

- - - Roberta Jones and her dad, Robert Eberhart - Burgh Bees members and graduates of the original 2009 beekeeper's class - were on hand to welcome guests and check out the results of the latest apiary workday. Roberta noted that the native and bee-friendly plants recommended by our new good friends at Sestili Nursery were looking especially healthy.

A final note on support

An event like this one represents the culmination of hours, months, and even years of planning, hard work, give-and-take, and belief - in a vision of community cooperation on a citywide scale and in the certainty that a seed will take root if sufficiently nourished. Burgh Bees would like to take a moment today to thank everyone who has given so generously to our cause: donations in kind, of time, support, cash, advice - and seeds! We are just $277 short of our Kickstarter Fundraising goal, with just 2 weeks left to go. We will reach that goal thanks to the generosity of each individual who has wished us well. June's "G R A C I A S" column will be "In Appreciation" of our community of support - our neighbors near and far. Thank you so much.