The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation hosted its most recent Sunday at the Sanctuary event on April 23, welcoming the public to the sanctuary's location on Old Farm Road, where attendees explored the world of bees and wind as a pollinator.

Guests were invited to buzz around the sanctuary property from station to station throughout the day, similar in fashion to the bees they were learning about who fly from flower to flower pollinating.

Under the sanctuary's steel pavilion, beekeeper Jeff Shwartz showed off his colony of honeybees, which were kept safely in a glass container for viewing.

A director of Back Yard Beekeepers Association, a nonprofit group based in southwestern Connecticut, and a bee/wasp consultant, Mr Shwartz has gathered a lot of experience over the years handling the insects. He spoke about how honeybees are valuable creatures for a number of reasons. Not only do they make for excellent pollinators on farms and create honey, but they also have beneficial healing properties, he shared.

He explained how he uses bees to help aid in his chronic elbow pain, saying, "I use bee venom for pain therapy for arthritis on myself."

When a few bees outside of Mr Shwartz's colony decided to fly in from the sanctuary grounds and visit the group, he took it as an opportunity to dispel the myths that bees are aggressive.

"Standing still is the best thing you can do, and even if [the bee] lands on you she won't sting you," Mr Shwartz said. "If you do get stung by a bee the honeybee stinger has little barbs on it like a fishhook, so the stinger will stay in your body."

He said that bees will only sting in self-defense and that they die soon after they use their stinger. If an insect stings a person, but remains alive after, it was actually not a bee at all.

"If you get stung and it flies away and there is no stinger in you, you got stung by a wasp," Mr Shwartz said.

After learning the differences between bees and wasps, a member of the audience asked about the natural lifespan of a bee.

Mr Shwartz said, "They are a larva, little worm-like creature, for about 21 days. Then they are an adult bee, as we would recognize as a bee, for six weeks after that."

Some bees can live even longer if they are born in the late fall. Those born during that time of year can live up to several months, because their focus is staying warm through the winter with their families and not working as rigorously.

Mr Shwartz also brought three different types of honey for sampling: Wild Flower Honey, Orange Blossom Honey, and Buckwheat Honey. All three ranged in color and sweetness.

Wannabees Family Beekeeping

Another station set up for April's Sunday at The Sanctuary was the Back Yard Beekeepers Association's Wannabees group, which is a hands-on program specifically for children and their families.

Newtown resident Erin Nikitchyuk and her son Bear have been part of the Wannabees for four years. They brought many of their beekeeping tools to the event to showcase what goes into being a beekeeper.

One of the supplies that the mother and son duo taught the group about was bee feeders and how important they are to helping the bees thrive.

"In the springtime when you first get your bees, you give them syrup with water and sugar," Ms Nikitchyuk said.

The bees drink that nectar then store it, because they need a lot of carbohydrates to have energy. The sugar water helps them be able to build wax.

Since honeybees are known for producing honey, Bear taught a step-by-step method for how to efficiently extract honey from frames.

"We would have to scrape off the caps, because [the bees] cap their honey - if it is not capped than it is nectar," Bear said. "So, once you uncap it, usually with a hot knife, then you put it in an extractor, which spins it. That makes the honey fall to the sides of the extractor, which drips down to the bottom and there is a box there that you can get the honey out."

The rectangular frames full of honey can become heavy and hold around five to seven pounds of honey per frame.

When asked how frequently they are able to harvest the honey, Ms Nikitchyuk said they extract about twice a year, in the late spring and early fall.

Through the success of past honey harvests Bear has been able to start up his own business called the Bubba Bear Bee Company, through which he sells their extra honey locally.

Sometimes, though, there are outside factors that can tamper with the honey results.

On this topic, Bear held up a specific frame of stored honey that had a circular hole through it.

"We all know how bears like to have honey, and this is a frame that survived a bear attack. You can tell that they reached their paw through here and just grabbed it out to eat it," Bear said.

To prevent future honey theft from snacking bears, Ms Nikitchyuk and her son moved their hives closer to their house and installed an electric fence around it.

During their presentation, Ms Nikitchyuk wore her beekeeping hat, which had a netted veil draped over her head.

She explained that bees are docile creatures but, as a mother, she always recommends wearing some sort of protective gear to avoid the possibility of a bee unknowingly flying up a nose or into an ear.

Extra beekeeping suits, hats, and gloves were available for children to try on and see what it is like to be a beekeeper.

Mason Bee Houses

Those who wanted to create a safe habitat for the bees that live by their homes were invited on Sunday to sign up to make mason bee houses.

Volunteer Alice DiLuoffo explained that mason bees are native pollinators and that creating these homes will help their population grow.

She and other volunteers, including Kelly Teraszkiewicz, helped cut dried phragmites, which are an invasive plant, into short strips.

Those pieces would become a vital component to the houses, since after they are cut they are placed in a sturdy cylinder tube.

Ms Teraszkiewicz said the stems of phragmites are hollow inside, similar to bamboo, and that "The mason bee will lay about 12 eggs in it and cover it with mud, then you know there are eggs in there."

She said she has one on her deck at home and has already seen that it has been covered with mud, indicating eggs are inside.

Wind Vortex

Henryk Teraszkiewicz of The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation created a vortex maker and showed those visiting the sanctuary the science behind it.

"The conical shape of it forces the air faster through the middle than on the side, which causes it to spiral in a circle. It creates a spinning loop, like a smoke ring," said Mr Teraszkiewicz. "The physics behind it is that the wind is the vortex."

Children enjoyed being able to pull the handle on one end of the vortex maker and it let go, which would cause air to rush out and blow onto whoever was standing in front of it or walking by it.

It creatively showed how seeds and pollen can be carried off by the wind to help pollination.

Cups Of Kindness

Refreshments were available at the sanctuary's Cups of Kindness booth throughout afternoon event.

The stand is designed to benefit the sanctuary and spread kindness one cup of lemonade at a time. The money that is raised goes on to keep Catherine Violet Hubbard's legacy alive and raise money for the animal sanctuary.

Susana Donatucci volunteered running the stand, while her daughter Isabella helped with the mason bee houses.

Ms Donatucci let those who stop by know that they too can host their own Cups of Kindness booth. The initiative is designed so all ages can participate, and the event offered kits available for those interested in helping.

Head O' Meadow student and Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation volunteer Henry Prout enjoyed a cup of lemonade at the booth after helping clear invasive plants from the sanctuary grounds earlier in the day.

May Sunday At The Sanctuary

On May 21, from noon to 3 pm, The Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation will host another free, all-ages Sunday at the Sanctuary.

Next month's topic will be about gardening with natives the natural way. Attendees will learn how to identify and remove invasive plants, as well as get a chance to meet goats.

To learn more about the Catherine Violet Hubbard Foundation or to register for the Sunday at the Sanctuary in May, visit cvhfoundation.org or call 866-620-8640.

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