- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
They'll be safe and dry in the bee observation hives.
The free and family friendly event, co-sponsored by the University of California, Davis, takes place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 East Gum Ave. Parking is free, a spokesperson said.
The festival traditionally takes place in downtown Woodland and draws a crowd of some 40,000.
The California Honey Festival emphasizes the importance of bees and promotes honey and bee products. It features educational presentations, kids' center activities, honey tasting, cooking demonstrations, a beer and mead garden, live music, vendors and more. Beekeeping organizations will answer questions about bees and showcase bee observation hives.
Speakers at presentations in Waite Hall will include GATEways horticulturist Rachel Davis of the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, who will speak from 3:30 to 4 p.m.
“I'll be talking about pollinator gardening, focusing on native bees, butterflies, moths, hoverflies, and hummingbirds,” Davis said. “The My Habit Horticulture Learning by Leading™ and UC Master Gardener team will be tabling about Climate-Ready Gardening, with an emphasis on biodiversity and gardening for pollinators. We want to equip gardeners with tools to create beautiful, habitat-supporting landscapes that are primed to thrive in the face of our changing climate.”
The line-up of speakers at Waite Hall:
11 to 11:30, 2024 American Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner
11:45 to 12:15: Cache Creek Conservancy, Jolene Jindrich
12:30 to 1 p.m. SugarBee Apples, sponsor of the California Honey Festival
1:1 to 1:45: Hives for Heroes, Charles McMaster
2 to 2:30: California Beekeeping Federation “The Truth About Honey Bees, Almonds and a Partnership That's Sweeter Than Honey" with Trevor Tauzer (Tauzer Apiaries) and Kelli Evans (Blue Diamond Growers)
2:45 to 3:15: SugarBee Apples
3:30 to 4 p.m.: UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, Rachel Davis
4:15 to 4:45: Honeybee Discovery Center, Nicole Johansson
5 to 5:30: 2024 American Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner
The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program, which uses science-based information to educate stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping, will not be participating this year. But science-based information on bees will be provided by the California State Beekeepers Association and the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association.
Capsule information on some of the organizations or speakers:
American Honey Queen, Kaelyn Sumner
American Honey Queen Kaelyn Sumner of Cecil, Wisc., is a senior at Kansas State University majoring in agricultural education and minoring in food science and entomology. She traces her interest in beekeeping to the FFA, where she was nationally recognized for her specialty animal production project and her agriscience fair research. The American Honey Bee Program, part of the American Beekeeping Federation, which educates and advocates for beekeepers and United States honey consumption.
Cache Creek Conservancy, Jolene Jindrich
The Cache Creek Conservancy is a non-profit organization founded in 1996. Its mission is to restore, preserve and protect the Cache Creek watershed. The focus of the Conservancy's work has been riparian restoration along a 14-mile stretch of the Lower Cache Creek as mentioned in the Yolo County's Cache Creek Resources Management Plan.
Jolene Jindrich helps care for the Tending and Gathering Center (TGG). She holds a bachlor's degree in microbiology from Humboldt State University, where she studied genetics, plant physiology and cell biology and spent time volunteering in biology and chemistry labs. She works with the Habitat Restoration Manager and the TGG Steering Committee to tend desirable native species, manage non-natives, maintain the trails and generally improve both the visual aesthetics and habitat value.
Hives for Heroes, Charles McMaster
Hives for Heroes® is a national non-profit service organization focusing 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.
McMaster, of Copperas Cove, Texas, is the connections director of Hives for Heroes, a U.S. Army veteran, and a six-year beekeeper. He devotes much of his time as a member of the board of directors of the Texas Beekeepers Association.
“The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden spans the campus's 5300-plus acres and includes the historic Arboretum – a 100-plus acre campus and regional amenity comprised of demonstration gardens and scientific collections as well as the Putah Creek Riparian Reserve – a rare stream and grassland ecosystem managed for teaching, research, wildlife and habitat protection.”--Website
Honeybee Discovery Center, Nicole Johansson
The Honeybee Discovery Center, currently located at 501 Walker St., Orland., Glenn County, Calif., is designed to teach the public about honey bees and the rich history of beekeeping in Northern California, according to its website. "The Center is a place for the public and schools to learn about honeybees and for the beekeeping community to display items that are part of beekeeping and its history."
