- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was all the buzz.
Thousands of bee and honey enthusiasts made a beeline for the California Honey Festival, held last Saturday on the Yolo County Fairgrounds.
The annual festival, relocated this year from the streets of downtown Woodland to the fairgrounds due to a weather forecast cautioning heavy rain and wind, drew scores of smiles beneath the arched umbrellas.
Beekeeper Rick Moehrke, a retired Vacaville teacher, answered questions about bees in the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association booth.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It was incredible.
The Celebration of Life and Legacy of UC Cooperative Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen, held Aug. 28 in the Putah Creek Lodge, UC Davis, drew a standing-room only crowd who shared and applauded the many facets of his life: family man, bee scientist, athlete, angler, birder, photographer, humorist and a singer (doo wop).
They all remembered that engaging smile, a smile that could melt frozen ice cream (a dessert he loved).
Members of California's beekeeping and almond industries--Team Eric--came out in force to honor their hero, their mentor, their confidant, their friend. Some traveled...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Today is the Fourth of July, and what better time to proclaim: "Hurray for the red, white and blue!"
And the yellow.
On a camping trip last week to Doran Regional Park, Bodega Bay, we admired our neighbors' display of American flags—bordered with a dozen honey bees.
These bees, however, didn't buzz. They spun.
The colorful yellow, black and white mobiles attacked the wind like fierce little windmills, livening up the campground.
“Are you beekeepers?” I asked the neighbor.
“No,” she replied. “We just like bees.”
So did George Washington (1732-1799), the founding father of our country.
Mount Vernon research historian Mary...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
When friends own almond acreage, and invite you to see the bees and the blossoms on a brilliant day in mid-February, you go.
Of course, you go.
Almond pollination season is a delight to see and record. Almonds rank No. 2 among California's most valued agricultural commodities, right behind dairy products.
Sadly, glamour photographers often trespass on private property to take images of high fashion models in evening gowns and high heels, or to pose newly engaged couples and newlyweds. (One professional photographer even lists "40 poses for spring engagement photos in almond orchards.")
Apparently there's money to be made from the...
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's Veterans' Day, the day we officially salute, honor and commemorate our military veterans.
Let's pay special tribute to the servicemen and women who left the family farm to serve in our military. They were the farmers who fed the nation. And they became soldiers who defended our nation, much like guard bees defending their hives from intruders.
The late Harry Hyde Laidlaw Jr., (1907-2003), a noted professor at the University of California, Davis, was both a beekeeper and a military veteran. Harry spent his late boyhood and teen years in southeastern United States, working as a...