Learn How to Be an Urban Beekeeper

Interested in urban beekeeping, but don't know where to begin? Three experienced urban beekeepers will offer tips and tricks, and good advice to help you explore the wide world of keeping city bees during a Webinar Sunday, Jan. 24 from 4-5 p.m. ET. It's totally free and only takes an hour. (You can also start by asking these 5 questions for aspiring urban beekeepers.)

Here's a look at the experts and how to sign up:

Toni Burnham has been an urban beekeeper for 5 years, starting with 2 still-thriving hives on her Capitol Hill rooftop. She now manages 10 hives in the city and the suburbs, mentors about a dozen other urban beekeepers, participates in teaching at several local short courses, and is Vice President of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. One of her great privileges in 2009 was an invitation to inspect the beehive managed by Charlie Brandts at the White House. She has blogged her beekeeping experiences at http://citybees.blogspot.com.

Cameo Wood currently owns a beekeeping supply & honey shop in the Mission district of San Francisco, California called Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper. "I enjoy this a great deal," she says, "as I'm helping to create food, pollinate flowers and fruit trees in my city, and I am contributing to making the world a little better." She keeps a few hives in the Mission and Castro districts of San Francisco, and is working on putting up new hives all the time! She has only been working with bees for the last year, but this has been her life and full time job since she started building her store in October of 2008.

Cindy Bee (yes, it’s really her last name) is a beekeeper near Atlanta, Georgia. She is a past President and currently on the Board of Directors for the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association. They meet in the heart of downtown Atlanta where there are a good number of beekeepers who have their hives in small backyards there. As a club, they’ve had beehives at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens, Zoo Atlanta, and other inner city locations. Cindy has a full-time business removing bees from within structures for the past 14 years, and most of her removals are in the Atlanta area neighborhoods.