Where food grows on the New Hampshire Seacoast, it is likely with the help of Joe Marttila's honeybees. His company, SeaBee Honey, manages numerous apiaries in towns such as Epping, Stratham, Exeter, Rye, Hampton Falls and North Hampton with the mission to preserve both pollinators and farmland in the Seacoast of New Hampshire.
In addition to being a beekeeper, and a computer software professional, Marttila is also a historian who will share the history of beekeeping from colonial times to the present day on
Saturday, June 22, at 7 p.m., at the Tuck Museum.
Join Marttila, along with some of his bees and their honey, and learn about the importance of honeybees to the development of the New World. He will also discuss the history of local beekeepers such as Hampton's founder Stephen Bachiler, whose "rouge bees" contributed to the founding of Hampton in 1638, and Arthur Sherburne, whose apiary on Mill Road helped inspire Marttila to take up beekeeping.
Marttila will also discuss how honeybees in particular are vital to agriculture, as well as why bee populations and native pollinators are in decline and what we can do to help.
All are invited to attend this free program.
