- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, has organized a fantastic group of speakers for the UC Davis Speakers' Stage at the California Honey Festival, set Saturday, May 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in downtown Woodland. The event is free and family friendly.
Harris, who co-founded the California Honey Festival in 2017, is an expert on all things honey. And she knows her bees. She's the co-owner of Z Food Specialty and The HIVE, Woodland.
Harris founded the Honey and Pollination Center in 2012 and plans to retire at the end of June. Don't expert her to retire, however, from the Apis mellifera world!
The UC Davis Speakers' Stage will be just west of First Street, Harris related. It will be a'buzzing.
One of the speakers is Sanmu "Samtso" Caoji of Tibet, China, a 2022-23 Hubert Humphrey Fellow at UC Davis. She's the founder of the Shangri-la Gyalthang Academy, and CEO of the Cultural Information Consulting Company.
Caoji will speak at 2:30 on "Empowering Women to Become Beekeepers and Bread Winners for Their Families While Keeping Bees in the Wild." Read her biography here.
What's the Humphrey Fellowship? President Jimmy Carter established it in 1978 to honor the late Hubert Humphrey (1911-1978), vice president under the Lyndon Johnson administration. The fellowship program "brings accomplished mid-career professionals from countries with developing and emerging economies to the United States for professional and leadership development," according to UC Davis Global Affairs.
The speakers will deliver 20 to 30-minute talks, starting at 10:30 a.m.
10:30 a.m.: Pollination ecologist and professor Neal Williams, UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who will discuss "Native Bees and their Conservation"
11 a.m.: Kitty Bolte, GATEways horticulturist, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, "Planting Your Garden to be a Welcoming Space for Pollinators"
12 noon: Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, and co-owner of Z Food Specialty and The HIVE, Woodland, "Let's Learn to Taste Honey."
1 p.m.: Wendy Mather, co-program manager of the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMPB), "So, You Want to Be a Beekeeper?"
1:30 p.m.: Jean-Philippe Marelli, senior director of Integrated Pest Management for Mars Wrigley Confectionery (also a journey level master beekeeper and Melipona beekeeper in Brazil), "Stingless Bees: The Amazing World of Melipona Bees"
2 p.m.: Cooperative Extension apiculturist/associate professor Elina Lastro Niño of Entomology and Nematology, and director of the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMPB), "What Our Bee Research Is Teaching Us."
2:30 p.m.: Sanmu "Samtso" Caoji, a 2022-23 Hubert Humphrey fellow, and founder of the Shangri-la Gyalthang Academy, and CEO of the Cultural Information Consulting Company, "Empowering Women to Become Beekeepers and Bread Winners for Their Families While Keeping Bees in the Wild"
3 p.m.: Rachel Davis, coordinator of Bee City USA Woodland and chair of Bee Campus USA UC Davis (and GATEways Horticulturist for the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden), "Woodland Is a Bee City; UC Davis Is a Bee City--What This Means to Our Communities"
UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology communications specialist Kathy Keatley Garvey will provide a background slide show of images of honey bees and native bees.
The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program, founded in 2016 by Niño, provides a program of learning, teaching, research, and public service. They offer comprehensive, science-based information about honey bees and honey bee health. Since 2016, the organization has donated 32,000 hours of volunteer time and served 186,630 individuals in education, outreach and beekeeping mentorship. Read more about their classes and their work on their website.
Following the California Honey Festival, an after-party will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. at The HIVE Tasting Room and Kitchen, 1221 Harter Ave., Woodland. It will feature pollinator-inspired food, drinks, and dancing to the music of Joy and Madness, an 8-piece soul and funk group. Tickets are $20 and will benefit the California Master Beekeeper Program. "Each ticket includes entry to win a bountiful Yolo County food and drink basket (value $500)," Harris said. More information is on this website.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
You'll want to register for a class on "I Planted a Bee Garden: Now What?," offered Saturday, Oct. 29 by the UC Davis Bee Haven, part of the Department of Entomology and Nematology.
The class, taught by Christine Casey, academic program management officer of the Bee Haven, is set from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. in the Bee Haven, located on Bee Biology Road, next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility. It also will be offered online. Registration for the class, which covers a light breakfast and course materials, is $50. Proceeds will support the operation of The Haven.
