June Field Day And Smoking Bees

The "smoke contest" starts at 9 a.m. during Connecticut Beekeepers Association June Field Day, Saturday, June 11, 9 a a.m. to 3 p.m. at Lockwood Farms, 890 Evergreen Ave., Hamden, Conn.

Highlights for beekeepers include Roger Hoopengarner's talk about running a two-queen hive.

Connecticut Horticultural Society: Magnolias

Magnolias are an ancient life form. Their flowers evolved before bees existed to pollinate them. Fossil specimens of M. acuminata date back 20 million years ago.

Learn how the blooms are pollinated and much more at the Connecticut Horticultural Society lecture about magnolias by Stefan Cover on Thursday, Feb. 17.
Cover, a board member of the Magnolia Society International, will talk about his visit to magnolia expert Harry Heineman in Scituate, Mass.; plus share details about a variety of magnolias and how to cultivate them successfully in Connecticut. He’ll also identify new varieties, including Chinese species, hybrids from New Zealand, and red flowering types.

The talk is 7:30 p.m. at Emanuel Synagogue, 160 Mohegan Dr., West Hartford. Fee is $10. For information, call (860) 529-8713; visit www.cthort.org.

Bees And Threats To Their Health

Kimberly Stoner, a vegetable entomologist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, will discuss “Threats to the Health of Wild Bees and Honey Bees,” Tuesday, May 18, 7:30 p.m. at the Kellogg Environmental Center, 500 Hawthorne Ave., Derby.

Topics include wild bees and honey bees in pollination; the various threats to honey bees, including mites, pathogens, pesticides and stress from migratory beekeeping; and the evidence that some species of wild bees, particularly bumble bees, are declining.

Stoner also will relate what people can do to help bees. Donation is $4. To register, call (203) 734-2513. The Naugatuck Valley Audubon Society Inc., in cooperation with the center, is hosting the program.

Small Farm Field Day May 22

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) will host its annual Small Farm Field Day at the Common Ground Education Center in Unity on Saturday, May 22, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission, $2; free for children under 12.

Small Farm Field Day features a wide variety of presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on workshops designed for anyone curious about the tools and techniques of farming and homesteading in Maine - from experienced farmers exploring new enterprises to hobby farmers, homesteaders, and gardeners. It is an opportunity to meet and learn from local experts about living on the land in Maine.

This year MOFGA will offer more than 25 different presentations and workshops, with enough variety to satisfy even the most diverse farmer or gardener. Topics will include equipment and tools, pest and weed identification & management, guinea fowl and chickens, lacto-fermented vegetables, kitchen food safety, honeybees, alternative home energy solutions, blacksmithing, low-impact forestry and many others. A special daylong session will be held to build a "Whiz Bang" chicken plucker.

In addition to the workshops and talks, several vendors will be on hand selling seedlings, top bar hives, coops and garden tools. Lunch by Crosstrax Community Deli in Unity will be available for purchase.

The event will take place rain or shine. For more information visit www.mofga.org

Bees And Why Keeping Them Is So Important

A program called "Bees: It's not Just Honey Anymore" will be presented on Friday, June 10, at the Connecticut Farm Bureau office, 775 Bloomfield Ave., Windsor, 7:30 p.m.

Ted Jones of Jones Apiaries will speak on the importance to bees to our future, and challenges facing the bee industry.

Part of the Hartford County Farm Bureau Education series.

For information contact hcfc@cox.net.

Bees and Castle That 'Sherlock' Helped Build

What do bees and Sherlock Holmes have in common?

Well, a new book The Language of Bees by Laurie R. King weaves together the facts of keeping bees and breathes new life into the marvelous character that is Sherlock Holmes. Part of a series of novels by King, the book is due out in audio form soon.

By the way, playing that time-tested detective who used modern forensic methods long before they were the rage, helped Connecticut actor William Gillette build his unique (truly his own design) stone castle perched high above the Connecticut River on one of the "Seven Sisters" hills that flank the eastern side.

Gillette was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and his neighborhood, known as Nook Farm, included Samuel Clemens and his family, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and other literary and publishing notables.

It was Clemens (Mark Twain) who aided Gillette on his life path to become a famous stage actor.

Twain’s influence paved the way for Gillette to step into his first acting jobs, where his talents bloomed, winning over audiences and defining him forever. Gillette later developed into a playwright and producer as well.

The actor donned a deerstalker cap and used a curved pipe as he portrayed the detective on stage. His 30 years of performances indelibly fixed in the mind's eye as "Holmes."


More about the inside of the castle, Gillette's train and his rides along the hills of East Haddam, plus the book on bees and Sherlock Holmes, coming up.

Image of Gillette portraying Holmes, courtesy of Wikipedia.

Above, the visitor's center at the park.

Bees Busy Now In Connecticut

Bees are a wonder of nature. These hives were spotted already placed to help with pollination in nearby orchards. More about bees and the importance of work that they do in Connecticut and elsewhere? Coming up.