Our Local Community
Learn about open days at our Sanctuary, tours, wellness programs, and our local partnerships
Open Day At Our Sanctuary
Spikenard Farm Honeybee Sanctuary is an internationally recognized organization supporting beekeepers around the world and right here at home. Here in Floyd, Virginia we strive to create opportunities for connecting more deeply with the natural world and our 41-acre Sanctuary is one way in which we serve both pollinators and humans alike. Hosting events and programs here at the Sanctuary creates an atmosphere of understanding and compassion through direct experience and observation of all that lives and thrives in our ecosystem.
Open Days at the Sanctuary are offered monthly during the spring, summer, and fall (see our calendar for current dates). Deepening our connections to nature by visiting the beehives or sitting in the flower gardens encourages an appreciation of all life forms. This is especially important as we humans learn to live in greater harmony with the natural world. We welcome visitors of all ages to explore the land, ask questions, and observe the amazing work of pollinators like bees, butterflies, and birds here at the Sanctuary. We offer tours led by experienced beekeepers for those interested in learning more. We also have a wide array of pollinator plants for sale (May through July) for planting your own pollinator forage at home. Our plants are chosen for their nutritional and medicinal value for pollinators and are grown using biodynamic methods here at the Sanctuary.
Open days for 2022: April 22 (Dandelion Day!), May 13, June 24, July 29, August 26, September 16, and October 7.
Donation-Based Consulting
Beekeepers, gardeners, farmers, schools, and organizations of all kinds are invited to reach out for support as we grow and learn together in support of the pollinators that are integral to our vitality as humans. On a local scale, we offer direct consulting, on-site or by phone, to help develop pollinator gardens at your home or school, to improve your capacity for keeping healthy and vibrant bee hives, to expand your application of biodynamic principles, and more. We also offer assistance in catching and hiving swarms during the spring swarm season as a sustainable means of expanding your apiary. During especially busy swarm seasons here at the Sanctuary, we are able to share Spikenard swarms with local beekeepers who have attended at least one beekeeping program with us.
Wellness & Yoga
Our work toward creating a more vibrant and healthy ecosystem extends to the human being in relationship to oneself and to the outer world. The time-honored practices of yoga and meditation support this endeavor as a way to cultivate a greater understanding of one’s true nature and to directly perceive the interconnectedness of all beings. We are creating new opportunities for experiential learning and growing through yoga classes, mindfulness and meditation offerings, and personal retreats. Check our calendar of events to participate.
Local Partnerships
Throughout the year we partner with various organizations and individuals who wish to create a more sustainable relationship with the earth. Neighboring lands here at the Sanctuary are tended by Riverstone Organic Farm and Josephine Porter Institute (JPI). We provide pollinator plants for sale at the Riverstone Farm Store during the growing season and we also grow a selection of herbs for JPI to support their production of biodynamic preparations. Our pollinator plants are also available for sale at the Harvest Moon Food Store in Floyd. Other Spikenard-made products, like our Honeybee Salve, Waxed Food Wraps, and Greeting Cards will also be seasonally available at other local stores in and around Floyd.
In addition to sharing our locally-made products and plants, we also partner with organizations supporting the needs of human beings as we learn and grow together. As part of our wellness offerings, we co-host a meditation retreat with InStill Mindfulness, a local non-profit that shares meditation principles and practices throughout our region. The Sanctuary is ripe for experiential learning opportunities for visitors of all ages and so our partnerships extend to local schools and homeschooling groups, retirement communities, gardening clubs, beekeeping associations, and other organizations.
Floyd Beekeeping Club – In Progress
As part of our work in supporting local beekeepers we are in the beginning stages of organizing a Floyd Beekeepers Club with a mission of continuing to develop a healthy local bee population. We would like to host a monthly gathering and provide opportunities for beekeepers to continue learning, support one another, and share resources like swarms, queens, honey, seeds, etc. Please contact us if you are interested in co-creating or joining our new beekeeping club.
