For Immediate Release
April 4, 2013
Contact: Erin Grajek,
Director of Marketing
716.827.1584 ext. 204 - egrajek@buffalogardens.com
Celebrate the Honey Bee, an Insect that has Much to Give Us and Much to Teach Us!
Buffalo, NY – The Botanical Gardens announces a Honey
Bee Festival featuring Dr. Thomas Seeley on April 27 from 10:00am-2:00pm.
Honey bees are critically important pollinators. In the course of
gathering nectar from flowers, bees transport and disperse pollen in ways that
make possible the growth of fruits, nuts, and seeds. This
festival will provide us with insight into what is happening within the
beehive, show us the feasibility of beekeeping in our own backyards, and make
available for purchase some of the fruits of the labor of honeybees.
How important are honeybees? Commercial honey bee operations pollinate
crops responsible for one out of every three bites of food on our tables.
The importance of honey bees makes their precarious status a concern for
all of us. Since 2006 beekeepers across North America
have experienced a bewildering phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder
(CCD). Adult bees appear to abandon the hive, leaving the queen and
insect larvae behind unable to sustain themselves. Will we have to
find alternative ways to grow much of our food? What will happen to the
price and availability of fruits, nuts, and vegetables?
Although there is intense research to identify and rectify the root
causes, the annual die-off of honey bees has become increasingly
dramatic. It is critically important that humans understand
what goes on in and around the beehive so we can help stem the tide of honeybee
decline and promote re-population. Honey and beeswax, products of
the beehive, enhance our lives in many ways. We need to appreciate that
healthy honeybees give us something even more significant as they drift from
flower to flower – the pollination of plants essential to our food supply as
well as flowers for our enjoyment.
The festival schedule is as follows: 10am-2pm
- Vendors & Demonstrations will include honey
bee information, honey and bees’ wax vendors and more! Learn about the
bee hive structure created by UB architecture students housing honeybees in
front of the grain elevators near the Ohio Street Bridge. Gaze as bees
tend brood in an observation hive (behind glass). 11am-12pm - Lecture from Dr. Thomas
Seeley - Dr. Seeley, a professor at Cornell University, will
speak on the subject of his latest book, Honey Bee Democracy.
The fascinating story of decision-making within the hive is guaranteed to pique
your interest. If you pre-order a copy of the book, purchase one the day
of the lecture or bring your personal copy, Dr. Seeley has agreed to do a book
signing. Honey Bee Democracy may be pre-ordered and picked-up at the
festival for $25 per copy or purchased the day of the festival for $28 a
copy. 1-2pm -
Lecture from Barbara Ochterski, Local Beekeeper - Barbara will
discuss the basics of backyard beekeeping, followed by an informal question and
answers session.
The Honeybee Festival is made possible by the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical
Gardens and Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners of Erie
County. Tickets for the
lectures are $5 Students, $10 Garden Members and Master Gardeners and $15
Non-Members. The vendors and demonstrations are available to all visitors
at no charge.
For more information visit us at www.buffalogardens.com. The Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, Inc. is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to advancing appreciation for and knowledge of plant life and its connection to people and cultures through its documented living plant collection, historic conservatory, education, research and exhibits.