Milk & Honey Month

Queens County Farm Museum hosts Milk & Honey Month, celebrating New York State dairy and honey in honor of National Dairy Month and National Pollinator Month, both in June. Daily admission to Queens County Farm Museum is free and the celebration includes both free and fee-based programming throughout the month of June. Thank you to our program partners Northwell Health, NY Animal Agriculture Coalition, New York City Council, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Queens Chamber of Commerce, Andrew’s Honey, Cabot Cheese Cooperative, Max & Mina’s, Backyard Bees, Queens Public Library, Lifeway Kefir, and Hudson Valley Fresh for making this monthlong celebration possible!

Milk & Honey Month begins Thursday, June 1st, 2023 and runs through Friday, June 30th. Visit our Bee-Friendly Plant Sale featuring pollinator-friendly annuals and perennials at the Farm Store to make Milk & Honey month your own!

Free programming includes:

• The MOO-velous Kids’ Scavenger Hunt encouraging young visitors to discover the farm’s pollinators and earn Milk & Honey Month stickers (daily)

• Milk & Cookie Hour every Friday in June (2, 9, 16, 23, 30) for an after-school treat from 3pm-4pm, courtesy of Hudson Valley Fresh.

• Free samples of Cabot Cheese daily, all month long

• Cowabunga Storytime at the Con Edison Reading Room Saturdays, June 3, 10, 17, and 24 from 10:30am – 12:30pm. BYO blankets & eats to enjoy outdoor storytime with a picnic lunch!

• Bzzz! Apiary Talks with Queens Farm’s beekeeper 10 am – 12 pm, Saturday, June 3, 17 and Sunday, June 11, 25

• Inside the Hive Talk on Thursday, June 8 from 10am – 12pm. The tech team from Cornell Dyce Lab for Honeybee Studies will be visiting Queens Farm’s apiary to examine the hives for a routine health check. Visitors are invited to watch our beekeepers carry out their inspection and ask questions along the way!

• A Taste of History – Churn butter, taste honey and tour the historic Adriance Farmhouse, Sunday, June 4, 11 & 18, and Saturday, June 10 & 24, 11:00am – 4:00pm on the hour and half-hour (last tour 3:30)

• Milk & Honey Facial Mask Demos with Backyard Bees 11am – 3pm Sunday, June 11 and 25.

• Root to Rise: Farm Yoga with instructor Theresa Rossini and free samples courtesy of Lifeway Kefir. (Pre-registration required; join waitlist.)

• Spring Dance Celebration, an interactive performance featuring LayeRhythm, on June 11, 1pm – 3pm, made possible by City Council Member Joann Ariola and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

• June Afternoons educational programming on weekday afternoons, June 12 – 30, 3pm – 5pm, made possible by City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, NY State Senator John Liu and New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.

• Spring Food Festival on June 17, 11am – 4pm, made possible by City Council Member Linda Lee and the Queens Chamber of Commerce.

Fee-based Events & Public Education Programs include:

• Art on the Farm: Watercolor, Pen & Ink with instructor Denis Ponsot. Visit the bee hives and goats as part of the farm’s scenic inspiration. Thursdays, June 1, 8, 15, 22; 10am – 1pm.

• Celebrate the Strawberry Moon, made possible by our pollinators, Saturday, June 3, 7pm-9pm

• Cheesemaking 101, Wednesday, June 7 & 14, 6pm – 8:30pm (Join waitlist.)

• Max & Mina’s Ice Cream Pop-Up, June 10-11, 17-18, 24-25; 11am – 5pm.

• Urban Beekeeping, Saturday, June 24; 10am – 12pm.

Queens County Farm Museum is one of the longest continually farmed sites in New York State, dating back to 1697. It is currently undertaking the largest agricultural expansion in over 50 years. Milk & Honey Month, the only program of its kind in New York City, connects visitors to agriculture and the environment through the lens of the historic farm site.

Cornell University’s Dyce Lab for Honey Bee Studies has named Queens County Farm Museum part of its cohort in hive research. Queens Farm is home to the single largest apiary in New York City making it a leader in the ecological well-being of New York City. Research will help inform work to support pollinators in an urban environment. New York Animal Agriculture Coalition has partnered with Queens County Farm Museum to educate the public on the New York State’s dairy industry and connect New Yorkers to New York State dairy farmers and producers.