Bee Informed

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“Beekeepers in California are cautiously optimistic that their colonies are going to survive the winter in better shape that they have in the past few years,” says Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology faculty.  ”Instead of having to feed their colonies all summer, they were glad to see that many colonies actually benefitted from last year’s nearly seasonal rainfall and produced some honey.”

Mussen said it’s too early to predict where the stress relief of better season forage will result in “a lessening of CCD, but better-fed bees can handle much more adversity than poorly fed bees.”

Mussen will be the keynote speaker at a "Bee Informed" public event, set from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. in the Historic Ballroom of the Citizen Hotel, 926 J St., Sacramento. The educational celebration will focus on bees and honey through speeches, displays, drinks and food. A donation of $10 will be asked at the door, with donations benefitting the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis.

With the recent rise of colony collapse disorder, increased honey bee awareness is vital for the preservation of local honey farms, said event coordinator Elaine Baker, pastry chef at the Citizen Hotel/Grange Restaurant.

“We’ll have honey-based cocktails available at a cash bar, a tea and coffee station, and I’m creating a selection of mini desserts, each featuring a different honey.”

“Honey is one of my favorite ingredients to use in desserts because of its beautifully nuanced flavors and gorgeous colors,” said Baker, who blogs about food at http://www.elainebakerspastryplayground.com/.  “It’s just magical.”

She's right. It's just magical. Show me the honey.

And what she's doing to help the bees is magical, too.

The key goals of the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly garden planted last fall next to the Laidlaw facility on Bee Biology Road, are to provide the Laidlaw bees and other pollinators with a year-around food source; to raise public awareness about the plight of honey bees, to encourage visitors to plant bee-friendly gardens of their own, and to serve as a research site.

And oh, yes, it's open year around to homo sapiens, too.