Legalized bees, finger limes come to North America, goodbye to Toronto’s floating restaurant

Legalized bees, finger limes come to North America, goodbye to Toronto’s floating restaurant

• Honey-loving New Yorkers are abuzz with the news that the city’s health department plans to lift a 10-year-old ban on keeping rooftop beehives. Bees are currently prohibited along with such other “wild animals” as crocodiles and lions; however, health officials have determined that honeybees, unlike their man-eating counterparts, are rarely harmful. This is good news for the over 500 New Yorkers who already keep hives despite the ban, claiming they do so not just for the honey haul, but also because beekeeping helps pollinate garden flowers and is just a plain old relaxing hobby. [Gothamist]

• Legendary finger limes, native to Australia, are making their debut in North America as a handful of California farmers produce their first harvest for select distribution. The notoriously difficult-to-grow citrus looks like a gherkin and has a thin skin that, when squeezed, pops out “juicy vesicles” resembling caviar. Although too puckering to eat on their own, the fruit are sought after for their balanced taste and are a great add-on for cocktails. They may even make it to Canada in the near future. [L.A. Times]

• Regretful Morning offers some solutions to being too short on cash to tip a delivery person. A shot of JD to go, perhaps, or a token of appreciation like a Dwight Shrute bobblehead. Feeling artistic? While the pizza’s on its way, try sketching out the scenario for the driver in the form of a Dilbert-esque cartoon—he might not leave with cash, but he might leave with a smile. [Regretful Morning]

• New Canadian research suggests the practice of waking up with cereal could stretch back over 100,000 years. Dozens of stone tools excavated in southeastern Africa are now the earliest evidence of man’s reliance on grains (the basis for most cereals) for survival, besting the previous benchmark of 20,000 years. Researchers lament that modern man has strayed from the simple life, noting that our current diet is woefully low in fibre. [Canada.com]

• After close to 40 years on the water, Captain John’s, Toronto’s floating restaurant and tourist trap, is up for sale. The boat’s long and storied past includes a sinking in 1981 after being hit by a Toronto ferry, and surviving a post-9/11 tourist drought that forced it into bankruptcy protection. A recent storm over property taxes (apparently after being moored for 34 years, it is as taxable as any other city land) means the business is no longer buoyant. [Globe and Mail]