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Letter from the Editor
I have a confession to make: my interest in beekeeping borders on the unhealthy and obsessive. I once attended an international beekeeping conference in Italy.
In my defense, I was covering a story for Slow Food International on mono-varietal honey production (say that ten times fast). It wasn’t the mechanics of beekeeping itself that hooked me, or the deliciously sweet and sticky honeys I got to sample, but the fascinating eccentricities of the beekeepers themselves.
One man from Japan brought a rare honey filled with poisonous wasps that had drowned in the bottle. The adrenaline that coursed through their bodies
EDIBLE INBOX
Windsong Apiaries Honeycomb with Chapel’s Country Creamery Bay Blue Cheese
Photo by Kate Headley
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We love hearing from you.
Bettina Stern, via e-mail:
love the first issue! It is so great to have such a smart publication in town. It also looks wonderful and your ultimate choice of Game Changers is terrific. I would encourage you to consider profiling Stacey Price of Think Local First. She is a real game changer as well!
Mark
NOTABLE EDIBLES: FALL 2012
Photography by Aaron Springer
LORD BYRON’S BEE POLLEN
Bee pollen, it’s what’s for breakfast. Mix a tablespoon into a smoothie or dollop it onto your morning yogurt to supercharge your day. Bees fly plant to plant gathering the pollen on their back legs. Beekeepers place special traps at the entrance to hives which knock off and gather the pollen. The pollen is then dried before bottling. Considered nature’s perfect food because of its high protein content and nutritional value, fans claim it can increase sexual desire, boost immune system health and help fight off seasonal allergies. Those with pollen or
BEHIND THE BOTTLE
Capital Kombucha’s Local Brews Are Helping DC to Acquire an ‘Acquired Taste’
Photos by Aaron Springer
When Dan Lieberman of Capital Kombucha tells people that he makes kombucha, “the initial reaction is always, like, ‘Oh, kombucha? That drink that tastes like s@#t?’”
The healthy but hard-to-swallow reputation of the cold tea drink is something that the founders of Capital Kombucha hope to overturn with their fresh, lightly fizzy flavors.
Kombucha, pronounced kom-BOO-cha, is a fermented tea drink full of good bacteria and antioxidants. The tonic starts with a brewed black or green tea that is lightly sweetened—in Capital’s case with
On Becoming a “BEEK”
Smart Steps Before Starting Your Own Hive
Ask a “beek” (slang for a beekeeper) about honey, and many will say it is only a piece of the obsession. Indeed, beekeeping is diverse: part science, part hard physical labor, part group-think psychology, part backyard ecology and part folkloric magic. Undoubtedly, maintaining a hive of healthy honeybees is the most exhilarating micro-farming one can do within city limits.
Plus, the effort is helping to repopulate the planet with pollinators. With experts continually confounded by the causes and implications of Colony Collapse Disorder—the recent mass disappearance of worker bees—your new colony will create
GET BUZZED
Honey-Based Cocktails from a Beekeeping Bartender
Katie Nelson, lead bartender at the Columbia Room, is taking local sourcing to a whole other level: the roof.
There, amidst pipes and planter boxes, she tends a hive of bees. Approximately 60,000 strong, the critters produce enough honey to fill a gallon sized Tupperware container in early summer and fall.
The beekeeping bartender was introduced to the idea by Jeff Miller of DC Honeybees, who aims to combat Colony Collapse Disorder by populating the city with healthy bee colonies. The local nonprofit supplied the bar with the equipment and training necessary to get
Thinking Inside the Box
How DC’s DDOT Caught the Beekeeping Bug
Photography by Hannah Colclazier
On a sunny March morning, Joey Perez, Supervisory Forester for District Department of Transportation, had the privilege of welcoming eight queens to the city. Instead of scepters, however, this royal family sported something a little more menacing: stingers.
The newly transplanted queen bees, and their broods of about 10,000 female workers, are part of Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration-wide request to introduce sustainabiliy initiatives earlier this year. Beekeeping is DDOT’s creative eco-friendly effort to increase the city’s sustainability efforts. “Many departments planted trees,” explained the 31-year old forester, “but we
Wax, Two Ways
A Painter Uses her Backyard Bees as Art
Nassikas shows off the tools of her trade: beeswax and pigments
Photography and Text by Jonna McKone
At first glance, the old house and barn on a cul-de-sac in McLean look like the quiet home of any Virginia gardener. Walk past the tangle of kumquats and asparagus, beside the deep greens of forest that creep the length of the yard, along the bright blue of a swimming pool to the muted tones of an old barn, and you’ll find a large, open studio where Georgia Nassikas produces her paintings. Her portfolio consists
DON’T WORRY, BE HOPPY
Homebrewers Say Their Craft is Well-Worth the Fuss
Considering the militant emphasis on cleanliness, the mad-scientist equipment and the scarcity of places to buy hops and barley, it’s no wonder some are intimidated by the idea of brewing their own beer.
But according to those who are knee-deep in the hobby, it’s something you can ease yourself into and still find satisfaction. Joshua Hubner, president of DC Homebrewers Club and a nine-year veteran of the hobby, says more and more people are taking the plunge and brewing their own beers. “It’s definitely become more of a
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