by Shappa, Journeyman Beekeeper at Airway Heights Corrections Center. Shappa wrote this piece in response to a call for writing on “science in prison.”
Living in a prison cell is a combination of living in a honeybee hive and a monastery: a place where active growth where peace and contentment can be attained once you realize your vocation in life. In all three — prison, hive, and monastery — there is growth in a small space for each transitory life (inmate, bee, and monk) living in the cell. All are organized, by either custody level, colony, or community, in a structured, and hopefully disciplined way. One of the strangest and yet unsurprising aspects of each is the frequency of death, disorder, or disruption.
A queen bee (marked by a pink dot) is surrounded by worker bees in this healthy hive. Photo by Rachel Friederich.
The lives of honeybees are spent mostly working and living in a colony, or a hive, that has combs consisting of numerous cells. Their lifespans are short: 3-5 years for the queen, about 6 weeks for the female workers, and only 3 weeks or so for the males, called “drones.” The queen governs her colony, but she can and will be replaced if she’s not healthy enough or some other deficiency exists as determined by the worker bees. After mating with several drones, the queen lays hundreds of eggs daily, and the hive’s operation produces honey, wax, pollen, and royal jelly. In each magnificently-engineered comb (every cell is perfectly constructed at 70° angles), a honeybee’s life begins, honey is stored, wax is produced, and workers function in many other ways to furiously try to keep pace with a healthy queen in her hive.
Recreation of a monk’s cell in the Museum of the Sierra Gorda in Mexico. Photo by AlejandroLinaresGarcia.
Monks live in cells within a community where efforts to “die-to-self” begin. An abbot or prior manages the monastery; he instills obedience and becomes, in most cases, a spiritual counselor for the monks housed there. The monastery is a place of spiritual growth through prayer and work, referred to by Benedictine monks in Latin: ora et labora. It is a world far removed from secular society where a monk can fine-tune his prayers from the heart and hone skills of contentment and discernment using solitude, silence, and stillness. The unsatisfying, competitive consumerism of the world is abandoned and replaced when the monk surrenders to his higher authority, even at the cost of needed sleep when he’s called upon by God (or his abbot) to asceticism and self-sacrifice: intercessory prayer day and night can help those suffering; fasting can discipline oneself to exercise self-control over the flesh and build the virtue of temperance to overcome sin; and other forms of penance can excise vices. The consecrated life of a monk includes the three evangelical counsels: vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience. A vow of stability is also included for Benedictines. Contemplative prayer, humility, and obedience — even in solitude when the monk is quietly alone with God and only God — are critical components of spiritual growth and heightened discernment, which is granted to the ones who have experiential encounters with Christ in the ineffable mysticism discovered in his cell.
Inmates live in a prison where they’re assigned to a cell: the place where you flourish, fail, or die depends on the choices you make. Prison is controlled and managed as a quasi-military organization with teams of officers who respond to situations ranging from an emotionally disturbed patient’s hurt feelings to hostage negotiations. Sometimes it’s a hostile battlefield where small wars erupt, both within oneself and without engagement of the mind. Other times it’s just an overflow for Eastern State Hospital. For the man who’s willing to honestly assess himself, put in the often difficult work necessary to change, start to properly order his life in a healthy way and answer his calling, there’s plenty of time and available resources to better their lives with spiritual enlightenment and enhance the future for themselves, their family, and their community.
Beekeepers at Airway Heights Corrections Center pose with their hives. Photo courtesy of Kay Heinrich.
An incubation period is always good for growth, whether it’s in a honeybee hive, a monastery, or a prison.
Text by Bethany J. Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator
Journeyman Beekeepers at AHCC pose in front of their hives. Photo courtesy of AHCC staff.
Last month, I had the privilege of attending a celebration for the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC) beekeeping club. At the ceremony, Travis—a Journeyman Beekeeper—shared an analogy about bees we all found rather striking. He told us, “Before I took the class, I always looked at them as the enemy.” Like everyone, he saw bees as pests. He reminded us: “Think about barbeques or picnics— you’re there with your family and friends and everyone is having a good time and sharing food and fun. Then, bees show up and start buzzing around your food. Maybe someone gets stung. Pretty soon these tiny creatures have ruined the picnic.”
