- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
So says beekeeper/journalist Kim Flottum, who has served as the editor of Bee Culture magazine for more than three decades.
Flottum will speak on "So You Want to Be a Beekeeper" at the third annual California Honey Festival on Saturday, May 4 in downtown Woodland, and it's a talk you won't want to miss. He'll speak at 11:30 a.m. on the UC Davis Educational Stage. Admission to the fair is free.
Also in his talk, he'll clue you in on "where to get information, what can go wrong and what can go right," and then you can ask questions.
We asked Flottum why folks should keep bees. They "provide essential pollination, improve the genetics of the wild bee population in the area, ensure native plant populations," he said, "and because there is absolutely nothing more calming, soothing, enjoyable than being a part of that civilization, right in your backyard."
Agreed!
We remember when Flottum, who lives in northeast Ohio, addressed the Western Apicultural Society's 40th annual conference, held in 2017 at UC Davis. He predicted that the nation's 250,000 beekeepers (who manage around 4 million colonies) will turn into a million beekeepers in five years.
Flottum applauded "the incredible rise of new beekeepers in the last 10 years." He launched the magazine BEEKeeping, Your First Three Years, several years ago.
Beekeepers are becoming more and more diverse, specializing in honey production, pollination services and queen bee breeding. Pollination services and queen bee breeding are the most profitable, Flottum said. Honey, not so much.
"If I'm in beekeeping, pollination services is sure bet," he said. "Beekeepers now get 200 bucks a colony for almond pollination in California. Pollination is more profitable than honey. Bee breeding? Queens can sell for as much as $40 or $50."
"In the United States, we eat on the average 1.2 pounds a year, but in Canada, it's 2.5 or 2.4 pounds." He lamented that unsafe and/or questionable honey from China floods our nation's supermarkets and is being sold at undercut prices. (Some statistics indicate that a "third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals"--Food Safety News.)
It's important for American beekeepers to label their honey "Made in America" or localize it by city or state, he said.
Flottum also touched on such issues as honey bee health, nutrition, loss of habitat, poor quality forage, and pesticides.
The varroa mite/virus is the No. 1 problem for beekeepers, he said. "Other stresses include nutrition, nosema, pesticides...All of these can be fixed with money, increased diversity of bee stock, and a move way from both ag and in-hive legal and illegal chemicals."
The California Honey Festival, sponsored by the City of Woodland the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, will include scores of activities, from honey tasting to live music. Among the events: a cooking stage, the UC Davis educational stage, a kids' zone, a refreshment zone (beer and mead, which is honey wine) and live entertainment. (See the schedule)
UC Davis Educational Stage
- 10:15 a.m. "What is a Bee City?" by Kitty Bolte of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
- 11 a.m. Bee Tent Demonstration, by staff research associate Bernardo Niño of the Elina Niño lab, UC Davis, who will open a hive inside a screened tent
- 11:30 a.m. "So, You Want to be a Beekeeper?" by Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture
- 12:30 p.m. "The Huge Impact of Native Bees" by pollination ecologist and professor Neal Williams of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology
- 1:15 p.m. Bee Tent Demonstration by Bernardo Niño
- 2 p.m. "Mead: The Oldest Alcoholic Beverage Known to Man...so What Is It?" Dan Slord
- 2:45 p.m. "Gardening the Urban Landscape" by Christine Casey, manager of the UC Davis Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven
- 3:30 p.m. Bee Tent Demonstration by Bernardo Niño
Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollination Center, said that Kitty Bolte, the first speaker on the UC Davis Educational Stage, will welcome Woodand as a "Bee City." Plans also call for UC Davis to be named "Bee University" on Saturday, Harris said. "Rachel Davis, director of the Gateway Gardens, Arboretum has been spearheading this designation."
Master beekeepers in the California Master Beekeeper Program, directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Niño, will share information on bees and beekeeping throughout the festival. Bernardo Niño is the educational supervisor, and Wendy Mather serves as the program manager.
The Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven will feature a pollinator garden installation highlighting what and how to plant for pollinators, along with displays about common bees found in gardens, according to Christine Casey, academic program management officer who manages the bee garden on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus.
Launched in 2017, the festival aims to cultivate an interest in beekeeping, and to educate the public in support of bees and their keepers, according Harris. Last year's festival drew 30,000 people and some 16 California honey companies.
