Langstroth Summer Festival!

[Langstroth Brigade]

The Philadelphia Bee Association has invited Carl Flatow to speak to
our club and beekeepers in Montgomery, and Chester Counties as well as
all other interested individuals/organizations. He will be speaking
about his ideas for a Langstroth Summer Festival. Date to be
announced. We feel that it is important to start brainstorming and
organizing now to ensure the success of this event.

We have come up with some ideas and would like to generate some
discussion about them and see what other beekeepers are thinking. If
you are interested in one of the ideas below or have an idea of your
own, please be sure to come to Carl’s talk at the Philadelphia Bee
Club Meeting. We hope this will be a starting point for planning of
this summer’s event.

Here are some of our ideas, which in our mind will take place over one
summer weekend in the beautiful city of brotherly love!

~Bring hives into prominent locations of the city, such as,
Rittenhouse Square, Penn’s Landing, Clark Park, Washington Square,
Fairmont Park, Bartram’s Garden, The Morris Arboretum, The Art Museum,
etc. At each hive there would be a beekeeper giving demonstrations
and answering questions for the public.

~Work with the Philosophical Society to have Lorenzo Langstroth’s
papers on display for the public.

~Have public tours of an urban apiary.

~Work with area restaurants to promote local honey on their menus and
host honey tastings etc.

~Candle making demonstration

~Work with local art galleries to promote “bee art” such as
photographs, paintings, wax sculptures, etc.

~Work with Philadelphia libraries to have honey bee storybook time for
children.

~Outdoor viewing of “The Bee” movie for families.

~Mural made in dedication of L.L. Langstroth.

~Have a plaque put up at L.L. Langstroth's former residence, 106 S.
Front Street in Philadelphia.

~ Use the Comcast video screen to show bee related media.

~Work with local theaters to have a production of Marc Hoffman’s play,
“Bee Man”. A one man show about Lorenzo Langstroth.

~ A black tie event to raise funds for urban beekeeping, including a
demonstration on honey extraction.

~ A bee culture inspired parade down JFK Blvd!

These are just some of the ideas. Hopefully this will get the ball
rolling and spark some conversation! When we have the dates of Carl’s
visit, they will be posted on the message board. Please make it a
point to attend and invite anyone you feel may be interested.

If this is to be a successful event of considerable scale, it is very
important for us to get the support of the city. If anyone has a
connection to Philadelphia politics or Mayor Michael Nutter, Carl
Flatow would be very pleased to hear from you!

Cheers!

The Langstroth Brigade

[Kim Flottum]

Keep us informed so we can promote it too...great ideas here...this will
be terrific!

Kim Flottum
Editor, Bee Culture Magazine
800.289.7668 ext 3214
330.722.2021 cell
www.BeeCulture.com

[Carl Flatow @ Science Friday]

We have settled on the place for an organizational event to be held on the evening of January 21, 2010.
Suzanne Matlock has reserved a space at the Unitarian Society of Germantown:
http://www.usguu.org/pages/Directions

Although we hope to have, as a core, a large turnout from 3 greater-Philadelphia beekeeping organizations, our goal is to prepare an evening not just entertaining to beekeepers but one which appeals to the broader audience, reflecting the place of these important pollinators in a healthy food supply and a healthy ecosystem.

So far we have Marc Hoffman coming up from the greater DC area to talk with us about Langstroth, and possibly his friend and fellow Langstroth historian Matt Redman, as well.

We have some ideas we'll be working to make happen, but we are looking for additional ideas and suggestions from this Google Group. We hope you all will join in this discussion, here.

Thanks in advance,

- Carl

[Lauren Zalut]

What about involving farmers to be involved in regards to the role of
bees in a healthy food supply? There is an urban farm in Philadelphia
called Greensgrow that may be able to present this. Also, the American
Entomological Society is based in Philadelphia at the Academy of
Natural Sciences and perhaps they could provide a speaker to discuss
the bee's role in a healthy ecosystem.

-Lauren

Lauren Zalut
Museum Educator and Communications Coordinator
Wagner Free Institute of Science
1700 W. Montgomery Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19121
phone: (215) 763-6529 ext. 17
www.wagnerfreeinstitute.org

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On Dec 14, 8:56 pm, "Carl Flatow @ Science Friday"

[Langstroth Brigade]

I think Lauren's idea of involvong Greensgrow is a great one...perhaps
they might even be interested in becoming a sponsor. Anyone wanna
contact them?

