DENVER URBAN HOMESTEADING

CALLING CHICKEN OWNERS! Hosts

needed for our Fourth Annual Denver

Chicken Coop Tour on Sat, Sept. 21,

2013 from 10-3. Show off your coop,

see other chicken owners' coops and

join us for an organic dinner after.

We take swarm calls. If you have a swarm of honeybees that need to be picked up, send me an email below and we will get back to you quickly. We have lots of good homes for them.

We have beekeeping supplies. Need to pickup beekeeping equipment when we are not open? No problem. James and Irina live nearby and we are often there during the week. Send me, James, an email. I usually check email several times a day, so you can come in almost anytime, including that day. james@denverurbanhomesteading.com

WE TEACH BEEKEEPING. BECOME A BEEKEEPER AND CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

Beekeeping Mentor and teacher Don Studinski giving a demonstration of our honey extractor at our fall Denver Honey Festival. He teaches classes here.

About Beekeeping...

Denver Urban Homesteading offers a comprehensive variety of services for the beekeeping field. We offer beginner beekeeping classes, we sell beekeeping equipment, we offer swarm removal services, we offer a backyard pollination service and we sell honey.

Bee part of the solution and help foster honeybees. These fine animals are critical pollinators, and without pollinators many of our crops would be lost and we could not feed the planet. Colony Collapse Disorder, regardless of the cause, is real. You can help honey bees by eating honey (spurring demand), ordering our pollination service or becoming a beekeeper.

Bees range in a radius of about 3 miles from their hive. They fly at 15mph and beat their wings 230 times a second. One teaspoon of honey is the lifetime work of about a dozen bees, each of whom lives about six weeks (longer in winter when they are not working). One pound of honey takes some 55,000 bee miles of travel; one gallon may take a million miles and visits to 2M flowers.

And what is honey? It is regurgitated nectar collected from flowers that bees visit. The bees store it in the hive and transform it to more than 80% sugar by fanning their wings to evaporate the moisture in it. Honey is a supersaturated liquid, containing more sugar than water can normally dissolve. Honey is comprised of 17% water, and about 40% fructose and 30% glucose.

In Colorado, 90% of flying insect stings are from wasps (and yellow jackets are a wasp). Wasps do very little pollination and mostly eat other insects, fallen fruit, rotten meat. (Colorado State University Extension http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05525.html)

Photo taken March 2012 of a backyard beehive in the Platt Park neighborhood of Denver.

Наш фермерский рынок предлагает широкий ассортимент оборудования для пчеловодства. Мы также покупаем местный мед (непереработанный) для продажи его на нашем рынке. Если у вас есть вопросы напишите сообщение или позвоните Ирине. Она ответит Вам по-русски. james@denverurbanhomesteading.com

Телефон: 303-572-31222

[A message from owner James Bertini's Russian wife Irina to the Russian beekeeping community.]

BEEKEEPING EQUIPMENT SOLD HERE

We stock a comprehensive selection of beekeeping equipment. Beginners can buy their hive and suit from us, and experienced beekeepers can get any number of hives they need and any equipment they need.

LANGSTROTH HIVES TOP BAR HIVES

BEEHIVE LOCATOR FOR FRONT RANGE

We have established a Google Map to locate beehives in the Denver-Boulder-Colorado Springs area. The map shows the location of hives, which are posted by the owners. The purpose is to help identify neighbors with beehives in case a beekeeper loses his hive due to suspected contamination so that the extent of the problem can be ascertained.

There may be many other uses for this geographical information, and if anyone has ideas please contact me at james@denverurbanhomesteading.com

As of August 24, 2012 this map is in the beta testing phase, and if you want to post write to me and I will send you an invitation via Google. As soon as I am sure it works, I will open it to the public for posting of your hives at will.

SWARM REMOVAL

Just call us if you have a swarm of bees and don't want them. Beekeepers are standing by.

HONEY PROCESSING

We plan to have a honey extractor available this year at the market for our use and for use by the public. We plan to sell a wide variety of local and other rare honey products.

CLASSES

We offer beginner beekeeping classes in the spring for aspiring beekeepers.

HONEY AVAILABLE AT OUR MARKET

Updated as of February 6, 2013

We sell only raw, unfiltered honey. Raw means unpasteurized. Pasteurization of honey involves heating it, and this is done so that it will not crystallize, or granulate. Honey will crystallize if exposed to cold weather or just after a period of time has elapsed, as little as one month. While most of the world eats crystallized honey, Americans are used to liquid honey, and so big honey producers oblige by pasteurizing their honey so it stays liquid on the shelf and in your cupboard. The only problem with this is that the pasteurization process is believed by many to remove natural antioxidants present in the honey.

Also, most of our honey is local, and it is believed that consumption of local honey, since it included pollen from area trees and plants, will help build up a resistance to allergies.

Know that some recent studies show that up to 85% of honey purchased in supermarkets is contaminated with chloramphenicol, an antibiotic that is harmful to human health, or otherwise adulterated with commercial sugar. This is because the demand for honey in the US is bigger than the supply, and some large honey sellers import this honey from China and other countries, in violation of the food and drug laws and import regulations. Some such honey even contains lead. Even buying at farmers' markets could be problematic, as I am aware of vendors who sell honey under their own labels that is not their own. What's the solution? Produce your own honey, or buy from someone you know and trust. Hopefully that includes us.

