Napa Valley Bee Company

Dear Blabity Bla....

Here is an e-mail I wrote in response to someone who posted their formic acid use to one of the bee yahoo groups I belong to. Everyone else who responded to this person dropping acid on their bees were mostly concerned with both the toxic issues around formic and how that particular colony would be effected. I thought it was interesting that no one commented on the ramifications of using formic acid on the species as a whole. Don't get me wrong, I'm not soap boxing it here, I've dropped acid myself. I'm just saying if you chose to use chemicals in your hives the long term pay off may be great for your bees but let's look at what it means for the rest of the bees in your immediate area.

Dear Blabity Bla....
Hello, my name is Rob Keller, I'm a sustainable beekeeper in Napa. I see your point of view with the formic. For the most part I treat my bees organically w/o treatments of any kind. I even quit powdered sugar last year, although sometimes I still use it as a diagnostic. Like you, this year I did drop acid on one of my colonies. Not because I was particularly attached to this hive, like yours, it too was a swarm of unknown origin. I really just wanted to see the ramifications of using formic acid.  I have read a lot about it through the work Rudolf Steiner and Gunther Hauk so I was curious.  The colony I chose to use it on late last fall was riddled with varroa, curly wing, and presenting signs of HBPMS. Any other time of year I would have most definitely chosen to re-queen from my more sturdy survivor stock - which in most cases can clear up the problem if caught early enough. I have been watching this medicated colony very closely all winter and I am slightly frustrated because coming into spring it is doing far better than any of my other hives I didn't treat. However, there is one thing we will have to be aware of in our intervention: Now that we have saved our own colonies what have we done for the species over-all. Yes, the treatment is benign but that colony is now producing genetically compromised drones that have little or no resistance to the varroa. Drones are reared first thing in the spring, I'm already seeing them.
The plan for my formic colony is to put the hive as a priority for the first possible queen this spring and discontinue the formic treatment. I believe long term use of chemicals in our hives is detrimental to the species, they will never develop their own resistance. My one-time use of the formic acid was to see if I could salvage a doomed hive that would otherwise have died over the winter.
This fall I watched a friends hive CTD - circle the drain - from varroa infestation. It frustrated me immensely because she lost a hive that was one of the most productive hives I have ever seen in terms of honey production. Her bees filled super upon super when all the other bees in our rural intense monoculture were starving. To me, we need to preserve that genetic pool to selectively breed into our own local indigenous bees. Unfortunately, even if it means temporarily using formic acid to get the bees out of a sticky sitch. I am by no means an advocate for treating hives long term. I think you need to consider this with your colony too. If we want to help strengthen the honeybee species we can't continue to foster poor genetics. May I suggest this spring you take a close look at all your hives and divide the strongest colonies showing resistance and re-queen the rooftop hive in Oakland with a more sustainable stock. I don’t mean to appear overly critical. However, all the discussion on the forum is based on the effects of the bees in the hive being treated with no mention of the long term effects to the species.
I have a blog – I’d appreciate your feedback.
www.napavalleybeecompany.com
Generally, I never chime in on the yahoo group but I appreciate what you bring
into the mix and felt like you'd be okay with my input.
Rob

On an up note everyone around me is telling me it's spring:

Look who it is, The Big Guy! He appeared earlier today from where he has been hibernating in the den. In our den not his...Interesting because I noticed a lot of dandelions in bloom around the yard, his favorite coming out food. He is an awesome pet, a registered California Desert Tortoise that I have had for 22 years. I love him like a hard shelled son!

Look who else came out today, Timmy the water turtle. Actually I'm only kidding... I'm not one of those creepy turtle guys that names all his turtles and kisses them too. I can tell you this, he is a Red Eared Slider that has been under water in the pond for roughly 4 months now.

Ahhhh! the first pinky sting of the season. You know it's spring with the first sting...

The first drone of the season, well, actually the first drone that would sit still. I have seen a couple other dead drones from deformed wing and actually heard one fly by my ear about 2 weeks ago but this is the first that I have gotten a really close look at. Makes sense that on these hives we used formic on we should re-queen pronto. Drones are a big part of the genetic equation.

Split this hive to have a quick peak, not quite moved up to the second hive body.
 
