Hello there, fellow bee lovers!  New volunteers, Shavon & Caitlin, here to bring you the year in review post.  The WSBG would like to take this moment to wish you & yours a happy holiday season.  2016 has brought many gifts, smiles & educational outreach to our community that we would like to dedicate a post just to that!

The WSBG would like to send our sincere gratitude to these groups:  Jenny Ho's West Seattle Girl Scout Troop who came late April to plant over 100 plants!  The calendulas, sunflowers & marigolds, not only made the garden grounds stunning, but they provided food for our bees.  What a gift!  One of the scout's mom is a gardener & sprouted all the plants from seed.  Amazing! To the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association who sponsored the educational Kids' Field Day at the garden & the PSBA volunteers who not only helped make that event possible, but who continue their pollinator education efforts, we thank you!  Special shout out to the High Point Neighborhood Association for sponsoring the West Seattle Bee Festival.  And thank you to High Point and the Seattle P-Patch Community Gardening Program for providing the space and support needed for our unique garden to exist! The WSBG is a volunteer run organisation that could not & would not exist without our volunteers.  To all our volunteers, for all the various ways you serve the garden & the bees, we thank you!!!  Much like the inner workings of a hive, the WSBG couldn't fulfill it's mission statement of providing community educational outreach about the fundamentally imperitive role of bees in our environment without the support of all of you.  Thank you so much for being a part of our beautiful garden!

​We saw many special functions at the bee garden this year.  In total, 35 field trips were hosted at the WSBG from various schools & community groups in 2016.  As mentioned, the West Seattle Bee Festival & PSBA Kids' Day were two special events at the garden. Stay tuned for announcements for festivals in 2017 and be sure to contact us if you are a school or community group interested in a field trip to the garden for 2017.  We are happy to be the recipients of a hive grant from the HoneyBee Conservancy.  Through this grant we will have access to lesson plans and other educational resources for our upcoming field trips.

Fun bee fact, if you live within a 3 mile radius of the garden, it is likely our bees helped to pollinate your yard & that you helped feed our bees.
















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Winter in the PNW may not be beekeeping time, but that hasn't kept Caitlin, Lauren & I away.  We have been busy breaking ground & making way for exciting new plans in 2017.  We are preparing for the installation of our medicinal herb patch, diversifying our flowers & a bit of renovating the garden soil composition.  There will be ways to help support us in the Spring with some fundraising opportunities, so stay tuned!

It’s officially safe to say that 2015 has been a successful year for High Point’s West Seattle Bee Garden (WSBG). The space, part of High Point’s Commons Park P-Patch, has nearly finished implementing its second Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund Grant. Improvements this year have included the installation of a drip irrigation system (to save water and make life easier for the garden’s volunteers), securing its six large benches to the ground (which were previously pretty wobbly), purchasing a sound system to assist during hive demonstrations and events (as seen at this years’ West Seattle Bee Festival and Kids’ Field Day events), and installing a pergola to provide shade (vines to be planted spring of 2016).


Every year the WSBG hosts more and more visitors. Listed on ParentMap’s list of gardens to visit with children, visitors are frequently coming to see the bees in High Point. Groups (especially preschools) have started using the garden as an educational space to have lunch. Guided field trips are available as well, hosted by WSBG volunteers. Fifteen classrooms came by the space this year to experience a bee talk and demonstration. The wooden benches provide a classroom setting, allowing for instruction about bees and pollination. Then the instructor/beekeeper is able to open a hive within the primarily Plexiglas enclosure, allowing students to see the honeycomb and bees up close. At times, the students are even able to taste the honey, straight off the honeycomb! On September 16th the Seattle Jewish Community School was the most recent group to organize a trip to come see the bees, tying in the significance of honey and Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year. Eating honey around this time is meant to signify a sweet year ahead.


An exciting new event happened this summer at the WSBG – the first Puget Sound Beekeepers Association Kids’ Field Day! Many beekeepers from the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association (PSBA), along with volunteers from the Seattle Public Library came together to help kids learn about bees, and about what bees do. Activities included pollination simulation, flower fact activities, a bee anatomy game, arts and crafts, honey tasting, a waggle dance activity, an observation hive, a scavenger hunt (identifying flowers in the P-Patch and pollination garden), a story time, and the big hit of the afternoon was the hive demonstration hosted by PSBA’s Daniel Najera. It was an especially big day for the WSBG, bringing together local bee experts, educators, and families who were eager to learn. 


