Honeybees: A Brief Overview and the Bees at Rose Hill

By Alice Askins, Site Manager of Rose Hill Mansion

A bee colony usually contains one queen bee, a fertile female; up to a few thousand drones, or fertile males; and a large population of sterile female worker bees.  The workers are the ones we usually see, and they have varied roles in the hive.  Eventually a worker goes outside the hive and spends the rest of her life as a forager. 

Foragers cooperate to find food and use a pattern of "dancing" to communicate with each other about the direction of a food source and how far it is from the hive.  In 1911 a bee keeper estimated that a quart of honey represented bees flying over 48,000 miles.

Honeybees establish new colonies by swarming. A mated queen and about 60% of the workers leave the hive.  The group clusters temporarily in a nearby location, and sends out 20 - 50 scouts to find suitable nest sites. A scout returning to the cluster promotes a location she found by dancing to tell the other bees about its direction and distance. The more excited she is about her findings the more excitedly she dances. If she can convince other scouts to check out the location she found, they may go to look at the site and join her in promoting it. Several sites may be promoted by different scouts at first, but after several hours (sometimes days,) of persuasion, a favorite location emerges. When all scouts agree on a site the cluster flies to it. Meanwhile in the original colony, the remaining bees have prepared for the change by raising a new queen.

People have managed honeybees for many millennia.  We use them not just for honey, but for commercial pollination of crops and other plants. Their pollination services are worth billions of dollars. That is why Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is so alarming. Beekeepers have seen slow declines of stock for many years.  In early 2007, North America experienced abnormally high die-offs (30–70%) of honeybee colonies, an unprecedented decline.   We don’t know why this is happening, but most of the evidence suggests that CCD is caused by a combination of factors rather than a single pathogen or poison.

Inside the back wall of the barn at Rose Hill we have had a colony of honey bees.   We think they were in there for years and may be descendants of the bees dislodged from the Rose Hill porch column in 1966.  Though the bees have not been aggressive, we decided to find them a better place to live.  The trouble was that while most bee keepers will collect bees that are swarming (out in the open looking for a new home) very few will actually open up a wall to take them out.  Fortunately we found a bee keeper who will.

Tammy Fazzi of Dryden is dedicated to the wellbeing of the species.  She will take colonies from barns, silos, and anyplace else she can reach with scaffolding and ladders.  On Wednesday May 8, Tammy and her assistant made the trek up to Rose Hill. 

After removing the first couple of boards with a crowbar, Tammy began to collect the bees in her special vacuum.  They were angrier than most bees she usually encounters.  Although she was wearing protective gear, bees crawled down inside her gloves, then up inside her sleeves, and stung her arms.  Some got up under her veil and stung her neck.  She had to stop and put on duct tape.  She said, incidentally, that when you have been stung many times, it does not hurt as much.  She would know, but it is hard to imagine.

I was hovering well back, taking pictures with a zoom lens.  Some of the bees came after me, and I decamped and hid in the carriage house for a while.  This meant that I missed the moment when Tammy cut a rectangle out of the wall with a sawzall and exposed the honey combs.

She took the combs out of the wall.  Some of them were very old and she discarded them.  Our hive had an unusually high proportion of comb containing drones, so she did not preserve all of that.  There were a lot of queen cups, or cells where queen bees had developed; this indicates that many populations have left the barn over the years to make new hives.  The combs she took were put into frames and the frames were placed into a box that holds them upright.  If a section of comb is turned upside down, the larvae in it will die.

The removal process took about three hours.  The bees settled down after their first fury, and I came back and took some more pictures.  Tammy estimated that there were 55,000 to 60,000 of them, and they totally filled up her bee vac.

The wall will be left opened for a while.  Tammy said that neighborhood bees will come and clean out the remnants of wax and honey, but they will not try to make another hive because the space is open.   She also said any bees that escaped the round-up will find homes in other hives.  It appears, though, that more bees than she anticipated were out and about while she was collecting, so now we are trying to find a beekeeper closer to us to come and take the orphans.  Fingers crossed.

