Team

Kyle says he was drawn to bees for their non-stop work ethic and instinctual know how. He says that he was drawn to the Burgh Bees organization for the same reasons. Kyle is a graduate of The Art Institute of Pittsburgh and when he is not digging in the dirt or attending his hives you may find him banging a drum for the Pittsburgh based Scottish pipe and drum corp. Balmoral Pipes and Drums.

Christina Joy Neumann has been enamored with the diverse world of bees (superfamily apoidea) since the early 2000s. While studying biomimetic design with author Janine Benyus, she was fascinated by the complex relationships pollinators play in providing important ecosystem services as “keystone species”. As a Carnegie Mellon-trained architect with a focus in sustainable design, Christina’s practice focuses on the interconnections between the human structures and the natural environments in which they are built. Her experiences in green architectural design inspires her to forge an ever deepening relationship with bee species, organisms that provide an essential window into the health of ecosystems that support human agriculture and civilization itself. From 2008 to 2009, she gained significant practical knowledge of honey bees and artisanal honey production working full time as a commercial beekeeper on the Big Island of Hawaii for the Volcano Island Honey Company (now Rare Hawaiian Honey Co https://www.rarehawaiianhoney.com ). During her employment with Volcano Island, her contribution focused on implementing an integrated pest management plan for this certified organic apiary. Volcano Island’s highly conscious meditative approach to beekeeping left a deep impact on Christina’s own development as an apiarist and served as an inspiration for apoidea’s principles and practice.

Christina currently manages an non-migratory apiary of 60-80 hives of her own (apoidea apiary http://apoidea-apiary.com ) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her apiary is Certified Naturally Grown ( https://www.cngfarming.org/apiary ) and she is committed to keeping honey bees healthy without reliance on antibiotics, synthetic chemicals, or high fructose corn syrup feed. Since 2005, she has been naturally breeding Northern honeybee stock and also raises mason bees (Osmia lignaria) and leafcutter bees (Megachile rotundata) at her urban apiary. Several honeys crafted at her apiary have won a Good Food Award ( https://goodfoodfdn.org) and she was the 2019 Good Food Awards Honey Category co-chairperson. As a co-founder of Burgh Bees in 2008, Christina played a guiding role in developing landscaping strategy for the pollinator gardens surrounding the Homewood Cooperative Apiary. In addition to managing her own bees at urban and suburban outyards around the City of Pittsburgh, she is the apiary consultant for Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, Chatham Eden Hall Farm and Rivendale Farm. Christina gives presentations and conducts design charettes specifically on landscape strategies for increased pollinator forage, particularly incorporating high nectar-yielding tree species. Believing first and foremost that beekeeping should be about practicing awareness, she conducts guided meditations through observation and drawing to refocus the mind and body on the task of caring for the needs of these delicate and ecologically-sensitive creatures.