Boston Flora

Tag: Honeybees

  • Sunday, December 7, 12:00 noon – 1:15 pm – Flower Visitors at the Arboretum: Can Honeybees and Native Pollinators Co-Exist?

    Most of us know honeybees for the delicious honey they create (and the occasional sting!) But for scientists, the non-native honeybee represents a potential threat to our native bumblebees and butterflies. Biology Professor Dr. Richard Primack has been studying these insects at the Arnold Arboretum, observing flower visitors at over 600 plant species to determine if honeybees and native pollinators can co-exist. Join him for a research talk on December 7 from noon – 1:15 at the Hunnewell Lecture Hall. For more information visit https://arboretum.harvard.edu/events-2/program-catalog/

  • Thursday, November 10, 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm – We Need to Talk About Honey Bees, Online

    To help ensure healthy ecosystems and successful harvests, pollinator conservation is essential. For many people, pollinator conservation is synonymous with the honey bee and beekeeping, but the story is bigger than that; much, much bigger than that. As we work to conserve pollinators, we need to ensure that our efforts are best directed where they are needed most, and not just at what is easiest to accomplish. While honey bees are important for our current agricultural systems, their role in our natural areas, and even in our urban and suburban areas, is more complicated. Join Xerces Society Senior Conservation Biologist Rich Hatfield on November 10 for an honest conversation about the unseen consequences that a focus on honey bees can have, and how we can focus our actions in ways that will create positive change, for all pollinators.

    This webinar will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel. Closed Captioning will be available during this webinar.

    Click here for more information and to register.

  • Tuesday, November 8, 7:30 pm – Plasticity in Honey Bee Comb Arrangement in Response to Thermal Stress

    Welcome back to the first Cambridge Entomological Club meeting of the 2022-2023 academic year. We will be holding hybrid meetings to accommodate COVID-19 precautions and audience members from around the world. 

    Honey bees are a charismatic social insect species defined in part by their large familial colonies, production of honey, and intricate hives. Within their hives, honey bees use cells to store both developing brood and food. These stores are generally arranged with a dense central cluster of brood below large reserves of honey with a thin strip of pollen separating the two. It is believed that this characteristic pattern is maintained by self-organizing behavior – individuals following simple, localized rules to create large scale, emergent patterns. My PhD research has focused mainly on testing the limits of this emergent pattern. In this talk, Isaac Weinberg, Fifth Year PhD candidate, Tufts University Biology Department, will present data from three field experiments which observe the effect that chronic thermal stress has on the organization of honey bee colonies, and the implications these results have for honey bee health in a changing world.

    For those able to attend, we will have an informal dinner at 6:00 pm at Cambridge Common Restaurant with the speaker, followed by our formal meeting (7:30 – 9:00 pm) in the Gilbert Room of the Museum of Comparative Zoology (there will be signs to help direct). The meeting will begin with club announcements, followed by a 60-minute presentation by the invited speaker and Q&A. Membership is open to amateur and professional entomologists. 


  • Friday, May 20, 12:00 noon – 1:00 pm – Ask the Expert: Honeybees, Online

    Honeybees are threatened. How can we protect them?  

    Did you know that George Washington was a fan of the honeybee? Travel back to the 18th century with our expert Dr. Christopher White as we dive into the history of liquid gold (better known as honey). We’ll also talk about how to protect honeybees, who face myriad threats today. Bring all of your questions!

    Dr. Christopher White leads multidisciplinary teams focused on sustainability, climate change impact, enterprise risk management and community resilience. He currently serves as a member of the United Nations Environment Program.

    In his spare time, Dr. White is a beekeeper with an apiary along the banks of the Potomac River in Maryland. Along with his wife and three children, Dr. White founded an artisanal honey company, Bee America, in 2011. From its earliest beginnings, Bee America has been committed to sweetening its customers’ lives with the goodness of pure American honey. The company is passionate about preserving the future of honey bees and their place in our world.