Writing Exhibits

By John Marks, Curator of Collections and Exhibits

May and June are our traditional months to put up new exhibits in time for increased summer visitation. This year’s exhibits are Scientific Investigation: A History of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station and Geneva A-G (part one of a larger A-Z project).

I titled this “Writing Exhibits” rather than fabricating, creating, or designing exhibits. People come to museums for artifacts and photos, and for computers and electronic wizardry at larger museums, but they still learn primarily through reading. We think in panels, or posters; the main idea at the top of each panel should be short and clear, followed by images and slightly more complex (but still short) captions. The mantra I learned in graduate school was, “No one wants to read a book on the wall.” Main ideas should be kept to about 50 to 100 words at a time.

“Piece of cake!” I hear you say. However, “short writing” has its challenges. One hundred words require as much research as 10,000. Then that research is distilled and filtered into the “best stories” – what are the things upon which I should focus? In the case of the Experiment Station, it spans 131 years of scientific history that is unknown to people outside of agriculture. Do I cover all 131 years, or even do it by decade? Do I focus on some notable scientists and offend the families of those I didn’t think were notable? Do I explain all the science, or none of it?

View of the original Denton house and barns at the Experiment Station, around 1900.

Like any writing, there are steps in the process. Write anything, regardless of how bad it may be, to get the ball rolling. Step away and sleep on it. Rewrite, then hand over to co-workers for editing. (Any writer who says s/he has never been edited is probably lying.) Answer co-workers’ questions and in the process discover the really important ideas that you haven’t conveyed. Rewrite, and continue the process until the deadline looms.

Our main goal is to offer new information to our visitors in an easy-to-experience format. Our audience has varying levels of education, interest in Geneva, and time to spend in the museum. We try to present the “best stories” about a topic and hope it inspires people to learn more. As always, the staff is happy to talk with visitors and provide more information.

Scientific Investigation: A History of the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station will be on display until April 2014. Geneva A-G will be on display until January 2014, followed by Geneva H-N.

Museum Volunteers

By Karen Osburn, Archivist and Geneva City Historian 

I have a real soft spot for museum volunteers.  Once upon a time I was one and it led to a career in museum work that I still love.  I didn’t know when I made that first phone call and was offered a choice of volunteer duties that by choosing to work in the museum library I was going to one day become an archivist with 20 years of museum training under my belt.  That day all I knew was that I loved museums and libraries and it seemed like a great volunteer combination.

Our Geneva Historical Society volunteers come from all walks of life.  Some are retired and some are still working.  Some come for social contact and interaction, some for history, some because they want to contribute to their community and some because they love museums and research.  A couple of people who volunteered for me have gone on to become archivists and I would like to think that their exposure to archive work at our museum helped them make that decision.

With museums, as with many other non-profit organizations, volunteers are a tremendous help with day to day operations or with special events.  When a historical society owns several properties with numerous out buildings, has a limited budget and also a limited number of staff, the volunteers are extra hands, and brains.  They do all sorts of tasks from helping with artifact cataloging to taking photographs, baking cookies, working on fundraisers, working on landscaping, fixing things in buildings, painting, cleaning, greeting visitors, giving tours, running gift shops, helping researchers, washing and ironing table linens and gloves, and indexing records.  Some volunteers take on a long term project that may occupy them for years; others take a short term, one time only projects like helping with a workshop.  Some help once a year with a special event; others contribute their time weekly. 

The some volunteers assume responsibilities like finances, opening and closing of buildings and supervising other volunteers.  Why do they accept these large responsibilities for no pay?  Volunteers are special people.   Whatever their reason for helping an organization they are enjoying themselves or they would not give their time.  And of course, (in volunteering for a museum) there is the added bonus of seeing and handling various artifacts, whether historic, natural science or otherwise, every day.  Where else might you see a 150 year old chamber pot, a taxidermy passenger pigeon, or a tintype photo?  Depending on the museum you could even see Mastodon skeletons, whale bones, fossils of trilobites or flowers, suits of armor, or an Egyptian Mummy!   The different types of specialty museums are too numerous to mention here, but there is one for every interest.