Northern California is known for its queen bee rearing, with tens of thousands of queen bees produced annually. Orland is considered the “Queen Bee Capital of North America.” Eighty percent of the queen bees raised in the United States are from Butte, Glenn, Shasta, and Tehama counties, "The Golden Triangle.” Orland is also the 40th “Bee City, USA” with a commitment to creating greater awareness and an environment that protects honey bees and other pollinators. Yvonne Koehnen of the C. F. Koehnen & Sons Inc., originated the idea of the Honeybee Discovery Center. The Center, which includes a museum, is open the first consecutive Friday and Saturday of every month from 3 to 6 p.m.
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Noted bee scientist Jamie Ellis, a University of Florida professor, will speak on "Understanding the Risks that Pesticides Pose to Honey Bees" at a UC Davis seminar at 4:10 p.m., Monday, April 1. This is a zoom seminar.
Here are the particulars!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Today's Honorary Bee Image Award goes to...drum roll...an image of a humble hoverfly appearing on the National Geographic Facebook page.
The caption reads "A bee sits on a marigold flower in Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA."
Bee? Umm, no!
Marigold? Umm, no!
Sits? A bee does what?
Hey, hoverfly, you're an honorary bee!
Indeed, why can't the hoverfly, aka syrphid fly or flower fly, gain a little stature?
As of 3 p.m. today, this mistaken-identity image has drawn 2,400 views, 66 comments and 136 shares from National Geographic's 50 million FB followers.
It's a beautiful insect image by freelance photographer David Littschwacher. Who wrote the caption? Not an entomologist. Ironically, however, numerous National Geographic followers are unaware of the faux paux. A sprinkling of the comments:
- "Beautiful picture"
- "Very nice photo; spring brings lots of flowers"
- "A beautiful sight!"
- "Our nature...priceless"
- "Nature's delicate balance beautifully displayed in Coronado National Forest, Arizona, USA."
- "You might want to check your identification on both plant and insect"
- "Not a bee but a hoverfly"
- "That bee is a species of hoverfly, absolutely surprised at you, of all organizations"
- "Leave it to NatGeo…"
- "You would think Nat Geo could identify a bee, instead of a fly! Lesson for people that trust anything on social media, especially pictures"
- "Not on a marigold, either"
- "Looks more like a fly...National Geographic--do your research!"
With so much misinformation and disinformation spreading globally, even the humble hoverfly gets into the act!
Probably one of the most embarrassing mistakes, though, is that dratted fly on the cover of Bees of the World, authored by noted hymenopterists Christopher O'Toole and Anthony Raw.
Syrphid flies (order Diptera) are easily distinguished from honey bees (order Hymenoptera). Among the key differences: (1) syrphids have only one pair of wings, while honey bees have two (2) syrphids have short, stubby antennae, while honey bees have long, bent antennae called genticulate antennae and (3) syrphids have large, wrap-around eyes and honey bees do not.
And if you watch them in action, a hoverfly will hover over a flower before touching down (thus the name). A honey bee is more directional in her flight pattern as she buzzes in to forage on a flower.
Some hoverflies mimic the coloration of bees and wasps, gaining a little protection from predators. Unlike bees, however, hoverflies don't sting.
But cheers, both are pollinators!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
Take stock of your flowers and pollinators; today is the first day of spring.
If Virginia stock, Malcolmia maritima, is blooming in your garden now, you'll likely be seeing honey bees, syrphid flies and other pollinators.
M. maritima, native to Greece and Albania, is a member of the family Brassicaceae, which includes mustards, broccoli, cabbages and cauliflower. It's self-sown. In its native habitat, it grows well in maritime sandy habitats, thus the "maritima" in its name.
The four-petaled flowers, quite fragrant, can range in color from lavender, white and pink to violet and purple.
In our garden in Vacaville, Virginia stock blooms profusely from spring to late fall, and can thrive in the winter.
Cheers to the first day of spring!
- Author: Kathy Keatley Garvey
If you've lately visited the Ruth Risdon Storer Garden, part of the 100-acre UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, you've seen them.
Honey bees nectaring on the Kniphofia "Christmas Cheer" poker plant.
Its stems, stretching 5 to 6 feet tall, are topped with brilliant spikes of reddish-orange tubular flowers. They are Santa Claus-red, honey yellow, and pumpkin orange, all wrapped in one.
The genus, Kniphofia, honors Johann Hieronymus Kniphof (1704 -1763), a German physician and botanist. Botanist Conrad Moench (1745–1805) bestowed the name.
Everywhere the plant goes, it spreads cheer.
Honey bees, buzzing out of their their hives when the temperature outside hits 55 degrees, spread their own kind of cheer, bringing back life-nourishing nectar to their sisters and queen bee in the dead of winter.
Cheers.