Beekeepers Association members knocked on then-president Irvin Rackley’s hotel room door that night in 1994 to ask him if he would be responsible for creating an observation hive at the zoo. No one had any idea that Rackley, a long-time Farm Bureau member, would take that idea and turn it into something even larger.

“Fifteen years later we’re standing here dedicating this exhibit,” says Dr. John Ambrose, entomologist and director of the Master Beekeeper Program of the N.C. State Beekeepers Association. “And it wouldn’t be possible without his dedication.”

In addition to Rackley’s tenacious drive to create more than just an observation hive, several other groups pulled together to help make the dream possible. N.C. State Beekeepers Association, N.C. Farm Bureau, Syngenta and zoo society donors raised $243,507 to make the exhibit possible. N.C. Farm Bureau donated $25,000 for the exhibit.

“It was a combined effort of a lot of groups working together,” Ambrose says.

“Science knows 1 million species of insects, but we’re delighted to showcase this one insect,” says North Carolina Zoo Director David Jones. “We focused on the garden to show the connection to man and our interest in agriculture.”

The exhibit, officially dubbed Honey Bee Garden, is home to more than 20,000 honeybees donated by John Wright of Mt. Gilead. There is a large garden area with plants the bees help pollinate and use to create honey. Large sculptures offer an over-sized view into a bee’s world. The hive can be observed from behind a glass enclosure, and detailed graphics help to explain each part of the process.

The goal of the Honey Bee Garden is to educate visitors about the importance of bees. “Most people can equate honeybees with honey, but they’re also important for pollination,” says N.C. Commissioner of Agriculture Steve Troxler. “When someone sits down to eat a piece of fresh fruit, we want them to think about the bee that got it there.”

Ambrose says it’s natural to think about the honeybee’s role in diet and the economy. “But they’re also an important part of our history, folklore and tradition,” Ambrose says. “Honeybees permeate everyday life. If they disappeared, think of the consequences. The Legislature would have to meet to determine a new state insect,” Ambrose jokes.

The reality is honeybees account for an estimated $70 million of North Carolina’s agriculture industry between pollination and honey, and to see the honeybee disappear from society would be a devastating blow to agriculture. The importance of the zoo exhibit is immeasurable.

“It’s hard to put into words,” says commercial beekeeper and Washington County Farm Bureau member Wayne Rose. “Twenty percent of the kids in the state come through here. People learn about how honeybees die, but we want to show them how they live. They can look at the observation hives and see a hands-on answer.”

“We want young people to see the bees and know how important it is not to step on them. Not because they’re afraid of being stung, but because of the importance for what it does for food,” Rose says. “Even the way we portray what the bee does has an impact.”

The decline of the wild honeybee and the emergence of colony collapse disorder has caused a public stir.

N.C. State Extension Apiculturist David Tarpy says the publicity colony collapse disorder has generated has been beneficial for education. “The silver lining is that there has been a surge in new beekeepers in the state. It’s been a mass education campaign in many ways.”

Tarpy says he hopes the exhibit will drive home the importance of honeybees.

And so Rackley’s dream that sprouted 15 years ago has finally become a reality. “You can look across the U.S. and around the world and not see another place that compares with this,” Rackley says. “I want to let this garden be an untold inspiration to millions.”

Each year, the week leading up to Thanksgiving is designated as National Farm-City Week and is recognized across the country. Since 1955, the nationally observed week has been dedicated to recognizing agriculture’s impact on everyday life.

Local Farm-City Week events celebrate the connection of the people who grow the food with the people who eat it. Farmers, ranchers and others involved in the agriculture community are honored for their hard work and what they contribute to society and to the American economy.

Many North Carolina communities are involved with Farm-City celebrations, including New Hanover County, which hosts an essay contest, and the town of Plymouth, which has a Farm-City Week festival.

North Carolina Cooperative Extension agent Gerda Rhodes has helped coordinate Washington County’s Plymouth Farm-City Festival for the past 30 years. She says the event “gives us a chance to educate the public about the importance of the ag community in which we live.”

In more recent years, the Plymouth festival has added an Ag Heritage section where people can shell corn, grind wheat, gin cotton, spin wool, and make sausage, ice cream and cracklins. “It has been extremely popular and gives us an opportunity to show how much has changed in agriculture,” Rhodes says.

“The goal is to build an understanding of the interdependence between farmers and consumers,” says Marsha Purcell, with the American Farm Bureau Federation. “Sometimes there are misunderstandings of on-farm practices, or why consumers feel a certain way about farmers, and we hope this helps educate both on why we do things the way we do.”

Each year, a luncheon kicks off the National Farm-City Week. This year’s annual luncheon will be held in Birmingham, Ala., and will feature an agriculture symposium and a live radio broadcast of AgriTalk. Host Mike Adams will moderate a discussion about “Combating Hunger in America” with a panel of industry, academia and nonprofit organizations leaders.

Recently, Farm-City Week has had a stronger influence in classrooms across the country, providing teachers with student activity sheets, placemats and bookmarks to help teach students about how agriculture is important to them. Organizers have worked closely with the Agriculture in the Classroom program to educate students and teachers alike.

“Activities are created that help a child see how food is produced,” Purcell says. “To help them understand that link is very rewarding.”

Most of the week’s activities are grassroots-type events, ranging from banquets to farm tours to job exchange activities. While Farm-City Week starts the Friday before Thanksgiving and ends on Thanksgiving Day each year, community events often happen year-round.

