Why is it called HIVE 490?
HIVE 490 is situated at the top of “Mt. Trashmore,” the Fairfax County I-66 Solid Waste Transfer Station. It sits on a small parcel assigned to CERT, by way of the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Deparment, CERT’s sponsoring agency.
I have been active in CERT for several years, and when the previous beekeper (our CERT program manager) retired and moved away, he offered me the opportunity to take over the hives.
Every fire station in Fairfax County is assigned a three digit number (and they all begin with 4, which distinguishes Fairfax’s Station 15, from, for example, Loudoun County’s Station 15, which is 615).
When CERT began providing canteen support, we needed an identifier assigned to our apparatus, so the FRD gave us “station” number 90. Hence, our canteen is “CAN490.” Since the hives are located at our “station,” I thought it would be fun to call them “HIVE 490.”
You may also see me refer to the individual hives as “HIVE 490A” or “HIVE 490B.” This is also FRD naming convention. If a station has more than one apparatus of a particular type (e.g., engine, truck, canteen), the additional ones are labeled “Bravo,” “Charlie,” etc. Usually Alpha is not specifically labeled, but I’m doing it here for clarity. So the apiary is called “HIVE 490” and the two hives are Alpha and Bravo.
PLEASE NOTE: HIVE 490 and hive490.buzz are not affiliated with or paid for by Fairfax County CERT, the Fairfax CERT Association, or the Fairfax County Fire & Rescue Department. The parcel is a convenient place to keep the hives, and I am grateful for my hives to be able to call this small patch home.