The Green Team at our church is partnering with the Multi Faith Network for Climate Justice to host a sacred earth fair on Saturday, April 20. The event will feature table displays from a variety of organizations working to engage people in caring for the environment, a panel of local activists, workshops to learn more about grass roots action in the face of climate change and opportunities for members of faith communities to network and connect in their efforts to care for creation.

As a part of that project, I have been working on a display about backyard pollinators. Part of that display is a project for children who will attend the event to make mason bee habitats that they can take home. As a beginning amateur bee keeper, I have been learning a lot about the various insects that pollinate the many plants growing on our son’s farm. I have a couple of colonies of domestic honey bees and will be adding two more this spring. For the most part, being a beekeeper involves observation of the bees. I do give them a bit of additional food during the winter and have the joy of harvesting some of their honey in the fall. I purchased boxes for my first hives, but have built the boxes that the new bees will occupy.

Along the way, I have learned to identify different pollinators that are present on the farm. Our goal with honey bees is to tend enough to help with the pollination of the fruit trees and flowers on the farm, but not to bring in more domestic bees than the property can support. I don’t want to displace any of the native pollinators with the bees I am raising. Last year, I enjoyed watching bees at work on various plants. I was especially stricken by the lavender plants which at times would have honey bees, bumble bees, and mason bees all on the same plant.

With the guidance of our very observant six-year-old granddaughter, I found a place near the chicken coop where there are many mason bees nesting in some rotting boards along the base of an old machine shed. Mason bees are especially fun to watch with children for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is that they don’t sting. The granddaughter who loves to observe all kinds of insects on the farm was stung twice last year. I am assuming that those stings came from the domestic honey bees, which will sting if threatened. Most stings are the result of ignorance or carelessness. I have a bee suit that protects me from stings when I have to do things that rile up the bees such as inspect hives, remove honey, and reconfigure the bee boxes. Most of the time, I don’t need to wear my bee suit when working with the bees, however. I can usually move slowly and observe the bees. When I take my time the bees seem to adjust to my presence and go about their activities without bothering me. The times I have been stung were both caused by my panic when a bee got next to my skin. When that happens, the best thing is to simply be still and allow the bee to leave on its own. If the bees are swatted or an attempt to brush the bee off occurs, the bee is likely to perceive a threat and sting.

Bees sting to protect the colony. Each bee sting is a sacrificial act on the part of the bee. It dies in the process. But it takes a great deal of patience to calm the instinct to brush the insect away if it is in one’s hair or in some other place. One of the stings I got last year occurred when a bee crawled up my pant leg and I tried to brush it away. I’m not sure I could have suppressed that instinct when I felt the bee.

For the most part, however, I don’t need to fear being stung as long as I am patient and willing to walk away at some times to allow the bees to calm down. I do have a smoker which will cause the bees to go inside the hive, but I don’t use it very much. It seems to rile up the bees more than calm them.

The mason bees, however, are an entirely different matter. We can get down and observe their nesting area without fear of being stung. If a been inadvertently lands on your hand or face, it will simply leave. If you sense it and brush it away, it will simply leave.

The mason been habitats we will be building with children at the fair are made from food cans rescued from the recycling bin. I make sure they are rinsed out and remove the covers from both ends of the can. I have painted the cans and attached strings so that they can be hung in trees. I have also cut pieces of bamboo to about six inches of length. The children place the pieces of bamboo in the can until they are wedged tightly. The bees will enter the tubes, seal them with propolis, and build places for fertilized eggs to develop. They feed the larvae nectar and pollen. When the larvae turn to bees they eat their way out of the individual cells in the bamboo and emerge to begin the cycle again.

One of the challenges in preparing for the project is that the majority of food cans produced these days can only be opened on one end with a conventional can opener. The cans are rounded in such a way that a can opener won’t work on one end. Increasingly cans are equipped with tabs that allow the user to remove one end without the use of a can opener. Those cans generally are very difficult to open on the other end. I have a cutoff wheel on a right angle grinder that works well to cut off the end of the can, but it leaves behind sharp edges that pose a danger to children. I have had to file and bend over portions of the cans to make them safe for use.

I want to be recycling common household items for the project as a demonstration of how we can consume less, but I wish there were more products that came in cans that can be easily opened on both ends. We don’t use much commercially canned food in our house, so I have had to reach out to friends to collect enough cans for the project in the first place. I’m unlikely to need this many in the future, but lately I have been paying attention to the containers that we purchase with our food.

Besides, painting old cans yellow with black stripes has provided hours of entertainment for this old retired guy. It keeps me from getting into trouble.