SALISBURY — William Mares will deliver a talk entitled “Bees Besieged: A History of Beekeeping” on Wednesday, Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. The talk will be held at the Salisbury Meeting House, 853 Maple St., Salisbury.

Beekeeping goes back 10,000 years, but bees have been much in the news recently as a multi- pronged scourge has devastated many of the nation’s 2.5 million colonies. Meanwhile, hobby beekeeping has grown exponentially in the country. Bill Mares, writer, and a beekeeper for 45 years, will tell of the origins and evolution of beekeeping, sometimes referred to as “farming for intellectuals” with a particular emphasis on his research in Vermont.

This talk is free, open to the public, and accessible to those with disabilities. It is hosted jointly by The Salisbury Historical Society and The Salisbury Conservation Commission. Bees Besieged: A History of Beekeeping is a Vermont Humanities program, supported in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities.