May 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 20

People for Parks
A Sweet Job

Volunteer's passion for bees keeps them alive at a Virginia park
By Whitney Pipkin

A

fter more than 20 years of working with bees - first as a naturalist
and now as a volunteer with the Fairfax County Park Authority in
Virginia - Karen Waltman says she still hasn't figured them out.
" A lot of times they die off, and I don't know why, " says Waltman, who has
logged some 330 volunteer hours with the bees since her retirement in 2009.
" I'm really fascinated by them. "
As it turns out, there's a lot more
to beekeeping than donning a netted suit and harvesting honey. When
Waltman, 66, gets buzzing about
all that goes into it, the task sounds
more like a full-time job than a hobby
that takes " a few hours a week. "
Waltman typically maintains two
hives at the historic Ellanor C. Lawrence Park in Chantilly, Virginia,
though one that died off this past winter has yet to be replaced (each package
of new bees comes from Georgia and
costs about $80). One hive can be home
to 40,000 high-maintenance bees.
In the spring, Waltman puts out a
jar of sugar water to sustain the pol-

Waltman removes a frame from one of
the beehives at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park.

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Parks & Recreation

linators until the flowers come to
life. The mixture includes a medicine
that keeps the bees from getting diarrhea (which apparently is a problem).
That's not to mention the solutions
that keep various pests from invading
the hive or gnawing at its foundations.
" From my standpoint, having cattle or
pigs takes less work than bees do, " says
John Shafer, who oversees the effort as
park manager. " They're not native to this
country, so there's a lot you need to do to
make sure they're successful. "
The trouble of keeping bees is part
of what's driven interest in the park's
hives and the programs that swarm
around them. Waltman often fields
visitors' questions about colony collapse disorder, a condition in which
worker bees mysteriously desert the
hive. While she hasn't seen the disorder in her hives, the natural elements
make it hard enough to keep the bees
going for their six-week lifespans.
" I just have to keep checking on
them, " Waltman says, who lives a
mile from the park.
The bees also have a historical role
at the 650-acre park, where letters
from the 1840s mention the role that
four hives played in orchards and gardens at the estate. The park authority
maintains the estate and grounds to
look like it did in that timeframe, to-

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bacco plants and all - and the bees
are a key part of that living history.
Waltman fell into the beekeeper
role the same way she fell into the
naturalist position - she just volunteered to do it.
" I hadn't had any training at all. I
was a home economics major, for pete's
sake! " Waltman says, recalling her beginnings as a naturalist in the late 1980s.
Once she began working at the park,
it didn't take long for her to ask about
the pair of beehives near the garden.
Something about them intrigued her.
She was introduced to Donald F.
Early, the beekeeper at the time, who
began Waltman's long education
in the trade until he passed away in
1992. Waltman's training continued
with courses and conferences held
by the Beekeepers Association of
Northern Virginia. She taught visitors about the bees, learned from her
mistakes and began training others
who took an interest in beekeeping.
After following in Early's footsteps
for two decades, Fairfax County recognized Waltman this year with an award
for volunteer achievement in his name,
one that she helped establish years ago.
" It's always been critical to have
volunteers, but more so now than
ever, " Shafer says, noting budget cuts
that have reduced staff. " We need
volunteers who have the knowledge
to do things on their own. That's
what Karen gives us, and that's
what's great. "
Whitney Pipkin is a freelance writer and
editor in Alexandria, Virginia (whitpipkin@
gmail.com).
May 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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