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Buzzing Around Burnside
April 21st, 2020 |
The sun is shining, the trees are in bloom – it must be spring! Here at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, our Burnside Gardeners have been working hard to prepare their plots while responsibly social distancing. But they’re not the only volunteers out in the colonial garden these days. Last Tuesday we added tens of new members to our team at Burnside. You won’t see them wearing masks – they’re bees!
Our new mason bees will help us pollinate the beds in the colonial garden and the trees in the apple orchard. Unlike honey bees who pollinate only 5% of the flowers they land on, mason bees pollinate 95% of the flowers they land on! That’s because mason bees belly flop onto the flower, getting pollen all over their little bodies. They can visit up to 2,000 flowers a day!
Over the next few weeks, the bees will begin to emerge from their nesting block to begin collecting pollen and nectar. Don’t worry about accidentally running into them when you go to Burnside for one of your social distancing walks. Mason bees are NOT aggressive; they just want to plop into a bed of pollen.
Bees aren’t only at Burnside. You can also find our pollinator friends in artifacts in the museums! Bees and beehives are common themes in nature scenes. This bowl-like saucer in the Kemerer Museum collection shows a skinny tree with a beehive underneath it, surrounded by flowers. Inside the bowl, a banner helps label the “BEE HIVE.” With all the flowers in the scene, those must have been some busy bees!
Bees also serve as muses in the fashion world. Consider the iconic Gucci bee logo, seen on the corresponding Couture Tree this past Christmas. Or take a look at some of Ilene Wood’s bags – the behive bag from Sara Cavender Metalworks is a crowd favorite!
With this year being the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, think of our bees as an early Earth Day present to Mother Nature. You can help out too! Try planting your own pollinator garden, like we have on the Plantation. Penn State Extension can help you out with a list of suggested plants. What else are you doing to celebrate Earth Day?
We hope that you enjoyed learning more about the mason bees at Burnside Plantation! Please consider supporting stories like this at HBMS!
Alecia Caballero is the programming & event venues coordinator at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. She’s celebrating Earth Day 2020 by picking up trash on the Monocacy Way Trail on her daily walk to Burnside Plantation. You can contact her at acaballero@historicbethlehem.org to book a party or wedding that’s sure to be the buzz of your social hive.