    Dr. White founded an artisanal honey company, Bee America, in 2011, committed to sweetening its customers’ lives by preserving the future of honeybees and their special place in our world. Join us on World Bee Day, May 20, at 12pm EDT as Dr. White discusses all of the ways that we can help save the lives of honeybees, despite their extreme daily challenges.  Get your tickets NOW and join the buzz about these busy workers.   Free.

  • Thursday, September 13, 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm – Beekeeping & Honey Talk

    Dave Strickler of the Boston Area Beekeepers Association will give a talk on Thursday, September 13 from 6 – 7 on honeybees in urban environments, what it’s like to raise honeybees in your backyard, and the small things you can do to help honeybees flourish. The free talk will take place at the Parker Hill branch of the Boston Public Library, 1497 Tremont Street in Roxbury. For more information visit 617-427-3820.

    Dave will bring a sampling of honeys from all over the world for a tasting that will delight your taste buds and change the way you think about honey.

    Image result for dave strickler bees

  • Tuesday, June 4, 10:30 am – The Buzz on Honeybees

    The Acton Garden Club will host Barbara MacPhee, beekeeper for over thirty years and Beekeeper of the Year in 2009, on Tuesday, June 4, beginning at 10:30 am at Acton Town Hall, Room 204, 472 Main Street in Acton.  Barbara will discuss the family, home, and the products of bees, and will talk about the research she is doing with Colony Collapse Disorder.  For more information visit www.actongardenclub.org.

    http://data.whicdn.com/images/28206305/il_570xN.330413112_large.jpg

  • Saturday, October 1 – Sunday, October 2, 10 am – 5 pm – North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival

    The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival at Forster’s Farm,  60 Chestnut Hill Road in Orange, Massachusetts is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked. The festival emphasizes what is homegrown and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment. The festival is an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages. Everyone involved-organizers, vendors, volunteers, performers, attendees, a supportive community-makes the festival what it is and we are grateful and look forward to celebrating the richness of our communities for many years to come.

    The Agricultural Vendors at the Festival offer amazing, locally grown and produced products that celebrate the bounty of the North Quabbin and surrounding regions. Through on-going demonstrations and workshops you’ll learn to grow your own garlic, experience live honeybees, make an herbal tincture, or delight in a flower garland or wheat weaving. Celebrate this feast of the land, honor the good work of farmers, and rejoice in the harvest season. Don’t forget your shopping bag!

    The food vendors at the festival celebrate the bounty of the harvest through their delicious garlic infused creations. Individuals and restaurants that sell food at the festival are committed to culinary creativity and local agriculture. Some vendors are community organizations that raise funds through this event. Many vendors use organic and local ingredients. There is a ‘no polystyrene’ policy, and highlight biodegradable utensils and plates which are composted after the festival. Compostables from past festivals are now fertile soil rather than filling landfills!  The trash is transformed into compost – last year 10,000 people generated only three bags of garbage.

    The wood fired oven at the Garlic and Arts Festival was built 4 years ago for use at the festival and for the local community. It is used for baking loaf and flat breads like foccacia and pizza and for preparation of many other types of dishes. It can roast and even grill using the coals from the fire in the oven.

    The oven is built to an ancient Italian design fundamentally the same as larger ovens that still exist in the Pompei archeological site. There are many thousands of similar ovens in Italy today where backyard cooking and roasting is very popular. There have been similar ovens in many parts of the world for millenia along with other forms such as the pit and open topped ovens in Central and South Asia.  Garlic painting below by Julian Merrow-Smith.

    A complete list of demonstrations, games, activities, chef demonstrations, family stage productions, and workshops, along with directions, can be found at www.garlicandarts.org.

  • Saturday, January 22, 9:00 am – 12:00 noon – Beekeeping for Gardeners

    This Berkshire Botanical Garden workshop, to be held Saturday, January 22 from 9 – 12,  is for everyone with an interest in honeybees and beekeeping. Learn how to start a honey bee colony, the seasonal management required to keep a healthy hive of bees and the role of pollinators and their relationship to flowering plants. Topics provide an overview of the beekeeper’s job, and will help new beekeepers, or those who are considering becoming a beekeeper, to make the correct choices starting a backyard apiary. Equipment and tools used by the beekeeper will be discussed and step by step instructions for starting a new colony of bees will be covered. At the end of the workshop participants should have a solid understanding of how to successfully begin as a new beekeeper.

