Keene Sentinel Bee House Article
“Study hard what interests you the most in the most undisciplined, irreverent and original manner possible.” Richard P. Feynman
Please Note:
A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FACT
WAS OVERLOOKED IN THE SENTINEL ARTICLE:
WHEN TO HARVEST JAPANESE KNOTWEED STEMS
THE STEMS MUST BE CUT IN WINTER
WHEN THEY ARE COMPLETELY DEAD AND NONVIABLE
from late December until early April here in southern New Hampshire.
Live Japanese knotweed has the ability to develop
new plants from tiny fragments of the stem
if they come in contact with the ground.
BEE HOUSE BUILDING WITH LOCAL 5TH-GRADERS
Keene Sentinel Article
Posted: Sunday, April 10, 2016
While there’s no sofa and TV, local 5th-graders made comfortable homes for some bees to lay their eggs. Dori Ferreira and Hillary Robinson’s classes at Vilas Middle School in Alstead constructed houses for the grade-A pollinators Tuesday.
The students were led by Michael Nerrie, the Chief Environmental Observer (CEO) of Distant Hill Gardens in Walpole, an environmental and horticultural learning center.
Each bee house, which went home with the students, was made of five pieces of wood and essentially looked like a tiny house.
The students relished the opportunity to pound nails into the wood with a hammer when making the houses for Mason bees and other reed-nesting native bees, all important pollinators. Without pollinators, many plants can’t reproduce and the production of crops would fall off, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
They swung exuberantly and often even before Nerrie was finished giving directions. The noise from the symphony of hammers reverberated around the room. “It was fun,” said 5th-grader Ella Stewart. She especially enjoyed adding in the nails. Classmate Grace St. Pierre agreed.
“I loved building the bee house,” she said.
Students were also able to use an invasive plant species for a good cause. Once the houses were nailed together, the students stuffed approximately 6-inch tubes of Japanese knotweed inside, to the point where they wouldn’t fall out if turned upside down
Bees can fit between four and six eggs inside each tube, according to Nerrie. He said bees will fill a tube with mud and stick in an egg along with nectar and honey before stacking more mud on top and repeating the process until the tube is full.
Bringing Nerrie in was a coordinated effort between the school and the Alstead Conservation Commission, which have worked together on special projects such as this for 15 years.
Later this month, the school will have a joint celebration of Arbor Day and Earth Day with the conservation commission.
Sarah Webb and Marilou Blaine of the commission were in the classroom Tuesday to watch the students.
“I like to see their enthusiasm and their focus and interest in doing what they’re doing,” Webb said. Ferreira said the conservation commission is a valuable resource for the school and a good way to connect with the community. In the fall, the 5th-graders learned to identify trees with the commission and always look forward to these kinds of projects.
“The kids knew they were coming (on Tuesday) and were so excited,” Ferreira said.
Distant Hill was listed as one of the Top 10 Places to Visit in New Hampshire!
Friends of Distant Hill (dba Distant Hill Gardens and Nature Trail) is a nonprofit,
tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code.
Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law. Tax ID# 84-3765898
or send a check via Snail Mail to:
Distant Hill Gardens and Nature Trail, 507 March Hill Road, Walpole, NH 03608