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Harbee Beekeeping

“A round the world, wherever humans have settled, there have been honey bees,” Patrick Harrison of Harbee Beekeeping tells me. “Once I began to learn the story of bees, I became extraordinarily fascinated.” Pat incorporated Harbee Beekeeping in 2017 and has over 200 colonies of his own in back of his cottage shop on Rte 206 in Newton, NJ. It is here and online that he offers beekeeping classes and holds a monthly book club, which is currently reading Beekeeping at Buckfast Abbey. He also sells bees, woodenware (technical jargon for bee hives), smokers, and everything bee related.

“Early settlers first brought honey bees to America on the second boat after the Mayflower.” Pat continues, “The beeswax was used for candlelight, and the honey was a by-product.” Pat makes and sells hand-poured, 80-hour dripless candles, which burn cleaner than petroleum or soy-based candles and also three varieties of honey: knotweed, which has a hint of a licorice taste; blueberry flower, with a slight caramel taste; and wildflower. Different nectar makes different honey.

Pat offers concierge bee-keeping in the tri-state area for those interested in keeping bees on their property but who don’t necessarily have the time or desire to take care of them. He likens it to a fish tank or plant maintenance service.

As a perpetual student of bee-keeping, Pat is happy to share his passion and knowledge in his retail shop or to speak at area organizations, be it a garden club, a birding group, etc., where he will educate those interested in the complex world of bees. This summer he is hoping to start breeding bees.

Pat Harrison wants to help people to become involved in agriculture through agricultural commodities, such as honey. He adds, “I love the conversations that come out of it.”

The Distinctive Sport of Curling

Curling is a sport whose history can be traced back to circa 1540 in Scotland. It’s played on ice and, while singularly unique in many ways, curling is related to the Italian game of bocce ball, as well as shuffleboard.

The object of the game is to deliver a polished forty-pound granite stone as close to the center of the target as possible. As this is done, two team members sweep the ice with brooms while the stone glides forward. Sweeping the ice in front of the stones affects its movement.

Curling clubs are located virtually worldwide and the subtle, seemingly simple, yet highly complex, game is now played in the Olympics. In 2022 at the Winter Olympics in Beijing, fourteen nations from Europe, Canada, and Asia, among others, participated, making it the eighth time that curling has been included in the classic competition.

Here in Pennsylvania, there are several such clubs, one of which is the Anthracite Curling Club, headquartered in Wilkes-Barre. The club has been accepted as a member of both the U.S. Curling Association and the Grand National Curling Club.

Olympic Gold Medalist Tyler George visited Anthracite in 2018 and actually held a training class for the members. “But,” Anthracite board member Dave Cawley says, “we play to have fun. The more experienced players help mentor the novices, and teams are made up of combinations of folks new to the game, as well as more experienced players.” Anthracite accepts members of all ages and happily reports that the game can be played by anyone from age 5 to 105. Curling disciplines include men’s, women’s, mixed doubles, and mixed wheelchair teams. Some of the teams in the Anthracite Curling Club stay together, more or less intact, for a number of years and sometimes, due to obligations and circumstances outside the club, members come and go. “Life happens,” Cawley added.

There are two types of teams, “dedicated” and “non-dedicated.” Dedicated teams have home rinks while non-dedicated teams play at a number of rinks, having no home rink.

Anthracite’s Maria Conley has been curling since 2010. She is the club’s vice president and says that curling is “a great sport for everyone.” Even wheelchair-bound individuals are able to deliver, meaning they can send the stone down the ice. “The club is always open to new members and is an excellent place to meet people and make new friends.”

An event in which Anthracite members participate is the bonspiel, a tournament featuring numerous clubs. The fun goes on past the games when, after all the stones have been curled, everyone goes to the local pub for dinner. “Curlers love to party,” says Maria Conley laughingly.

Curling is played on a sheet of ice 45 meters (150 feet) long and five meters (16 feet) wide. This area is known as the Sheet. At each end of the Sheet is a circle known as the House. Each of the two Houses contains four rings, and the center of the House is known as the Button. The team whose stone is closest to the Button is awarded a point. At the end of the game, the team with the most points wins. Each team plays ten Ends, or sets. The team that does not get the points in an End has the Hammer, or last shot, in the next End.

Before a game begins, the teams decide who will have the Last Stone Advantage, also known as Calling the Hammer. Two players from each team deliver the stone to the House. The team closest to the Button, or center of the House, wins the Last Stone Advantage. Continued on next page

Traditional curling teams consist of four players, and each team designates a captain known as a Skip. The Skip’s role is to direct the action. The playing positions are known as the Lead, Second, Third, and Fourth. The teams take turns delivering the stones. A curling match can last up to three hours. Equipment includes the granite stones, brushes, and special shoes that grip the ice. The grippers are removable.

There are three types of curling shots: the Draw, the Guard, and the Take Out. The Guards are thrown to the front of the House. The Draws are delivered to the rear of the House and Take Outs remove a stone from play. Stones can be delivered in a clockwise or counterclockwise manner. Applying rotation will make the stone Curl or move in a select way over the pebbled ice. This method actually gives the players more control over the stones. The act of Sweeping or moving the brush across the ice in front of the stone warms the ice and affects the path of the stone.

The team member delivering the stone yells instructions to the remaining team members as they sweep a path for the stone. The stone is not flat on the bottom, rather it is ringed with a concave underbelly. This allows the stone to glide more easily over the bumpy ice and react more accurately to the team members’ delivery. This is called the Running Band. According to the vlog, Smarter Every Day, “The controversial physics of curling need to be examined in order to more fully understand the sport. Ionized water is sprinkled on the ice surface allowing it to freeze.” Smarter Every Day goes on to state that “this causes the ice to be somewhat bumpy. The ice is then shaved a bit to take the uneven peaks away, a very complex and exact science. The Scratch Theory predicts the path of the stone, based on the tiny grooves cut into ice by the sweepers.”

The physics formula for this is: “V ice + V stone = WR running band.” There is still more work to do by scientists to more completely understand why the stones act the way they do in curling.

Curling is a serious game, at once challenging and fun. While it may be an acquired taste, it is immensely enjoyable, if given the chance. One other detail that might attract members to join their local clubs, says Maria Conley, “It’s a great place to find love.”

The Anthracite Curling Club is the home team at the Toyota SportsPlex, Wilkes-Barre, PA. For more information about the club, visit www.anthracitecurling.com.