The Smoky Mountain Beekeeping Association is hosting an Introduction to Beekeeping class from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Swain County Business Education Training Center, located at 45 E. Ridge Dr., Bryson City. 

The Smoky Mountain Beekeepers are welcoming N.C. Extension Agent Minda Daughtry to talk about how to support bees and other pollinators in personal gardens. 

No matter where you are in the world, if you encounter a plant that has a square stem and opposite leaf arrangement — when two leaves grow out of the stem at the same place, but on opposing sides — it is most likely a member of the mint family (Lamiaceae). 

Visit a hub of nature exploration and interactive programs focused on pollinators 10:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 24, at Highlands Nature Center, in honor of National Pollinator Week.

For Ash Rovecamp, keeping honeybees has never been about honey.

“I don’t really consider myself a beekeeper,” he said. “I’m a bee feeder. I hardly even go into my hives, have hardly even gotten honey for myself.”

Brannen Basham spends more time puttering around the yard than the average homeowner, but the result is not what most people would picture when asked to envision a well-cared-for lawn. 

In the lull between summer’s peak and fall’s color arrival, things are on the quiet side at the Highlands Biological Station as the gardens make their transition from summer blooms to autumn vibrancy. But for those who know where to look, a world of change and color waits ripe for discovery.

That’s the world of pollinators — the army of butterflies, bees, moths, flies and wasps whose diet of nectar keeps flowers flowering.