The California Honey Festival's mission: to promote honey, honey bees and their products, and beekeeping. Through lectures and demonstrations, the crowd can learn about bees and how to keep them healthy. Issues facing the bees include pests, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and climate changes.
As it expands from year to year, with more speakers, vendors, entertainment and family-friendly activities, the California Honey Festival is the place to "bee."
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You'll see scores of honey varietals at the third annual California Honey Festival on Saturday, May 4.
And you can sample the honey, ask questions, and purchase it--the soul of a field of flowers.
The free event, sponsored by the City of Woodland and the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., in downtown Woodland. Last year's festival drew 30,000 people and some 16 California honey companies.
Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollination Center, says the festival will include a cooking stage, a UC Davis educational stage, a kids' zone, a beer and mead pavilion and live entertainment.
Among the featured attractions will be a screened bee tent, where festival-goers can see beekeeper Bernardo Niño, staff research associate III in the Elina Niño lab in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, open the hive and point out the queen, worker bees and drones. Bernardo is the educational supervisor of the California Master Beekeeper Program, directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Niño and operated by the Niño lab.
"Bernardo will be taking the girls through their paces three times during the day," Harris quipping, referring to the worker bees.
The California Master Beekeepers will be staffing a table throughout the all-day event. The UC Davis Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven will feature a pollinator garden installation highlighting what and how to plant for pollinators, along with displays about common bees found in gardens, said Christine Casey, academic program management officer and manager of the half-acre garden, located on Bee Biology Road. She also will be speaking on bee gardening at 2:45 p.m. on the UC Davis Educational Stage. California Master Beekeepers will be teaching on the educational platforms at the festival.
Kitty Bolte from the Xerces Society of Invertebrate Conservation, one of the speakers, will welcome Woodand as a "Bee City" in the opening address on the UC Davis Educational Stage at 10:15 a.m. Plans also call for UC Davis to be named "Bee University" on Saturday, Harris said. "Rachel Davis, director of the Gateway Gardens, Arboretum has been spearheading this designation."
The UC Davis area, located in the Woodland Opera House Plaza, in the middle of the festival activities, will be abuzz with new additions, Harris said. Newcomers to the festival include the World Food Center Plant Breeders and UC Davis entomology students. (See schedule)
The Pollinator Posse of the Bay Area, headed by Tora Rocha and Terry Smith, will be on hand to explain the importance of pollinators and what everyone can do to help them.
Live entertainment will include Jayson Angove, Jessica Malone, Big Sticky Mess, Bocado Rio, Case Lipka, David Jacobin, Katgruvs, accordionist Jared Johnson, The City of Trees Brass Band and Double X Brass Band. Other live entertainment includes Space Walker and the Hand Stand Nation.
The festival, launched in 2017, aims to cultivate an interest in beekeeping, and to educate the public in support of bees and their keepers, according to Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center.
The California Honey Festival's mission: to promote honey, honey bees and their products, and beekeeping. Through lectures and demonstrations, the crowd can learn about bees and how to keep them healthy. Issues facing the bees include pests, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and climate changes.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
In the honey bee colony, you'll see a workforce like no other. You'll see nurse maids, nannies, royal attendants, builders, architects, foragers, dancers, honey tenders, pollen packers, propolis or "glue" specialists, air conditioning and heating technicians, guards, and undertakers. Meanwhile, in the peak season, the queen bee keeps busy laying 1500 to 2000 eggs a day. It's a matriarchal society; the females do all the work. The males: their only job is to mate with a virgin queen. And then they die. Or, if they don't mate, their sisters will kick them out of the hive in the fall. They're not needed.
Want to learn more about honey bees?
Attend the third annual California Honey Festival, to take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, May 4 in downtown Woodland. It's sponsored by the City of Woodland and the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center. It's free and family friendly.
The festival, launched in 2017, aims to cultivate an interest in beekeeping, and to educate the public in support of bees and their keepers, according to Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center.
The California Honey Festival's mission: to promote honey, honey bees and their products, and beekeeping. Through lectures and demonstrations, the crowd can learn about bees and how to keep them healthy. Issues facing the bees include pests, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and climate changes.