Most museums rely on volunteers to some degree.  Some small museums are run entirely by volunteers.  Some museums add up volunteer hours and record them each year.  These hours are often cited in grant applications, sometimes for matching grants.

Volunteers add so much to the organization where they donate their time that it is hard to thank them enough.  We acknowledge our volunteers’ generosity with a luncheon in the autumn.  I invite you to consider becoming a volunteer somewhere.  The rewards are incredible.

 

My Geneva

By Kerry Lippincott, Executive Director

Last week the first installment of our exhibit, Geneva A to Z, opened.  Geneva A to Z is basically an alphabetical catalog of Geneva.  Every six months we will tackle a different set of letters.  The first set of letters is A to G.  Of course, this got me thinking what represents Geneva to me.

Doctors – Both my brother and I were born in Geneva General Hospital.  Before it moved to Lewis Street, our pediatrician’s office was located on North Street.    As someone who has worn glasses since the age of eight, annual visits to Mason Street Optical was the highlight of my year. 

Restaurants – Growing up my family had a tradition of going out dinner on the Fridays nights.  This often meant Alice’s, Pronti’s, Perkins or Pizza Hut.  Before my junior prom my friends and I had dinner at Mario’s, and the following year we celebrated my 18^th birthday at Nonna’s.   My first “grown-up” dinner (no parents and I used my own money) was at Cobblestone.  And I can’t forget Friendly’s.  For five years I lived in Kansas and there are NO Friendly’s in the entire state of Kansas.  A visit home was not complete without at least one visit to Friendly’s.

Smith Opera House – From the ages of 5 to 11, I danced my way across the stage for an annual dance recital.  I also think my love of the theater can be connected to a production of The Nutcracker.

Elizabeths (or the three Elizabeths) – An interest of mine is women’s history and the first Elizabeth is Elizabeth Blackwell.  In recent months, however, I’ve discovered two other Elizabeths – painter Elizabeth Carson and Elizabeth Ricord.

Stores - Lots of stores come to mind.  Browsing in Guard Cards or the Village Store.  Trips with Dad to purchase concerts tickets at Area Records.  I’ve forgotten the name of the store but it was on Seneca Street and it was one of the few places that sold Anne of Green Gables products.   Buying candy for my grandmothers at Fanny Farmers.    Many pairs of shoes were purchased at the DiDuro’s.

History – My own family history is deeply connected to Geneva.  My great-grandparents lived on Pulteney Street.  Cal was a volunteer fireman and Ada worked as a cleaning lady at the colleges.  Both of my grandmothers graduated from Geneva High.  Grandma Updyke worked her entire career at the  American Can and Grandpa Lippincott was the maintenance man at an apartment complex.  During her college years, Mom student taught in the Geneva City School District.  My parents met at Mario’s and during their first few years of marriage they lived in various apartments around the city.

Routes 5 and 20 – During the summer of 2003 I had an internship at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls.  Twice a day for three months I drove through Geneva on Routes 5 and 20.

Home – Happy to call Geneva home.

What’s your Geneva?  Come see Geneva A to Z and share your own stories.

Rose Hill Farm, Sustainable Agriculture, c. 1860

By Anne Dealy, Director of Education and Public Information

In May of 1850 Robert and Margaret Swan took up residence at their new property on Seneca Lake. According to several sources, the farm was not in great shape, but had, as we might say today, potential. Certainly Robert knew this from his time living on the Johnston Farm just next door. Rose Hill Farm was comprised of 350 acres and was purchased by Robert's parents as a wedding gift for the young couple. The previous owners, the VanGiesons and their relative, William Strong (builder of the mansion), had not been farmers and probably leased the land out to tenants who farmed it. As a consequence:

"It was then in the ordinary condition of farms in that section of country, and being a wet, tenacious soil, the crops were, except in very favorable seasons, small. The farm was very indifferently fenced—filled with swales and sunken places, where coarse aquatic grasses and noxious weeds had full possession. Here was a work of no ordinary importance for a young man, just entering upon his career, as a farmer." [New York Agricultural Society Transactions, 1857].