A bee collects pollen from a flower growing by a housing unit at AHCC. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
Then Travis described learning about honeybees, and how his
perspective started to shift. When AHCC’s hives were delivered, he was part of
the team that kept those bees alive and even thriving. He came to see this responsibility
as a force for “good” in his life. He needed to change to care for those bees,
and he noticed how that change lined up with the “theme of change” throughout
the facility. He told us: “In my change, the hive is my focus. The center of my
change.” Then, he went back to the earlier metaphor and brought it full circle:
He realized that society thinks he is going to ruin the
picnic, too; criminals and incarcerated people are regarded as the pests of
society. He wanted us to understand that, like the bees they care for, incarcerated
individuals aren’t trying to ruin things for everyone else. Just like anyone, they’re
there to spend time with their loved ones and enjoy the day. “We’re not
here to ruin the picnic or barbeque, and through programs like this one we
learn positive change.”
The bee hives at AHCC have their own yard, called the “honeybee yard.” Photo courtesy of SPP staff.
Text by Bethany J. Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator
This is a poster created by staff at the SOU to advertise the program to inmates at the facility. Photo by SOU staff.
We are so excited to announce that Monroe Correctional Complex-Special Offender Unit (SOU) just graduated their first class of Beekeepers! Since the beginning of their program last year, the SOU has been incredibly enthusiastic about beekeeping; it has been a pleasure to see their willingness to learn and try new things.
Honeybee comb formed in a top-bar hive. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
The program partners with
the Northwest
District Beekeepers Association,
and Association member Kurt Sahl volunteered as the program instructor. While every
other prison
bee program in the state has opted to use the Langstroth hives, the SOU uses
primarily top-bar hives. Top-bar hives forgo pre-made, rectuangula frames, and
leave space for bees to shape their comb as they wish (see photo for example).
Kathy Grey is the staff liaison for the beekeeping program, and one of the new Apprentice Beekeepers! With her permission, I’m sharing her description of the people and programs of the SOU.
All of the hives SOU has are painted by inmates at the facility, this one has flowers, bees, and the Earth. Photo by Bethany Shepler. An observation window on the side of the top-bar hive allows you to see what’s going on inside the hive without opening, and disturbing, the hive. Photo by Bethany Shepler.
The Special Offender Unit (SOU) houses and treats mentally ill, intellectually disabled, and brain-injured inmates and is part of the larger Monroe Correctional Complex in Monroe, Washington. In addition to providing psychiatric care for the inmates, SOU also offers mental health counseling, educational opportunities, and innovative, sustainability programs for its incarcerated population. These programs include vegetable gardens and an animal rescue program that is still going strong with close to 900 animals adopted since its inception in January 2006. In addition to those programs, SOU offers Yoga Behind Bars, a University of Washington sponsored Book Club, a Community Visiting Volunteer Program and most recently the Beekeeping Program that was started last year. Beekeeping has been a fascinating outlet for the men at SOU and their excitement is contagious.
SOU is an interesting, dynamic facility with men who are eager to don their bee suits and learn everything they can this spring. Lastly, it’s important to note that volunteers are often pleasantly surprised by the genuine gratitude shown to them by the SOU inmates in recognition for their time, effort and talents.
Keep up the good work, SOU! We’re excited to see your continued successes unfold!
Text by Bethany Shepler, SPP Green Track Program Coordinator, and Joslyn Rose Trivett, SPP Education and Outreach Manager.
Photos by Bethany Shepler, except where otherwise noted.
Group photo from the Beekeeping Summit in Spring 2017. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
The summit was well timed to meet growing interest in bringing beekeeping to prisons around the state. A few WA prisons have hosted beekeeping for years and SPP partners were hearing inquiries from many others interested in starting new programs. SPP Co-Director Steve Sinclair suggested a summit, and that was the catalyst we needed; it brought everyone together to learn from each other, expand practical knowledge, and build enthusiasm.
Each program is worthy of its own article. Here, we will share just one or two highlights from each. Check out all of the incredible accomplishments of beekeepers in prisons:
AHCC has one of the fastest growing beekeeping programs in Washington prisons, and the first to create their own bee club. Working with West Plains Beekeepers Association, incarcerated beekeepers created the first draft of a new, state-wide Journeyman course manual, pictured above—a stunning accomplishment. Currently, Washington State Beekeepers Association is refining AHCC’s draft for publication, for both prison and non-prison programs! We are ecstatic to see the support and excitement AHCC has shown for their beekeeping program and look forward to their continued success!
