Buzz builds for 'Shel-Bee Festival' in downtown Shelby
By David Jacobs
The city of Shelby will mark its Bee City USA designation with the inaugural Shel-Bee Festival on Saturday, transforming Black Fork Commons Plaza into a hive of activity with food trucks, live music, local vendors and pollinator education.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 31 in downtown Shelby and features a full lineup of attractions for all ages, as promoted on the festival’s official Facebook page.
Highlights include free kids’ activities, a scavenger hunt, craft vendors, honey and pollinator plant sales, a bouncy house and music.
Shelby Mayor Steve Schag described the celebration as the city's “first bee festival” during remarks to City Council.
“A lot of nice things planned… three different bands, food trucks, vendors, bouncy house… a lot of work's gone into this,” said Schag, a longtime promoter of bees for their importance to the environment.
Under his leadership and assistance from staff and others in the community, including at Shelby City Schools, the city of Shelby in 2021 became the only Bee City in Richland County.
The festival is a natural extension of its commitment to pollinator conservation and education.
“It helps to celebrate and educate as part of that designation for Shelby,” said Aaron Billheimer, a Shelby resident, local beekeeper and festival board member, adding that Shelby's Bee City designation is separate from the festival.
“It was an idea we threw out there with the Downtown Business Team, and then Careen Fleck from the Little Shops of Shelby, ran with it," Billheimer said. "We are all doing our part to make it happen."
A key attraction is a large educational setup by Lorain County's Queen Right Colonies, one of Ohio’s top beekeeping suppliers.
“They’ve got some really big blow-up bees,” Billheimer said, including “a 24-foot inflatable bee" and bee-related items/supplies for sale, including things made from materials such as beeswax.
More than 40 vendors are expected.
"Vendors who maybe don't have crafts made as bees will be decorating their booths in a bee theme," he said. So it's a whole, 'Everybody's getting their buzz on.'"
Shel-Bee Festival also includes an enclosed observation hive featuring live honeybees safely behind a special window, allowing attendees to observe their behavior up close, he said.
The Richland Area Beekeepers Association is providing the prizes for both contests. “We have several folks on that committee who are helping with the planning,” Billheimer said. Thanks to the association, cash prizes will be awarded in both a honey judging and a baking competition using honey-based recipes.
"We're celebrating and educating," he said. "We're celebrating pollinators and pollinating plants and educating about honeybees."
The official Facebook page for the Shel-Bee Festival also lists a full music schedule featuring Juke Jammers, Southern Rail, and Barkdull & Butler, performing throughout the day. Festival guests are encouraged to bring their own chairs.
To raise public awareness, Schag, Billheimer, and an event promoter, Connie Roub, appeared on Mansfield radio station WMAN earlier this month to promote the festival.
The event is hosted by the Shelby Downtown Business Team and supported by sponsors, including R & D Excavating, St. Mark's Church, Lottie & Lemon Boutique, The Fan Cave, The Little Shops of Shelby, and donations from the Richland County Beekeepers.
“Whatever you can do to spread the word, please help us spread the word about our bee festival,” Schag said recently, encouraging people to “Bee there” at Black Fork Commons in the downtown district amphitheater area.
Shelby economic development manager Jessica Gribben is highlighting the event's significance, as well.
"We are excited to support this effort put on by the Shelby Downtown Business Team," she detailed in her Municipal Momentum newsletter. "Being that we are an official Bee City, and let's be honest, we need those little critters to keep the ecosystem going, we love the fun spin they have placed on highlighting our pollinators!"
The festival’s flyer and full updates are available through the official Shel-Bee Festival Facebook page, accessible via the QR code provided in promotional materials.
Shelby bees to California?
Billheimer also shared longer-term goals tied to Shelby and bees. He is working to expand his hives with the hope of one day sending local bees to California for commercial pollination.
“That is a goal, but there's a lot that has to happen to make that happen,” he said, noting that colony size requirements, weather conditions and flower cycles all factor into whether the bees will be ready for transport in a given season.
"I'm actually building the apiaries up to get enough hives to do that," Billheimer said. "But they're pretty small yet and they have a certain size requirement that they want the bees to be at before they can go out there."
"So there's a lot of growth that has to happen this year in order to make that happen. So if not this year, then most likely the year after to give us another year of growth," Billheimer said.
He explained how the Shelby bees would get to California.
"They'll probably be in their hives and transported on a semi is probably how that normally works," he said.
Reporter David Jacobs can be reached at davidjacobs@shelbynewsreporter.com