RISE Life Services beekeeping program is so sweet

Something is a-buzz at RISE Life Services, where two of the organization’s clients, Lily Serrano and Ryan Delsoto, have been learning the basics of beekeeping. The day program added two hives of honeybees to their sensory garden three years ago, with the intention of providing an engaging outlet for their participants. 

“We thought that it would be something that would enhance the garden — for us to be able to raise bees and to teach the individuals about bees and harvesting honey,” said JoAnn Vitale, operations director.

Participants learn about the bees and their upkeep, maintain the sensory garden habitat, and when the time comes to harvest, they help extract the honey from the frames and put it into jars. This honey is available in RISE’s food pantry and is also available to the general public for a donation.

“It is fun for us, and we like making the honey for everyone. We’re trying to get more people to help with the bees. It is fun for us helping Sean,” said Mr. Delsoto. “Last week we planted flowers all around the sensory garden for the bees. It makes everything look nice and is good for the bees. We planted flowers, moved some rocks around and other things. In the winter, we helped with the honey water to feed the bees.”

“We both helped extract honey last year,” said Ms. Serrano. “I really like harvesting. I use honey to put in my tea. I took some home and everyone liked it. It tastes really good.”

The participants are not involved in the day-to-day maintenance of the hives. This task falls to Sean Aube, the facility’s groundskeeper, who was trained by Chris Kelly, master beekeeper at Promise Land Apiaries. 

“Chris Kelly trained me on how to do the beekeeping. And then we got our first hives through him, and we just started the program up,” said Mr. Aube. “[The participants are] two adults with disabilities who are eager and willing to learn and enjoy all aspects of bees. They live off site, and they come here to interact with each other and to learn basic skills and job opportunities.”

Both Mr. Delsoto and Ms. Serrano are careful of the bees when they are in the garden.

“I’m not afraid of the bees. I’ve never been stung. I think some people are afraid they’ll get stung,” said Mr. Delsoto. “I tell people to be careful going by the greenhouse ‘cause I don’t want them to get stung.” 

“I got stung once, but I’m not afraid of the bees,” said Ms. Serrano.

Besides extracting the honey, Ms. Serrano and Mr. Delsoto also label the jars before they are distributed.

“We write messages on the labels before we put them on the jars. I like making up the labels,” said Mr. Delsoto.

“I like putting honey in the bottles and putting the labels on. I like writing the notes on the labels,” said Ms. Serrano.

The sensory garden has become a central part of the RISE program on their eastern campus. Besides the beehives, there are water features and a greenhouse where individuals can learn about raising vegetables. They also plan to add a chicken coop this year.

“The sensory garden is probably the gem of the agency — it’s beautiful. It’s got streams and waterfalls. We really made it a sensory garden area, where they can do agriculture and learn,” said Charles Evdos, CEO of RISE Life Services. “It goes hand in hand with our program in Huntington, which features art, music, dance and a jobs program. It really gives them a variety of things they could do.”

Ms. Serrano said she is going to suggest that they make a recipe using their honey. Mr. Delsoto enjoys putting the honey on his cereal.

“People get a kick out of it when I bring them honey,” said Mr. Delsoto. “I would like to learn more and become a beekeeper.”