Clallam Bay hosted its second beekeeping intensive this spring. Students had already completed the Beginner Beekeeping modules, and prepared further by reading books and scientific articles. Mark Urnes of North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers spent a full day with students; he answered questions and work-shopped on beekeeping best practices.
Cedar Creek is one of the oldest beekeeping programs in the state and has certified more than 60 beekeepers so far. The wood shop at the facility built the hives for the McNeil Island beekeeping program. The picture here is of wood shop crew and Centralia College instructor Bruce Carley tasting honey at a beekeeping workshop; expert beekeeper Laurie Pyne covered beekeeping basics and the differences in honey types from different pollen sources. CCCC’s beekeeping program is in partnership with Olympia Beekeepers Association.
Coyote Ridge supports a beekeeping program that has been going strong since its inception 2 years ago. To support the bees, staff members and inmates planted more pollinator friendly plants around the facility. To protect the hives from central Washington’s cold winter weather, they “winter-ize” the boxes, shown above: they wrapped the hive in insulation and put cedar chips or burlap inside the hive to draw up moisture. CRCC beekeeping program is in partnership with Mid-Columbia Beekeepers Association.
Larch has four hives and a nuc (that’s the small box on the left) at their facility. This picture was taken last week, just after the bees had been fed and they were all buzzing around busily! Their hives are really strong right now so we’re hopeful that they’ll do well over the Winter. LCC beekeeping program is in partnership with Clark County Beekeepers Association.
McNeil Island Beekeeping Program (McNeil Island and CCCC)
This project is so exciting and unusual! The McNeil Island beekeeping project has been a dream for more than 4 years and the Summit helped launch it into realty. Ownership and management of McNeil Island is complex, so the program needed input and support from many partners: staff and administration from Cedar Creek Corrections Center (CCCC), Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Washington Department of Natural Resources, and CI staff (thank you Brian Peterson, Vania Beard, and Henry Mack!). Enthusiastic endorsements from Secretary Steve Sinclair and then Deputy Secretary Jody Becker Green helped, too! 🙂
This past May, the first hives of bees arrived at the island. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall, a team of local beekeeping experts visited the hives frequently. On many visits, they support incarcerated beekeepers’ gaining hands-on experience (pictured above). The program’s beekeepers seek to understand the impact that pesticides have on bees–McNeil Island is a rare, pesticide-free environment. The expert beekeeping team includes Laurie Pyne, Maren Anderson, Gail Booth, Andy Matelich, and Dixon Fellows. Photo by Laurie Pyne.
Monroe Correctional Complex-Special Offenders Unit (MCC-SOU)
MCC-SOU has shown incredible amounts of enthusiasm for beekeeping! They launched their program just this spring, and it’s been so exciting to see the students, staff, and local beekeeping expert dive into the program. This is the only facility in the state using Top Bar Hives. The picture above shows the bulletin board in the facility advertising the beekeeping program, courtesy of Kathy Grey.
Monroe Correctional Complex – Twin Rivers Unit (MCC-TRU)
Inmates and staff at MCC-TRU have shown tons of energy for beekeeping! Even though bees were only delivered in April, they’ve already completed one Apprentice level certification course. Their hives have been so successful that they were able to split hives and collected honey! They also had a hive on display at the Evergreen State Fair, and they exhibited many photos of their beekeepers in action. The photo shows a staff beekeeper showing a frame covered in bees to onlookers at the fair. Photo by SPP staff.
Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW)
MCCCW may be small, but they are a mighty program. Over the last year, they faced some challenges with finding pollinating plants and relocating their hives. But that didn’t stop them or even slow the program–they graduated 3 times as many incarcerated students in their most recent class as their previous class. They also have strong, healthy hives going into winter! MCCCW beekeeping program is in partnership with West Sound Beekeepers Association.
SCCC has had hives for many years. Next to the hives is a beekeeping interpretive sign–picture above–and in the summer of 2018 a few queen bees found that sign to be an ideal place to emerge into the world! Photo by Kelly Peterson.
SCCC’s bee program added a beekeeping class this year with it’s first class graduating in January. Since then, they have completed 4 classes, and the wait list of students keeps growing. Their classes regularly include both incarcerated and corrections staff students. SCCC beekeeping program is in partnership with local expert beekeeper Duane McBride.
