Calling attention to the plight of our bees. Sweet Carolina Honey Showcase — An Educational Fundraiser

Our March days are getting warmer, and thoughts are quickly turning to caring for lawns and gardens. Farmers also have taken to the fields to work on our food supply.

Looking around, if we’re lucky – we’ll get to watch a few busy bees at work! Take note.  It may not always be the case! Most of us have heard a bit about the plight of the bees and what that loss could mean to the world. Carteret Local Food Network, a local nonprofile organization and its Bee Team, are concerned.

"Taking Flight" by Tazz Anderson

This team has planned an evening of food, learning, and community support for honeybees, and you are invited to join them in supporting essential research and local efforts to keep North Carolina’s bees healthy and productive.

 

The event is planned for
Sunday, April 19, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
at Weeks Farm Pavilion, 4382 NC‑24, Newport, NC.

 

Called the Sweet Carolina Honey Showcase, proceeds will benefit the NC State Apiary Professorship Endowment, which funds research to understand and protect state and national bee populations, as well as the Crystal Coast Beekeepers Association, a local nonprofit. Everyone is invited. Tickets are $75.

The event’s goal is to benefit NC State Apiary Professorship Endowment whose goal is to advance research into our state and national bee population by attracting and retaining top scientists. 

Event highlights:

• Keynote: Dr. David Tarpy on NCSU and national bee research.
• Live demonstration: Darwin’s Bee Dogs with Jacqueline Staab — trained detection dogs that locate bumblebee nests for cutting‑edge research.
• Culinary showcase: The event also features 10 of the counties’ well-respected restaurants who will present dishes made with local honey from Triple S Bee Farm, located in Stella. Guests will be invited to taste these appetizers, main dishes or desserts and vote on their favorites.  Winners in each category will receive recognition certificate for their contribution supporting honeybees and their hard work.
• Participating establishments include Blue Moon Bistro, Casa San Carlo, Floyd’s 1921, Beaufort Olive Oil Company, Full Circle Cafe, Marker 3, Marmalade Bakery, Moonrakers Beaufort, Noontide Kitchen, and Pita Plate.
• Drinks: Local hobbyist‑made mead samples and Honey Beer from Shortway Brewery (available for purchase).
• Self‑guided tour of Weeks Family Farm.
• Sponsorship opportunities still available.
• Tickets: $75.
• Purchase Tickets at www.SweetCarolinaHoneyShowcase.com
  Or www.carteretlocalfoodnetwork.org
• Facebook: facebook.com/sweetcarolinahoneyshowcase

What we should know:

More about Dr. Tarpy and his work…

In recent years, Colony Collapse Disorder has ravaged both commercial and individual beekeeper hives across the nation, ranging from 50-70% with no clear cause identified. Scientists are actively investigating the factors impacting our bees. Pesticides and hive predators are easily suspected of being responsible but other reasons may be involved.

 

Carteret and surrounding counties as well as state of North Carolina relies on its farmers, who in turn, depend on bees. North Carolina ranks among the top 10 states nationally for the number of beehives, much of which is due to hobbyist beekeepers. 

 

The event keynote speaker, Dr. David Tarpy, associate professor of entomology and N.C. Cooperative Extension Apiculturist as well as lead Apiary Professor at NCSU, will update guests on the important work being done in Raleigh and across the nation.

 

North Carolina State University is playing a central role in a 5-year, $5 million U.S. Department of Agriculture effort to compile a nationwide honeybee database designed to make beekeepers more productive.

 

According to Dr. Tarpy, little is known about the nation’s honey bees which play an indispensable role in pollinating many crops.

 

“That lack of information or the fuzziness of that information has hindered our ability to make strong, concrete recommendations,” he explains.

 

The Bee Informed Partnership is designed to rectify this situation by creating a database that will contain information about all things related to honeybees. N.C. State’s role in creating the database will be to try to get a handle on important pathogens and parasites that afflict honeybees.

 

 “There’s no systematic mechanism to track patterns of disease and disease outbreaks (in honey bees),” Tarpy said. “That’s what our component is going to do.”                                                                   

More about Darwin Bee Dogs...

Additionally, during the event, guests will enjoy a demonstration of Darwin’s Bee Dogs from Morehead City native and conservation scientist Jacqueline Staab, an ecologist and bee advocate, who has created a buzz with her innovative detection dogs, trained to find bumblebee nests.

 

Darwin’s Bee Dogs are blazing trails that humans and technology have yet to replicate. According to Staab, these dogs give us and other collaborating scientists access to wild nests like we’ve never had before, allowing us to conduct groundbreaking research on these imperiled pollinators.