New Queen’s Coronation in Rugby

An elaborate ritual on Saturday morning enthroned the newest Queen of Rugby.  Rugby beekeepers Charles Gibbs and Boyd Mitchell said they had determined that the queen bee at a beehive in the orchard near the entrance to Beacon Hill had apparently died or disappeared.  Since a queen is essential to the hive, a new queen was ordered and received in a little box with several travel attendants. 

They explained that they could not just put the new queen in the old hive, since the existing bees would not accept her.  But if they removed the old bees and then deposited the new queen in the hive with a little bee perfume (pheromone), the old bees would return and accept her as their new queen.  They were concerned enough about performing the ritual correctly that they called in reinforcements – C.E. Farmer of Sunbright, Tenn., who is very experienced with bees and has been quite helpful to beekeepers in the area. 

Charles and Boyd donned their beekeeping protective gear and used a device to lift and carry the upper parts of the active hive a distance away from its base. This seemed to agitate the old bees which were in the part being moved, but Mr. Farmer assured Charles and Boyd that the bees weren’t really angry.  (The photographer was skeptical and stood at some distance).  After moving the bees to some distance away, the queen was deposited in the base. Then Boyd and Charles went to brush the old bees off each of the frames of the upper part so that they would scatter and return to the location of the original hive. Once the upper parts of the hive were returned to the original location, the old bees settled down.

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Charles Gibbs and Boyd Mitchell working at the bee hive. Photos by Rick Murphy

So now, hopefully, the bee family is happily settled with its new queen.

Rugby is very lucky to have two dedicated beekeepers tending several hives around town. As this particular procedure shows, being a successful beekeeper requires much learning.  Our gardens are surely more productive as a result.  Thanks Charles and Boyd!

[For more photos and details see Linda Konig’s Nature Notes story about queen bees below.]

Photo of the Week

 Mara Trumbo caught a photo of some cute visitors to her yard this week.  She posted the following photo on the Friends of Rugby Facebook page recently:

Mara wrote:  “Guess who came to tea? I was painting this afternoon and out of the corner of my eye I saw what I thought was Benita's red kitty, followed by another two. When I focused my vision they were three of the cutest raccoons ever, a mom and 2 babies. Managed to snap a shot of the little ones before mom whisked them away!”

Thank You

Bob and Jane Fuchs send a "thank you" to all those who came over, offered help, and made them feel welcome on and since “moving day.”  They recently sold their house near Washington, D.C. and have moved all their things to their home in Beacon Hill.  They wanted everyone to know they appreciate the warm greetings. 

Seed Tick Alert

 Deborah Martin Halbrooks reported that she recently got “bomb-blasted” by seed ticks on the Laurel Dale trail (behind the cemetery leading to Beacon Hill).  She said “literally hundreds of bites....this past weekend.  I stayed right on the path, too.  Just thought you may want to pass the word to be alert.”

Loom for Sale

By Jodie Weiler

A recent Rugby visitor left information about a large HARRISVILLE LOOM for sale. The person to contact is LEONARD NELSON at 423-619-7067.

BIRTHDAYS

August 15 - Helen Keese and Christopher Buck

August 20 - Scott Buck

 CALENDAR

Photo shows Earl O. Henry greeting audience members after his presentation Saturday evening at the Rugby Theatre.

Rugby is in the Eastern Time zone, just barely

Saturday, September 3 - British Cars and Bikes - Labor Day Weekend's Saturday will bring Historic Rugby's British Car and Motorbike Show. Hours will be 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern. IT'S FREE TO SPECTATORS. "People's Choice Awards" will be presented along with prizes for both automobile and bike categories. Registration of vehicles is just $7 during August or $10 starting Sept. 1. Vendor booth spaces will be available for $20. Call Historic Rugby (423-628-2441) to make arrangements or email   rugbylegacy@highland.net .

Saturday, September 3 – Community Potluck – 7:00 p.m.

Saturday, September 10 – Book Club Meeting - next selection, “The Shadow of the Wind” by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Reviews of the book, which is set in Barcelona in the 1940s-1950s, can be viewed at http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Wind-Carlos-Ruiz-Zafon/dp/1594200106. The meeting will be at the Beacon Hill home of Debbie Harris at 7 p.m. Eastern.

 Saturday, October 1 – Michaelmas Festival, Christ Church Episcopal – 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.  Free events including crafters in church yard, English Country Dancers, bake sale, children’s activities, tours of historic church.  British Cream Tea $10 per person – seatings at noon and 2 p.m.- reservations for tea recommended – contact Dorcus McBrayer 423-628-1282 or grannymcbrayer@gmail.com

Quilters Group - Wed. and Sat. 2–4 p.m. Eastern at the Friendly House

Rugby Yoga – Wed. 8:30 a.m. Eastern at the Friendly House.

NATURE NOTES

New Queen Bee in Rugby

By Linda Konig

There's always more to be learned about honeybees. For instance, you might think they're native to America. They're not. They were brought over from Europe by people who emigrated from the Old World. Before that, the only bees in America were wild species. In fact, Native Americans called honeybees the white man's fly. Of course, all the pollinating of the natives' corn, beans, squash, etc. had been done by wild bees and insects of various kinds. Today, we have more variety in our food crops, and some of our present-day crops and flowers can only by pollinated by honeybees (usually Apis mellifera or Apis indica).

Boyd Mitchell and C.E. Farmer add a pheromone to the box holding the queen bee and her attendants.  Photo by Rick Murphy

I have a children's book about domesticated honeybees, and I've learned quite a lot from it.  One of the neat things about bees is how they make the wax for their combs. Boy, did I love to chew that waxy comb when I was a kid! The wax is made from honey processed by special glands in a worker bee's body.  It takes about six pounds of honey to make one pound of wax. The wax is still liquid when it first comes out of eight openings on the underside of a bee's body.  As it dries, it hardens into thin and transparent platelets.  The bee has special spurs on her hind legs for prying the wax platelets off her body.   Her hind legs then pass the thin pieces of wax to the front legs which put them into her mouth.  Then she chews the wax to make it soft and flexible enough to be made a part of the honeycomb. Another bee takes the wax from the first bee's mouth and molds it into the right shape, placing it on the comb. Little did I dream how the comb was made until I read this book.

Some of the cells in the comb are for storing honey, of course, but others are for housing the eggs. It’s one egg per cell as they mature into worker bees, drones, or queen bees. When worker bees decide to create some new queens, they enlarge some of the honeycomb cells and re-form them into the shape of a peanut shell. All larvae are fed royal jelly at first, and then later the future worker bees and male drones will be fed bee bread, a mixture of pollen and honey. A future queen bee, however, will dine on nothing but royal jelly, and plenty of it, for the rest of her life.  This super-nutritious jelly is secreted from glands in the heads of worker bees. However, life isn't all a bed of roses for the young queens.  If the old queen finds a young one, she'll kill it. Sometimes she'll tear into the larger peanut-shaped cells to get at the baby queens to kill them. That sort of reminds me of Lewis Carroll's red queen in Through the Looking Glass: “Off with her head!”

Historic Rugby’s Workshops

Saturday August 27 - Vegetable and Flower Gardening For The Fall ~ 10 a.m. – 1 p.m. EDT. Instructor: Bob Washburn. Fee $15. Planting a fall garden provides an opportunity to garden with fresh vegetables and flowers throughout the fall and early winter. The cool season enhances the flavor of vegetables. You will also learn the varieties and proper times to plant for the best fall garden ever. Bob will have a delightful selection of vegetables and flowering plants from his 52-greenhouse nursery available for sale.

Saturday, August 27 - It’s All Done With Mirrors – “The Kaleidoscope” ~ 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT. Instructor: Sara Senft. Fee $65. The world of kaleidoscopes will be explored. This includes various mirror configurations, how object boxes are constructed, etc. Each student will complete a kaleidoscope to take home.

Saturday, September 10 - English Country Dancing For Beginners ~ 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT (with a two-hour break). Instructor: Mary Hemminger. Fee $25. Come learn simple historic dances that were written and compiled in England in the 1600s and 1700s, the earliest being published in 1651. The dancing will be to recorded music. Individuals will use walking steps for most dances, as well as some slipping and skipping steps during the course of the day.

Saturday, September 17 - Victorian Decorations ~ 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. EDT. Instructors: Beth Hester, JoNell Hester and Joyce Lantz. Fee $25. Using fabric, lace, paper, ribbon and reed, create charming Victorian ornaments. At the end of the day, take home 6-8 ornaments plus many ideas and patterns.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 23, 24, and 25 - White Oak Basketry ~ 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT. Instructor: Bobby Edwards. Fee $130. This very popular 3-day workshop teaches the art of White Oak basketry from tree selection, splits, rims and handles to weaving a beautiful traditional basket. This is an experience not to be missed even if it does require “hand strength.”

Saturday, October 15 - Autumn Gathering and Arranging ~ 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. EDT. Instructor: Linda Konig. Fee $24. Join us in the fields and roadsides to gather dried wildflowers, seed heads, berries and nuts to create your own fall arrangement. Learn the names of and interesting information about all your “autumn gatherings”.

To register for workshops, call toll-free 1-888-214-3400 or 423-628-2441. Lodging may be available at 1880 Newbury House and local cottages at a 10% discount to students. Food service is available at the Harrow Road Café.

Historic Rugby’s website at http://www.historicrugby.org/ lists all workshops for the year.


This Week’s Editors: Rick Murphy and George Zepp