The Granville County Beekeepers Association’s 8th annual Bee Jubilee happens Saturday, June 22 and will feature a variety of workshops and demonstrations designed for those with lots of experience handling those honey-producing insects all the way down to folks who want their gardens to be pollinator-friendly havens.
“North Carolina really does love their pollinators,” said Christi Henthorn, the president of the Granville group and one of the Bee Jubilee organizers. She said previous events have brought a couple of thousand folks to the Expo Center to experience all the sights, sounds and tastes of the day.
There will be food trucks on site, as well as more than 100 vendors, all of whom offer handcrafted items, with a focus on bees and other agriculture-related products.
“You literally could come out the whole day and not be bored,” she said on Wednesday’s TownTalk. There will be plenty of activities for the kids, not to mention a competition featuring entries that promote beekeeping, honey and beeswax. There are categories for kids to enter, too.
We love honeybees because they produce honey – Henthorn calls them the “poster child of the bee world” – but pollinators come in all shapes and sizes, from bumblebees and native sweat bees to wasps, hornets and hummingbirds.
Generally speaking, bees aren’t aggressive to people, Henthorn said, as long as “you let them do their thing and give them their space.”
Sometimes, though, they occupy space they shouldn’t and people find hives in their homes. Don’t call the exterminator – call your local beekeeper. Chances are, the hive can be safely removed and placed somewhere safer for all involved.
The beekeepers’website has a link to the rules for the competition, so take a look if you’ve got a honey-themed item to enter. Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners.
Check the Bee Jubilee Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/beejubilee/
to find a schedule of events soon, including different talks and demonstrations. The popular auction begins at 1:30 p.m. and the winner of the “Honey for a Year” raffle will be announced at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5.
Visit https://granvillecobeekeepers.wildapricot.org/ and click on Bee Jubilee to learn more.
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