These girls on the other hand are ready for a super.

Check out the cover crop...

ROSEMARY >< ROSEMARY >< ROSEMARY

Time to get that rosemary going. I have been taking clips from all over town. You see, just like my bees I want as much genetic diversity in my rosemary as in my apiary. I have not spoken with the Bonick Farm manager John yet,  but I would love to do a run of rosemary of all different varieties down one 50 yard stretch of the orchard. The benefits I can see of rosemary are:
* It is being grown all over town so getting clips for starters is easy
* Drought resistant <> Deer resistant <> Pest resistant
* Blooms off & on most the year
* Great erosion control
* Eatable
* Good sniffer qualities
But the number #1 reason I am up to my nosemary in rosemary right now is it is a fabulous source of pollen and nectar for our bees off and on through-out the year.
My plan for this beekeeping season is to get 3 functioning apiaries with the best genetic stock in the Napa Valley. One in the Carnaros region, one in Oakville, and the showcase apiary in St. Helena. My goal is to offer the bees at all three location different pollen and nectar sources year round and record which bees do best. The three plants I'd like to focus on are rosemary, of course, lambs ear, and borage. Not saying these will be the only forage I will be suplimenting but using them as my baseline. So if you are a beekeeper, especially in the rural areas of Napa,  you best get your forage on!

Two different kinds of rosemary and two of the same lavender (mine)

I just piled a big fat mound of rich soil in a nusery tray and cut the babies loose (mine)


I chose new growth to clip from and stripped some of the folige from the bottom before planting
(mine)

Some I left the flowers - some I used rootone (mine)


(theirs)


(theirs)

Planners support new school

Last Tuesday was a pretty eventful day for the development of the St. Helena Montessori School Adolescent Program. Since I have been working there we have been waiting for the day to present the proposal for the new campus to the planning commission. I think there was a lot of doubt whether or not the commission would look favorably on the project. At the meeting it was so exciting to see the entire room of people who were in favor of the new school. It will truly be amazing if the urban limit line can be adjusted and the new campus can get started. Even my part teaching the kids the vocation of beekeeping will be a big deal. To date we have been using the College Avenue site as just a place to temporarily keep the bees. However, if the new campus goes through we will have a permanent home. A permanent home where we can further the research we have started with selective breeding from our strong indigenous bees and offering those bees to the community. Distributing the sustainable genetics around the Valley, everyone in the community would benefit from that. It would also offer us the space needed to build a first rate bee garden insectory. A garden where we could not only teach from example but offer gardeners in the area the best bee plants for all pollinators.  It would also offer us a lanscape to host professionals from around the country to teach us advanced techniques in permaculture, biodynamics, organic gardening, and all aspects of sustainable beekeeping. It's interesting how things are developing for me as a beekeeper. often other beekeepers, master gardeners, permaculturist, of just people who see the importance of the honeybee contact me and want to hang out in our apiaries as we tend bees. How amazing would it be to have a functioning garden where we could host people and share our research? I believe if we (the backyard beekeepers) are going to survive the species we'll all need to come together sharing our ideas, sharing our bees, and sharing our passion with the next generation of younger beekeepers. My fingers are crossed we get the entitlements to proceed with the campus and we can put some of this talk to action.

