Oct. 15, 2012
The public event, themed “The Bounty of Pollination: More Than Just Honey,” is set from 1 to 5:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27 in the RMI’s Silverado Vineyards Sensory Theatre, UC Davis campus.
The event will feature award-winning cinematographer, director and producer Louie Schwartzberg whose film “The Beauty of Pollination” has resulted in more than 23 million views on YouTube. Schwartzberg will give his presentation at 2:50 p.m. Another key speaker is pollination ecologist Neal Williams, assistant professor, UC Davis Department of Entomology, who will discuss “Integrated Pollination Strategies: Managed and Wild Bees for a Sustainable Future” at 3:30 p.m.
Amina Harris, executive director of the RMI Honey and Pollination Center and owner of Z Specialty Food, Woodland, will speak on “Honey Tastings Across America” from 1:15 to 1:45 p.m.
Also on the agenda:
--Victoria Wojcik, associate program manager of the Pollinator Partnership, based in San Francisco, will discuss “The World of Pollinators” from 1:45 to 2:15 p.m.
--Julie Loke, teaching kitchen educator at Davis Co-Op, “Varietal Honeys—Blending the Flavors in the Kitchen” from 4:05 to 4:35 p.m.
RMI executive director Clare Hasler-Lewis and Edwin Lewis, professor and vice chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, will welcome the crowd. Lewis and Andy Waterhouse, professor of enology in the Department of Viticulture and Enology, are the newly selected faculty chairs of the Honey and Pollination Center.
Following the program, a reception at 4:35 p.m. will include honey wine (mead) tasting; varietal honey tasting; the second annual “Best Honey” competition; a bee observation hive from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis; displays from Queen Sheba Winery, Woodland; Sky River Meadery, Redmond, Wash., and Z Specialty Foods; and UC Davis displays from Shields Library, Bohart Museum of Entomology, and the UC Davis Bookstore
The organizers promise “an afternoon of lively discussions, unique tastings and interesting displays on the science behind honey and the non-honey bee pollinators.”
Tickets are $60 per person. Friends of RMI, faculty, staff and students will be admitted for $50. For online registration and other information, see the RMI website.
For the honey competition, any beekeeper can drop off a jar of honey, with a business card and a summary of the honey to the RMI office on Wednesday, Oct. 24. There is no charge to enter the honey competition, said RMI event coordinator Tracy Dickinson
RMI executive director Clare Hasler-Lewis said the newly established Honey and Pollination, was approved earlier this year by the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The vision is to “make UC Davis the nation’s leading authority on honey, honey bees and pollination by combining the resources and expertise of RMI and the Department of Entomology’s Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility.”
The center’s mission is “to showcase the importance of honey and pollination to the well-being of the citizens of California. The center will spearhead and nucleate efforts to gain support and assembly teams for research, education and outreach programs for various stakeholder groups including the beekeeping industry, agricultural interests who depend on bee pollination, backyard beekeepers and the food industry."
The goals:
• Expand research and education concerning nutrition, health, quality and appreciation of honey
• Develop useful information for California’s agricultural bounty that depends on insect pollination
• Help the honey industry establish labeling guidelines to guarantee pure and unadulterated varietal honey
• Coordinate a multidisciplinary team of experts in honey production, pollination and bee health
• Promote the use of locally procured honey in the home, food industry and restaurants.
For more information and registration see the website at http://rmi.ucdavis.edu/bounty-of-pollination. The contact person is Kim Bannister at kbannister@ucdavis.edu.
--Kathy Keatley Garvey
Communications specialist
UC Davis Department of Entomology
(530) 754-6894