Waccabuc Landowners Council

By Linda Brody
•    The honey we eat is nectar that bees have repeatedly regurgitated and dehydrated. It is a pure product that needs no refrigeration or further processing.

•    In one trip, a honeybee, wings beating at 11,000 cycles per minute, will fly at a speed of 15 mph to visit between 50 and 100 flower blossoms.

•    Bees visit 2 million blossoms to gather four pounds of nectar to produce one pound of honey.

•    To visit 2 million blossoms, bees must fly 55,000 miles, which is equivalent to flying around the world twice.

•    The average hive has from 50,000 to 75,000 honeybees. Each one lives for only six weeks and makes only one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime.

•    It takes eight pounds of honey, the result of 16 million visits to blossoms, for a bee to produce one pound of beeswax.

•    Each year bees pollinate ninety-five crops worth an estimated $10 billion in the United States alone.

Reprinted from an article in New Canaan-Darien Magazine, by Leslie Chess Feller, May 2007

One Sunday morning in late August, our local apiarist Jim Henry, invited me over to take a look at his hives; the “girls” were still busy, busy, busy.  He had already done the major harvesting of this year’s honey crop the week before, but there were still a few minor chores to attend to.  He showed me his bee-keeping set-up in the basement of their home (where many fascinating historical artifacts of previous Mead family owners are kept), where he extracts the honey from the honeycombs and scrapes the beeswax from the frames, as preparation for the next year’s harvest.  The Henry flower and vegetable gardens as well as a vineyard are all visible from Mead Street; all have a symbiosis with the local hive members, each relying on the other for its very existence.   Susan and Jim engaged in some friendly banter about the pros and cons of vegetable vs. flower gardens while I took some pictures as proof that both were thriving.  Thus far, Jim has not had too much of a problem with CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder); his annual yield is about 75 bottles (guess what everyone in the family gets at Christmas-time….).  Bees range out about 3 miles from the hive, looking for nectar and cross-pollinating in the process.  It’s a continuing challenge to keep a hive healthy and happy, in light of the use of pesticides, parasitic mites and bacteria, environmental pollutants, reduction of open field space, and other stress-inducing factors.  Hmmmm, not dissimilar to us humans…..Next time you see a small busy bee, make her welcome.

Bats are an important part of our local ecosystem and a sustainable way to control mosquitoes. Here are some reasons you may want to install a bat house on your property

•    A bat can eat 1,200 mosquitoes an hour. One bat can eat up to it’s full body weight in insects nightly.

•    They also pollinate flowers, and even disperse seeds that help forests grow.

•    Up to 98% of the seeds dropped in cleared areas in tropical rainforests are dispersed by bats, making these animals critical to tropical reforestation efforts.

BAT MYTHS DEBUNKED
o    Will attracting bats to bat houses in my yard increase the likelihood that they will move into my attic or wall spaces?
No. If bats liked your attic or wall spaces, they probably would already be living there.

o    Will having bat houses in my yard interfere with attracting birds?
No. They will not compete, either for food or space.

o    What are the odds that a sick bat will endanger my family with rabies?
Fewer than ten people in over 50 years have contracted rabies from North American bat species that commonly live in bat houses. Like all mammals, bats can contract rabies, though very few do (less than half of one percent). Unlike many other animals, even rabid bats rarely become aggressive. They quickly die from the disease, and outbreaks in their colonies are extremely rare.

BAT HOUSE OPTIONS
Installing a bat house on your property is easy. Place on a tree high off the ground, about fifteen feet, where it will get afternoon sun. Because bats like heat, some even recommend painting the bat house black.

You can buy bat houses locally at Wild Birds Unlimited (532 Bedford Rd, Bedford Hills) and Mill River Supply (365 Adams St, Bedford Hills). Order one pre-made here or here.

*factoids from Organization for Bat Conservation and Bat Rescue of Southern California

The Land Preservation committee has a new focus on sustainability. One thing we’re doing is creating a bluebird trail on the Nature Conservancy land by the lake.

Tis the season to encourage bluebirds to Waccabuc as they return to the area. If you want to put up a bluebird house on your property, it’s easy! Here are some tips from the North American Bluebird Society.

• Mount on a pole, ideally metal, to make it more difficult for predators to access
• The house should have a 5″ overhang to, again, deter predators
• There shouldn’t be a perch (the bluebirds don’t need them)
• It is imperative that all bluebird nest boxes open readily from the top, side, or front to facilitate box monitoring and cleaning
• The box opening should also face away from direct sun exposure and away from the wind. They like the open space of a field.