By Jesse Duarte
STAFF WRITER
Thursday, February 19, 2009
The planning commission is poised to sign off on a proposal to build a new campus for the St. Helena Montessori School on agriculturally zoned land at the end of College Avenue.
The Montessori School wants to extend the urban limit line and rezone nine acres of ag land for the campus. Another 13.7 acres would be preserved permanently for agriculture through a conservation easement.
Montessori School parents and students told the commission the rezoning and extension of the urban limit line are justified because the school’s curriculum would instill in students an appreciation for agriculture.
A majority of planning commissioners agreed.
“The urban limit line is there to preserve agriculture, but there are a lot of ways you can preserve agriculture,” said Commissioner Sandy Ericson. “One of them is by teaching people to engage in it.”
The commission continued the matter to its March 17 meeting because the project’s environmental review is still in the middle of a 30-day public comment period.
Supporters said students would learn to value agriculture through a new organic farm where they would grow fruit, nuts, vegetables, herbs and flowers.
The new farm would be consistent with the philosophy of Montessori education, which encourages students to experience nature first-hand, said Alexander Heil, whose mother Elena co-founded the school in 1981.
“The farm gives the students in the school a great opportunity to learn about agriculture and to learn how to be good stewards of the land,” said Julia Eyer, a student in the Montessori School’s adolescent program. Students would use fresh food from the farm to prepare their lunches, she said.
The Montessori School, currently located across from Grace Episcopal Church on Spring Street, would share the space with Nimbus Arts, another nonprofit that’s struggled to find a permanent home Upvalley.
Nimbus Arts Director Jamie Graff said the group’s days are numbered at their cramped space at the St. Helena Marketplace north of town. The new project would make Nimbus more accessible to the St. Helena community, and allow it to incorporate more content devoted to agriculture and the environment, she said.
Commissioner Cary Shott said she likes the school’s philosophy, but she’s concerned about extending the urban limit line and taking land out of agriculture.
“Your school talks about existing to preserve agriculture, but you’re not preserving it by moving your school there,” she said.
Commissioner Peter McCrea said he shared Shott’s concern, but suggested that the school could convert land elsewhere in the city to agriculture so the project wouldn’t result in a net loss of ag land.
Chair Kay Philippakis pointed out this would be the second time the commission has taken land out of agriculture since last year, when the ag-zoned land on Pratt Avenue was converted for new dorms for the Culinary Institute of America.
She said she’ll support the Montessori School project, but if a third project came along that would eliminate ag land, she wouldn’t vote for it.
With the Montessori School planning to create new toddler and middle school programs, enrollment grow to 180 students, resulting in hundreds of cars using Pope Street on school days.
Unlike the Mercy Housing proposal on Pope Street, the Montessori School project didn’t draw any criticism from neighbors who were concerned about added traffic.
A few commissioners did raise the issue. Philippakis said requiring the use of a school bus would be a reasonable condition of approval.
Montessori School representative Lester Hardy said the school would be served by two wells and an on-site septic system. The inefficient sprinkler system that provides irrigation and frost protection for the existing vineyard would be replaced with a water-efficient system, so the new school wouldn’t use any more water than the vineyard already does, he said.
The school would be built to obtain gold or silver certification under LEED, a set of standards that gauge environmentally friendly “green” building practices.

Here's a little of what I'm talking about:

Our bee friendly, nitrogen rich, cover crop and the next Beekeeping class at Nimbus:

 Last Fall

Mid-Winter

 

Last Week

Also here is the listing for the next Beekeeping -Bee garden class at Nimbus:

Bee Keeping & Garden Design With Special Guest instructor from Connelly Ranch
Instrctors: Rob Keller And Michael Lauher
This class will be the perfect opportunity for both new or established beekeepers, and gardeners! We will prepare you for acquiring bees while learning about bee friendly plants needed to keep your garden and apiary buzzing all year long. We are proud to host Michael Lauher, sustainable gardener from Connolly Ranch in Napa, to share his knowledge with us as we give you hands on experience in developing an amazing on-site bee garden. Students will learn to assemble their own hive, and learn what is involved in successfully managing a bee colony at home. Our instructors will explain the importance of honeybees, and their vital role in our environment.
BEE – 1 Ages Teen/Adult 6 class sessions Thursdays 5:30 – 8:30 pm March 26 – April 30

Heinous and Bliss

Yesterday was the worst! Well, at first anyway…
I was out on the porch rocking my boots and talking with Jason Beeman about our home brew schedule for later in the day. When from the corner of my eye I noticed all the hives on the new baby blue hive stand had fallen off the backside and were all dismantled in the hedge. I think I did pretty good, I calmly excused myself from the conversation with Jason claiming I would call back in an hour to confirm my schedy. Then ran in slow motion crying towards the  toppled hives, I imagine I looked very much like the painting the scream by Edvard Munch