Topics will cover turf removal and weed control, best bee plants for new gardeners, and turf vs. bee garden maintenance. Enrollment is limited to 25. To register, access
http://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/870.
https://registration.ucdavis.edu/Item/Details/871.
UC Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the Department of Entomology and Nematology serves as the faculty director of the half-acre garden, planted in the fall of 2019 under the direction of interim department chair Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology. Häagen-Dazs was the primary donor. (See timeline and history of the garden.)
The garden features art projects by the UC Davis Art/Science Fusion Program, co-founded and co-directed by the duo of entomologist/artist Diane Ullman, professor and former chair of the UC Davis Department of Entomology, and self-described "rock artist" Donna Billick of Davis. Billick created the 200-pound ceramic-mosaic bee sculpture, Miss Bee Haven, that anchors the garden.
The Haven is open daily from dawn to dusk. Admission is free. For more information access the website, Facebook page, Casey's Bee Gardener blog on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources website, the Instagram account or the Twitter account.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
It's World Bee Day!
How did that come about?
One word: Slovenia.
The Republic of Slovenia, rich in beekeeping history, asked the United Nations to proclaim an annual World Bee Day, and following a three-year international effort, the United Nations agreed to do so in December 2017.
So May 20 is the annual World Bee Day.
"Slovenia LOVES bees and beekeeping and it seems like California does, too!" says Wendy Mather, program manager of the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP). "There are 72 Apprentice Assistant and 93 Apprentice level candidates vying for their CAMBP certification this year! The '22 season is buzzing."
Mather points out: "World Bee Day is a confirmation that we humans respect and appreciate our dependence on one of our favorite generalist pollinators, the honey bee, for a healthy, diverse diet. Bee health equals human health and we thank all our CAMBP volunteers for their service to humanity in helping to raise awareness of the importance of bee health and science-based beekeeping. Our members are honey bee ambassadors and are committed to environmental stewardship."
Cooperative Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, is the founding director of CAMBP. The organization has disseminated science-based beekeeping information through a network of trained volunteers since 2016.
CAMBP's vision is "to train Apprentice, Journey and Master level beekeepers so they can effectively communicate the importance of honey bees and other pollinators within their communities, serve as mentors for other beekeepers, and become the informational conduit between the beekeeping communities throughout the state and UCCE staff," according to its website.
Beekeepers and prospective beekeepers can sign up for classes, which run from February through October. Upcoming classes (many online but some in person)
- Honey Bee Health, May 21
- All About Varroa, June 4
- Queen Rearing Basics, June 11
- Pesticides, Colony Collapse Disorder, Research and Hope, June 18
- Wax Working, Honey and Hive Products, July 9
- Advanced Anatomy and Physiology of the Honey Bee, Aug. 13
- Seasonal Honey Bee Colony Management in Southern California, Sept. 17
- Broodminder: Apiary Technology and Honey Bee Health, Oct. 15
- Exploring Beekeeping in Person at the South Coast Research and Extension Center, Irvine, Oct. 22
That's it for the 2022 classes. In addition, there's an "Introduction to Mead" class offered Nov. 5. Mead or honey wine, is the world's oldest alcoholic beverage.
Let's hear it for the bees!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Chrobak, a freelance writer and editor based in Colorado, begins:
"For more than 40 years, Arthur Shapiro, a distinguished professor of evolution and ecology at UC Davis, has counted butterflies at the same 10 spots in California. His sites span an elevation range from sea level to tree line, starting at the Suisun Marsh and crossing the Central Valley, the Sierra foothills and ending on the Eastern Sierra slope."
"At each stop, he always walks the same route, jotting down every butterfly he finds. Those hikes have revealed a disturbing trend. At most of Shapiro's sites, the number of butterflies is going down. In a 2020 paper, he and other researchers reported that butterfly abundance has been dropping by 1.6 percent annually over the past four decades across 70 locations in the western U.S."
"Increasingly, researchers are finding that humanity's footprint can crush even the small organisms we tend to take for granted, including insects. And that can be a problem for us, because humans rely on these inconspicuous fauna in many ways, including to pollinate a large portion of our fruits and veggies and nuts. UC Davis scientists are monitoring these pollinators to find out what's behind their worrisome decline."
Chrobak goes on to write about such pollinators as honey bees, native bees, and hummingbirds. In addition to Shapiro, she quotes:
- Hymenoptera expert Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and a UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology. She hosts the annual Robbin Thorp Memorial Bumble Bee Contest contest to determine who can find the first bumble bee of the year in Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties.
