Memorial Day and Some History about Arlington National Cemetery

There is a place filled with haunting beauty, yet deep sadness and sorrow causing tears to flow. It is the final resting place for many of our military men and women, some having given the ultimate sacrifice – the loss of their life during times of war.

This hallowed ground is Arlington National Cemetery located in Arlington, Virginia. More than 250,000 military graves stretch across 624 acres of rolling green hills, dotted with trees - some being several hundred years old. It is a tribute to the service and sacrific of our military men and women.

Originally, the Arlington house was built as a memorial to George Washington by George Washington Parke Custis. Custis was the adopted grandson of our first president. Custis had one child, Mary Anna Randolph Custis. Mary Anna married Robert E. Lee, future commander of the Confederate Army. Some have thought Lee owed the property, but under the will of George Washington Parke Custis, Mary Anna had the right to live and control the house for the rest of her life. Upon her death, Custis' will stated control would pass to Mary Anna and Robert's eldest son - George Washington Custis Lee.

In 1861, just weeks after the beginning of the Civil War, General Lee wrote to his wife. He expressed his desire for her to move for her safety. Mary Anna did not want to leave her beloved Arlington house, but did so for her well-being.

The federal government levied taxes against the Arlington estate, stating they had to be paid in person. Mary Anna could not possibly pay the taxes in person, because of her husband's position in the Confederate Army. The property was seized by the federal government. On January 11, 1864, the property was offered for public sale, being purchased by a tax commissioner for “government use”.

The Arlington propery become a military cemetery. On June 15, 1864, Arlington National Cemetery was established by Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs of the Union Army. Under Meigs' orders, the first monument was built using stone and masonry, and was the final resting place for 1,800 Bull Run Union casualties.

When the Civil War ended, neither Lee or Mary Anna tried to recover possession of the Arlington property. After General Lee died in 1870, George Washington Custis Lee, eldest son of Mary Anna and Robert E. Lee, brought legal action, stating the land had been illegally confiscated. In December 1882, the U. S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Custis Lee, returning to him the property rights. Just a few months later, congress purchased the property from Custis Lee for $150, 000.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, also called the Tomb of the Unknowns, is a part of Arlington. It is located on a hill with Washington D.C. in view. Two Union soldiers, their identity unknown, were the first Unknowns buried at Arlington. Now there are nearly 5,000 Unknown Soldiers buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Seven words are carved on the Tomb: “Here rests in honored glory an American soldier known but to God.”

The Tomb of the Unknowns is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year - rain, sleet, snow or shine. The sentinels change guard every hour on the hour during the winter. In the summer, the changing of the guard is every half hour during the daytime, and every hour on the hour throughout the night. The elite members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment are the Tomb Guard sentinels; and they are all volunteers.

Each potential volunteer must meet the height requirements of 5 feet 10 inches to 6 feet 4 inches tall, and have a flawless military record. They are required to memorize the Arlington National Cemetery history and the location of 300 graves. Further training is required to learn the “walk”, which contain a certain number of steps in between specific actions. Training is difficult, with various testing phases, only the best of the best will pass. Those who endure and pass will be ceremonially qualified, earning the right to wear the Silver Tomb Guard Identification Badge.

There are over 27 funerals services performed each day. Full military funeral honors are given to those military members who have died as a result of the wounds they received from enemy action.

Times of war to maintain freedom causes blood to be shed, ultimately causing tears to be shed. Those military members who survive their wounds as a result of enemy action, come home, make adjustments, and live with the consequences of their wounds. Those who pay the most cherished price for our freedom - giving their lives, come home in a casket draped with the American Flag. Arlington National Cemetery becomes the final resting place for some of those precious givers of their life to keep American free. We need to be grateful to them, for their family's loss, and finally for our freedom, because freedom is not free.

On this Memorial Day, I think of my father, who passed away far too young, and who served honorably in the Air Force. It is his footsteps I followed by serving honorably as well. I also think about my Uncle Jim and my cousin Jim, who served honorably, and thankfully are still walking this Earth.