To complicate things even worse as I stumbled past the pond I noticed one of my fish in the pond had died too. Like a sick death house of mirrors my feet grew heavy and my judgment impaired as I stopped and scooped the lifeless orange fish from the pond freehand and tossed it into the brush. With water being such a commodity the days of flushing are far behind me I guess. Like they say “ ashes to ashes, dust to dust, what’s a fish without a bush”…
At some point I must have come to and realized there was a major mess to deal with. Three of the four hives that fell over had colonies in them. The other was just boxes stacked high we used a couple weeks ago as props for the shoot Meg did of Chris, Rob, and I as a Bee Magnet promotional.
The hive stand must have given way to the over saturated soil at it’s feet and the hives all fell back. The other three hives still had bees in them but they were all pretty soaked and only one appears to be still flying today, 3 days later. Interestingly enough the one colony that looks like it will be okay was a two queen colony where apparently all the bees have moved into the upper hive. They were so drenched I put a large towel directly over their brood chamber for a couple days that really helped with drying up some of the moisture. When I removed the towel the bees that stuck were what I’d call slightly annoyed thrusting their abdomens in the air as I plucked them off one by one and gently returned them to the hive entrance.
I have to say the trauma of the day was quickly numbed by the beer I consumed with Jason as we started the next batch of homebrew at his place. The experience was like steeping a serious 5 gallon pot of tea with honey and hops,  outside on an over-sized Bunsen burner. The last two batches of brew Jason made and I just helped with the bottling, it was exciting to see the entire process. for the three batches so far we have been utilizing Napa Valley Honey. We decided to try and up it a notch and follow a recipe that used a little bit more honey witch would increase the alcohol content. Mind you, the last two batches weren’t easy on the % scale. I think we were guessing about 7% - the same as an IPA or Racer 5. We are hoping for an alcohol content of about 8-10% on this new batch. Like Jason says” it’ll be talking back to you”. Lots and lots of sugar in this batch which means the yeast will be able to create more %.  The recipe we tried is a Midas Touch Clone (Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Delaware).

See, I wasn't kidding about the fish


Or the hives....


Even the Winnie the Pooh hive bit the dust.



But things got better as the day got longer...


Jason transferring the rainwater we used to brew the Midas Touch Clone recipe.
I know, I know ..." Al Gore would probably think this part was a bad idea.
He claims there is acid in the rain... Right, Like the overall global temperature is increasing too...


Me getting my BEE-on while Jason feels his heat-on.


One fat sack of steeping barley.


Beautiful... Too bad you can't smell it, bliss!


The secret recipe - well, a xerox of the secret recipe.



The honey crystalized so badly we needed to use an icecream scoop to get it out.



Just like high school science class, only with a much more intense heat source.

Stegman barrel hive up-date:

  February 19, 2009.

After about 4 days of crazy rain here, today the sun was shining and the bees were flying big. Particularly the wine barrel I got from Matthew W. Stegman.  You remember him... he’s the guy that got stung and went into anaphylactic shock so he gave me his barrel full of bees. I certainly won't forget him, he fed me sushi when I went over to pick-up the bees. His sushi was amazingly fresh, he had all the salt water aquariums around. I guess it was okay if we were eating his fish, I just could help but think about it. All those poor fish swimming around in his tanks looking out at us chowing their aquatic relatives. The thing is, if Matt loved those fish/sushi as much as he loved those bees: the pleasure was all mine.

