Backyard beekeeping can be very rewarding not only to avid gardeners but to anyone who wants to really connect with nature and experience a whole new world. People often think that beekeeping is just about producing honey but it is so much more than that. So, what did bees do before beekeepers? Unable to find a logical answer to what seemed to be a simple question, Christy Hemenway launched an investigation of her own. She came to the conclusion that with bees, less is more, meaning: less human interference equals more health for the honeybee. In 2007, Christy founded Gold Star Honeybees to advance a beekeeping system known as the “top bar” hive - the original movable-comb, managed beehive. The most important feature of a top bar hive is that it lets bees make their own beeswax honeycomb in a natural, chemical free way. Working to build the top bar beekeeping community, Christy has done presentations to beekeepers, gardening groups and organic farmers all over New England and as far south as Atlanta for The American Community Gardening Association. She teaches Top Bar Beekeeping 101 - a Weekend Intensive class where students not only learn the how-to’s of stewarding their bees, but also come to understand the connection between bees and our own well being. The importance of bees to our health, the health of the planet and to all of nature becomes quite clear!Gold Star Honeybees manufactures the Gold Star top bar hive kit and its accessories which are sold nationwide. Christy has been published in The Northeast Organic Farmers Association periodical, The Natural Farmer, with the essay entitled Shifting the Paradigm –Towards More Natural Beekeeping. In this segment of The Organic View Radio Show, host, June Stoyer talks to Christy Hemenway to discuss the top bar hive method of beekeeping. Stay tuned!