The welcomed an addition this spring: two bee hives in an apiary on the south side of the Center for Urban Horticulture. The new hives are tended by , a program manager at the 91̽»¨â€™s Continuum College who, together with 91̽»¨Farm manager , re-launched the farm’s beekeeping program in early 2023.Ìý

Sahl is a volunteer beekeeper for now, observing the bees and preparing the hives for cooler weather. In the coming school year, he hopes to instruct students interested in bee science, sharing his deep interest in the role they play in the natural world.

On a Friday in August, Sahl gently applied smoke to calm a colony, then opened what looked like a stack of painted wood boxes to reveal layers of insect activity — each box designed for different manifestations of a bee’s work. The bottom boxes, called brood boxes, house the queen bee and provide a nursery for the eggs she lays and food for the larvae as they grow. The top boxes hold panels where bees create wax hexagons and fill them with honey. The panels provide easy access to the sweet comb built on the frame.Ìý

Sahl harvested some honey early in the summer — a light colored honey made when bees were visiting blackberry blooms. The remaining honey will be left to feed the bees during the winter. Sahl checks the bees regularly for parasites; Varroa mites are one of the most serious threats to bee health.Ìý

Acworth says people are curious about bees, and the hives will serve as a teaching tool for students who want to know more about agriculture and the function of pollinators in the ecosystem. Two courses where students will work with the bees are being offered this fall: Urban Farm Class 240 and a new ‘Soil to Seed to Snack’ Path to 91̽»¨course.Ìý

91̽»¨Botanic Gardens manages the apiary, and bee-related farm programs are supported by the 91̽»¨School of Public Health/Nutritional Sciences Program, 91̽»¨College of the Environment, 91̽»¨Housing and Food Services and individual donors.Ìý

The welcomed an addition this spring: two bee hives in an apiary on the south side of the Center for Urban Horticulture. More:

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Pumpkins are part of a large and varied family. TheÌýcucurbitaceae family includes melons, cucumbers and squash as well as the orange pumpkin that we’re accustomed to seeing around Halloween.

, 91̽»¨Farm manager, talks in this video about the different varieties of winter squash — from the palm-sized pie pumpkin to Cucurbita maxima, which can produce giant pumpkins.

In addition to ample water, sun, good soil and genetics, farmers encourage the growth of giant pumpkins by removing most of the pumpkins on a vine and allowing the plant to focus its energy on just a few fruit. A pumpkin blossom also needs to be visited an average of 10 times by a pollinator to form a fruit. For that reason, Ìýplants sunflowers among its pumpkin rows to attract bees.

Acworth said that most pumpkins are edible, though the smallest varieties are usually the tastiest. Pumpkins also make great feed for livestock, and the seeds can even have medicinal qualities for humans.

“In other parts of the world, ground pumpkin seeds are used as a natural parasitic,” she explained.

Acworth recommends roasting pumpkin seeds for an autumnal snack — that is, if you aren’t saving them to grow your own pumpkins next year. She thinks cucurbitaceae are among the easiest plant family to grow and encourages people to try growing pumpkin, squash or zucchini at home.