Chickens can legally be kept in New York City residences. Bees cannot. This doesn’t seem right to local culinary coalition Just Food, so it plans to take a big step toward changing the laws prohibiting beekeeping with New York City Pollinator Week. Festivities kicked off Monday night when a crowd of 350 gathered at Water Taxi Beach in Manhattan for the first Beekeeper’s Ball.
Produced and organized by Just Food, a New York City nonprofit dedicated to hunger issues, the event intended to raise awareness for beekeeping as a positive form of agriculture. But judging by the number of bee enthusiasts present, there was also a great deal of preaching to the choir.
Plenty of guests dressed in bee-themed clothing in hopes of taking home the first-prize haul of honey products in the ball’s costume contest, but even attendees who just showed up in their work clothes could get in the spirit with yellow wings provided by Just Food.
The waterside venue by the South Street Seaport allowed guests the choice of sitting on a bench, lounging in the slightly soggy sand, or taking cover from the drizzle in a clear-walled tent. Vendors lined the interior, promoting their honey-related literature, food, and paraphernalia, and what food didn’t come flavored with honey was provided by Water Taxi Beach’s catering services.
Other New York City Pollinator Week events include specialty honey cocktail tastings at restaurants around the city and a demonstration hive set up at the Union Square Greenmarket this Friday. Planners hope the boost in public awareness will push the current bill to amend the law out of the city’s Committee on Health and into action.