WCC hosts an ever-growing beekeeping program! They started out on the right foot, building a high quality shelter for their hives. The bees are housed next to the Prairie Conservation Nursery Program, and this means there can be a lot of cross pollination between the two SPP-supported programs. WCC’s beekeeping program is in partnership with Olympia Beekeepers Association. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
A crew from WCCW has been keeping bees at Mother Earth Farm for many years. Tacoma Community College students at the prison have long learned about beekeeping and pollinators as part of the horticulture program. In 2016, the two programs joined forces and brought hives inside the prison fence. Now you can see honeybees throughout WCCW’s gardens, happily tending to the many flowers. Photo by Joslyn Rose Trivett.
WSP hosts an enduring and impressive beekeeping program! Two WSP staff members are experienced beekeepers, and they serve both as instructors and program sponsors. This year they had 15 hives and participated in the USDA National Honey Bee Pest Survey! In this photo, beekeeping students learn from expert beekeeper Mona Chambers. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
The town of Airway Heights was greatly impacted by the contamination, and the local prison was no exception. AHCC has a large agriculture and gardening program that was forced to throw out about 100,000 pounds of fresh vegetables grown on site because of contamination concerns.
A view of a field inside at AHCC where inmates grow produce. This picture was taken in early spring of 2016.
This is the same AHCC field when I visited in late May. No produce was growing, and none would be for the remainder of 2018.
A year later, things have mostly righted themselves in Airway Heights. Prison administrators told me that soil tests have shown their soil has low amounts of contaminants in it, if any. Even so, they wanted to be sure the soil was completely clear before planting produce again. For 2018, many of the vegetable gardens were growing flowers only. Flowers can “clean” the soil by pulling the contaminants out of it.
The courtyard at AHCC full of produce in Spring of 2016.
This Spring, showy flowers are found throughout the courtyard and gardens, in most places where you could find vegetables in recent years.
The inmates and staff are confident they will be growing produce again next year. Until then the flowers look beautiful, and the pollinators love them!
A honeybee collects pollen from bluebonnets growing in the prison courtyard.
Text and photos by Bethany Shepler, SPP Green Track Coordinator
Students observe a frame from the hive Mark brought in. This frame has wax on it and some cells were full of pollen.
Beekeeping has been growing in popularity throughout prisons in Washington State, with 12 facilities now housing hives! Clallam Bay Corrections Center (CBCC) is among them; the prison has 3 healthy hives tended by inmate and staff apprentice beekeepers certified by WA State Beekeepers Association. CBCC is located in Clallam Bay on the Olympic Peninsula adjacent to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Beekeeping instructor Mark Urnes shows students a bottom board from the hive he brought in as a demonstration tool.
The liaison holds a drawing of bee drone biology made by incarcerated students.
Earlier in the spring, CBCC hosted a day-long intensive seminar for a new group of incarcerated beekeepers. Beekeeping instructor Mark Urnes, the education lead for the North Olympic Peninsula Beekeepers’ Association, led the seminar and fielded many questions from the inmate beekeepers.They covered topics such as bee biology, pathogens, and colony collapse disorder. Students came prepared, so that they could get as much out of the intensive as possible; all had read scientific articles, bee journals, and reviewed their class notes from WA State Beekeepers Association apprenticeship curriculum. They brought with them drawings of bee biology and model hives that aided Mark’s descriptions and demonstrations.
The CBCC officer who sponsors the beekeeping program told me many stories about how beekeeping has had positive impacts on the lives of inmates and staff. The staff sponsor was proud to share that inmates who go through the program have a lasting positive effects from it. I was so happy to hear that the program is being so well received and having such a positive effect on the lives of those involved in it.
More images from the intensive follow.
Another sketch by incarcerated students shows a cross section of a hive showing the different stages of bee larvae within the hive cells.
This frame shows wax that is fresher, towards the side of the frame, compared to older wax in the middle of the frame.
Students listen as Mark answers questions.
Students had constructed a model hive out of paper (seen on the table) and Mark used it to aid the part of his presentation about the different parts of a hive and the purpose they serve.
Mark holds a picture of queen next to some worker bees. Here he was talking about the importance of queen health to the hive as a whole.
Text and photos by Bethany Shepler, Green Track Program Coordinator
After four years of organizing, planning, and building a team, honeybees have arrived at McNeil Island.
