Cwen Sims, from the Miami County Extension Office, shows how honey bees separate their two food groups within their comb during a presentation at Louisburg Library on July 8. Honey Bee Benefits to Humankind was part of the Adult Summer Reading Program, but available for all ages. The next program is Will Rogers, Humorist at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the library. (Submitted photo)
Join our Mailing List!
Please click the link below to sign up for your community paper mailing list. Stay up to date with all the events going on in your community as well as the latest news.Sign Up Today!
Honeybee expert touts benefits of buzzing bugs at library
Veteran beekeeper Richard Piezuch shares stories, information about honeybees
When beekeeper Richard Piezuch shared information about his honey bees and their benefits to humans, more than 20 Louisburg Library patrons were in attendance. Piezuch let them know that while we may get aggravated with those buzzing summer bees, they are actually very helpful.
Louisburg’s own third-grader Jacob Arnett had many good questions for the first beekeeper he’s ever met. He wanted to know how many bees were in a hive, how Piezuch gets his bees out of their hives and what time of year he does this.
“He was pretty cool, and I learned a lot about honey and stuff,” Jacob said.
It was when Piezuch moved to the Hillsdale area from the metro and was ready to plant his own vegetable garden that he discovered his need for bees. His cucumbers wouldn’t grow to the size he anticipated because they weren’t getting enough pollination. In flew the honeybees.
If it took honeybees to grow a successful garden, then Piezuch was up to the challenge. He started a population that has grown to four hives, with as many as 30,000 bees per hive during the summer months when they are the most active. Because of the lingering winter last year, he lost a hive.
Now a Master Gardener with the Miami County Extension Office, Piezuch and colleague Cwen Sims showed interested youngsters and adults the hive that died. The bees starved because one of their two food groups, honey, depleted. Their other food group is pollen.
Many in the audience didn’t realize bees survive from the very element they produce. Bees take nectar from flowering plants, which include trees, vegetables and flowers, and turn it into honey for their own hive to thrive.
“My favorite part was when he showed us the hive, and the sad part was when the honey bees died because of starvation,” Jacob.
In 2007, honeybees generated $15 billion in U.S. food crops, and 148 million pounds of raw honey was produced in the U.S. that same year. It takes 1.2 million honeybee colonies to pollinate California’s 420,000 acres of almond trees. Beekeepers move millions of bee hives to fields for pollination each year as crops flower.
printable version
e-mail this story
Louisburg’s own third-grader Jacob Arnett had many good questions for the first beekeeper he’s ever met. He wanted to know how many bees were in a hive, how Piezuch gets his bees out of their hives and what time of year he does this.
“He was pretty cool, and I learned a lot about honey and stuff,” Jacob said.
It was when Piezuch moved to the Hillsdale area from the metro and was ready to plant his own vegetable garden that he discovered his need for bees. His cucumbers wouldn’t grow to the size he anticipated because they weren’t getting enough pollination. In flew the honeybees.
If it took honeybees to grow a successful garden, then Piezuch was up to the challenge. He started a population that has grown to four hives, with as many as 30,000 bees per hive during the summer months when they are the most active. Because of the lingering winter last year, he lost a hive.
Now a Master Gardener with the Miami County Extension Office, Piezuch and colleague Cwen Sims showed interested youngsters and adults the hive that died. The bees starved because one of their two food groups, honey, depleted. Their other food group is pollen.
Many in the audience didn’t realize bees survive from the very element they produce. Bees take nectar from flowering plants, which include trees, vegetables and flowers, and turn it into honey for their own hive to thrive.
“My favorite part was when he showed us the hive, and the sad part was when the honey bees died because of starvation,” Jacob.
In 2007, honeybees generated $15 billion in U.S. food crops, and 148 million pounds of raw honey was produced in the U.S. that same year. It takes 1.2 million honeybee colonies to pollinate California’s 420,000 acres of almond trees. Beekeepers move millions of bee hives to fields for pollination each year as crops flower.