An apiary, a city, and beautiful cinematography.

Made by Hand / No 3 The Beekeeper. Via Made by Hand on Vimeo.

First I wanted chickens. Now I want bees. I don’t have either yet, but…maybe this summer. Will and I have been learning about wonderful things in our research on sustainable agriculture. Things about biodynamic farming, about the reasons behind different colored chicken eggs, and about how farming is a lot of long, hard work.

I also had my interest in beekeeping piqued after an interview with Denzel Mitchell of Five Seeds Farm. We drove half an hour to his farm in upstate Maryland, talking for a while at a long, stately wooden table in a light-bathed room. Then we meandered a mile or so down the road to his fields: me, Will, Denzel and his delightful daughter, followed by the long February sun. Even if you’re not a country person, you would have loved it out there. I just know it.

Denzel runs an apiary as part of his urban farming and my interest in bees was piqued. So I did a little research and came across the beautifully shot video above, and this article in The Guardian. In case you didn’t know it, bees are in trouble. But there’s hope that maybe, just maybe, cities can help save them.