The next time a bee crashes your picnic or interrupts your gardening, you may want to thank it.

By pollinating crops, bees make it possible for seeds to form, fueling the growth of many fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Their honey can be used to help heal wounds or sweeten food, while versatile beeswax contributes to products such as candles, cosmetics, and household cleansers.

North Carolina is home to a nonprofit State Beekeepers Association, one of the nation’s largest. Residents interested in keeping bees or learning more about the insects also have a local resource in the organization’s Forsyth County chapter.

The Forsyth County Beekeepers group meets monthly to swap stories and trade advice. The club also offers a Beginner Beekeeping course each winter, and it maintains a website with extensive bee-related reference sources.

Even those who prefer to keep bees at a distance can benefit from the club’s swarm removal service, an initiative in which club volunteers retrieve unwanted outdoor hives.

Beekeeper Norman Faircloth asks people who see a new hive in their backyards to call the club instead of destroying the bees—especially as 2009 yielded the worst U.S. honey crop on record, according to group resources. “When they swarm, they’re looking for a new home, and you’ve placed a starter colony. Usually, this is when bees are least aggressive and beekeepers can most easily come pick them up.”

For more info, visit forsythbeekeepers.org