- Honey bee expert Elina Lastro Niño, Extension apiculturist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology; director of the California Master Beekeepers' Program; and faculty director of the UC Davis Bee Haven. Pests, pathogens, pesticides and poor nutrition all threaten honey bee colonies, she points out.
- Avian veterinarian and hummingbird expert Lisa Tell, a UC Davis professor of veterinary medicine and author of a newly published children's poetry book, "If Hummingbirds Could Hum," that relates how to attract hummers. Hummingbird feeders, she says, should be cleaned every day in hot summer weather to prevent sugar water from fermenting or growing harmful microbes.
Bottom line: our pollinators are in trouble. Some are going extinct; many are in decline; and some are disappearing at an alarming level. We all need to do our part to help save them.
Some resources to help:
- What to plant to attract bees and other pollinators: See the UC Davis Bee Haven website, directed by Niño and managed by Chris Casey. The Haven, located on Bee Biology Road, west of the central campus, is open year around, from dawn to dusk.
- What to plant to attract butterflies: See Art Shapiro's website, Art's Butterfly World
- Sign up for bee classes with the California Master Beekeepers' Program, launched and directed by Elina Lastro Niño
- See pollinators and other insects at the UC Davis Bohart Museum of Entomology, home of a global collection of 8 million insect specimens. (The Bohart, located in Room 1124 of the Academic Surge Building, is temporarily closed due to COVID-19 pandemic precautions)
In addition, the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden is a wealth of information, and periodically hosts plant sales at its nursery on Garrod Drive. Many UC Davis entomology faculty work with pollinators, including pollination ecologist Neal Williams; honey bee scientist Brian Johnson, focusing on animal behavior, evolution, theoretical biology, and genomics; community ecologists Louie Yang and Rachel Vannette; and urban landscape entomologist Emily Meineke. Diane Ullman, whose work encompasses insect/virus/plant interactions and management strategies for insect-transmitted plant pathogens, directs ceramic-mosaic art programs showcasing pollinators.
Photographs for the UC Davis Magazine article are by Kathy Keatley Garvey, communications specialist with the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, and an avid pollinator photographer, especially of bees and butterflies.
UC Davis Magazine has been covering the campus since 1983 and is published in March and September. The yearly subscription is $12.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Applications close Jan. 30.
Apprentice assistant is the first level of the trainer programs offered by CAMBP), launched and directed by Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. Other levels are apprentice, journey and master.
What does an apprentice assistant do?
As the website says: "The apprentice assistant level of the CAMBP explores the art and skill of beekeeping prior to keeping bees, even if you live in an area where beekeeping is not possible. This level of the CAMBP is the perfect science-based introduction to everything you need to know in order to keep safe, healthy bees. If you cannot keep bees at your location, and want an ‘in-hive' experience, the CAMBP can recommend options. The CAMBP requires 10 hours of volunteer service and 12 hours of continuing education each year so members maintain and expand their beekeeping knowledge and skills."
On the application form, you'll be asked:
- What inspires you to learn more about honey bees and beekeeping?
- Do you currently keep bees?
- Are you a member of a local bee club?
- What, in your opinion, is the biggest challenge facing bees and beekeeping today?
- Are you capable of performing 10 hours of volunteer service and 12 hours of continuing education on bees and beekeeping as an apprentice assistant in your first year in the CAMBP?
The cost to enroll in the class is $50. At the onset, accepted students will receive links to three live, online study halls, facilitated by CAMBP staff, to meet other new beekeepers and ask questions in preparation for the tests, which will be administered in person or virtually via Zoom (depending on COVID-19 restrictions.)
The class officially starts in March, according to program manager Wendy Mather, with final exams scheduled for September. Students must score at least 80 percent to become an official apprentice assistant. They then will have access to the CAMBP member network; webinars; and CAMPB member news. And if they wish, they can apply for the next level, apprentice.
"One cool factor about apprentice assistant is if you decide that beekeeping isn't for you, you still get a certificate stating you've passed the 'theory' portion of the course if you choose only to write the online exam and satisfy your curiosity about humanity's only sweet treat purveying insect," Mather said. "It's not mandatory to get into a hive."
More information is available on the apprentice assistant website or contact camasterbee@gmail.com.