This spring marks a special occasion for Washington State beekeeping and beekeepers: we have installed honeybees on McNeil Island! McNeil Island offers wonderful beekeeping prospects because the island is pesticide-free—a rare resource in the region. Pesticides can interfere with bees’ senses, or even be toxic, so having access to a place that is free of pesticides is an exciting opportunity for beekeepers.
A bit of background on McNeil Island
McNeil Island housed a federal penitentiary from 1875 to 1981, when WA Department of Corrections (WA Corrections) took over the facility. In 2011, WA Corrections closed down the prison on McNeil Island, but they continue to be stewards of this epic landscape—Correctional Industry (CI) staff oversee stewardship operations. McNeil Island now houses a Department of Social and Human Services (DSHS) special commitment facility, and the old prison is used by the military, National Guard, WA Corrections, and others for training purposes. (If you want to know more about the island and its history, here’s the link to the Wikipedia page.)
On our trip around the island we would see signs like this one.
We visited the island a week before the bees were dropped off to take a tour and complete preparations. It’s not very big, but it’s a beautiful island nestled in the Puget Sound and mostly covered in vegetation. Sprinkled around the island are boarded-up houses where prison staff lived when the facility was in operation, and there’s even an old school house for their families. Even though we haven’t seen them yet, there are a few bears that live on the island, too!
The expert beekeeping team—we’re so lucky to be working with them! From left to right: Dixon Fellows, Gail Booth, Laurie Pyne, Maren Anderson, and Andy Matelich.
Honeybee Home
The bee hives are in a small structure in the center of this photo; it’s a perfect location, surrounded by an orchard and shielded from the elements by an old bus stop.
The bee installation crew made some final preparations just before the bees moved to their new home.
The installation crew included expert beekeepers from the Olympia area, incarcerated beekeepers from CCCC, and staff from CI and CCCC. Five expert beekeepers worked with us to bring this project to life: Maren Anderson, Gail Booth, Dixon Fellows, Andy Matelich, and team lead Laurie Pyne. They scoped-out the island and picked the best location for the bee hives inside the orchard. CCCC inmate beekeepers and and carpenters also made critical contributions to the program, too: they built the hive boxes and supporting benches, helped locate the bus stop, assisted in placement, helped move the bees, and and shone as invested partners! More recently, a major supplier of beekeeping equipment in the region, Mann Lake, donated some of the supplies the program will need as the hives grow and multiply—it is wonderful to have their support.
Honeybees are Nothing to Bee Scared of!
Two worker bees landed on Officer Epling’s fingers; in the background, incarcerated beekeepers attached handles to the hives constructed in the CCCC woodshop.
Expert beekeeper Gail Booth shows an unsure beekeeper a young worker bee that landed on the stick. Gail walked around with the female bee discussing how you could tell her age and what tasks she might perform for her hive; the informal “meet-and-greet” eased some nerves about being so close to the bees.
The Hive Boxes
Incarcerated students from CCCC’s carpentry program, with guidance from Centralia College instructor Bruce Carley, built the custom hives from reclaimed wood. Students also painted and stenciled the bee logo onto each hive box. They look great!
Following the McNeil Island launch, Laurie Pyne visited CCCC’s carpentry class and offered a talk; the students had a chance to learn more about the program and see their great hive boxes in place on the island. They also partook of a honey tasting, comparing the flavors and consistencies of honey made from six sources of nectar; wildflower honey was a favorite.
Suit up
The bees were transported in one of the beekeeper’s truck.
Everyone suited up to protect against getting stung. Even though bees are docile and don’t want to sting you, sometimes they get pinched between clothes or think that the hive is threatened and then they will sting; it’s good to be prepared.
Where’s the Queen?
Expert beekeeper Andy Matelich holds up a frame and looks for the queen. The queens are a key indicator of a hive’s health, and get marked so that they could be easily found again. One of the queens dropped to the ground and could have been squished, but an incarcerated beekeeper with a good eye spotted her and saved the day!
An incarcerated beekeeper placed a frame into the new hive boxes.
Andy and the rest of the bee installation crew inspected each frame before inserting them into the new hive boxes.
At the end of the day, the bees were buzzing around their new homes, no one got stung, and everyone had learned something about bees and beekeeping…there is always more to learn when it comes to bees.
Officer Epling, left, and Officer Kennedy, right, take a minute to look at the bee hives. Officer Epling is teaching Officer Kennedy about bees and beekeeping as Officer Kennedy prepares to take over as liaison for the beekeeping program at CCCC and McNeil Island.
