- 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.
American Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner of Cecil, Wisc., a beekeeper and a senior at Kansas State University discussed queen bees, worker bees and drones. She is majoring in agricultural education and minoring in food science and entomology.
Charles McMaster, a U.S. Army veteran from Copperas Cove, Texas, headed the Hives for Heroes booth. The national non-profit service organization focuses on sustainability, conservation, and providing a healthy transition from service: "Through our national network of beekeepers, we provide connection, purpose, and healthy relationships, through access, resources, and funding for Active Duty, Veterans, and First Responders.">
Steve Hays, retired sheriff's deputy, Sacramento County and founder of Second Chance Beekeeping Reentry Service, chronicled the history of his program and how inmates are learning beekeeping and getting "a second chance." (See news story)
Amina Harris, retired founding director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center and now the "Queen Bee" of her family's Woodland-based Z Food Specialty and The HIVE, offered guests "a taste of honey" from all over California. They also sold honey, including a family favorite, starthistle. Harris co-founded the California Honey Festival in 2017 with the City of Woodland.
Attendees tasted and purchased Hawaiian honey, with such varietals as Eucalyptus, macadamia, mango, Christmas bush, tropical blossom and wildflower, from "Queen Bee" Inna Eyrih, business owner of Hawaiian Honey AT&S, a company based in Hawaii (Keaau) and California.
GATEways horticulturist Rachel Davis of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden discussed pollinator gardening, focusing on native bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and hummingbirds.
This year's California Honey Festival lived up to its mission: to emphasize the importance of bees and to promote honey and bee products. The annual festival, co-sponsored by UC Davis, features educational presentations, kids' center activities, honey tasting, cooking demonstrations, a beer and mead garden, live music, vendors and more.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
A UC Davis Crowdfunding Project is underway until 11:59 p.m., Feb. 28, with a set goal of $5000. Contributions from $5 on up are welcome.
The Biodiversity Museum Day, free and science-based, traditionally takes place the Saturday of Presidents' Day weekend and involves nearly a dozen museums or collections showing their displays and exhibits to the general public. It's always been an opportunity for campus visitors to talk to the scientists and see the work underway.
However, due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and UC Davis policies, this year's event will take place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, March 6 in the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Lane and is geared for undergraduates and other members of the UC Davis community instead of the general public. (The general public can look forward to the UC Davis Picnic Day on April 23, 2022 when many of the same museums and collections are scheduled to be featured.)
"Last year, throughout the month of February, we offered a virtual 'BioDivDay' with lectures, talks, and demos from experts," they wrote on the Biodiversity Museum Day Crowdfunding Project page. "Your support will enable our 11 collections-- the students, staff and faculty associated with them-- to hold this event again."
"Donations will not only help us sustain the free, in-person event, it will enable our student interns to take science outreach to a whole new level. The goal of our event is to connect people from all walks of life to science and the biodiversity surrounding them. All donors will be recognized on the Biodiversity Museum Day social media accounts with a shout-out post. Your gifts will help us with some of our key expenses that include:
- Volunteer support ($2000)
- Event rentals ($1500)
- Event materials ($1500)"
COVID guidelines for UC Davis,Yolo County and the state of California--including appropriate mask wearing, UC Davis symptom surveys, vaccination records or negativeCOVID tests--will be followed. Side trips or tours of some of the facilities or collections, including the Bohart Museum of Entomology, Botanical Conservatory, Arboretum and Public Garden, and the yeast collection are planned but not yet scheduled.
To donate, access https://bit.ly/3HPhSaA. A donor wall includes the names of contributors.
