Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens will be ending this season’s educational programming with a special session all about bees and the secret lives of beekeepers. Erin MacGregor-Forbes, chief financial officer of the Gardens, will teach this introductory workshop, accessible to anyone who wants to learn a little more about bees, their fascinating behavior, and the beekeepers who are so passionate about what they do.  

This fun and engaging workshop will include a basic overview of honey bee biology and behavior, including the basic concepts of organism vs. superorganism and some of the amazing behaviors of a honey bee hive, including swarming and their life-sustaining roles as pollinators. The workshop will also cover how beekeepers interact with honey bee colonies, the long history of human-honey bee interactions, and a snapshot of the regional differences behind sustainable beekeeping in Maine. Participants will get a sense of the differences between commercial beekeeping vs. “backyard” hobby beekeeping and suggestions for how to go further if interested in having hives at home.  

Attendees will also learn the history of the Gardens’ apiary and how the Gardens manages its nine hives and over 400,000 volunteer pollinators. The program will wrap up with a tasting of CMBG’s exclusive honey from its own hives.  

In addition to serving as the Gardens’ CFO, Erin MacGregor-Forbes is an EAS Certified Master Beekeeper. She and her business partner, Cindy Bee, manage over 150 colonies in Portland and Jefferson for honey and nucleus colony production. Erin focuses her teaching on sustainable bee management, Integrated Pest Management strategies, and overwintering nucleus colonies. Erin’s passion is working with the bees’ own instincts and behaviors to create thriving colonies and communicating those concepts to beekeepers and bee lovers.

The program runs from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 18. Participants can register online or call Taylor Eddy at 633-8012.

The mission of Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is to inspire meaningful connections among people, plants and nature through horticulture, education and research. Visit Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens online at www.mainegardens.org.