City commissioners approve 4-H bee project at Prairie Lake

Prairie Lake may soon be buzzing with a new pair of beehives that the Lucky Stars 4-H club is trying to obtain for a club project, the Holton City Commission learned on Monday.

Commissioners granted the Lucky Stars permission to place two beehives at Prairie Lake’s “pollinator area” at the south side of the lake near the dam if the club is chosen by the Kansas Honey Producers Association (KHPA) to receive a grant that would provide the club with the two hives, plus bees and necessary equipment.

“It could be a really good thing for our community, not just for our club,” said Amy Cyphers, representing the Lucky Stars, who also noted that the hive could serve an educational purpose for people who enjoy watching bees at work.

Holton City Manager Kerwin McKee said the “pollinator area” near the Prairie Lake dam was added in recent months to benefit local beekeepers who have concerns that the area’s bee population is being decimated by such factors as colony collapse disorder, pesticides and habitat loss.

“Basically, what it is, is wildflowers,” McKee said, explaining the “pollinator area” to commissioners. “We all know that pollinators have been kind of stressed lately, and we’ve got a patch of wildflowers down there to help them out.”

For more on this story, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account.

The Holton Recorder

109 W. Fourth St.
Holton, KS 66436
Phone: 785-364-3141
 

Sign Up For Breaking News

Stay informed on our latest news!

Manage my subscriptions

Subscribe to Greer Citizen newsletter feed