April - June 2019 Newsletter

Italian Queen, Rosanna

Hives at Golf Course Maintenance.

Creating the Honeycomb.

Filling Honeycomb with Pollen

Carniolan Queen, Marzanna

O n Tuesday, February 5 our bees were delivered. They have happily taken up home back behind Golf Course Maintenance. Did you know bees are some of the hardest working creatures on the planet? Because of their laborious work ethic, we have flowers to smell, food to eat, honey to savor and wax to create candles and other household goods. Last issue we discussed the fact that we have four hives ergo four queens. Three of our queens are Italian, while the fourth is Carniolan. Carniolan honeybees hail from Slovenia and are much more protective of their environment making this queen the guardian of our hives. We thought Marzanna, Slavic Goddess of Nature, would be a fitting name for this beauty. Antonella, which is Italian for flower, seems appropriate for one of our Italian queens. Not only does the name roll off the tongue like honey but it pays homage to the gorgeous flora and fauna this queen’s worker bees will be pollinating yielding vibrant blooms for you to enjoy. Our last two queens were named by you, our members! Peter Phillips offered up some very clever bee names with BEE in each of them. A few google searches on his recommended From Divas to Queens Welcome Marzanna, Antonella, BEEatrice and Rosanna.

names found that BEEatrice is Italian for “she who makes happy.” Could there bee a better name??

Well, maybe, as we’ve saved the best for last. Our final queen, pictured here, is Rosanna. Rosanna is special for many reasons ... firstly, her name means Gracious Rose. She was also the first queen that I saw and the only one I was lucky enough to watch being introduced to her hive. But the real reason Rosanna is so special is she was named by Shayna Cohen in honor of her Italian grandmother. Al Salopek, of Sierra Bees, will be with us for two hours on Sunday, June 9 beginning at 4:30 pmto educate, raise awareness and demystify the honeybee for children while helping them forma connection to nature. Understanding the importance of bees and how they work together, can deepen their connection and relationship with their community and the world around them. This will be a fun, entertaining and interesting program for children and adults alike.

Vision Inspire and enable members to enjoy every day of their lives.

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