The event will include a cooking stage, a UC Davis educational stage, a kids' zone, a refreshment zone (beer and wine) and live entertainment, including Jayson Angove, Jessica Malone, Big Sticky Mess, Bocado Rio, Case Lipka, David Jacobin, Katgruvs, accordionist Jared Johnson, The City of Trees Brass Band and Double X Brass Band. Other live entertainment includes Space Walker and the Hand Stand Nation. Look for the UC Davis bee lab to present a live bee demonstration. The Pollinator Posse of the Bay Area, headed by Tora Rocha and Terry Smith, will be on hand to explain the importance of pollinators and what you can do to help them.
Meanwhile, let's hear it for the blue collar workers, the honey bees! Have you ever seen a honey bee packing blue pollen? They do when they forage on the tower of jewels, Echium wildpretii, which is blooming right now in the area. (Unlike humans, honey bees don't get the blues--unless they're collecting blue pollen!)
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Or at least you saw the crowd circling Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The bees buzzed and so did the festival-goers.
Niño presented several "live bee" demonstrations in a circular screened tent. She opened the bee hive, pulled out frames, and showed the crowd the three castes of bees: the queen, worker bees and drones.
Niño talked about beekeeping and what bees need, and then passed a couple of drones through the tent to the crowd. Some gasped, not realizing that drones are males and cannot sting. Other marveled at the docile drones, took cell phone photos and petted them. The drones didn't seem to mind!
All in all, it was a great day for bees at the California Honey Festival, which is annually sponsored by the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center and the City of Woodland.
"Bees face many threats today—it is the goal of the festival to help attendees understand the importance of bees to food diversity in the United States." The California Honey Festival's mission is to promote honey, honey bees and their products, and beekeeping. Through lectures and demonstrations, the festival goers learned about bees and how to keep them healthy. Issues facing the bees include pests, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and climate changes.
How many attended the festival? About 30,000, said Harris. (That's not counting the bees!) Harris noted that the inaugural festival drew about 20,000. Organizers had expected about 3000. Next year: maybe 40,000 or more?
Be sure to check out the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR) newly posted video on the festival, featuring Niño. It's excellent. Although she's based in the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, she's California's Extension apiculturist. We are fortunate to have her! See the UC ANR video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUPEdMBYXZY
Resources? The E. L. Niño lab website is at http://elninobeelab.ucdavis.edu.
Their Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/elninolab/.
Their California Master Beekeeper Program is at https://cambp.ucdavis.edu.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Although the festival, set from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Woodland, focuses on honey bees--they're the pollinators that produce honey!--you'll see other arthropods there, too, including native bees and spiders.
The Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis will be displaying bee specimens, including sweat bees, leafcutter bees, blue orchard bees, bumble bees, carpenter bees, sunflower bees and others. Directed by Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis, the insect museum houses some eight million insect specimens, plus a live "petting zoo" (think Madagascar hissing cockroaches, tarantulas, and stick insects) and a year-around gift shop. It's located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building.
Look for spiders, too, at the California Honey Festival. "Interns will be tabling from Heidi Ballard's Education 142 class on environmental education," said Tabatha Yang, the Bohart Museum's education and outreach coordinator, who is assisting with the project. They will be discussing the different hunting techniques of various spiders, including crab spiders, jumping spiders, trapdoor spiders and orbweavers.
The California Honey Festival is a free, family friendly event sponsored by the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center and the City of Woodland. it will include bee presentations, live music, cooking demonstrations, a beer and wine garden, and a Kids' Zone. You'll learn from world-class bee garden designer and author Kate Frey on what to plant in your garden to attract bees. She and Professor Gretchen LeBuhn of San Francisco State University authored the award-winning book, The Bee Friendly Garden.
Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño, California's state apiculturist, and a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, will present three "live" bee demonstrations in a circular screened bee tent. Her demonstrations are scheduled for 11:15, 1 p.m. and 3:45 in the bee tent, UC Davis Stage. See complete schedule of events.
Amina Harris, director of the Honey and Pollination Center, says the festival was created in 2017 to cultivate an interest in beekeeping, and to educate the public in support of bees and their keepers. "Bees face many threats today—it is the goal of the festival to help attendees understand the importance of bees to food diversity in the United States."
The California Honey Festival's mission is to promote honey, honey bees and their products, and beekeeping. Through lectures and demonstrations, the crowd can learn about bees and how to keep them healthy. Issues facing the bees include pests, pesticides, diseases, malnutrition, and climate changes.
So, come for the bees. Stay for the native bees and...the spiders. Then next year on March 14 you can celebrate National Save a Spider Day.