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Community Corner

What's the Buzz? Morristownians Meet Community Garden's Bees

Honeybee Basics class features a look inside organic hive.

Spending a Saturday morning surrounded by bees may sound a bit unusual, but on Saturday, Aug. 7, many Morristown residents chose to do just that, starting their weekend off with a visit to a honeybee hive.

Members of Morristown's community garden and enthusiastic new guests gathered in the Early Street Grow It Green Community Garden to learn about honeybees and view the garden's hive.

The Community Garden is run by Grow It Green Morristown, a non-profit organization that runs two projects — the Community Garden and the Urban Farm at Lafayette — that reflect a spirit of community and environmental consciousness.

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Located at 17 Early St., just up the road from Morristown High School and just around the corner from bustling Speedwell Avenue, the garden is an unexpected oasis.  Sunflowers, which are visible from the garden's entryway, are a popular choice among gardeners, as are tomatoes.

Renting a plot in the garden costs $35 for the season, and Grow It Green hosts plenty of free classes and events that are open to the public. Even though the Community Garden just opened last summer, it has already been embraced by Morristown residents; there is already a waiting list in place for the 2011 season.

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The Honeybee Basics class, which will be repeated at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 11, was hosted by farmer Tammy Toad Ryan and beekeeper Shaun Ananko. Ryan began the class with an overview of the life cycle of honeybees, and shared some tidbits. For example, the class learned that a healthy queen bee can live to the age of three to five years, much longer than the average honeybee.

The honey itself was also a hot topic.

"To make one pound of honey, honeybees would need the nectar from two million flowers," Ryan said.

Ryan also discussed how the community garden's honeybees differ from their commercially raised counterparts. Unlike the bees in many commercial hives, which are given antibiotics and fed high fructose corn syrup, the honeybees at the community garden enjoy an organic lifestyle.

Although many people fear bees, Ananko, who has been pursuing organic beekeeping for two years, assured the class that there is little reason to worry.

"Honeybees are not aggressive," he said.

Ananko used a smoker to blow smoke into the hive before handling it. Then, he opened the hive and allowed the class to see its inner workings. Visitors even witnessed the birth of a honeybee and met the queen bee herself.

For those interested in participating in more Grow it Green activities, the organization also hosts a summer program at its Urban Farm at Lafayette, located on Hazel Street.

Throughout August, early birds can visit the Urban Farm at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday mornings for free outdoor yoga sessions.

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