For more information about National Farm-City Week, please visit www.farmcity.org.

National Farm-City Week is November 21-27. www.farmcity.org

No matter where you are in North Carolina, navigable water is never far away. With more than 370,000 boats registered in the state, hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians take to the water every year.

Motorboats, rafts, canoes, kayaks, sailboats and other types of vessels coupled with the state’s various watery venues—from whitewater mountain streams to lakes to lazy rivers to vast expanses of sound and ocean—give North Carolinians a dizzying array of choices when it comes to water-related activity.

There’s no better place to start than North Carolina’s mountains, called by one outdoor magazine “the top whitewater destination in the United States.” The western portion of the state is home to nearly two dozen outfitters who will arrange and guide raft, canoe, kayak, or drift boat excursions on the French Broad, Nantahala, Tuckaseegee and other mountain rivers.

“We’re open year-round, but we’re usually booked heavily in the summer months,” says Barbra Rodichok at Nantahala Outdoor Center in Bryson City, which offers raft, kayak and canoe outings on nine rivers. “A rafting trip is a great way to cool off in the hot summer months. And it’s an authentic way to be on the water; it’s not like a theme park.”

These excursions don’t require expertise in whitewater paddling. There’s something for all skill levels.
“We do three rivers mostly in North Carolina, and they’re mostly family-friendly,” Rodichok says. “But there are so many options. For example, we do trips on the Pigeon River just over the border in Tennessee with kids as young as 6. Then we have rivers like the Cheoah in the far western part of the state, where you have to pay attention to every paddle stroke.”

Nantahala, like most outfitters, also offers a paddling school, rentals and lake outings.

If whitewater rafting doesn’t sound like the ideal vacation, the lakes in Western and Piedmont North Carolina provide an abundance of boating opportunities. Farthest west, Hiawassee, Santeelah, Fontana, Nantahala and Chatuge lakes all offer spectacular mountain scenery, convenient boat access, a variety of water sports and excellent fishing. Boat rentals are available at most of these western lakes, and many areas also include family-style campgrounds.

In the Piedmont, 32,000-acre Lake Norman, near Charlotte, is the state’s largest man-made lake, with more than 520 miles of shoreline, and provides opportunities for swimming, fishing, skiing, cruising and other water-related activities.

“It runs the gamut,” says Kelly Cook, a ranger at Lake Norman State Park. “At our boat launch, we see everything from jonboats to big ski boats, even kayaks and canoes.”

Boating opportunities also abound farther east, at Jordan, Harris and Falls lakes near the Research Triangle, and at Kerr and Gaston lakes on the North Carolina-Virginia border. All offer convenient boat access, full-service marinas, picnicking, great fishing and plenty of open water on which to cruise. Most also offer other activities, including camping, hiking and bike trails.

Mention Eastern North Carolina and thoughts immediately drift to the ocean. Oregon Inlet, the Morehead City-Beaufort-Atlantic Beach area and the Wilmington-Southport areas are meccas for offshore boaters and fishermen. Marinas and boat suppliers are abundant in all of these areas, and dozens of charter-boat operators are available for offshore or inshore fishing or for cruises.

But the East isn’t all ocean. The Roanoke-Chowan, Pamlico-Tar, Neuse and Cape Fear rivers, along with Albemarle and Pamlico sounds, offer every type of boating activity imaginable—from kayaking and canoeing, to skiing and waterboarding, to sailing and powerboat racing. Public access areas are scattered all along the coast, and in towns such as Elizabeth City, Plymouth, Belhaven, Washington, New Bern, Beaufort, Swansboro and Wilmington.

If sailing is of interest, Oriental, just off the Intracoastal Waterway in Pamlico County, bills itself as the “Sailing Capital of North Carolina.” The village boasts two sailing schools and anchorage for more than 2,700 sailboats. Facilities for kayaking and other types of boating also are available.

“We have about 300 people a year in our classes, and we’re seeing more people every year,” says Chris Daniels, chief instructor at Oriental’s School of Sailing. “It’s a great activity for families. From young to old age, all can do it. Anyone can steer the boat.”

Sailing also taps into a real human yearning.

“It’s an idea, a dream—sailing off into the sunset and all that,” Daniels says. “It looks majestic and pure, in a way, to see if you can make the boat move without power.”

To truly find some peace and quiet on the water, try a canoe or kayak trip along one of the state’s “paddle trails.”

“Paddling is one of the fastest-growing recreational activities,” says Tom Potter, executive director of the North Carolina Paddle Trails Association. “It’s a great family activity, and it’s not all that expensive to get into.”

But, if just riding along sounds more appealing, North Carolina has that, too.

At Lake Lure, in mountainous Rutherford County, guided pontoon boats lead leisurely cruises, exploring scenic Hickory Nut Gorge and visiting the inn where the movie “Dirty Dancing” was filmed.

At Lake Norman, visitors can enjoy a dinner cruise on a 48-foot yacht; the cost is about $225 per hour, not including fuel. At Beaufort, the Diamond City charters offshore excursions to watch dolphins and treat large groups to a pig-pickin’ out on the Atlantic Ocean. Costs run from $15 to $33 per person.

From Murphy to Manteo, from Cherokee to Calabash, there’s no shortage of things to do on the water in North Carolina.