Everyone from the WSBG continues our gratitude to High Point Neighborhood and the Seattle P-Patch program for making everything possible. We are grateful to have seen the vision of the WSBG become a reality. The garden is always in search of more volunteers – if you are interested in getting involved on any level, please get in touch!

Thank you very much to the WS Bee Garden Team for another great year! We had a total of 16 groups come through to see the bees and learn about our pollinating friends, and countless guests come to say hello on their own time. This year, we were even able to sample honey right off of the hive frames (later in the year, after we were sure the bees would have enough food for themselves during the winter), and a few local youngsters suited up to help check on the bees - something we should certainly do more of down the road. 

The bees did great, although one hive did recently succumb to a wasp infestation, despite efforts to deter them, and minimize hive entrances. Such is nature, I suppose. Our other hive is entering the winter strong, however, with plenty of food. We've taken a few pre-winter steps to make sure their food is within easy reach, and the hive is tilted slightly forward to help drain condensation. We won't see too much of the bees this winter (there aren't any flowers outside for them to visit!). On warmer days, the bees may come out of the hive to use the restroom. Did you know that bees can only poop in flight? They will primarily be spending their time clustered inside the hive, staying warm and tending to the queen and her baby bees. The queen doesn't lay as many eggs in the winter, and will likely take a break completely during the early winter months - starting up again in December or January. This will increase the colony size, so that there are plenty of bees to help gather food when the flowers start blooming again in the spring! 

This winter, we humans have a few activities planned in the bee garden. An irrigation system will be installed within the next month, making watering the plants during the heat of the summer next year much less cumbersome (and efficient), hooray! We also hope to build a pergola, and create some shade - it can get awfully hot out there for our guests volunteers on a hot July afternoon. We hope to secure the benches as well, so that they aren't so wobbly. And would love to install hive monitoring systems, tracking hive activity and contributing to local honey bee research!

All of this thanks to the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund Grant, the West Seattle Garden Tour, the Seattle People's Fund and our amazing volunteers, thank you!!

Wow, it's already July, and I am long overdue for a Bee Garden update!


Quite a bit has been going on, but I will try to keep this somewhat short. 


The bees are doing great! So far, no evidence of disease and our new packages from Oregon are thriving, having built loads of comb on fresh frames this season. We have spotted eggs in each hive at every visit, which is evidence of a healthy queen. The bees have also stored loads of pollen which they use as their protein source - and are well on their way to storing up enough honey to get through the winter. We will be able to tell by the fall if we will be able to harvest any honey - the bees need at least 40 pounds of honey to get through the winter here in Seattle, so we need to leave at least that much behind.


Krista Conner, of West Seattle's Seattle Bee Works, has assumed the role of Lead Beekeeper. We are fortunate to have her on deck, since Krista is a very experienced beekeeper, and the president of the Puget Sound Beekeepers Association. Krista has been checking the bees weekly, and is also increasing pollinator awareness and money for the garden by hosting dates via the 'How About We' website. The dates have been well received and, per report, have been a fun experience for everyone involved. Thank you Krista!


The Bee Garden hosted 12 field trip this spring, and we have another group coming in this Wednesday. All of the kids have just been fantastic - full of questions and legitimate concern for the pollinators and their habitat. Every time I leave a field trip I feel more hopeful about our future, and grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this project!


We also have a few big events coming up! This Saturday July 12th, we will be participating in Seattle Tilth's Chicken Coop and Urban Farm Tour! Also, we just learned today that the West Seattle Bee Garden has been named Community Star: Most community-oriented coop or garden! Here are a few quotes from their email, "One judge commented on how “beautiful, educational and community-driven” this site is.You will receive this award on the day of the event by a Seattle Tilth representative; it’s our way of saying, “You’re awesome—keep up the good work for the West Seattle community!” 


Way to go is right, thank you to everyone who has helped out!! 


Participants from the White Center Garden Tour will also be dropping by this Saturday - big day! 


