Nc beeks in washington/beafort/pamlico area
If you signed the petition to bring back the Boy Scout Beekeeping badge, you should be interested in this: During the course of my doing everything I could think of to promote that idea, I was directed to the local council, Ray Franks, who in turn referred me to Reggie Cahoon, Program Director for the East Carolina Council, located in Kinston. He and newly employed Allison Vincent, Ecology Center Director, gave me a tour of the future Nature Center located in Blounts Point. We surveyed a couple of sites that would be good for a beeyard, and discussed the liability of a beeyard in a nature park. I look forward to the day they have a website so that folks can see exactly what they've done and what they're working toward. I think the entire thing is a great idea. See their mission statement below.
Thing is, I know a lot of others signed that petition and I'm hoping that everybody who signed will want to help out here. Blounts Creek is about 2 1/2 hrs from my home and as much as I love to help, I don't think I want to be driving there once a week for lessons, set up, etc. I'm hoping that others will share the responsibility with me. Can any of you volunteer to take a day to help the boy scouts at Blounts Creek? I've gotten a lot of disappointing answers from other beeks who are closer to Blounts Creek than I am , saying it's too far away! If we could get enough volunteers, it could be a one-time-only trip for each of us.
So if you signed the petition and are really committed to getting the beekeeping badge back, please get in touch with me and let me know. I'll coordinate the visits and maybe we can create something to really be proud of. Right now, the whole thing strikes me as a potential small version of the NC Zoo--and we know how much work Irvin Rackley put into that project! Let me know what you think.
Hope to see you all at the spring meeting!
This is the Boy Scout Mission Statement:
PotashCorp Aurora Eco Center
East Carolina Scout Reservation
419 Boy Scout Road
Blounts Creek, NC 27814
Mission Statement of Beekeeping
The East Carolina Council of the Boy Scouts of America serves thousands of youth ages six through twenty one in nine different counties. The properties owned by this Council annual host additional Scouts from nearby states. This Council puts high priority on ecology and conservation education for youth of all ages, demonstrated in the recent acquisition of funds from PotashCorp Aurora to build a new Eco Center and provide a center director. This new center and full time staff member provide this Council the opportunity to offer more nature-related activities and lessons to youth than ever before.
When youth visit the center, they will be able to observe several different ecosystems on the Nature Trail, perform hands-on experiments both outside and inside the Center, and see a variety of animals in unique terrarium, aquarium, and aviary displays.
We will plant a garden of wildflowers and beans this spring, and plant vegetables and fruits in the future. We wish to establish at least two bee hives near the Eco Center in the spring of 2011 to provide educational opportunities to thousands of scouts, school groups, and adults in the upcoming seasons. The Center will take full advantage of this educational opportunity to impress onto youth the ecological importance of the honey bee, help establish a positive experience of bees in children’s minds, and attract more schools, scouts, and other youth groups. This proposed demonstration will be maintained by the full time Center director, who will be taught and guided on how to care for, maintain, and exhibit the hives. By starting two bee hives in the spring of 2011 our goal is to, over time, grow our honey bee population in order to help sustain or replenish the wild honey bees of the surrounding area.
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Originally Posted by Tia
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