We
hope everyone will come on down to our delicious Pathfinder Produce
markets,
this Thursday, at the Pathfinder Village Commons, from 1 to 5 p.m., and again
on Friday at the Morris UMC Hall, 17 Church St., Morris, from noon to 5 p.m.
We've got such a great selection of fresh, tasty items for you to serve to your
family at every meal.
Our
Dash to the Splash folks are now in Week 6 for their training program, steadily
working towards completing their 5K at Splash Path, which is set for Saturday,
May 20, starting at 9 a.m. There's
just a few more days to take advantage of our early registration … prices go up
slightly this coming Saturday. Sign up today at splashpath.racewire.com … it's ever so easy, and you'll be glad you did. It's such a
tremendous event in support of community wellness and inclusion programs.
Here's this week's Dash
regimen, for those who are joining in with this fun fitness activity:
5 min Brisk Walk
10 min Jog
3 min BW
10 min J
3 min Walk
|
5 min BW
10 min J
3 min BW
10 min J
3 min W
|
Repeat Day 2
|
***
Several years ago,
Pathfinder made a walking trail just east of the Village from the proceeds from
one of our earlier Splash Path 5K events. We will be adding several fitness
stations very soon, as well as benches and other amenities, through funds raised
at last year’s Splash Path, and through additional support from our Edmeston
Rotary Club and Rotary District #7170. The new equipment will add to everyone's
enjoyment of the community trail, which is open to the public during daylight
hours. (Stop at the kiosk just past the Streck Health Center to read and follow
the basic rules of the trail: Among these are to carry a cell phone with
you. Also, “if you carry it in, please carry it out.”).
This past Saturday, I
enjoyed walking the trail with some Pathfinder friends. As we walked we
discussed some of the things we were seeing -- everything from pheasants to
bunnies, from birch trees to bees. About midway through our walk, we were
joined by some students from Hamilton
College, Clinton, who are members of the liberal arts school's HAVOC
program in support of community volunteering and engagement. Everyone had a
great time on our walk, and then headed to the gym for more fun activities.
We saw both honey- and
bumblebees collecting nectar along the trail as we walked, and we talked about
bees’ importance in the environment. Our discussion tied into some things I've
been seeing on my Facebook feed over the past few months: Cheerios
and now the Alt-National Park Service
pages had lately offered seed packets for wildflowers, in support of helping
honeybee populations. Honeybees, which are vital for pollinating our
agricultural crops, have been decreasing due to changing land use patterns,
mites, viruses and other causes
that result in hive losses.
Honeybees do well
visiting any number of flowering plants,
including goldenrod, Black-eyed Susans, asters, sunflowers, and lavender, among
others. Many of these species are native to our area; if you're not allergic to
bees, it may be fun and helpful to plant some wildflowers nearby to support
both wild and domesticated bees. (If you get seed packets from a company or
group, just make sure that the seeds are not for invasive species
to your region). There also appears to be a growing trend in urban beekeeping,
but one would need to be very careful to protect one's hives and neighbors from
unwanted interactions.
I've also been seeing
some cool things on people getting into beekeeping. One college friend's
octogenarian mom is starting her own backyard hives, using a common
wooden-frame set-up. I saw another way to use mason jars to collect honey, as
shared on this Makezine article,
but the article doesn't really explain how one harvests the honey. I would
guess once the jar is full of comb, you would remove it from the hive, replace
it with a new sterilized jar, and shoosh away any remaining bees. Back at
the house, one would empty the jars, cut or crush the comb, and strain
thoroughly. One should always remember, too, never to give honey to babies
under 12 months. (Also, one should check local apiary regulations; some states
require inspections for beehives.).
One recent innovation
I read about that was funded through crowd sourcing is a new Flowhive system
that combines high tech with functional design, and allows apiarists to harvest
honey without disturbing the bees inside the hive. More information is at their
website;
and you can buy these very pricey hives at their online store. (I did see
several articles that were
critical of the new hives; one author
indicated that nature’s combs are superior, and had concerns about how the
plastic comb may affect bee health and honey quality).
If I decide to try my
hand at beekeeping, I'll keep you posted. Until next time, enjoy walks among
the flowers, and save the bees.
Lori
