Mrs. Rosalynn Carter Becomes a Beekeeper and I was THERE!

Today at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Rosalyn Carter had an event to encourage the perpetuation of monarch butterflies and other pollinators. Holly Bayendor, the president of the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers, asked me and my friend and neighbor beekeeper, Curt Barrett to join her to represent MABA at the festival called the Butterfly Trail Discovery Day.

We had a table with Holly's observation hive and some beekeeping items. All day children and their parents stopped by to ask all about the bees. We tried to answer their questions, looked for the queen in Holly's observation hive (her husband, Jeff, was the best at finding her majesty), and handed out information about MABA's junior beekeeping program.

The highlight of the day was when Mrs. Carter came to our area to go into the hives that are resident at the Carter Center. These hives were started late last summer, so while this is technically one of the hives' second year, really they are new hives.

Mrs. Carter said that she felt a little nervous but she had promised her grandchildren that she would go into the hives. The photos below are the ones I took today and some that my nephew, Ben Tillman, and his wife, Stacy, took when I was lucky enough to be next to Mrs. Carter.

When Mrs. Carter was trying to get the gloves on, I was right across from her and said, "It's one of the difficulties in beekeeping - the small size is small for men." She looked up and saw me and said, "I like your shirt!"  Made my day!

Curt demonstrating how he has to hold his extractor when he turns it!