CBS 2's "political correspondent" Marcia Kramer isn't resting on her laurels after blowing the terrorist bike lane story wide open; this week we find her in Douglaston, Queens, where she finds a guy who was fined $2,000 for not watering his bees. To put this in perspective, that's $1,500 more than an unlicensed driver was fined this week for fatally running over a woman on the Upper East Side. For Kramer, it's the perfect opportunity to make some "bee-autiful" puns. more ›

It was barely nine months ago, but the days of bees swarming Cipriani Residences downtown seem like a distant memory: according to a new report by the UN, bees are dying out globally, which could mean serious problems for people all over. more ›

On a (now legal!) rooftop apiary in Red Hook, beekeeper Cerise Mayo got confused when her bees started producing some red goo instead of natural, healthy honey. And after some lab testing, it was found that the goo was full of red dye #40, the same stuff used at nearby Dell's maraschino cherry factory. Mayo asked, "Why would they go to the cherry factory, when there’s a lot for them to forage right there on the farm?" On the other hand, why settle for natural nectar when modern technology makes corn syrups sweeter than you could ever imagine? "Slow food" is for the birds! more ›

There's probably some sort of government cover-up happening with this whole bee thing, but for now let's just assume that NYPD resident beekeeper Anthony Planakis is telling us the truth (and nothing but). Planakis was on the scene at 55 Wall Street yesterday after 15,000 bees swarmed to Cipriani Residences's door; he told the Post, "it's a natural split... we had a relatively mild winter, so you had a nice spring build-up, overcrowding inside the hive, possibly a failing queen, and they decided to find a new home." more ›

Lately the city has been looking like a nature preserve, but the keeping of bees, even the nonaggressive honey-producing kind, still isn't allowed. That may change though—tomorrow a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene board will consider lifting the bee ban. The potential change is prompted by stats that show NYC bee stings are rare and a petition by beekeepers, who maintain the practice promotes sustainable agriculture. If successful, it will mean that covert rooftop apiarists—who loose the bees to pollinate their plants and also harvest honey from their hives—will finally be in the clear. more ›

Good news for Jon, Brandon, Eddie and honey enthusiasts across the city---the NYC Health Department unveiled plans yesterday to lift a decade-old ban on keeping honeybees. The Daily News reports, "The buzz began recently when a sustainable-food group - Just Food - and other bee enthusiasts begged health bosses to allow New Yorkers to keep the stinging insects." more ›

Though it’s not the most glamorous of the environmental issues, colony collapse is a problem. Bee colonies, responsible for pollinating a significant portion of the world's food supply, are slowly dying out. Hell, even Haagen-Dazs is getting behind the issue. So what are three culinarily-inclined New Yorkers to do? Start their own bee colony in Brooklyn! Jon Feldman (general manager at Frankies Spuntino), Brandon Hoy and Eddie Diaz (co-owner and manager of Roberta’s, respectively) have been keeping bees on their roofs in Williamsburg and Carroll Gardens in an attempt to boost their population and beautify the city’s flowerboxes. There’s just one problem: it’s illegal. more ›

Yesterday wasn't just unusual because the sun actually came out—on the Upper East Side, residents saw 8,000-10,000 bees emerge (video) from a hive on Lexington between 80th and 81st Streets! The Post claims that the bees "had surreptitiously moved into the neighborhood sometime in the past month and managed to build a giant hive in a tree... without anyone noticing." Gasp—Upper East Siders, your nosy neighbor quotient is slipping! Anyway, the swarm got moving because the queen bee went out for a flight around 4 p.m., and naturally her loyal "subjects" followed her. An onlooker said, "It was a three foot column of bees." Enter the NYPD's resident beekeeper (who knew?) Police Officer Anthony Planakis who declared it "one of the biggest swarms I've ever seen" and promised to take them "to a farm in Connecticut to pollinate." Last month, a swarm of bees were the main attraction in Union Square. more ›

If only Game Stop stocked beekeeper outfits in addition to video games: Yesterday afternoon around 2 p.m., thousands of bees decided to hang out outside the store in Union Square. A "bee watcher" told WABC 7, "When I got here, there was already like a thousand bees in there." Employees were left to close the store—with themselves inside and the bees outside—and one worker put up a sign, "Look! ... closed due to bee infestation." more ›

Serious Eats reports that City Council member David Yassky has introduced a bill to set up a licensing process for urban beekeepers. Currently illegal—thanks to an archaically-worded health code subsection—beekeeping in the city thrives in a “don’t ask, don’t tell” sort of way; an excellent Edible Manhattan article published last fall describes the outlaw subculture for all of its charms. Last fall, author Rowan Jacobsen told us that more rooftop buzzing in the city could “generate quite a bit of its honey needs,” not to mention a really local sweetener. In the meantime, there’s a NYC Beekeeping meetup group and a petition you can sign. There’s even a $75, twelve-hour, soup-to-nuts urban beekeeping course (going on now, with another starting next month) administrated through the New York City Beekeepers Association. more ›

Hope drivers had their windows closed on the NJ Turnpike, or at least some Benadryl: Apparently a huge swarm of bees--thousands--converged on various vehicles near Cherry Hill, NJ. The Turnpike Authority thinks "a beekeeper's beehive...fell beside the highway." The TA is looking for a beekeeper to deal with the situation. more ›

The Gothamist Newsmap indicated an "unusual incident"at 75th Street and 2nd Avenue in Manhattan yesterday. The Emergency Service Unit officers responded, but they reportedly "hung back a bit" because the unusual incident turned out to be a swarm of bees! more ›