Sale notice for Rose Hill farm, 1847

Likely too busy to keep much account of his doings the first year after his marriage, we have no records of his farming during 1850. He probably spent much of that time repairing fences and deciding what he would plant and where. We have both an account book he kept from 1851 to 1862 and a journal of his activities on the farm for 1851 to 1858. These, combined with family letters and articles about farming in the state farm journals, give us a fair idea of how he worked his farm.

Robert, like his mentor and father-in-law John Johnston, grew wheat as his chief crop. He also grew oats, corn and grass for forage (timothy grass and clover) every year. Some years he mentions barley and buckwheat, but it is unclear if he grew these annually. He had sheep, cattle and pigs on the farm, as well as horses for transportation.

In upstate New York farmers plant wheat in the fall and harvest in early July. Robert must have planted in fall of 1850 because he started harvesting 58 acres of wheat on July 19 and wrote it looked to be a "fare [sic] crop." The next year did not go so well, beginning with dry weather in September when he planted the wheat and a cold spring. These conditions were followed by grasshoppers at harvest time. By July he wrote, "My wheat looks miserable enough. I don't think I will Average 10 Bushels an Acre. I Shall only sow 25 or 30 Acres of wheat this Fall. Drain more, manure more, & have more of my farm in grass, & by this means I will by & by make more grass, & by this means I will by & by make more out of it than having so much in crop."

Genesee Farmer, November 1858

And drain he did. Over the next two years he laid over 60 miles of drain tile on 305 of his acreage. He reported that this cost him $0.30 per rod (16.5 feet) or $96.00 per mile. This brought the total cost of drainage to $5,823. He wrote in his application for the State Farm Premium, "This land reclaimed, is now equal to any land upon the farm, and in the field of 60 acres of wheat raised the present year [1857], about fifteen acres of it was land reclaimed; and the wheat upon that portion was equal to the very best of the field." [NYAS Transactions, 1857]. His wheat yields grew from five bushels an acre in 1852 to 20 bushels per acre in 1857, a year when the wheat midge damaged portions of the crop. By 1862, Rose Hill averaged 40 bushels an acre, just short of the modern American average of 46 bushels for a non-irrigated farm.

He followed Johnston's method of farming: raise sheep and cattle for manure, meat, milk and wool; raise grass, corn, and clover for feed and bedding straw; spread rotted straw and manure on the fields to feed the crops; sell livestock and butter for cash; use cash and credit to drain the land. Johnston and Swan also made sure to rotate crops, leaving wheat fields fallow for portions of the year or growing clover on them to restore the soil's fertility. In many ways, this is what we would today call a sustainable system. Swan grew crops to feed livestock, and the livestock fed the land to grow better crops. According to one article about the farm, every crop grown on it was consumed except wheat, which was the most profitable crop to sell.

 

Ad for Albany tile works in 1858 Cultivator magazine

This method relied on a formula of "Dung, Drainage and Credit." The farmer needed to drain and manure. To do both he needed credit until his farm proved profitable. While John Johnston had to invest his profits in draining his land a little at a time, Robert Swan's access to credit (likely due to his father's connections) meant he could drain his entire farm more quickly and profit more quickly. Even the modern farmer would probably say that with credit, nearly anything in farming is possible.

Engines and Silver Trumpets

By Alice Askins, Site Manager of Rose Hill Mansion 

While looking for information on the naming of Linden Avenue (said to have been named for singer Jenny Lind) I read the Geneva village meeting minutes from the early 1850s and there is a lot there that is interesting.  One topic that takes up a lot of space in the minutes is fire – not surprising in a world of fireplaces and wooden buildings.

