Honey by Bicycle

Our Honey CSA (“Community Supported Agriculture”) is for honey and bee-lovers who want to support local, naturally-raised bees and get direct delivery of honey and other hive products. We deliver exclusively to Seattle residents once a month, by bicycle (or “bee-cycle,” as we like to say).

Update: CSA memberships are currently SOLD OUT; we’ll re-open the subscription list mid-summer 2012. Join the mailing list to get the latest information!

Cost: $235 for our first season, 2011-12. Charter Subscribers received the following (we’ll have a similar package for 2012-13):

  1. Permanent credit as “Charter Member” of the Urban Bee CSA
  2. One 1# jar of honey each month, delivered to your door by bicycle (retail value $183, not counting delivery)
  3. The following gifts, thanks to our awesome sponsors (total value $114)
    1. $10 gift certificate to Smith restaurant and pub on Capitol Hill
    2. Package of 6 pure beeswax tea-lights from Big Dipper Wax Works
    3. One bicycle tune-up at 2020 Cycle in the Central District (excludes parts)
    4. One admission to “The Joy of Chickens 101″ from Stone Soup Gardens–a 90-minute hands-on chicken-rearing course
    5. One 2 oz. bottle of Megan’s Elderberry Syrup (using Urban Bee honey, Megan’s syrup is high in Vitamin C, and is a good year-round tonic to support the immune system)
    6. DVD of the documentary Vanishing of the Bees, signed by the directors
    7. Invitation to a members-only reception at Smith

Subscribers also get first access to limited-supply hive products such as lip balm, salve, candles, and other goods. These are “a la carte” purchases to a basic CSA subscription, ordered in advance and at good prices–all delivered to your door!

You might ask: why a CSA? Why not just offer all the honey retail? Here’s why: in the neighborhoods where we work and at schools and community centers where we teach, we see how bees bring people together. We want to do the same thing with our customers. CSA members will be part of something beyond the regular retail exchange, which will be important when we have information to share about local food production, the chemical-free movement, and other timely happenings. We want to meet our customers and let you know where your food is coming from, and give you opportunities to meet us and each other. The CSA is a good way to do it.