Welcome New Sisters! (click for current roster)
Merit Badge Awardees (click for latest awards)
My featured Merit Badge Awardee of the Week is … Wendy Kay Skovo!!!
Wendy Kay Skovo (WendyFlower, #4700) has received a certificate of achievement in Garden Gate for earning a Beginner Level The Secret Life of Bees Merit Badge!
“I watched the trailer at VanishingBees.com. I have planted borage, fennel, calendula, lemon balm, chamomile, clover, and other bee-friendly flowers. I’ve read The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd and watched the movie. I own the DVD and try to get people to watch it with me.
I’ve been in love with honeybees a long time. My mom kept bees for a while. Bees are one of my obsessions. I’ve taught a workshop on building top-bar bee hives. I have had 3 attempts at starting a hive. UPS killed my first package; my second try was a small caught swarm that didn’t make it through the winter; and my third package of bees had a queen that died, and by the time I realized it and replaced her, there wasn’t time to put up enough stores for winter even with feeding.”
What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable know-how
on the topic of unexpected emotions.
Wendy, your beehive cake is fantastic. Wow, what a beautiful, and I bet delicious, culinary work of art! Working on the Bee Badge is very fun and enlightening. Your 3 attempts at hive starting are proof of the complexity of honey bees and their specific living needs to be successful. I am currently working on the same badge but using the Mason Bees to raise and explore. It has been an eye opener to read and learn about all of the challenges Honey bees and Mason Bees face now with GMO crops and pesticides. I hope your flowers enjoy lots of BeeAttention this summer. Someone will be enjoying some honey from your garden efforts!
haven’t seen a honey bee all summer and them, wham ,found a dead one this morning on an outdoor cushion. Just breaks my heart. But I am happy to say that the various bumblebee sorts seem to be doing fine as evidenced by the huge number on my clover in my unmown lawn/meadow. Good luck Wendy for your next hive !