The story below is from our January/February 2023 issue of the Roanoker Magazine.   Find the story link here

Honeybees are worth learning about. Vasilia McCrady, owner of Heritage Apiary, knows this and strives to protect them through beekeeping and educating the public about these marvelous insects.

As a child visiting her father’s home town of Saravali, Greece, McCrady watched golden sunlight sparkle through amber honey as her uncle taught her about honeybees.  He explained that the taste of honey varies because of the location of the hives and the plants the bees had pollinated. McCrady was fascinated. She has since invested a great deal of time learning to be a master beekeeper.

Becoming a beekeeper requires years of study, including lengthy mentorship. McCrady’s mentor, Robert Howard, is a Virginia Certified Master Beekeeper who has seen many people discontinue beekeeping because it’s more expensive and time-consuming than they’d anticipated. He describes McCrady’s ability to find the time and energy to be a wife, mother and beekeeper as “amazing” and admires how she has turned beekeeping into a family pastime.

McCrady hosts hive tours at her home and schools and even retirement communities.  Tammy Riggs, the principal of Colonial Elementary School in Troutville, brings her 5th grade leadership group to the apiary for tours and uses the bees to impart leadership lessons to her students. For example, she uses the fact that honeybees each have a specific role — forager, drone, queen, etc. — to reinforce the leadership lesson that “No man is an island.” Just as each bee’s role is necessary for the success of the hive, humans need to work together to be successful.

In addition to leadership lessons, the honeybees teach us about living in harmony with nature. Barrie Ely of Roanoke and her two young boys say that the most important lesson McCrady has taught them about honeybees is not to fear them.  Barrie says that they now feel “gratitude” for “hardworking bees” and that their “fear has turned into affection.”

McCrady’s dream is for everyone to have a hive in their backyard but understands that that’s not realistic for most people.  However, she says easy ways to help honeybees include creating a water source for them, leaving dandelions and white clover in your yard, planting flowering trees or donating to your local bee association.

Hive tours at Heritage Apiary will resume in May. More information about tours and delicious and healing honey products can be found at facebook.com/HeritageApiary.