The American Fireman by Currier and Ives ca 1858 

Firefighting has a long history, dating back at least to the third century BC in Egypt.  There is evidence of firefighting machinery from that era, including a water pump invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria.  Here in the New World, as early as 1631, Boston governor John Winthrop outlawed wooden chimneys and thatched roofs.  In 1648, Peter Stuyvesant of New Amsterdam appointed fire wardens (men who inspected all chimneys and could fine people who violated the rules).  Later there were fire watchmen who patrolled the streets at night, alerted the citizens to fires, and organized bucket brigades.  In 1678 the first fire engine company went into service.  

The United States did not have government-run fire departments until around 1860.  Before that, private fire brigades competed with each other to be the first to respond to a fire, because insurance companies paid brigades to save buildings.  There were even some incidents in New York City where buildings burned down while rival companies engaged in fist fights to determine who got to put out the fire. In 1853, the Cincinnati, Ohio fire department became the first full-time paid professional fire department in the United States, and the first in the world to use steam fire engines.   In Geneva, the fire companies appear to have worked closely with the village government.

Based on the minutes the exact organization of the fire fighters is unclear.  There seem to have been four companies in 1851, and a fifth company added the next year.  There are some variations in names, though – is Hook and Ladder Company #3 the same as Fire Company #3?  We do, however, find some clues about how the fire fighters worked with the village. The companies presented lists of new members and officers to the village board for formal approval.  The companies apparently handled their own discipline.  For example, on June 2 1851 “Patrick Bradley was Expelled for disorderly Conduct” from Company #4 and the board was informed.

The companies often requested money from the village for new equipment, although it seems they also spent their own money for the newest in hoses and engines.  In 1851, one of the companies proposed to buy a new engine for $500.  They did not want the village to help pay for it, but asked approval to go ahead with the purchase.  In other cases that year, the village board voted $300 for a new “aparatus” for Hook and Ladder Company #3, and $800 for a new engine for Fire Company #2.  In July, the board gave permission for Engine Company No 1 to “Erect an aparatus for Drying their Hose not to exceed $8.00 at the Expence [sic] of the Corporation.”  To give these figures some context, the farm workers at Rose Hill were earning $10 per month.

Geneva also had fire wardens.  In May of 1851, the board resolved “that the Fire wardens . . . are hereby directed to report to this Board . . . how they find the condition of the Village as to the liability to fire or unlawful deposit of Powder and usual deposit of ashes and all Such other things pertaining to their office . . .”  The next January, we find “On Motion Resolved – that the Fire Wardens give notice again to all delinquents in their beat – that the fine as fixed by the Bylaws will be enforced unless they comply with their requirements immediately – Whereas It has been reported to this Board that J.S. & H.C. Prouty, Wm [sic] Hudson and Prouty & Chew have violated the Village By Laws – by keeping a greater quantity of Gun Powder on their premises than allowed by Law – Therefore Resolved – that they be proceeded against for Violation of Chapter 3 Section 4: & 5: [sic] of the Village By Laws.“  It seems that Phineas Prouty (of Prouty and Chew) must have changed his ways after that, because in October of 1853, the board appointed him, Ira Powers, and Abel Steer as Fire Wardens.  They replaced three men who were “removed from office . . .  for not attending to the duties of said office,” and fined $10 apiece.  

A variety of fire-related issues came before the village board.  In May of 1852, the board resolved that “Franklin Ally [sic] be repaired and kept clear of obstructions, so that the Engines can have ready access to the Lake.  Also Res[olved] that the entrance to the park reservoir be widened so that the engines can have ready access to the same.”   The village approved accessory expenses for the fire companies – “Resolved that the trustees, Fire Wardens and Police Constables be furnished with appropriate badges to be worn at fires.”   “A bill for 4 Brass torches or Lamps for fire companys [sic] was presented by W Hayward $3.75 each $15.00 ordered paid.”  The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department was authorized to purchase a German Silver Horn or trumpet for the use of the Fire Department, not to exceed $25.  The board also authorized payment to the chief engineer of $2.50 for repairs to his hat. The minutes, however, do not tell us what happened to it.