Honeybees and a Struggling Beekeeper

In 2013, I was finally able to start on a journey to become a beekeeper. This was something I'd wanted to do for a number of years, but I had to figure out how to do it despite a disabled hand/arm, and get the money. It is expensive to begin, and to make matters worse, the honeybee population has been in trouble since the 1980's. Before that date, there were more bees than there was equipment available to beekeepers. Now there is plenty of equipment and less honeybees.

The "Bee" and "Butterfly" hives in 2013.
Copyright Tracey R. Simmons

To begin my journey, I took a beekeeping class and read through various beekeeping books. In addition, the beekeeper teacher and I discussed alternative ways for me to "work the hive".

The following is just a small dent of information I have learned:

Queen - at the egg stage, workers and a queen are identical. The future queen is fed royal jelly throughout her development from egg to larva to pupa to adult. This takes sixteen days. The cell the queen develops in is larger than those for worker bees.

Drone - a male honey bee. It takes twenty-four days for a drone to develop from egg to an adult. Drones are bigger than female worker bees. They do not have a stinger and do no work. (The Bee Movie is extremely incorrect - written by males who didn't do their homework.) The drones purpose is to mate with queens from other hives; and they die in the process.

Worker Bees - it takes twenty-one days for a worker to develop from egg through adult. The egg gets royal jelly for two and one-half to three days. After three days, their food is changed (lowered) in quantity and protein. Workers bees are females with undeveloped reproductive organs. They do all the work in a hive except laying fertile eggs.

As the adult worker bee ages, it will have different jobs to do. Workers take care of the queen, build comb, raise the young, guard the hive, clean the hive including removing dead bees, keep the hive either warm or cool depending on outside temperature, and they forage for food.

Worker forage for nectar, pollen, water, or propolis. This is dangerous work, since the worker can become prey to various predators, be killed by moving vehicles, or get into insecticides and even herbicides which have been linked to the major decline in the honeybee population worldwide. This is disturbing since we humans need the food honeybees pollinate, yet the humans who make or use these chemicals do no want to admit to the damaging effects these insecticides and herbicides are doing, not only to the honeybee, but to animals, birds, and even humans.

My 2013 journey was filled with frustration and zero answers to the problems I was seeing in my two hives. I never got to the point of being able to put honey supers on my hives, because the bees were just not working properly.

After the first winter (now 2014), I had one hive that barely made it through the winter. And the teacher I took the class with became involved. He tried to help me, because he saw the desire and drive I had to help the honeybee. As the hive struggled through the spring, I wondered about the plan he had. In late June, he brought frames full of brood and a new queen to put in my hive. He thought this would fix what was happening. The problem was not fixed. The population and work done never allowed for honey supers to be put on the hive. Despite plenty of food for the bees, to include a large candy board to help them through the winter, they died in early March 2015.

My only option to continue beekeeping was to hope for a swarm - to be called about a swarm and to capture it. That didn't  happen. I did not have hives to watch and observe for the summer of 2015 - something that actually is very relaxing.

It was a non-beekeeping friend who thought of the possible cause to all the troubles with my hives. She knew my hives were about fifty feet from a country road which is quite busy compared to other country roads. She asked if my hives were dirty - they were. She lived off a highway and knew how dirty her house was from the exhaust from all the vehicle traffic. Plus, as my adopted dad, a retired professional firefighter, told me - carbon monoxide is heavier than air and settles low. My hives sat lower than the road surface. I discussed this with the beekeeper teacher, and it was something he hadn't thought of, but worth pursuing.

Finally, a possible answer, and the fix - move the hives back more than two hundred feet from the road. The nice checked paver squares that my hives sat on would have to be moved. I was game if it got me back into being a beekeeper.

Now it is 2016, and after rolling two years worth of change, I had enough money to buy package bees. This is a screened box that has three pounds of bees in it, which is about 10,000 bees. It also has a queen with a few worker bees inside a smaller cage.

The "Bee" hive siting on the checked pavers.
Photo by Tracey R. Simmons

Last Monday, I got my package and put them in my hive. I hope to keep you informed on how my hive is doing throughout this coming summer. And I hope to get some wild honeybees I've been told about to put into my other hive. These wild bees are considered survivor bees and could help improve the gene pool in my area. Keep watching for new post...