used courtesy of Jim Thomas

SACGC, Inc. Botanical Garden

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Did you know there were bee hives at the Botanical Garden?

Over the last decade we've witnessed a steep decline in the honey bee population in this country; a decline of 60% of the population on the east coast and as much as a 70% decline on the west coast. The University of Georgia released a study just last week that concludes that this decline is caused by a devastating parasite and, even more alarming, pesticides. Thanks to the efforts of  Dr. Sidney Smith and his father Sid, the Botanical Garden has sheltered several hives over the last four years. Honey harvested from those hives was also donated to the Botanical Garden and sold as part of our fall fund raiser.
Our two current hives arrived just last weekend. Two queens, each in her own wax sealed box, were placed inside separate larger hive boxes and two cases of honey bees containing approximately 15,000 bees each were released.They quickly chose their queen and released her by chewing through the wax that sealed her in. If both hives do well, each may eventually contain as many as 40,000 bees.
We are very grateful to Dr.Sidney and Sid Smith for their efforts in restoring the honey bee population through our facility and for providing us with this very timely learning opportunity.

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Welcome to the Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. Botanical Garden!

Welcome to the Savannah Area Council of Garden Clubs, Inc. Botanical Garden!

SACGC, Inc. Botanical Garden