After I picked-up his bees Napa had an incredible hot-spell, like a hundred and ten degrees. His bees must have been baking in that barrel because they threw off at least 3 swarms almost immediately. I tried to alleviate some of the heat that was trapped in the barrel by drilling a couple 2 inch holes in the top. But they must have preferred their privacy to the venting because they propolized that hole shut in about a week or two. Probably for the best, because now that it is dumping rain those propolis plugs are pretty water tight. The bees appear to be pretty strong, piling in the mustard pollen, and holding the ants at bay.  I didn't see any curly wing bees staggering around in the front of the hive like I’m seeing in some of my other colonies. My GOD, the dollhouse hive is spewing curly wing yet the population of healthy bees seams to be growing. They too are bringing in buckets of pollen and standing their ground with the ants as well.
The mite load discrepancy is curious to me… For a long time I thought the bees that would end up being our survivor stock were the colonies that were presenting the most hygienic behavior. I would get excited when I saw a colony that had a spotty brood pattern (to a point) and a number of larvs with their heads chewed off dead in the cells. What this was telling me was that the bees were hard wired to recognize a family of mites living in the cell, chew it open liberating the mites while sacrificing the young bee too. Sad but true…
That’s one theory, how bout those three or four colonies I have that the mite population is crazy high but the bees appear to be unaffected. One of the colonies I am managing – and initially acquired from one of my mother colonies – at AVM’s Madrona property has the absolute highest mite load I have ever seen in a hive of bees. Literally, almost every bee in the brood chamber had a mite visible on their back during one of the final inspections last fall. I did a sugar dusting as a diagnostic to get a visual I could wrap my head around. I was completely blow away with the drop, countless mites! That was the night Leigh and I both ate a pinch of powered sugar mites to insure we truly knew our enemy by injesting them. Whether it was us eating the sweet sacrificial mites or not I’m not sure, but the colony is booming this spring. What I’m wondering about is, will the survivor stock be honeybees that are hygienic or bees that just happen to be able to live in coexistence with the parasite. This is something I will be looking at very closely this year and certainly be an on going discussion with Serge.

Matt's Barrel Hive


Matt's barrel hive with burlap stuffed in it's bung getting ready to transport.


Inside Matt's hive when I picked it up last summer.


Close-up of the barrel bees earlier today.
 
Much more comb than last summer.


Outside the barrel hive earlier today.



DOLLHOUSE HIVE

Dollhouse hive x4.

Dollhouse hive action cam.


 One of the numerous curly wing bees found wondering around in front of the hive aimlessly.

Survivor stock at AVM


Hive in the foreground is the one I'm watching closely this year.



Looking down - clover tells me hive may be in area that is too moist.


Monitoring tray on survivor hive after 2 weeks, nice cluster.

Movin’ on the Overlander

 In the past few days we have been pushing on with the interior of the Overlander. Not only has the hole been cut in the floor to allow for venting the beehive but a foundation for the rear bench has been built. George Castle has been slamming nails the last 3 days, well okay driving screws. The framing for the bench is done and tomorrow the sides and top go on.  I decided it would be best in the interest of saving space in the back to only have a straight bench rather than one that wraps around. I’m a little concerned that between the hive, rear bench, and what ever ends up covering the wheel wells the space in the rear of the trailer is getting tight. My goal is to have a pillar of bees that can be experienced in the round. One would be able to walk freely around the colony observing the bees daily activity through portholes or windows in the hive . A dictating factor to the hive placement is the rear ventin the trailer that will allow the bees to come and go from the top of the hive. I have ordered eight un-assembled hive bodies that I believe will come close to filling the space between the hardwood floor and the vent. The upper vent will have to be adjustable enough for easy hive removal. Lloyd will be making the structure that will hold all the hives in place. We talked about using ¼ inch aluminum angle to create a sort of cage that will be anchored to the top and bottom of the trailer.  It too will hold it’s own design issues having to be stable yet be accessibile to manage the colonies. One of the most exciting things to me about placing the hive just behind the wheel wells is we were able to cut a hole in the floor without any obstructions in the trailer infrastructure. The hole in the floor can be screened so the varroa mite can fall completely through the hive and out of the camper. Conceptually, the idea is that the bees will be continually leaving a trail whenever we move them in the trailer, like 60,000 little Hansel and Gretel’s dropping wax breadcrumbs on their journey. Beautiful....

Overlander stuff:


Hole in the floor and rear bench skeleton.



Small platform built up to hold honey tasting box.



Oak box that will house the honey for tastings outside the trailer.



Beautiful old oak boxes I am trying to incorporate into the trailer interior for storage.



George's 3 blurry drills.



George's tools



George's circular saw that cut the hole in the trailer floor - brutal!



Nine hive bodies stacked on top of each other will create the pillar of bees.



Pretty tight fit...


