You Won’t Bee-lieve the Fun at Pollinator Day

April 30, 2015 | Julie Roland Realty | ,

Photo Credit: North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

Did you know bees and other pollinators are needed to produce 80 percent of our flowering plants and one third of our human food crops? I didn’t either. Educate yourself about these important insects at Pollinator Day in Chatham County!

Why should you come? Glad you asked! It gives me a chance to work on my “bee” puns:

  • Take a break from your worker bee lifestyle and relax with a drink of mead, made right here in Chatham County.
  • Wax poetic about the benefits of these pollinators as you listen to presentations about beekeeping and its benefits.
  • (Honey) Comb through the display tables, you’ll bee amazed at all the benefits these insects provide!
  • The air will be buzzing with excitement!

What is Pollinator Day?

N.C. State University, the Chatham County Beekeepers Association, and the Chatham County Center of North Carolina Cooperative Extension are working together to host the 8th Annual “Pollinator Day,” which celebrates the importance of bees and other pollinators in North Carolina. Events include honey sampling, educational tours and presentations, a “Show & Tell” tent, a kids tent, and a mead (honey wine) tasting and giveaway.

Location: 480 Hillsboro St, Pittsboro, NC 27312.

Date: May 30, 2015, 9:00 am — 1:00 pm

More Information: Head to the event website here.

Photo Credit: North Carolina Cooperative Extension, Chatham County Center

What can you do at Pollinator Day?

Starrlight Mead: North Carolina is rapidly becoming famous for its wines, with vineyards spread across the state. Mead, for those of you who don’t know, is a special type of wine made from honey. It’s sweeter than grape-based wine, and it’s got a smooth honey taste that make it a delicious summer drink!

Located in Pittsboro at Chatham Mills, Starrlight Mead specializes in producing a wide variety of meads from traditional to fruit to herb-infused. All meads are made with North Carolina-produced honey, and the meadery is constantly adding new flavors. In fact, they’ve already crafted four new flavors this year; the most recent mead, Elderberry Herb-infused Mead, debuted April 25th.

Starrlight is co-sponsoring Pollinator Day, and they’ll be hosting a mead tasting throughout the day and a mead making demonstration at noon. The meadery has also donated a gift certificate for a “Mead Tasting for 4.”

Kids Activities: There are many things to keep the kids occupied during Pollinator Day, and the “Kids Tent” includes a plant-a-pollinator-plant, beeswax candle making, a scavenger hunt, face painting, balloon pollinators, Chatham County pollinator coloring books, and more! Hopefully, they’ll walk away having learned something new! N.C. State will provide a few beekeepers to answer kids’ questions about what goes into managing hives of bees.

Pollinator Garden Tour: Pollinator Day isn’t just fun and games. You can learn a lot as well by going on the Garden Tour at 10:00 am. On the tour, you’ll learn how to attract and protect pollinators at Cooperative Extension’s Pollinator Garden at Chatham Mills. You’ll also learn all about the local flora: The garden contains over 160 different species of perennials, most of them native to the piedmont of North Carolina.

Show & Tell: Probably the best part of Pollinator Day, Chatham County beekeepers will be on-hand from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, to talk about what it takes to produce the nutritious and delicious local honey available at Chatham Marketplace. Sample different honeys and foods made with honey, handle beekeeping equipment, learn about native bees, and watch new bees emerging from honeycomb.

Other Educational Events: For a more robust version of the day’s schedule, visit the official event website here. For a snapshot, see below:

All Pollinator Day activities are free and open to the public. This event will be held rain or shine.

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