Boston Flora

Tag: honey bees

  • Saturday, March 9, 10:00 am – 12:00 noon – Creating a Varroa Management Plan

    Keeping Varroa mites under control in a honeybee colony can be hard and confusing. There are lots of treatment options but no silver bullet. UMass extension educator Hannah Whitehead will lead a workshop on how to choose and combine treatment options in order to create a mite management plan. She will explain the theory of Integrated Pest Management, review mite treatment options and discuss the most effective non-chemical management tools. As part of the workshop, participants will fill out their own personal mite management plan for this coming summer.

    Hannah Whitehead is a honey bee extension educator at UMass Amherst. She received her masters at The Ohio State University, where she studied drone brood removal and surveyed beekeepers about mite management choices. In addition to her interest in bees, she is also passionate about farming: before pursuing her masters, she worked on vegetable and dairy farms, studied urban agriculture in Chicago, and worked as a research assistant for OSU’s Agroecosystem Management Program.

    $10 BBG members, $25 nonmembers. Register at https://www.berkshirebotanical.org/events/creating-varroa-management-plan

    Image result for varroa mite

  • Sunday, August 5, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – Native Bees and Native Plants: You May Be Missing Half the Equation

    When you plant native plants you indirectly invite their pollinators. We know that, but how much do you really know about them? Do you know that a well planted garden can support over 100 species? Do you know that they are nothing like honey bees? No allergic reactions. Single moms putting their nests throughout your lawn. Some specialized species only using the pollen from one of your plants. Do you know that you can identify them using butterfly binoculars? That your yard is part of the solution to pollinator decline? Well, if you know all these things, then very good, but if not, come to Tower Hill Botanic Garden on August 5 from 1 – 2 and see Sam Droege illuminate these and other facts about the secret bee garden you have or will create with the up close pictures his lab crafts.

    Sam Droege is a wildlife biologist at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, part of the US Geological Survey. He is widely published in journals and has been the editor of numerous government publications on birds and insects. His work cataloging and photographing native bees has been featured by NPR, The Weather Channel, and the National Wildlife Federation, as well as in numerous publications including Wired, the Wall Street Journal, and Popular Science. Currently he is developing an inventory and monitoring program for native bees, online identification guides for North American bees at http://www.discoverlife.org, and with Jessica Zelt reviving the North American Bird Phenology Program. His group maintains high resolution photographs of insects and other macro natural history objects at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/usgsbiml/ Fee is $10 for Tower Hill members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.towerhillbg.org.

    Image result for sam droege

  • Sunday, June 21, 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm – Collections Up Close: Lindens in the Landscape

    The Tilia (linden) collection is the largest genus of summer-flowering trees in the Arnold Arboretum—nearly 150 trees are in the collection, most along Meadow Road. In late June and early July they are at the height of their bloom, providing an exceptional opportunity for study, comparison, and enjoyment. Linden flowers attract pollinating bees and appreciative visitors with their wonderful, enticing fragrance. Join The Arnold Arboretum on Meadow Road for a horticultural tour of the Tilia collection with Kyle Port, Manager of Plant Records at the Arboretum, and a tour focusing on honey bees with Heather Mattila, Assistant Professor at Wellesley College, whose research focuses on the mechanisms of honey bee behavior, the chemical ecology of colonies, and the microbiology of queens and workers. There will also be fun family activities focusing on the lindens. The event takes place from 1 – 3 on Sunday, June 21. Collections Up Close events offer great ways to explore plants at the Arboretum. Free – no registration required.  Image from www.herbs-hands-healing.co.uk.

  • Saturday, May 2, 8:00 am – 4:30 pm – Beyond the Honey Bee: Conserving Our Native Pollinators

    The Hubbardston-Ware River Nature Club and the East Quabbin Land Trust will sponsor a day long seminar Beyond the Honey Bee: Conserving Our Native Pollinators, on Saturday, May 2 from 8 – 4:30 at the Harvard Forest in Petersham. The purpose of this event is to increase awareness and provide information and resources to people who want to manage their properties to benefit native pollinators. It is designed for small landowners, public lands managers, small farmers, backyard gardeners, and others who want to manage open space with native pollinator needs in mind. Speakers include Dr. Rob Gegear of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, naturalists Gail Howe Trenholm and Charley Eiseman, Dr. Anne Averill of UMass-Amherst, Tom Sullivan (pictured below – thank you www.gazettenet.com) of PollinatorsWelcome.com, and author and garden coach Ellen Sousa. Schedule and registration information visit: http://hubbardstonnatureclub.weebly.com/conference.html.

