The honeybee, whose future is in real danger, is a top pollinator of many food crops. Nearly 80 percent of the vegetables, fruits and grains we eat rely on bees and other insects for pollination and maturity. Join Ken Warchol and his beekeeping display for a look at these tiny but important creatures. Ken will speak at the Uxbridge Quaker Meetinghouse, (corner of Quaker Highway and Aldrich St) on Sunday, September 21 at 1 p.m.

Ken’s family began keeping bees in their village in Poland as far back as 1840. Ken represents six generations of apiarists as he continues the work that his father began as an immigrant to Northbridge in 1947. He has spent a lifetime understanding the world of bees and overseeing hives throughout the Blackstone Valley. 

For many years, Ken was the state bee inspector in addition to holding a teaching job at the Northbridge Public Schools. He was charged with the health of hives from the Cape to the Berkshires. Ken has now “retired” and keeps only about 100 hives for the Northbridge honey farm that he and his wife, Deborah, work together.

Ken remains concerned with health of our bee colonies. While there are new regulations about pesticides in agriculture and new medications to control mites in hives, the decline of bees in some areas is alarming. Join Ken as he whispers to the bees to learn their fascinating secrets that have been enshrined in myth,  folklore and agriculture for thousands of years.