Surf on over to their site for more information. Nest boxes are available for purchase there or locally at Wild Birds Unlimited (532 Bedford Rd, Bedford Hills), Mill River Supply (365 Adams St, Bedford Hills), or Kellogg & Lawrence in Katonah.

Hopefully you’ll be seeing bluebirds in town–and on your property–soon!

Help the Lewisboro Land Trust and Westchester Land Trust inaugurate the first annual Leon Levy Winter Walk and Environmental Symposium by participating in two great events on the weekend of February 28-March 1.

On Saturday afternoon, February 28, Andrew C. Revkin, the New York Times science reporter, will discuss global warming, sustainability, the news media and land preservation in a talk called “DOT EARTH: 9 Billion People + 1 Planet = ?” at the first Leon Levy Environmental Symposium.

It will be held in the Carriage House of the Waccabuc Country Club, from 4 to 6 p.m.

The next day – Sunday, March 1 – join us at the Leon Levy Preserve for a winter walk through the woods.

Both events are in honor of the late philanthropist Leon Levy. The Winter Walk and Environmental Symposium are being organized by Westchester Land Trust and its local chapter, the Lewisboro Land Trust, and are generously sponsored by the Jerome Levy Foundation, of which Leon Levy was the primary benefactor.

Both are free and open to the public, although seating is limited at the Environmental Symposium and reservations are recommended. For a reservation, email info@westchesterlandtrust.com.

In addition to Andrew Revkin, the symposium will feature two local experts – Paul Gallagher and Guy Hodges – who will give a brief history of the preserve. Revkin’s talk will follow.

Revkin, who lives in Garrison, has vast experience in covering science and the environment, for the Times and other publications. Here’s his bio:

“One of America’s most honored science writers, Andrew C. Revkin has spent a quarter century providing ground-breaking coverage of subjects ranging from the Asian tsunami to the assault on the Amazon, from the politics of climate to science at the North Pole. He has been an environment reporter for The New York Times since 1995. His coverage of climate change was honored with the John Chancellor Award for sustained journalistic excellence in 2008, and won the inaugural National Academies Communication Award for print journalism, presented by the National Academy of Sciences, the United States’ preeminent scientific body. He has twice won the Science Journalism Award of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and, along with other prizes, has won an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award.

He is a pioneer in multimedia journalism, filing audio, video, and award-winning photography along with his stories from far-flung places. With his Dot Earth blog (nytimes.com/dotearth), which Time Magazine calls a “must read,” Revkin has become what the magazine says is the “de factor moderator” of the national discourse on global warming.

Revkin has written several books, including The Burning Season, on the murder of Amazon defender Chico Mendes, which was awarded the Sidney Hillman Foundation Book Prize and a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and was made into the HBO film of the same name, which won three Golden Globes and two Emmys. His newest book, and first for younger readers, is The North Pole Was Here: Puzzles and Perils at the Top of the World, on the once and future Arctic. He has a biology degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia. He has taught at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism and Bard College.
In scraps of spare time, Mr. Revkin is also a performing songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He accompanies Pete Seeger on occasion at regional shows and performs with his own rural-roots band, Uncle Wade (myspace.com/unclewade). He lives in the Hudson Valley with his wife, who is a science educator, and two sons.”

The Sunday walk of the Leon Levy Preserve will honor Leon Levy and give a nod of thanks to the Lewisboro residents who, in the late 1990s, staged winter walks of the 386-acre tract, known then as the Bell property, as a way to build support for public acquisition.  The Town of Lewisboro bought the property in 2005, with the help of the Jerome Levy Foundation, the Dextra Baldwin McGonagle Foundation, New York City and Westchester Land Trust.

Westchester Land Trust and Lewisboro Land Trust send their sincere thanks to the Jerome Levy Foundation and to Shelby White, whose late husband, Leon Levy, was the foundation’s primary benefactor.

COME TO A GREAT CONCERT AND HELP PROTECT OPEN SPACE IN LEWISBORO!