Fireman with trumpet, Litchfield Connecticut, ca. 1850s

The village board had some control over the use of the fire equipment.  In 1853, the trustees authorized their president “to forbid the Fire companies from using their Machines for any other purpose than for Fires and ordinary exercises unless by consent of the Trustees.”  They granted their consent when “Ocean Engine Company No. 1 asked permission to take their Engine to Rochester in September next at the time of the State fair.”  Perhaps in partial return for such consideration, in October 1853, the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department invited the board to the Fireman’s Tournament in the public park on the 19^th.

Geneva's Changing Waterfront

John Marks, Curator of Collections and Exhibits

Geneva’s Changing Waterfront was the name of a 1989 exhibit and catalogue by researcher Kathryn Grover. The title sounds “ripped from the headlines,” as some TV shows say. Seneca Lake and its shore have always been valuable commodities to Geneva but the nature of that value is always changing.

The lake offered food and transportation for Native Americans. They had no known towns on the lake – those were situated on hilltops for defensive reasons – but in the summer people camped on the shore to catch and dry fish. This was especially true in the shallow areas near inlets and outlets where it was easier to wade out and use nets. A canoe could travel up the Seneca River and east almost to the Mohawk River; after a short carry, it could continue out to the Hudson River.

Early sketch of South Main Street from the lake, 1790s

American settlers valued the bluff that became South Main Street for its view and healthy air. Land around the foot of the lake (the Finger Lakes flow south to north, so the north is the “foot”) was swampy and people who lived near it contracted “Genesee fever,” probably a form of malaria. Land agent Charles Williamson laid out the new village on the high ground; today’s Pulteney Park was the central business district, with homes down Main Street and nearby. The bottom land was occupied by warehouses and less-affluent citizens.

The lake was a major transportation route from the 1790s until the early 20^th century. Lake schooners and steamboats carried produce and goods from around the lake to Geneva, which became an inland port when the Erie Canal was completed in 1825. (The Seneca-Cayuga Canal was in operation prior to 1825.) Steamers hauled “gangs” of barges on the lake between the Seneca-Cayuga in the north and the Chemung Canal in the south.

Factories were always portrayed with smoking stacks; no smoke meant no work.

Commerce has always located near the best transportation routes. Factories and warehouses built docks along the downtown lakefront. Hotels, taverns, billiard rooms, and bordellos on Exchange Street served the lake and canal traffic. Until the 20^th century, respectable businesses were located on upper Seneca and Castle Streets, away from the riff-raff.

In the 1950s, the lakefront was again valued as a transportation route, this time for a bypass around downtown. Almost a million tons of fill were used to expand the shoreline so Routes 5 & 20 could avoid local streets. Divided highways were laid out with a wide grassy median. The downtown lakefront had no perceived value until the 1980s when the roads were moved to the west, creating room for development.

The original arterial design, 1960s

This is a simplified history of the waterfront. A more complicated version includes a century-long debate about how to use the lakeshore closest to downtown. From 1916 to the 1950s, Lakeside Park, at the end of Castle Street, was a pleasant recreational site but it took eleven years of heated debate to be built. The Historical Society has blueprints, master plans, and recommendations for waterfront development dating back to 1935. They range from a mix of industry, retail, and recreation, to single-use options. New reports are added to our archives every few years.

This 1935 proposal for a park begins at Lake Street (far left). The eastern portion, not shown here, included ball fields and a marina, similar to what was finally built in the 1960s as Seneca Lake State Park.

I’ll refrain from giving an opinion on lakefront development; I’m one person, and this is a hot topic. I will say that the Historical Society is a great resource for anyone seeking the “long view” of the lakefront’s history. We have maps, photographs, postcards, and the aforementioned plans and studies. Geneva’s Changing Waterfront: 1779-1989 is out of print but used copies may be found in local stores and the Geneva Public Library should have a copy as well. (We are considering digitizing the book and offering on-demand copies in the future.)