~ BURGH BEES COMMUNITY APIARY ~: BURGH BEES OPEN APIARY

Sunday, May 23, 2010

BURGH BEES OPEN APIARY

Another great day at the Apiary.

On Sunday Burgh Bees hosted the year's first Open Apiary, from 1 to 3 at the Susquehanna Street site. The event was rained out from its originally scheduled date on Saturday, and given the last minute change in plans and the hot muggy weather on Sunday, we had a surprisingly good turnout of Burgh Bees members, neighbors, and friends. Steve Repasky and Robert Steffes introduced the bee-curious to the complicated art of opening active hives for observation. Veils and gloves were provided, and our guests included some very young - and intrepid - future beekeepers. Take a look:

4 trumpet vines, 8 ilex, 8 hawthorns, 1 Siamese cat - ready to transplant

Newly transplanted trumpet vine ready to take off and over the busway fence

Burgh Bees member Jeff Irwin came out today to transplant donated herbs to the 3 pollinator garden planters

Planter 1 features several varieties of thyme

Planter 2 is the 'pasta planter' - the large sage plant at the center was donated by Viv Shaffer

And Planter 3 will hold the balance of those bee-friendly plants researched, selected, and settled in by Burgh Bees member Anna Kim and our workday volunteers

Sunday's Best - Guests Gearing up for the May 23rd Open Apiary

Burgh Bees' Steve Repasky and Robert Steffes were on hand Sunday to give visitors a bee's eye view of the art of beekeeping

Sunday's Open Apiary was a family affair - on the left - John, Maddie, and Elise Silvestri

And on the right - Meghan and Corinne Olson

Our hosts

Hands-on learning with the Burgh Bees hives

The new sign looks great - and will look even better surrounded by plants (come on out and give us a hand at the next Apiary Workday!)

A few sidebar notes . . .

Burgh Bees members and apiary neighbors Terri Howard and Ron McConnell were on hand to help out and help everyone stay cool with iced down apple cider – our hosts with the most – thanks Terri and Ron.

Taylor Call donated a tray of black-eyed Susans to add to our busway fence planting – G R A C I A S !

John Silvestri offered up some sound strategy suggestions on dealing with less than bee-friendly neighbors, and we are grateful for his input and advice.

Mary Ellen and Mark Meyer stopped by to check out the apiary’s progress since they last worked so hard with us on previous workdays. While we could all see that the seeds planted 2 weeks ago are sprouting, the weeds are sprouting faster – and the thistles are cropping up with a vengeance. Mary Ellen recommended tough gloves and a no-mercy weed-out day – perhaps before the next workday.

Which brings us to “Upcoming Events” – check out the website or send us a line at communication.bb@gmail.com for details, comments, questions.

Upcoming Events:

Tuesday, May 25 . . . . . . Burgh Bees Beekeeper Meetup
Saturday May 29 . . . . . . Phipps Talk: Bees & Gardens
Saturday, June 5 . . . . . . United Nations World Environment Day: Pittsburgh 2010 Host City
Sunday, June 13 . . . . .Burgh Bees Volunteer Potluck
Monday, June 21 . . . . . . National Pollinator Week
Thursday, June 24 . . . . . Burgh Bees Screening: Nicotine Bees & Botany of Desire
Saturday, June 26 . . . Burgh Bees Open Apiary
Monday, June 28 . . . . . . BVABA Meeting
Tuesday, June 29 . . . . . . Burgh Bees Beekeeper Meetup
Saturday, July 10 . . . . . .BVABA Out-yard Picnic & Meeting
Fri/Sat, July 23-24 . . . . .PSBA Summer Picnic
Saturday, July 31 . . . . . .Farmers @ Firehouse: Cooking with Honey

Thanks to Christina Neumann, Burgh Bees e-bulletin editor

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OUR COLUMNISTS

Linda Rathburn ~ Linda set up the original Burgh Bees Community Apiary Blog and served as its first general editor, from March through July of 2010, and as one of the contributing columnists and photographers. She also worked with Mary Anne Watson to produce the monthly Bee’s Eye View Kids' Page. "I've done time as a college English instructor, an art school librarian, and a public school teacher. I've been a paralegal, paraprofessional, and now, in the spirit of quasi-ness, a parablogger. Among my favorite educational experiences are substitute teaching a welding class and learning to start a backfire in a wildlife management class (ahh - playing with fire). I've taught online and onground, GED and GRE prep, Remedial Math to Alcosan employees and the relevance of Orwell to college students. I've never taught my cats a thing. My current goals in life are to open The Bigass Hardware Store (where my husband and I sell really BIG items like BIG snow shovels and BIG self-watering flowerpots) and to publish at least one of my books before I die. And - to get the hang - really the hang - of beekeeping.

Roberta Jones ~ Roberta has taken on the daunting task of coordinating fundraising efforts for the apiary - and for writing the monthly G R A C I A S column to provide members and donors with feedback on fundraising and events. Roberta will also be lending Burgh Bees her video and podcasting skills to get the word out about Pittsburgh's newest green venture. Roberta received her BSN from Carlow College and currently works as an Operating Room Registered Nurse. She worked her way through nursing school painting, wallpapering, and refinishing decks; past jobs include working as a Coating Sales Rep. She became interested in bees through her father, who has a small farm in Ligonier, Pennsylvania, and registered her father, herself, and her brother for Burgh Bees' original 2009 beekeeper's class. Roberta's dad has been diagnosed with the first stages of Alzheimer's: "Beekeeping is keeping his mind sharp. I was impressed with the dynamic nature of Burgh Bees and jumped in - LOVE it."

Vivienne Shaffer and Frank Carr ~ Viv and Frank are currently residents of North Point Breeze and will be featuring newsworthy events and personalities, and their impact on our Homewood/Point Breeze neighborhood, in their monthly column, Neighborhood Buzz. Frank graduated from Pitt in 1982, and has worked as a community organizer, an editor, and a political organizer. Vivienne has a BS in Music Education from IUP and an MS Ed in museum leadership from Bank Street College. As a full-time homeschool mom, Viv is having a great time exploring new worlds, like the world of beekeeping, with her son. She has worked as an educator and museum director, and she currently volunteers at the Heinz History Center and at The First Tee of Pittsburgh. She is a Commonwealth Speaker for the PA Humanities Council, with a talk entitled "Rachel Carson, Pennsylvania, and the Nature Discovery Treasure Chest." An enthusiastic gardener, she is looking forward to welcoming the Burgh bees that will be buzzing across the busway to visit her yard.

Woody Shaffer Carr ~ Woody will be assisting Viv and Frank as a contributing reporter for the Neighborhood Buzz column. Woody is beginning his last year of high school in the fall of 2010 and works as a volunteer at Creative Nonfiction; among his interests are golf, ringing church bells, recycling, and of course, bees: "There's a lot of happiness in bees."

Mary Anne Watson ~ Mary Anne writes the monthly Bee's Eye View Kids' Page. She is a member of Burgh Bees' original 2009 beekeeper's class. As a second grade teacher at Fairless Elementary in Braddock, Mary Anne is uniquely positioned to deliver interesting and instructional mini-lessons to kids, and to understand the inner workings of bee behavior. Mary Anne also keeps two of her own hives in the backyard of her home in Wilkins Township and will be serving as one of the apiary's mentors to beginning beekeepers. "Every time I open my hive, I learn something new about bees. Every time I sit and observe bee behavior, I learn something new about myself."

~ BURGH BEES COMMUNITY APIARY ~

Sunday, May 23, 2010

BURGH BEES OPEN APIARY

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