Free Library of Philadelphia | Philadelphia Beekeeping Before 1719

Keeping bees (apiculture) was new to North America in the 1600s, brought to the north-east by English and German colonists to produce honey and wax. The earliest record of apiculture in Pennsylvania explains how German settlers in Germantown kept honeybees, cultivated honey and wax, and celebrated bees with poems and stories.

Miranda Mote, PhD is a historian, artist, and educator based in Philadelphia and the 2023-24 Garden Club of America / Prince Charitable Trusts Rome Prize, Landscape Architecture Fellow. She teaches history and design, works with children in K-12 schools and public venues, designs teaching games for children, and is currently writing an arts focused literacy and botany curriculum of lessons designed especially for children that live in urban environments. She established Botanography in 2022 as a non-profit to directly serve students and families in Philadelphia County and believes that every school should have a garden classroom where students can connect with plants every day.

This program can be attended in the Skyline Room on Parkway Central's Fourth Floor. No registration required. Join us earlier in the afternoon for a bee inspired children's activity for children first grade and up. Learn more here.

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