Published: 8/1/2017 11:03:31 PM
DEERFIELD — Sampling two jars of honey from Warm Colors Apiary, Martin Feinstein of Chapel Hill, N.C. pondered the flavors. While the sweet wildflower variety offered a familiar taste, the buckwheat felt more robust, making it a winner in Feinstein’s book.
The sampling table has proved to be perhaps the most popular attraction at “Get the Buzz on Bees!” a self-guided, ongoing exhibit at Historic Deerfield’s History Workshop.
“Most people really just like tasting the honey,” Museum Guide Pat McChesney said while overseeing the exhibit Sunday.
The exhibit, which will be open daily through Aug. 13 from noon to 4:30 p.m., includes coloring activities for children, beeswax candle making and a beekeeper’s suit that visitors can try on. Signs on the walls offer information about the history of bees and beekeeping, and how to help bees by planting flowers, avoiding pesticides and supporting local beekeepers, to name a few ways.
“There’s been a lot of publicity about the danger bees are in and people are interested in saving them,” McChesney said.
Visiting family in the area, Feinstein and his wife, Vicky, stopped in to the exhibit to expand their knowledge of the little black and yellow pollinators.
“I wanted to see what a beeswax candle was,” Feinstein noted, joking, “I knew a little about honey, having ingested a lot of it.”
Savoring the honey and learning just how bees make it gave Feinstein a whole new appreciation for their labor.
“They’re little engineers,” he explained. “They work together to make this stuff and it’s really kind of cool.”