Text by Kay Heinrich, Associate Superintendent, Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC)
Photo by AHCC staff.
Graduating class from AHCC.
Airway Heights Apiculture is Preparing Apprentice Beekeepers to Become Journeyman and to Raise Queen Honeybees!
About fifty inmates at the Airway Heights Corrections Center (AHCC) have successfully completed an apprentice course and are certified Apprentice Beekeepers through the Washington State Beekeepers Association (WASBA). Of those, approximately fifteen are on their way to becoming Journeyman-level Beekeepers through the WASBA Master Beekeepers program. The inmates who are pursuing Journeyman status have formed a beekeeping club named Airway Heights Apiculture (AHA). This is possible because of the administration’s support and expert tutelage of Master Beekeeper Jim Miller. Also, the class of students itself has helped to develop test and training materials, creating a training curriculum that fits the needs of a corrections environment (more about that from club members, below). The AHA club is a subsidiary of the West Plains Beekeepers Association, a nonprofit organization.
On 2/15/2018, the Bee class graduated its first Journeyman Beekeeping class. We had a celebration for the gentlemen who graduated to celebrate their hard work that was well attended.
Behind The Scenes: Writing from members of AHA
After several months of club meetings, serious discussions began to take place regarding the future of the beekeeping program and possible means to advance educational and organizational objectives. Jim mentioned that he would like to replace the existing Journeyman Beekeeper training manual currently in use in the beekeeping community. Would the AHA club be up for the challenge of expanding on Jim’s outline for a new journeyman manual and developing an entire training curriculum to be implemented at AHCC?
Beekeepers at AHCC check on a hive. Photo by DOC staff.
Of course! The club members had wanted to do something meaningful and have a lasting positive impact; their creation would be greater than themselves and would survive long after their release back into the community.
The project was simple enough: ten chapters based on a pre-existing outline by Jim, 20 questions for each chapter, and PowerPoint presentations for each of the lessons. Ten club members accepted the challenge. Following several weeks of writing, revising, and debate over the details of educational objectives, the booklet was finally complete. Club members worked together well and overcame apprehension and doubt. Now they can see the results of their hard work. A few weeks later they finished development of PowerPoint presentations and the first Journeyman class was ready to begin.
Hives next to the prisons largest garden. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
Roughly 15 eager and enthusiastic students signed up – all graduates from the first three Apprentice classes. The aspiring Journeyman who developed the presentations did an excellent job facilitating the classes and helped set the standard for future classes. Students will have to pass a test spanning 100 questions. They must also pass a practical field exam to show their knowledge of beekeeping by demonstrating setting up hives, using hive tools, and inspecting frames. Students who graduate will be that much closer to their goal of becoming a Journeyman Beekeeper. Each student will still have to serve as an apprentice for three years, earn 30 service points, maintain a hive journal for a year, and mentor a new beekeeper.
Queen-Rearing: A Crowning Achievement!
Another exciting stage of progress is coming to AHCC – queen-rearing is about to be implemented by AHA and the time couldn’t be better! One of the long term goals which stated by administration is to advance sustainable beekeeping to other institutions in Washington. Queen-rearing at AHCC would help to provide queen bees to the various beekeeping programs throughout the state. This will advance beekeeping efforts to be self-sustaining and would provide additional education to inmates aspiring towards the level of Master Beekeeper. In addition to facilitating training for new apprentice and journeyman beekeepers, inmate beekeepers would be responsible for maintaining the activities of the queen-rearing program with the continued assistance of community sponsors and the support of administration.
At first glance Coyote Ridge looks very gray. This was especially true when I visited in overcast, rainy weather.
I visited the prison in late November, and had the chance to tour the programs and meet with partners. The sustainable practices of the facility were highly impressive, but even more impressive were the staff who work there and the inmates who have dedicated their lives to learning, education, and environmental activism. I met with the instructors for Roots of Success and we talked about the program, the facility’s annual Environmental Awareness Day, and the many hopes they have for advancing sustainability programming at Coyote Ridge.
I am continually impressed by the people I get to work with, and the inmates and liaisons at Coyote Ridge are exemplary program representatives. I asked what could be done to improve their program and the inmates unanimously agreed “more books and readings about the environment, the sciences, sustainability, environmental activism, and any other subject along those lines.” They want to learn as much as they can and are utilizing every resource they have access to.
