The Sylvan Lake Municipal Library held a successful beekeeping session in partnership with Tamarack Jack’s Honey and Meadery for Earth Day on April 22.
Forty people attended the event which provided a new way for the library to connect with the community, library head programmer Corrie Brown told Sylvan Lake News.
“The event got great feedback from participants. The kids loved the honey that they got to sample from Tamarack Jack’s and everyone was fascinated to learn about how hard bees work to gather pollen and create honey.”
During the event there were many activities along with the presentation for the kids to participate in, Brown said.
“There were bee-themed crafts and colouring pages for participants to engage in, as well as a sampling of Tamarack Jack’s Honey and Meadery’s own honey with sliced apples to eat as a snack.”
During the presentation participants got to learn many facts about bees that they might not have known before including what happens with bees during the winter season, Brown said.
“We learned that bees can “winter” in beehives by swarming in a huddle around the queen, and trading places as the bees get tired to ensure that the hive survives. There are also “blankets” that can cover hives to keep than warm in the winter, while some beekeepers will drive their hives to warmer climates to keep them alive over winter.”
Having events like this to celebrate Earth Day in order to help keep the planet and the community thriving is very important, Brown said.
“Learning how to protect and bolster the bee population is a great way to learn about how we can help our planet. We even had several participants attend the session who are planning on starting their own beehives in the next few years.”
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