    Dan Conlon owns Warm Colors Apiary in South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Warm Colors maintains bee yards in western Mass for honey production, and provides pollination services on area farms. As a full-time beekeeper, concerned with the decline of all bees, Dan focuses on management that improves Queen development & health, colony nutrition, and reduces the environmental risks threatening bees. He is President of the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association, and was recognized as the Eastern Apicultural Society’s 2004 Beekeeper of the Year, and the Massachusetts 2005 Beekeeper of the Year.

    $37 BBG members, $45 non members. Call 413-298-3926, or email info@berkshirebotanical.org for more information.

  • Tuesday, October 12, 6:00 pm – Honeybee Democracy

    As they face the life-or-death problem of choosing and traveling to a new home every year, honeybees employ a complex decision-making process that includes fact finding, vigorous debate, and consensus building. Thomas Seeley, world-renowned animal behaviorist and Professor of Biology at Cornell, will explore what these incredible insects can teach us about collective wisdom and democracy on Tuesday, October 12, beginning at 6 pm. Free and open to the public. The venue will be the Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street. Cosponsored with the Cambridge Entomological Club. For more information, log on to www.hmnh.harvard.edu.

  • Saturday, October 2 – Sunday, October 3, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm – North Quabbin Garlic & Arts Festival

    The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival at Forsters Farm,  60 Chestnut Hill Road in Orange, Massachusetts, to be held this year on Saturday and Sunday, October 2 – 3,  is a celebration of the artistic, agricultural and cultural bounty of the region. The purpose of the festival is to unite North Quabbin people whose livelihoods are connected to the land and the arts, and to invite both local residents and those who do not live in the region to experience the richness of an area that is often overlooked. The festival emphasizes what is homegrown and high quality, as well as what helps preserve and support the environment. The festival is an engaging, fun and educational celebration for all ages. Everyone involved-organizers, vendors, volunteers, performers, attendees, a supportive community-makes the festival what it is and we are grateful and look forward to celebrating the richness of our communities for many years to come.

    The Agricultural Vendors at the Festival offer amazing, locally grown and produced products that celebrate the bounty of the North Quabbin and surrounding regions. Through on-going demonstrations and workshops you’ll learn to grow your own garlic, experience live honeybees, make an herbal tincture, or delight in a flower garland or wheat weaving. Celebrate this feast of the land, honor the good work of farmers, and rejoice in the harvest season. Don’t forget your shopping bag!

    The food vendors at the festival celebrate the bounty of the harvest through their delicious garlic infused creations. Individuals and restaurants that sell food at the festival are committed to culinary creativity and local agriculture. Some vendors are community organizations that raise funds through this event. Many vendors use organic and local ingredients. There is a ‘no polystyrene’ policy, and highlight biodegradable utensils and plates which are composted after the festival. Compostables from past festivals are now fertile soil rather than filling landfills!

    The wood fired oven at the Garlic and Arts Festival was built 3 years ago for use at the festival and for the local community. It is used for baking loaf and flat breads like foccacia and pizza and for preparation of many other types of dishes. It can roast and even grill using the coals from the fire in the oven.

    The oven is built to an ancient Italian design fundamentally the same as larger ovens that still exist in the Pompei archeological site. There are many thousands of similar ovens in Italy today where backyard cooking and roasting is very popular. There have been similar ovens in many parts of the world for millenia along with other forms such as the pit and open topped ovens in Central and South Asia.  There will be music on two solar powered stages.

    A complete list of demonstrations, games, activities, chef demonstrations, family stage productions, and workshops, along with directions, can be found at www.garlicandarts.org. You may also email deb@seedsofsolidarity.org.

    http://garlicbob.com/art/wreath.jpg