The art of crafting cast stone creations

9. Is this a good area for beekeeping? Why or why not?

Yes, I believe it is. We enjoy a rather rural landscape here in NE NC, with a lush natural landscape and small-scale agriculture surrounding our small towns. Hosting hives in the vicinity of agriculture can be dangerous though, due to the chemicals and pesticides used… take steps to protect yourself and your hives from these dangers. NC weather and climate are mild (besides the storms!) compared to many other states, and bees can enjoy the bevy of flora offering a wide variety of nutrition for your bees along with a longer growing season.

10. What do you enjoy the most about the hobby? What about the least?

Witnessing nature in all its glory. Observing the power of time and evolution on a species that seems almost as adaptable as our own species.

As far as what I like least, that would be what we call a dead-out. That’s when a hive has passed for one reason or another – winter freeze, starvation, pests/ disease – and you have to get in and perform a sort of autopsy. Whether it’s seeing them all huddled together in their last moments or dealing with a big mess from wax moths it can be a very frustrating and discouraging part of the hobby.

11. Tell me about the Outer Banks Beekeepers Guild, how do you support one another?

Joining a local beekeepers guild/ group is probably one of the best things someone can do for themselves whether they are new and interested in getting started or a longtime keeper of bees.

The resources/support provided by a gathering of local beekeepers is incalculable. It’s always a blast gathering together to exchange stories, tips, advice, or equipment! We try to pair people in similar areas or interests with a mentor who is willing to show them the ropes and/or provide assistance with issues that arise.

We support each other in other ways too, like donating educational books into the library system for all to share, sharing/lending expensive equipment, networking to answer swarm calls or cutouts, notification of equipment sales or picking up orders from suppliers sometimes located too far, locating emergency queens, etc.

At the end of the day, we are all just friends who enjoy beekeeping and want to share in that with each other and others.

12. Any other important information you’d like to share?

If interested in learning about beekeeping or joining the Outer Banks Beekeepers Guild please visit our website – outerbanksbeekeepers.com, where you can subscribe to our email newsletter, our main method of communication. Anyone is allowed to attend our meetings whether you’re seeking to get started, need assistance, or looking to become a paid member.

Join our FB group called “OBX Beekeepers” and/or shoot us an email at outerbanksbeekeepers@gmail.com.

We aim to meet on the second Wednesday of every month, in the Meeting Room of the Kill Devil Hills Public Library, at approximately 7 p.m. The library is usually closed by this time and the room is located in the back, so use the sidewalk to the left side of the building. We communicate meeting details, etc., through our email newsletter, so please ensure you’re added if looking to attend.

Summer Stevens photo

Beekeeper Dalton Hyde inspects the comb on his hives.

The art of crafting cast stone creations cast stone creations

by Danielle Puleo

Jo and Vasilios Kiourtzidis, owners of Cast Stone Studio located in Powells Point, craft high-quality, locally handmade cast stone creations. Their collection really takes customers on a journey around the world, with statues capturing the essence of Japan, Italy, Greece, India and more. Mythological creatures, religious figures, animals and architecture spanning from all crevices of the continents are located on the grounds of Cast Stone Studio, while the craftsmen stay hard at work bringing their visions to life.

Vasilios grew up in Greece making molds before arriving to the Outer Banks area over thirty years ago. Once he met Jo, a Manteo native, the two started making molds and producing concrete designs together. “Thirty-some years ago you had to kind of make your own thing work,” said Jo. “If you weren’t doing construction or working in restaurants, you had to come up with your own thing.”

Their combined knowledge led Jo and Vasilios to open up a business together selling their garden adornments. They started by molding, pouring, setting and selling their designs in their home. After marrying, the couple took their business from a small scale and expanded to the current location of Cast Stone Studio, right off of Caratoke Highway.

“No one wanted this old building thirty years ago,” Vasilios laughed. Jo mentioned it was a potato packing shed back in the day, lacking any character and absent of visual appeal. The back was built in the 1800s, where most of the work takes place today. The shop now embodies rich white stucco walls and blue-sky ceilings with antique reproductions and original cast stone pieces aplenty.

On a typical day, Vasilios can be found making molds either for wholesale or for custom orders, most found in a catalog provided on the company’s website. Several molds are made on the same day, and anywhere from ten to fifty molds are poured daily. The whole process could take months. Vasilios shapes a mold (depending on the delicacy and intricacy, this could take many weeks to complete) that is then held in place by latex and fiberglass upside down. Concrete is poured into the mold and left to set. Once the piece has set, rough edges are sanded, holes are patched and the finishes touches are added.

“The process is pretty much the same for all of them,” Jo noted, “but the ones with a little more detail to them of course take more finessing to get them right.” Certain pieces are extremely delicate, Jo and Vasilios Kiourtzidis, owners of Cast Stone Studio.

by Danielle Puleo

Danielle Puleo photos

Left: A reproduction of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton. Right: A custom ordered recreation of the Hope Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio made by Vasilios Kiourtzidis. Courtesy Cast Stone Studio.

especially for a substance such as concrete – something that sets Cast Stone Studio apart from the big box brands.

Jo said the thing she loves the most is seeing what new designs Vasilios comes up with each year. Every now and then he will concoct a new color or add a new feature to a preexisting design. But Vasilios shared his favorite creation to date: a commemoration piece of the Hope Memorial Bridge in Cleveland, Ohio during its construction. “There was a guy from there [Ohio] that asked us if we could create it,” Vasilios explained. The Hope Bridge design is followed by a statue of a mermaid on a crescent moon as his treasured creations.

Cast Stone Studio delivers their wares up and down the east coast, from Miami all the way to upstate New York. They run with a crew of about four to five employees and have found through the years that more and more people are interested in adding a Cast Stone creation or two to their yards.

“[During the pandemic], we noticed that there were a lot of people spending time in their yards,” said Jo. “It was crazy there for a while, we got a lot of orders.” Luckily, Cast Stone Studio was able to stay open throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. A good thing too, in that the sales were noticeably increasing due to the amount of people who chose to stay at home. “I found a lot of people who had wanted to do things with their gardens before but were too busy doing outside activities, were all of a sudden like, ‘I guess we’re going to fluff the nest since we’re spending all of our time out here.’”

Not only was the shop experiencing more sales, but the garden stores that Cast Stone supplies to were seeing the rise as well. That, added to the newly launched website housing the store hours, gallery, wholesale and catalog became readily available for those driving by. The traffic has since leveled out for the storefront, but Jo and Vasilios rarely take a day off. “We’re pretty much pouring every day. We try not to skip a day because we need a stock built-up,” said Jo.

There is an exuberant amount of time