Overlander rug photographed in thirds

Acorn Jean has it in the bag

Today Davis and I took a visit to Main Street Trees. After my scion crazy Saturday last week I needed a place to plant all my new root stock. Jean and I had been talking about this method she uses – as far as I could see almost exclusively- where everything at her place is growing in these black fabric bags. Kind of like a Joseph Bueys black felt suit for your plants. I have been thinking a lot about them since we talked and they might be exactly what I need at my place because of the radical change in light over the season. Fortunately, my yard is pretty private and my neibs can’t get a clear view of my bees. I’m only guessing because every year they rat me off to Napa County Code Enforcement and most years their numbers are way off. This wouldn’t appear to be such a big deal however the fines associate with keeping bees in the city limits is based on the number of hives one is keeping. Unfortunately, the country garden style privacy has created an oasis of shade. In my case I should be appreciative that Cecile Brunner Climbing rose grow so well in my back yard and… well, privet is privet, and it grows well anywhere but particularly well in my front yard.. God Bless impenetrable fast growing plants. The bees are all over that yellow privet flower when it’s in bloom but I don’t see them much on the Cecile Brunner.
On an up note, I have been talking with Pete Mott of our City Council who believes that there is a chance we can get the city to look very closely at the current legislation regarding beekeeping in the Napa City limits. You see, this is a problem, the bees in the urban area of Napa are doing so much better than the rural bees due to the extreme monoculture in our area. lucky Jean doesn’t have to worry about urban <> rural bees, She has a wonderful little slice of heaven smack dab in the middle of town. I didn’t realize the magnitude of the space, one wouldn’t by just driving by, until Jean sent me an announcement for her labyrinth walk with a google earth image attached. I’m not exaggerating, check it out for yourself at: www.mainstreettrees.com (under the farm tours tab). Serious business folks, if you missed the scion exchange last week and need your trees I’d call Acorn Jean. From what I saw she had pit load of stone fruit, Oaks for sure, and Napa bananas too. I can’t say for sure if everything I saw was for sale. It was a little nutty with my kid there whacking her dog and spearing her chicken with found bamboo. but make sure while your there to walk the labyrinth, visit the Airstream, see the bees (although I didn’t, so she might not have them anymore) and grab a ride on Friendly the Dolphin.  You know you’ve had a great time when the first thing Davis asks on the ride home is “When can we go back” Many thanks to Jean for her being so keen on my kid and the big fat sacks.

Jean and Davis yucking it up with Friendly the Dolphin

"Yeee Haaa"!

Farm fresh eggs Jean gave us from her chickens. We cooked them up soft boiled.

Check out Jean's stream...

A sleek felt suit for your plants.

I put my new apple tree root stock in my small bag, I will practice grafting to later. 

A couple colonies in my front yard right now. Three langs and two barrels.

Capturing bees from the swarm throwing wine barrel hives. That's why my neibs love me..

Whats not to love?...

GETTING OUR SCION AND OUR BEES ON

GETTING OUR SCION AND OUR BEES ON
If you are a beekeeper or gardener and weren’t in Sebastopol last Saturday you missed 3 amazing events. This is how Ross Rubin, Arnie Bunter, Bethany Chamberlain and I spent our day:

10 am- 11:30am Scion Exchange at the Vet’s Memorial Hall in Sebastopol (next to Ives Park), The annual event was held by the California Rare Fruit Growers, Redwood Empire Chapter. Every January the. CRFG host a scion (cuttings) and plant exchange. Where generally over 500 varieties of common, rare and experimental scions and plants from all over the world are available free or at minimal charge.
There were grafting and planting demonstration, classes for beginners, plus experts and hobbyists to answer questions.
Some cuttings available, like grapes and figs, don't need to be grafted and can be planted directly in the ground.
Custom trees can be created for attendees on-the-spot by experts for a small donation. Bring gallon baggies, tape and pens to mark your acquisitions.
A $5 donation is requested of members and non-members alike to help offset costs of facility rental and insurance.
This year's event was a great success with almost 500 attendees!

I have to be honest, at first I thought a scion was a car. You know the Scion xA, xB, xD & tC.  Which is a little confusing because what does a motor vehicle have to do with a living shoot or a little twig?... I think of cars being named after animals like mustangs, cobras, or super bees, not a section of a plant used for grafting.
Nonetheless, this scion exchange was a real experience. I can see how over the years all the beekeepers were talking about it. It’s like a ziplock convention with a bunch of sticks. Really, table after table with thousands of ziplock baggies with twigs in them. Albit, well organized alphabetical twigs but still, to the common person like me a lot of undergrowth. That being said I got my fair share. I wasn’t quite as organized as the Rare Fruit folks I just sort of collected my branches by species. For instance I put all the apple scions in one baggie and had Bethany put all the peach in another, even though there may have been 25 different types of peaches and apples. I guess I’ll get the luck of the draw when it comes time to graft.
The coolest thing aside from all the pollinating root stock are the 2 banana plants I bought. No kidding, there are varieties of banana that will actually grow in Napa.