Sunday, July 13th at Mead Memorial Chapel, Waccabuc, at 4:00 PM

Hear the AMAZING ANTIOCH BAPTIST CHOIR perform at the Mead Chapel
with a wine & cheese reception on the lawn following the concert

Tickets: $60

Info: sushenry@optonline.net

The attached link is an article from The Lewisboro Ledger, printed on June 12, 2008 – recognizing local Waccabuc resident Susan Henry and her significant achievements for the Lewisboro Land Trust and the Waccabuc Land Trust in land preservation in Westchester County over the last 20 years.

Lewisboro Ledger article

“Trees for Tribs” Program – replanting Waccabuc Creek

A team made up of members of the Three Lakes Council, NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, The Nature Conservancy, the John Jay High School AP Environmental Science classes, and the Town of Lewisboro combined on May 20th and 21st on a significant project in our watershed.

The Waccabuc Creek is a small tributary that flows under East Ridge Road, through the Waccabuc Country Club, beside the Waccabuc Post Office, and eventually across The Nature Conservancy’s Long Pond Preserve and into Lake Waccabuc. The stream is extremely flashy, so rain events produce large, sediment rich stormwater flows, which erode the stream banks, and carry pollution downstream. The baseflow is also quite low in the summer. All these made the spot an ideal candidate for planting a riparian buffer.

Riparian (streamside) buffers are a major component to maintaining healthy streams and water. These buffers, composed of trees, shrubs, and grasses, help to reduce the amount of pollution entering waterways by slowing down and filtering runoff. By extending retention time, buffers also help to reduce flooding and erosion. They also stabilize shorelines and absorb high velocity flows. Buffer plants can also shade and cool the stream waters. In addition, riparian buffers serve an important role for wildlife as a shoreline transition zone, and increase the overall biodiversity. The improvement in stream ecology also promotes more biodiversity in the stream as well.

The Hudson River Estuary Program’s “Trees for Tribs” Initiative, in partnership with the New York Water Resources Institute at Cornell University, offers free native trees and shrubs for qualifying projects in the Hudson River Estuary watershed within the State of New York from the Verrazano Narrows Bridge to the Troy Dam. The initiative’s goal is to replant 750 miles along tributaries by 2015.

John Jay High School’s AP Environmental Science Classes have been sampling this stream as part of the Westchester County’s Citizen’s Monitoring Program during spring and fall for the past several years. On May 20th, they joined the combined groups to help plant about 700 feet of the Waccabuc Creek streamside, to help improve the stream conditions. A significant amount of barberry was also removed by volunteers from Three Lakes Council and a steward from The Nature Conservancy. The Town of Lewisboro waived the fee for a wetlands permit.

The DEC provided a mix of 200 native trees and shrubs, as well as, tree tubes and weed mats for this project. The shrubs, which are about 60% of the plants, are typically 12” to 30”+ tall, bareroot seedlings. Trees are typically a combination of 4’-6’+ tall, 2-4’ tall, and 15-30” tall containerized saplings. The planting occurred on May 21^st. From Mead Street, you can see about 80 yellow tree shelters; the new shrubs are less visible right now. Thanks to everyone involved in this important project intended to improve the water quality in Waccabuc Creek and Lake Waccabuc.

Whether it was the offer of coffee and donuts, the soft spring morning, the prospects of winning a prize, the stipulated time limit for the event or just the efforts of the Beautification Committee – whatever it was, it worked! 22 Waccabuceans (our largest turn-out ever) showed up at the Post Office at 8:30 am, signed up for one of our 21 streets and then armed with a garbage bag large enough to hold a body, set forth to see what litter could be discovered. It was enough people so that every road in our hamlet was covered on foot. Everyone remarked on their return (approximately an hour later) that although the roadsides looked clean enough as you drove along, once you actually got out on foot, the detritus revealed itself. As might be expected, the entrances into our community were particularly hard-hit and thus benefited from the collective effort. Our prize winners (geranium plants) were: Ingrid and Eugene Albert for the Largest Haul; Kate and Steve Howell’s son, Pete, for the Most Unusual Item – a blue buoy.

As you can see by the photo, there were some rather different items (in addition to the usual cigarette wrappings, broken beer and alcohol bottles and various kinds of food wrappings). We all particularly wondered about the story behind the small motor and the black padded lacy bra….

Our many thanks to all the participants for their hard work. Of course the sad frustration is that it’s a never-ending chore; a constant year-long effort. We know there are also many others of you that pick up garbage on your own time when you see it and for this we all thank you! The photos are evidence enough that this is a good and needed thing, both for our hamlet and the environment.