We have been named a beneficiary of the West Seattle Garden Tour, which will be taking place on Saturday July 20th. Everyone is invited to come check out the beautiful gardens! You may even bump into Deborah Vandermar and myself, as we have been assigned to a table at one of the gardens. Proceeds all go toward great causes - thank you very much to the WS Garden Tour!


Want to help out, or sign up to become a pollination gardener for next year? We could certainly use a few more hands! Please feel free to email me at [email protected] at any point!


Thank you again to High Point and West Seattle for all of your support!


Cheers,
Lauren

Festivities will begin with a parade at 11 am, and the West Seattle High School Marching Band will lead the way!

The parade will begin at West Seattle Elementary parking lot (6760 34th Ave SW), and head down 31st Ave and Lanham Pl. to the WS Bee Garden in Commons Park.

The parking lot will open at 10 am for pre-parade face painting and craft making. Everyone is welcome to join!

The picnic will take place in High Point’s Commons Park at 31st Ave SW and SW Graham St. Activities will include a craft tent, face painting, vendors, food, music and more!

Husky Deli is making a special honey-flavored ice cream for the event – with local honey donated by West Seattle’s own Seattle Bee Works. All proceeds will go back to the bees!

Members of the Keep High Point Green project will be around to share their story of successfully preventing the use of herbicides in High Point, way to go team!

The bees are happily nestled in their hives, and can be seen through the plexiglass enclosure surrounding them.

There is plenty to celebrate. The garden is celebrating its first anniversary, and has hosted 15 field trips since its inauguration last May. Schools from as far away as SeaTac have scheduled visits this year – and some are pairing visits with pollinator curriculums that are now available on the bee garden website here, making visits even more meaningful. Students at the University of Washington are presenting a proposal to create a replica of the bee enclosure on UW’s campus, spreading pollinator education even further, and geared toward a new demographic of students. The bee garden has served as an example to other cities, and has been included in presentations as an example of a successful urban bee project in cities as far away as Lafayette Ohio, who hope to build similar spaces.

The garden has been named a beneficiary of the West Seattle Garden Tour this year (thank you very much to the tour!) and is being considered for Seattle Tilth’s Urban Farm Tour in July.

Way to go West Seattle! We did it, and are still going strong! The bees and plants thank you, and we all hope you can come celebrate with us May 4th!

Thank you to our local YELS students for coming by to plant pollinator friendly plants in the bee garden!

We accomplished so much! 15 cubic yards of soil, compost and chip are in, and the plants are happy. Thank you very much to everyone who came out to pitch in!

Here is an update on what's happening in the Bee Garden! 

First, and sadly, our hives did not survive the winter. The culprits were primarily mites, and wasps (although the first hive had a disease that has stumped master beekeepers around the city - all part of the learning process!). Seattle Bee Works, a local West Seattle company, has kindly offered to donate bees this year that will be coming up from Oregon in April - specific date TBA! 

Seattle Bee Works will also be hosting beekeeping classes throughout the year - more details to follow. 

We have ambitious plans for the year! During the winter we have been working hard on ways to include the schools and library more - had 12 successful field trips last year, but feel like we can do better! The Bee Garden will again be part of Seattle Public Library's Summer of Learning Program, and several teachers at local elementary schools plan to incorporate pollinator curriculums in their classrooms, making field trips to the bee garden significantly more meaningful! 

We also hope to include webcams (linked to live internet feed), which will help with research and create an overall more interactive experience at the garden. Here is the group helping us with that:www.seattlehives.org 

Also look for a link to a live hive check video on the enclosure (plan to have up my early May) - another way we can help people see what's going on inside the hives. 

Of course there is lots of gardening to do. If you are interested in helping out in the pollination garden, please get in touch: [email protected]. No job is too small - watering, weeding, planting, there is plenty to do to keep the flowers blooming and our pollinators happy! 

I plan to keep a blog this year to keep everyone up to date on the activity in the hives and garden. It will be posted here: www.westseattlebeegarden.com 

Last - we are planning another West Seattle Bee Festival! 
Please save the date: Sunday May 4th (11am-3pm) 
Music, vendors, face painting, food, arts and crafts, and a parade! 

If you would like to participate (sit at a vendor table, participate in the parade, or volunteer day-of) please get in touch: [email protected]

Happy Friday! I hope you have all been enjoying the sunshine this week! 

Cheers, 
Lauren