11:30 – 2pm
During the scion exchange Beekind was busting out with a early spring beekeeping class taught by Serge. Of course my car full of bee freaks ran a little late for that as we were scioning. I contacted both Katia at Beekind and Serge in advance so it was cool. Plus we kind of crashed the lesson as they were all standing around the hives behind the store. As always with Serge’s lectures it was packed full of students and information. I’m always amazed at how much I take from conversations, lectures, and the e-mail correspondence I have with Serge.  He’s an amazing beekeeper who is at the forefront of all the problems we’re seeing with honeybees. He is also my go to guy that has primarily made me the beekeeper I am today.  If you have not taken a class with him – do yourself AND your bees a favor. Most of the information in this particular class: COMING OUT OF WINTER, SPRING MANAGEMENT  - Late Winter & early spring hive management discussion. Critical time for bees , I was up to speed on. However, the life cycle information on the small hive beetle was great to know. Like with the varroa and tracheal mites the new school beekeeper has to know their enemy. Even though we have not seen the small hive beetle yet in my area we know it’s coming.

2pm – 4pm

After a fabulous lunch at the Himalayan yum yum down the street from Beekind we returned –  no doubt late….

PARTNERS FOR SUSTAINABLE POLLINATION
Join Serge Labesque, Kathy Kellison, beekind and others on this much needed service. Introduction on how to promote habitat on ag lands.
For more info go to partnersforsustainablepollination.org First General Volunteer meeting. Please Come and join this valuable non-profit group!
Even though in the discription it said Serge would be speaking most of the dialog at this meeting was directed by Kathy Kellison. She has done an incredible amount of work getting this non-profit off the ground and it is now too big for just her and her cat and she needs help managing the day to day business. In attendance were about 20 people from all over the bay area who took on various responsibilities to help the project grow. By this time I was pretty spent. Not feeling well all day, coughing and sneezing to the point where my nose was running like a waggle dance and my head pounding like an angry swarm.  Between restroom breaks to blow my nose and sneezing on Ross I took on the task of, well, I’m not really sure what… Kathy explains it better in her post meeting e-mail:

Hi Rob,

Thank you for offering to find a place for PFSP to meet
in Napa.  I think that was a great idea because perhaps
some others may come who may not have otherwise
because of distance.

What do you need from me? I think the 200-4;30 is a good
time , do you agree?

Thanks for your energy today.. and I think getting
something going on cities, counties for pollinator
beneficial actions is a great way to bring the
public awareness up to speed!

Thanks!

Kathy

Yikes! That’s right I said I would arrange to have the next meeting on May 16th over here in Napa. NOTE to SELF….  Remember to ask Jamie at if we can host PFSP at Nimbus in May. Anybody else out there that is interested in being a friend of the pollinators should jump on board. All you beekeepers on this side of the hill should definitely get involved as the issue of pollen directly affects you and your bees in this incredible mono culture we call Napa Valley. Get down on it!

My bee veil is off to the California Rare Fruit Growers, Beekind, Kathy Kellison, and Serge Labesque for fabulous bee/tree day, and to Arnie Bunter for buying me lunch.

Ross and Arnie taking it in and getting it down.

 Serge laying it down.

 Check out Doug's duds. That's my shirt design vintage 2006


I like the back of these T's better than the front.

Look who it is... Mark "cover crop" Griffin.

Kathy Kellison telling us about where we're at with the Partners For Sustainable Pollination, appropriately enough in front of a tower of pollen traps. I'm kidding... they're screened bottom boards!

HONEY - HONEY - HONEY





Beekind observation hive.


Ross beeing not so kind, he was going to open the observation hive in the store. I talked him down.


We'd need A LOT of these if he opened that O-hive...