What is the buzz about saving the Wright Bee Flyers?

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“Knowing more of the past is of value for the future” is one of the beliefs of the Champaign County Historical Society. Come to the museum meeting room and learn why bees are important to us and what is being done to preserve them. At 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 25, at 809 East Lawn Ave., Urbana, Dwight Wells will tell us some answers to those questions and explain his work on The Wright Bee Flyers Project. This program is not about airplanes of any kind. Nearby Wright-Paterson Air Force Base has all kinds of things going on not directly related to aircraft. The government has been worried about the declining population of pollinators such as bees, birds and other insects as they relate to agriculture (food production) and the ecosystem (the environment in which we live). Obama’s Pollinator Heath Task Force was created to promote the health of these two important aspects of our world.

Dwight Wells started keeping bees in 1954 at the age of 14 on a small farm in western Pennsylvania and has a total of 40 years beekeeping experience. He is project coordinator, with the Propolis Project, LLC, Levin Family Foundation partnership with Wright-Paterson AFB in the Wright Bee Flyers Project. They are taking the lead to answer the problem of how to reach the balance of actively attracting pollinators for the increase in seed production and yet keeping the ecological balance of what some consider “pests.”

When one mentions insects, many tend to itch and squirm and swat or spray or stomp. Maybe we need to know what role insects have and continue to play in our health and well-being before we react to our seemingly human nature reaction to try to be king of the jungle when it comes to insects, the most abundant animal on earth that has its ways of really “bugging” us.

The public is always invited and encouraged to attend the informative meetings of the Champaign County Historical Society. Remember that the way we are living now is always making history for tomorrow. Let’s look back in a few years and feel good about the record of what we are doing today. Come to our meeting in the museum meeting room to hear “What is the Buzz About Saving Wright Bee Flyers?” by Dwight Wells.

Dwight Wells, a sustainable beekeeper with the Propolis Project, LLC, inspects a young bee colony at Huffman Prairie’s Queen Yard at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
https://www.urbanacitizen.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2015/10/web1_Wells-10-2015.jpgDwight Wells, a sustainable beekeeper with the Propolis Project, LLC, inspects a young bee colony at Huffman Prairie’s Queen Yard at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.

By Dick Virts

Champaign County Historical Society

Submitted by the Champaign County Historical Society.

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