Tending a Hive of Activity

By Heather Wood

Each year, the third Saturday of August brings a wholesome family event for everyone to enjoy! The Kernersville Honeybee Festival presented by Cone Health MedCenter of Kernersville is in its 47th year, and takes place here in Kernersville on Saturday, August 20.

The Kernersville Parks and Recreation Department has been busy as bees mapping vendor locations, food preparations, and beautifying Fourth of July Park for Kernersville’s biggest craft festival. The park will be “buzzing” as we will celebrate this free event from 10:00am – 5:00pm in Fourth of July Park.

The Honeybee Festival is known for its authentic arts and crafts vendors that come from near and far to be a part of this unique event. These artists have invested hours of passion, skill, and time to present you with the most unique “one-of-a-kind” items for sale. Stroll through the beautiful, shaded tree canopy covered walking trails in Fourth of July Park, while visiting multiple arts and crafts vendors, food trucks, and vendor related kids’ activities. The Honeybee Festival would not be complete without our honey vendors as well! There will be local honey available, as well as a first-hand glance at the live beehives for spectators to view. To see a full list of vendors, visit our website at www.kvparks.com.

If you are visiting the festival, we encourage you to park at Kernersville Elementary School. You will NOT have access to the park lot for parking the day of the event. For more information, please visit our website at www.kvparks.com or call us at 336-996-3062.

Bit O’ History: In the Summer of 1975, Lucy Lewis, Rev. Jim Carriker, and Beverly Everette brought up the idea of a festival celebrating Brady Mullinax’s accomplishments as a town employee and a citizen. Brady’s success in making the honeybee our state insect was commemorated in 1987 by the U.S. Postal Service. Brady hived his first swarm of bees at age 9 and continued to work with them until his passing. It was fitting that the festival be called the Kernersville Honeybee Festival. In 2005, the festival was awarded the Dorothy Mullen Arts and Humanities Award. This award exemplifies programs that reflect “the most innovative and effective arts and humanities programs across the nation. This national award recognizes the importance of arts and humanities programs and the leisure service agencies that provide them.”

Not only is this festival known for providing local honey, but it would not be possible without the preservation of the bee population. This event highlights the importance of honeybees as pollinators of wild flowering plants and agricultural crops. Honeybees perform a behavior call “buzz pollination,” in which the bee grabs the flower in their jaws and vibrates their wing muscles to dislodge pollen from the flower. Many plants, including a number of wildflowers and crops like tomatoes, peppers, and cranberries, benefit from buzz pollination. Stop by several booths at the festival to educate yourself on the growing concern about bee population decline and how you can help save the bees and many of our food sources!

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