Notes: 1. In some cases raw honey can make allergy problems worse. 2. Raw honey may contain botulism spores which do not harm adults but may harm infants.

NAME	FARM/FARMER DETAILS	LOCATION OF BEEHIVES	DISTINCTIVE QUALITIES
Adirondack Wildflower	New York State farm	Adirondack mountains in Upstate NY (these mtns are older than the Rockies)	Not so sweet

Apple Blossom	New York State farm	Mohawk Valley in NYS	From apples!

BRAZILIAN ORGANIC	Working on getting this.	Brazil	Smooth texture and taste, a wonderful single note honey. The Brazilian honey bees (BZB) have a higher resistance to common European/US bee diseases, therefore Brazilian beekeepers do not need to use any antibiotics to treat the hives. BZB are known to work 1-2 hours longer than US honey bees and will often fly until almost full darkness. They will even forage at lower temperatures and even in light rain. The majority of bee keepers in southern Brazil prefer BZB because of their diligence and vitality of the hives despite their aggressive behavior.

BROWN, ALLAN & DEBBIE	Allan and Debbie Brown are the official beekeepers for the Dulany Historic Farm in Aurora.	Hudson and Keensburg	Alfalfa and sunflower

DEBEEZE	Debbie has a few of own hives and sources from others.	Debbie’s hives are in Evergreen, although she does buy from other local beekeepers.	Infused with cranberry, jalapeno or cinnamon.

BEEYOND THE HIVE	One family farming bees since 1908. Has 2000 hives.	Front Range.	Has peanut butter infused honey, orange blossom honey (when they take their hives to CA to pollinate the almond crop, they leave a few hives behind with citrus), candles and lotions. We sell their bee pollen and honey in 6lb glass jars that you can return for a $2 deposit.

BLUEBERRY HONEY	Sold by bee farm in New York State	Maine	Blueberries are not self-pollinating and they need bees. Large beekeepers bring their beehives by the thousands and set them amidst almond groves and blueberry farms for pollination. This is the honey produced from blueberries. Current state producers of blue- berries from the largest are: MI, GA, OR, NJ, WA, NC, CA.

BUCKWHEAT HONEY	From New York State	NYS	Buckwheat is not a wheat. It has no gluten and is an/the ingredient in kasha, blini (pancakes) and beer. It can be eaten as a snack. Global production is decreasing annually. Buckwheat honey is dark purple and appears black. It is full-bodied, has a strong flavor and a bitter aftertaste. Some believe it is high in antioxidants.

ERIC & STEPHANIE	Eric is a concrete floor sawing contractor. He keeps bees for a hobby.	Westminster.	How much more local can you get?

GRANDPA’S HONEY	6^th generation honey farmer (4^th in US)	Southern CO, Taos, NM	Huajillo, Tamarisk, Clover, Wildflower and honeycomb

HIGHLAND	This honey farmer raises queens and is famous for that.	Boulder	Creamed honey

KUDZU HONEY	Small Georgia farm.	Georgia	Kudzu is used for erosion control; it is also an invasive weed. Asians believe the plant has medicinal qualities.

O.L. NEAL	Old-timer in Pueblo	Pueblo	From Alfalfa, pumpkin and watermelon

MEDIHONEY	Canadian company	New Zealand	In gel form and bandages. Uses include: diabetic foot ulcers, leg ulcers, 1^st and 2^nd degree burns, traumatic wounds, surgical wounds

REALLY RAW	Maryland	Maryland	This honey has bits of comb, pollen, propolis and more sprinked on top. Crunchy and healthy to eat.

SERGEI	Sergei is from Siberia. He lives in Denver with his family of 9. In Siberia, due to the short summer season, hives are relocated to follow the bloom patterns, which Sergei does with his hives here in Colorado.	Denver region; hives are relocated to follow the bloom patterns.	An amalgam of honey flavors.

TUPELO HONEY	Small Georgia farm.	Georgia	Distinct honey and taste. Only in GA and northern FL. From the tupelo tree.

WESTERN COLORADO HONEY	Paul has 2500 hives and has been operating for 30 years. His wife operates a wildlife sanctuary next to the farm.	Silt Honey Meeker/Craig/ Hayden Honey Hives located above 9000’ in the Flat Top Wilderness Area of the White River National Forest Rabbit Brush Honey Honeydew Honey – not from the melons, but from aphids!!!	Alfalfa mix Alfalfa/Clover Alpine wildflowers. Not so sweet

WHITE GOLD	This honey is from Prince Edward Island in Canada’s maritime provinces	Prince Edward Island, where there is no industrial pollution.	White, creamy and oh, so delicious. Not so sweet.

Western Colorado Honey farmer Paul Limbach. Some of the supers in storage at his farm.

WE PROCESS HONEY HERE! You can let us process your honey or sell us your honey frames which we will process and resell at our market. It is done in our commercial kitchen, which is required for processed foods in the State of Colorado.

The first step is "uncapping" to remove the wax caps. The next step is spinning in the centrifuge.

And out comes the liquid gold, that flows through a strainer to separate the wax.

Contact us to make an appointment to process your honey. We can do it for you, or if we trust you with our expensive equipment, you can do it.