On Dec 15, 11:13 am, Lauren Zalut <za...@wagnerfreeinstitute.org>
wrote:

[Matt Redman]

According to John McKenney’s published family notes, Rev. Langstroth's grandparents, James Brown Dunn & Elizabeth (Lorain) Dunn, “lived in the old William Penn mansion at Philadelphia....”   This historic dwelling, before it was removed and placed in Fairmount Park in 1866, stood at the corner of Second and Gothic streets.  http://www.brynmawr.edu/iconog/rcd/2526f31.jpg

 

So that would definitely be a good site to place a hive or have a ceremony in the LLL200 summer 2010. 

--
Chesapeake Soaps
8992 S Bayview Dr
Chestertown MD  21620

410-708-0344
chesape...@gmail.com

[Matt Redman]

I dug a little deeper and found out that the supposed Wm Penn Mansion, moved to Fairmount Park, wasn't built until after Penn had died.  So perhaps its greatest claim to fame is the fact that Langstroth's grandparents, the Dunns, lived in it.  A disordered fellow by the name of Coombs, who believed himself to be Geo. Washington II, wanted Congress to give him the house when it was on Second & Gothic streets--believing, as many then did (including Penn's descendants) that it was the former home of Wm Penn.  Coombs gave up his notion when the house was dismantled and asked Congress for the Washington Monument instead.  Mark Twain "discovered" Frederick Coombs and that increased his notoriety.  A very strange twist indeed.

[pola...@juno.com]

Matt,

Where did you find this cool stuff?  I've been wondering if there's historical evidence of a beekeeping "club" in the city of Philadelphia at Langstroth's time.  Or perhaps they were just every man for himself.  Also wondered if there is a historic marker where Langstroth was born (not sure where that was -- I've heard West Philly and from someone else I heard Germantown). 

Are you savvy about how these markers are achieved? 

Suzanne Matlock

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[Matt Redman]

Hi Suzanne,
Marc Hoffman gets credit for making myself and others aware that
Langstroth's mother was born at Chestertown. I stumbled upon some of
this information by accident and some by persistance; but I live near
Chestertown which is where some other Langstroth maternal ancestors
were born or lived. I was raised within a few miles from where the
Dunn family farmed for centuries--near Old St. Paul's Church in Kent
Co., MD. The aviator and aircraft builder Glenn L. Martin owned the
Dunn farm--which is now an operation known as Chesapeake Farms, a
DuPont subsidiary. The Lorain & McKenney families, directly allied
with Langstroth, were also in Chestertown. Lorain House still stands
on High St. in Chestertown--the Lorains put the middle L in LLL. John
Lorain, Langstroth's great uncle, was a visionary in his own right--he
understood that hybridization of corn and better conservation
practices would lead to the increased yields that lead to the Corn
Belt.

I see no reason to doubt that Langstroth was born at No. 106 South
Front St., Philadelphia. Not certain how you go about placing a
marker. I guess, find out who owns the property and their level of
willingness to go along. Find out the application process, how much,
what hoops to jump through, etc. Probably need to find out the
historical protocol. If Langstroth is honored with a US stamp the job
of pitching the national importance of a plaque for his birthplace is
already in the bag. I would think the National Historic Register
folks would be a place to start. Without pause I think it's important
on that scale.

As for early bee clubs in Philadelphia I am a bit too far removed to
know. More likely there were enthusiasts who shared their personal
observations as well as their publications from Europe. In a very
important way, Langstroth made the spread of bee clubs possible
because, with his invention, observation was easier and the bees were
maintained annually. I am certain that the Ephrata Cloisters would
have been very much into beekeeping. Langstroth's grandmother, Ann
Youck, had ties to the Cloisters apparently. Thomas Langstroth helped
with their printing presses and papermaking it seems. Rev.
Langstroth's uncle, Piscator Langstroth--the grandfather of St.
Katherine Drexel--made a fortune bleaching beeswax in Germantown.

best,
Matt Redman

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