The Latest
BUZZ
at Rushton Farm
GET THE LOWDOWN ON LOCAL BEES & HONEY One sunny midsummer day in 2012 on Rushton Farm, the bees decided to swarm. Noah Guess, a certified apiarist—and the sustainable gardening manager teaching our group agro-ecology best practices that day—knew exactly what to do and quickly sprang into action. He smoothly and safely located the queen bee and removed the branch occupied by the swarm. This mesmerizing event lasted only a minute or two, before it was time to return to tending the row crops we were growing. Despite the brevity of Noah’s feat, it made a lasting impression on all of us who were there.
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HIS MEMORY WAS FONDLY RECOUNTED BY BENjamin Reynard, a former intern at Willistown Conservation Trust’s Rushton Farm. Inspired by his experience with the bees, Ben made these vital pollinators the focus of his capstone project for the University of Pennsylvania’s Master in Environmental Science Program. 70
County Lines | September 2021 | CountyLinesMagazine.com
As he explains, “Thanks to the sustainable farming practices, focus on native plantings and abundant open space, we were able to identify 49 unique species of bees at Rushton Farm.” Ben went on to found Pollinator Patch, a nonprofit dedicated to restoring backyard habitat with the bees in mind. Like Ben, many of us in southeastern Pennsylvania have likely experienced the hypnotic quality bees elicit, whether you’ve scrolled through viral bee content that’s taken over TikTok, read about bees perceiving time after scientists gave them jetlag, or perhaps picked up beekeeping as your pandemic hobby. And it’s easy to understand why we’ve “caught the bug”—or rather, insect. Bees are responsible for our food crops, they maintain biodiversity by pollinating wild plants, and they produce sweet, delicious honey. HONEY’S MANY FLAVOR PROFILES In addition to having an astonishing sense of smell that allows them to seek out pollen and nectar from their preferred flowers, bees are the only insects to produce food eaten by humans: honey.
PHOTOS COURTESY: BLAKE GOLL, JENNIFER MATHES, MONICA MCQUAIL
By Monica McQuail, Willistown Conservation Trust
