Bee Weeks 2015
Bee Weeks Buzzed on in 2015!
Amherst: April 25 – May 1
Northampton: May 26 – June 13
Greenfield: May 30 – June 7
About Bee Weeks
In 2014, Piti Theatre launched a new initiative based on the successful touring of our “To Bee or Not to Bee“ performance. “Bee Weeks“ use the arts to leverage community and school based activities that move towns toward sustainability and create new partnerships between environmental stewards. Bee Weeks also set the stage for communities to become “Bee Friendly Towns“ which are are a set of benchmarks that measure how hospitable any given community is (and can become) towards its’ smallest, and busiest, employees.
Looking for ideas about how to help pollinators? Click here for a list of resources from the Xerces Society
For Massachusetts resources, check out www.pollinatorswelcome.com
2014 Springfield Republican Feature
Read About Amherst, MA Efforts to Become the First Bee Friendly Town in the U.S.!
Support Bee Weeks by buying 3 mp3’s from “To Bee” for $3 – $5
2015 Bee Week Events
Northampton: May 26 – June 13
- Tuesday May 26: Jonathan Mirin told Piti Theatre’s “The Story of My Bees” at Tuesday Market at 3:30 and 4:30 pm. Click here for details
- Rescheduled to Tuesday June 2 at 6 pm due to Rain!: Pollinator Workshop and Planting! Acclaimed local ecologist and author Elizabeth Farnsworth will offer a workshop on pollinator habitat. Participants will then install two new pollinator-friendly “meadow kits,” grown locally by New England Wildflower Society’s Nasami Farm in Whately, at the Grow Food Northampton Community garden, 6 pm. Click here for more info and to pre-register.
- Saturday, June 13: Friends of Forbes Library Garden Tour, 10 am – 3 pm
- Ongoing: Bee-themed book displays in the Adult & Children’s Departments of the Forbes Library
Greenfield: May 30 – June 7
- Monday, 6/1: Innocenzo rehearsal for children ages 5 – 10 at Greenfield Public Library from 4 – 5 pm. Children will prepare to be passengers on a train and butterflies during Tuesday’s performance at Greenfield Community Television. All participants will need to sign GCTV’s standard image release form and receive a DVD of the performance. Sign up at the library or email info“at” ptco.org. Click here to learn more about Innocenzo.
- Tuesday, 6/2: Innocenzo at Greenfield Community Television, Greenfield, 5:30 pm Third Floor Studio taping with an audience. Children who missed Monday have another chance to rehearse from 4:45 – 5:15 pm.
- Friday, 6/3: Honey Tasting from 4 – 7 pm at Green Fields Market (Franklin Community Co-op) featuring local honey from Warm Colors Apiary and Shelburne Honey Company, 144 Main Street, part of a Bee-Themed First Friday put on by the Greenfield Business Association throughout downtown from 5 – 8 pm
- Saturday, 6/6: Honey of a Party at Second Congregrational Church on the Town Common from 10 – 12 pm. Download the Poster! And after Honey of a Party, head into the Hilltowns for Shelburne Falls’ Riverfest where Innocenzo will have it’s last Pioneer Valley Tour performance at the Shelburne Senior Center, 1 pm
What Happened from April 25 – May 1 in Amherst?
Bee Week Amherst is being led by Grow Food Amherst who are on their way towards making Amherst, MA the first Bee Friendly Certified Town in the U.S.! Learn more about them and their Bee Week by clicking here.
- A performance of Piti Theatre’s “The Story of My Bees” at Jones Library on April 18 at 11 am. Click here for details
- Amherst Sustainability Festival, Amherst Town Common on April 25. Piti Theatre’s Innocenzo kicks off the stage performances at 10 am. Click here for more on the Sustainability Festival or click here for more on Innocenzo
- Two bee themed demo workshops led by UMASS Professor and bee expert, Jarrod Fowler at the Amherst Sustainability Festival on Saturday, April 25th at 12:15 pm and 2:15 pm.
- A field tour of the UMass Pollinator Garden at the Agricultural Learning Center at 1 PM on Sunday, April 26th led by UMASS Professor, Jarrod Fowler
- A free screening of Queen of the Sun on Monday, April 27th at 6:00 pm in the Town Room of the Amherst Town Hall provided by the UMASS Beekeepers Club
- Bee-Themed Painting Class Fundraiser at Judie’s Art Bar, 4/21 from 6:30 – 9 pm
- A “bring a shovel” party to share perennial plants on Sunday, May 3 at 1:30pm
- A request to homeowners with lawns to leave “10% for the bees“
- Planting a pollinator garden at the Fort River Farm Conservation Area
Collaborators
Amherst: All Things Local, Amherst Sustainability Festival, Amherst Books, Grow Food Amherst, Hitchcock Center for the Environment, Jones Library, UMASS. Northampton: Grow Food Northampton, Tuesday Market, Forbes Library Hilltowns: Sanderson Academy, Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association, The Benson Place. Greenfield: Greening Greenfield, Greenfield Public Library, 2nd Congregational Church, Just Roots. Springfield: Springfield Museums, Springfield Libraries, Gardening the Community. General: Tom Sullivan (Pollinators Welcome)
Thank You Sponsors!
Angels
Producers
Directors
Better World Auto Club
Hampshire Colon Hydrotherapy
There’s a new organic landscaper & stoneworker in town!
Bob Grignaffini of Grignaffini Earthscape is offering 50 dollars off design and consulting work for Pioneer Valley residents between now and September 1st. Grignaffini Earthscape will also donate 10% of any new Pioneer Valley customer’s payment to Piti Theatre Co.. Just mention “Bee Week” when you call . . .
Generous “seed” funding has been received from:
New England Grassroots Environment Fund
Mass Cultural Council STARS program