Buzzing About Our Fun

Did you hear the buzz? If not read on while we tell you about the honey of a day we had. Yes, the puns are bad but our day was really sweet. Day 2 of 4-H Arts and Crafts Day Camp was one spent on the road with some great stops.

We started at Robeson Community College with Ed Hunt from the BioAg Network. He gave our day campers an up close look at bees. Hunt keeps hives at the college and was able to load a frame of bees from his hive into a box for our youth to see up close and personally. They learned about the life span of bees and the need for different types of bees. One of the items the youth used to craft with on Monday was bees wax which they saw the bees making in the frame. They will also use bees wax later in the week. Hunt also taught the youth about the medicinal purpose of the bees and then gave them a tour of the campus. They saw different learning areas such as a science lab, greenhouse, and kitchen for cooking and catering lessons. The youth said they learned a great deal and are looking out for all the natural elements that can be used in making Arts and Crafts.

After lunch we headed up to Fayetteville. Just Clayin' Around is a shop that has pottery which you can paint and they will fire for you. Our group chose plates and mugs. After a brief and wonderful lesson we set out to paint. Each time we painted something we had to let it dry and paint over it three more times so the color will come out bright and strong when it is fired. One of the most difficult parts is not knowing exactly how the piece will look as you paint it. After painting the owners have to let the piece dry overnight and then they glaze it and fire it in a kiln which can get up to 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. Now that is hot. In about a week we will be able to pick up our pieces and see how we did.

Tomorrow we will be back at the 4-H office with various volunteers and fun. Stay tuned as we put it all together tomorrow.