Tag: Bees

The Buzz About Bees And No Hate In My Hollar, Inside Appalachia

This week, we head to the meadows and woods of West Virginia to catch the buzz on beekeeping. And, it’s been over six years since Kentucky artist Lacy Hale designed her iconic “No Hate in My Holler” screen print. Appalachians are still telling her how much they identify with its message. We also take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad and explore some one-of-a-kind getaways in West Virginia.

This week, we head to the meadows and woods of West Virginia to catch the buzz on beekeeping.

And, it’s been over six years since Kentucky artist Lacy Hale designed her iconic “No Hate in My Holler” screen print. Appalachians are still telling her how much they identify with its message.

We also take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad and explore some one-of-a-kind getaways in West Virginia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

The Buzz About Bees In West Virginia

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef learns about beekeeping in Summers County, West Virginia at the Appalachian Beekeeping Collective.

Credit: Margaret McLeod Leef/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

We visited among stands of black locust and tulip poplar trees for a report from Folkways Reporter Margaret Leef. She checks in with a community of West Virginia beekeepers.

Lacy Hale’s “No Hate in My Hollar”

Courtesy

In Pound, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, there’s a mural depicting an old woman smoking a pipe and holding a baby wrapped in a big bright quilt. The mural honors Nancy Mullins Shores, a beloved local midwife. It’s part of a growing body of work by artist Lacy Hale, who has been painting murals and turning out viral images from eastern Kentucky for years. 

Host Mason Adams visited Hale and talked with her about the mural and “No Hate in My Holler,” a screen print she designed in 2017, in response to a Nazi rally. 

Glamping It Up With Cass Railroad

Vickie Yohe, sitting by the fire outside a glamping dome near Alderson, West Virginia.

Credit: Randy Yohe/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Appalachia is full of odd, off-beat and cool places to rest for the night. West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Randy Yohe and his wife, Vickie, like to get out, travel and explore unusual places to stay.

Randy brought back a story from one of their trips to the Cass Railroad in West Virginia. 

Armadillo On My Mind

A lot of times we hear about animals becoming endangered or disappearing, but there are species that are emerging or moving into Appalachia, like the armadillo, which is usually found in the southwest. 

In the last few years, armadillos have been spotted in the mountains of western Virginia.

Mason Adams spoke with Seth Thompson, a biologist with the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources, who took the first reports of armadillos in the state. 

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Tim Bing, Tyler Childers, Paul Loomis, and Chris Stapleton. 

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Honey Bees Bring Therapy for Veterans

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito stopped in Hedgesville to spotlight a unique program that uses bee-keeping to help veterans with post-traumatic stress.

Capito visited Geezer Ridge Farm in Hedgesville Monday. The farm is home to thousands of honey producing bees, and gives community members and veterans a chance to learn about bee-keeping. For many of those veterans the practice is also a form of therapy. 

Geezer Ridge is one of six apiaries in West Virginia working with the West Virginia Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture program, which serves more than 250 veterans in the state. The program gives veterans the opportunity to take on a new career in agriculture while experiencing what Geezer Ridge owner Ed Forney says is lifesaving therapy.

“Knowing that you were part of making that life change for them, I mean is huge,” Forney said, “I mean it’s hard to stand here and describe, you know. How do you feel when somebody walks up and tells you that hey I was gonna kill myself, but now because of you we’re not.”

Nicholas Priet is one of those veterans who say Ed’s farm saved his life.

“Before I got in this program, I didn’t have any ideas for the future, and I really, I really honestly wasn’t looking forward to the future, and now I have goals,” Priet said, “I have a three year plan, a five year plan, and not just for business, but for my own personal goals.”

The Warriors and Veterans to Agriculture program was created by state lawmakers during the 2014 legislative session.

Senator Capito says she’s been working at the federal level to get more backing for the program, including more dollars.

“We want to help and do what we can for those people who put their lives on the line for us,” Capito explained, “and there’s a lot of great volunteer spirit that has really sort of gotten this off the ground, and if we can just capitalize on that, I think it’d be pretty neat. And it’s perfect for West Virginia.”

Capito is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, which recently passed its Military Construction Veterans budget. Part of that bill includes funding for a national study into agrotherapy and its benefits. The study will take place over the next year.

Appalachia Health News is a project of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, with support from the Benedum Foundation.

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