  • Saturday, May 17, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm – Native Pollinator Conservation

    The University of Massachusetts Extension wraps up its spring fruit courses with a session on Native Pollinator Conservation, led by Sonia Schloemann (pictured below) on Saturday, May 17 from 10 – 1 at Powisset Farm, 37 Powisset Street in Dover. Pollination is an important step in growing all fruits and many vegetables. While most people know about honey bees, native bees are also important pollinators. Encouraging native bees and other beneficials by providing nesting and forage habitat is easy and fun for the home gardener. Learn about how to build bee blocks and which flowering plants make good forage habitat. Participants will build nest boxes to bring home to their gardens. $50.  Register on line at https://classic.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1460640.

    http://www.justfoodnow.org/SoniaBio_files/image002.png

  • Tuesday, September 10, 1:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Bee Day at Harvard

    On Tuesday, September 10, participate in a day of events and activities highlighting the importance of honey bees and beekeeping to biodiversity, the food supply, and human health. Learn more about the alarming decline of beehives (colony collapse disorder) widely documented in the U.S. and Europe.

    Event Schedule
    1:00–2:00 pm: The Plaza (in front of the Science Center)
    Enjoy organic honey tasting at the Harvard Farmers’ Market.

    4:00 pm
    Take a tour of the beehives on Harvard’s campus, led by Harvard Undergraduate Beekeepers. Preregistration required; please visit the HMSC website for more information: www.hmsc.harvard.edu.

    7:00 pm: Science Center, Hall C
    Film screening of More Than Honey, followed by a discussion with Dr. Alex Lu, Associate Professor of Environmental Exposure Biology, Harvard School of Public Health, about current research on the link between colony collapse disorder and the use of agricultural pesticides.

    Jointly sponsored by the Harvard Museum of Natural History, Harvard Undergraduate Beekeepers, the Harvard Farmers’ Market, the Food Literacy Project, and the Cambridge Entomological Club.

    All activities and events are free and open to the public. The Plaza and the Science Center, 1 Oxford Street. Free event parking is available at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. For more information, visit www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

    http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/morethanhoney/images/poster-xlarge.jpg

  • Thursday, October 4, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Honey Bees and their Business

    Thursdays at the Hort will feature Tony Lulek of the Norfolk County Beekeepers Association on Thursday, October 4 at Elm Bank, 900 Washington Street in Wellesley.  He will speak about honey bees and answer all your questions. Presentations will begin at 7pm and go until all questions are answered. The classes are priced at $12 for members and $15 for non-members unless otherwise indicated. There is no need to pre-register and you may pay at the class.  For directions visit www.masshort.org.

  • Saturday, August 20, 9:30 am – Tour-de-Hives

    Starting at 9:30am on Saturday, August 20, 2011, this 9-mile bike tour will feature 5 different hive sites around Boston. Each site visit will include a presentation by a local beekeeper on various beekeeping subjects- organic hive management, making and keeping Top Bar Hives, the role of the queen, and more. The group will break for lunch in Jamaica Plain, where the first 30 Tour-De-Hive registrants will receive a lunch discount at City Feed & Supply. The day will conclude with music, food and merriment at Follow the Honey Bee Festival in Cambridge. Can’t bike that far? No problem! Carpool or take public transportation to and from the sites as you please.

    Here is the schedule:

    9:30- 10:15 City Natives Apiary
    30 Edgewater Drive, Mattapan

    10:45-11:30 Boston Nature Center Apiary
    500 Walk Hill Street, Roslindale

    11:45-12:30 Leland Street Herb Garden
    11 Leland Street, Jamaica Plain

    1:00-1:45 Allandale Farm
    259 Allendale Rd, Brookline

    2:00-2:45 LUNCH at City Feed and Supply

    3:00-3:45 South Huntington Street Hives
    252 S. Huntington Ave, JP

    4:45-8:00 Follow the Honey – Honey Festival
    1132 Mass. Ave, Cambridge

    Pre-Registration recommended (first 30 people to register receive lunch discount). Please bring your own veils! Extra veils will only be available for the first 7 people who register. For more information, email laura@nofamass.org. Suggested donation $15.

  • Monday, January 10, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – The Secret Lives of Honey Bees

    Most people are familiar with the sight of a honey bee forager as she visits flowers in a garden or park, but few people know the rich story of the life of a colony within the darkness of a hive.  Wellesley College Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Heather Mattila studies the social organization of honey bees, and her hives lend a lively presence to the arboretum.  heather will unravel the secret life of honey bees, including the different kinds of bees that are found in hives and the jobs that they do, as well as the means by which honey bees communicate to ensure that the end result of their interactions is a healthy and productive colony.  The program, on Monday, January 10, will begin with tea at 2 pm, followed by the lecture at 2:30.  $10 for WCFH members, $15 for non-members.  Register at www.wellesley.edu/WCFH.