Coyote Ridge has developed a “Sustainability Passport” to track and recognize participation. As incarcerated individuals complete a program, they get a stamp on their “passport.” A regular offering is the prison’s Sustainability Lecture Series, similar to the Environmental Workshop Series at two prisons west of the Cascades. They bring in outside experts to deliver lectures and seminars on environmental issues and sustainability. Guests have come from organizations like the Department of Ecology, the local beekeeping association, and experts on the Hanford Site.
This is Bentley. He is a handsome, energetic, lab mix puppy that was brought to the prison with the rest of his litter to be raised and trained by inmate dog handlers. He and his litter-mates have already been adopted, and some by staff members at the prison. Many staff members adopt shelter dogs that the inmates train because they get to know and love the dogs during their time at the facility.
Coyote Ridge hosts a beautiful, thriving dog program. Incarcerated individuals have played a greater leadership role in this program compared to other prison pet programs we know. The dogs that come to the facility are from Benton Franklin Humane Society and Adam County Pet Rescue. They come to the prison because the local shelter doesn’t have the space or time to care for the dogs; because it’s a pregnant dog that can receive inmate handlers’ attention 24 hours a day; or because the animal has been abused and needs extra-gentle care and attention to learn to trust people again. The dogs work with a variety of trainers while they’re at the facility so that they learn to listen and be comfortable around different people.
This is Shannon Meyer. He is one of the inmate dog handlers at CRCC and this was the current dog he’s working with, Rocky. When Rocky came to the prison he wouldn’t let anyone touch him and would get aggressive easily. Mr. Meyer has been working with Rocky for several weeks to get him to trust people and is pleased with his progress. Rocky’s red bandanna signals that he may not respond well to being pet or held by anyone other than his handler, but he happily let me pet him – proof of his progress.
The handlers at CRCC look like they love what they do and see the value in their work with the dogs. One of the handlers, Mr. Meyer, had this to say: “When I got here (in prison) it was just about doing my time, but now, with my dog, everything is about taking care of him and my life is about him.”
I also met these 8-day old puppies who were born in the prison. Their mother came to prison pregnant and gave birth to her puppies in the handler’s cell. Her handler, Mr. Archibald, will care for her and her puppies until they are ready and able to be adopted.
On all fronts, I was impressed by the greenness of programming and attitudes at the prison. Keep up the excellent work, Coyote Ridge!
CRCC during the summer. The picture is looking at some of the units and the courtyard with a rock garden in the center. The gardens at CRCC all feature native plants and rock designs. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
Text and photos by Bethany Shepler, SPP Green Track Coordinator
Class photo of beekeeping apprenticeship students with Ed Baldwin (far left) and Duane McBride (second from the left).
The bees may have turned in for winter, but beekeeping students at Stafford Creek Correction Center (SCCC) are still hard at work. Their first beekeeping apprenticeship course is almost done and we are impressed and thankful.
I had the pleasure of sitting in on the last class in the series at SCCC, taught by Duane McBride from the Olympia Beekeepers Association. The students came well prepped for class and full of thoughtful questions. Ed Baldwin, a Grounds Specialist at Stafford Creek, is taking the class as well. Ed hopes to continue to expand the beekeeping program—it has been in place since 2009, but is doing better than ever with the renewed attention and education.
Duane McBride answering questions about a test the students took in an earlier class.
Students that go through the beekeeping apprenticeship course graduate as certified beekeeping apprentices and can put those skills to further use upon release.
Since last spring’s Beekeeping Summit, we have seen beekeeping programs booming statewide – adding nine programs in only six months! We are thrilled by all of the support and enthusiasm surrounding the beekeeping programs. Beekeeping is really taking flight within Washington State prisons and we can’t bee-lieve how fast the program is growing. Keep up the hard work, Stafford Creek!
Students chuckle at a beekeeping pun during the class…we were buzzing with bee puns.
A student looks up something for reference as Duane McBride talks about hive care.
Students listen as Duane explains hive care techniques.
As class wraps up, students talk and laugh a little before returning back to their normal activities.
This is where the bees are housed at Stafford Creek. The inmates constructed the shelter, painted it, and made the beehives that now homes for two healthy hives.
CRCC during the summer. The picture is looking at some of the units and the courtyard with a rock garden in the center. The gardens at CRCC all feature native plants and rock designs. Photo by Ricky Osborne.
