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We love bees for much more than just their honey. They add color to our language ("busy as a bee," "make a beeline,""the bee's knees," "Queen Bee," "Worker Bee") and model industriousness for us. They buzz in as characters in books and animations and, each Halloween, we encounter waves of little trick-or-treating bees. Everything about them--even bee stings--is so embedded in our culture, that it's hard to imagine a world without them. But we might be living in this kind of world soon because bees are dying off.
Audubon Greenwich celebrates bees--and raises awareness of their uncertain future--on July 24 with Native & Honey Bee Day. The event begins at 11 a.m. with the Backyard Beekeepers Association demonstrating how honey is removed from a hive and bottled. Visitors can step up and help "spin" the honey from the wax combs. Whatever honey is harvested will be for sale.
At 4 p.m., two important films that investigate bee colony collapse disorder, which is killing off bees, and the phenomenon's relationship to pesticides, will be screened. The 2009 documentary "Vanishing of the Bees" looks at the impact a worldwide disappearance of the honeybee would have economically, politically and spiritually. The second film, 2010's "Nicotene Bees," explores the causes of bee die-offs, and the reluctance of humans to acknowledge what is happening.
The demonstrations are free and run from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Advance tickets for the screenings are available for $15. This covers both films and refreshments, including 'mead' wine (made from honey) and bee-inspired snacks. To reserve tickets, call (203) 869-5272 x 239. DVDs of 'Nicotine Bees' can be purchased for just $15. For more information, visit Audubon Greenwich's website.
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