A few weeks ago in Greenpoint, a swarm of 30,000 Italian honeybees broke free of a rooftop hive, scaring neighbors and casting a menacing, if ultimately harmless, shadow on the streets of New York. Depending on your general attitude toward locavorism (and stinging insects), the event was either terrifying or exhilarating. Either way, there’s no doubt that beekeeping—made legal by the New York Board of Health in March—is becoming the DIY, back-to-the-land fetish of the hour. Here we examine all sides of the honey-making experience, illustrating the science of the hive, convening an expert honey-tasting panel, and talking to a few passionate harvesters who consider their bees no different from the family dog.

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