- Author: Christine Casey
Like to eat? Thank a bee! Join us at the Haven on June 19 to celebrate National Pollinator Week. Our open house will take place from 5:30 to 7:00pm. Visitors will be able to:
- View an observation honey bee hive. Get a glimpse inside the hive to watch the queen lay eggs and the workers tend to the young bees and make honey.
- Observe our many bees "in action" working plants in the garden to collect pollen and nectar. Common bees seen in June include bumble bees, carpenter bees, honey bees, leafcutter bees, and sweat bees.
- Check out our lowest-water use bee plants to get ideas for your own water-wise bee garden.
- Taste and buy honey from the Honey and Pollination Center. A portion of the proceeds support bee research at UC Davis.
- Buy native bee houses for your garden. All proceeds support the Haven.
- Author: Christine Casey
There will be lots happening at the Haven this year for bee, plant, and nature lovers. In addition to the garden events listed below, we'll also be at other locations: we'll have a display at the Yolo Basin Foundation's Duck Days on February 21, and I'll be speaking about water-wise pollinator gardening on March 11 at the City of Woodland's Water-Wise Wednesdays program. On April 18 I will have a native bee display and bee gardening information at Wildflower Wonders, the spring plant sale of the Sacramento Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society.
Keep those bee gardens growing!
March 28
The California Center for Urban Horticulture's Create a Living Landscape workshop will conclude with a tour of the Haven. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.
April 11
The Haven will be a stop on the Gardens Gone Native tour sponsored by the Sacramento chapter of the California Native Plant Society. Docents will be on hand from 10am to 3pm to answer questions about the garden's native plants and native bees.
April 23. Please note this is a revised date for this event.
Native bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view native bees and their host plants; native bee houses will also be for sale.
May 2
The Haven is five years old! Join us between 10am and 2pm for a fifth anniversary celebration. There will be informal tours and lectures, an observation honey bee hive, and lots more.
May 8
National Public Gardens Day open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and ID, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free plants (while they last) to get your bee garden started.
May 9
The Haven will host a reception as part of the Keeping Bees Healthy symposium sponsored by the Honey and Pollination Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute and the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. The symposium is intended for a general audience at the level of high school students and up; student registration is only $15!
June 19
National Pollinator Week open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale and free zinnia seeds (while they last) to help your bee garden grow well into the fall.
July 17
Native ants lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view and learn about native ants. Like bees, ants are social insects with amazing biology and life histories.
September 25
Honey bees lunchtime drop-in. New at the Haven this year are lunchtime drop-in days, each featuring a topic related to the garden with docents present to answer questions or give informal tours. Stop by anytime between 12 and 1:30pm to view honey bees and their fall host plants as well as an observation bee hive.
October 2
Fall open house. Join us between 5:30 and 7pm for informal tours, information about bee watching and identification, and an observation honey bee hive. We'll have bee houses for sale to help support the garden.
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- Author: Christine Casey
National Pollinator Week is here! If you like to eat, thank a pollinator. Honey bees and dozens of species of native bees are hard at work right now creating the fruits, nuts, and vegetables that make our diets nutritious and flavorful.
And when they're not working food crops, they are busy pollinating the plants that wild animals rely on for food and shelter.
Celebrate with us this week at the Honey Bee Haven's open house on Friday, June 20, from 5:30 to 7pm. We'll have free zinnia seeds for all visitors while they last, honey tasting, and informal tours with experts available to answer your bee and plant questions.
To learn more about National Pollinator Week and the amazing bees, here are a few web sites that may be of interest:
National Pollinator Week at the Honey Bee Haven
Learn more about bees: Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Bee gardening: UC Davis Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven and UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab
The University of Florida's Native Bee Nest Site project
Pollinator Week flyer