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Charmed
After rain postponed the grand opening of the Davis Bee Collective's Bee Sanctuary not once, but twice--the third time, Sunday, April 1--proved to be “the charm.”
Derek Downey, who coordinates the Bee Collective and the Bee Sanctuary and is also known as “The Davis Bee Charmer,” praised the huge turnout at the sanctuary, which is located on Orchard Park Drive, near the Domes student housing.
The visitors, quite enthusiastic, "wanted to learn about keeping bees in top bar hives, providing habitat for native bees, creating hugelkulter gardening beds, creating odor-free no-turn compost piles, and propagating plants by cuttings," Downey said.
Participants helped "create beautiful painted signs for the garden, helped finish digging more hugelkulter garden beds, wrote love letters to the bees (to be buried in time capsule in garden), and offered donations to the Davis Bee Collective, including a shed," Downey noted.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology discussed native bees, including bumble bees, carpenter bees and leafcutting bees, and also answered questions on honey bees. European colonists brought honey bees to what is now the United States in 1622.
Beekeeper Elizabeth Frost, staff research associate at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis, displayed an observation hive and fielded questions about honey bees, including how long they live and what they need to survive. “A queen bee can live two to three years,” she said, “but most commercial beekeepers requeen their hive every year.”
As Frost talked, the queen bee in the observation hive continued to lay eggs. “In the peak season, she can lay 2000 eggs as day,” Frost said.
The event also included a potluck, honey tasting (more than 10 flavors) and an information table featuring resources on keeping bees and lists of bee friendly plants.
The hives in the sanctuary are lettered with such names as "Just Bee," "Bee Happy," "Birdhouse" and "the Whaler Superorganism."
For the occasion, first-year beekeeper Eva Dopico, a second grade teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary School, Davis, dressed as a bee.
Downey, a UC Davis engineering graduate, invites interested persons to join the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary; information on how to join is on the Davis Wiki website.
He moderates the Google group and adds new members. "If someone wants to just help out and learn about bees, they are always welcome to take part," he said. "We will have hives that are collectively managed so everyone can learn together. If someone wants to keep their own hive there, it is first-come, first served. We have space for 10 to 12 hives, max."
Members of the Bee Collective, a community-based group founded in 2005 by former UC Davis entomology graduate student Eli Sarnat, share resources, such as beekeeping equipment, books, and tools. Downey accepts donations for the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary (contact him at davisbeecharmers@gmail.com or (310) 694-2405.)
Bee Sanctuary work parties are held every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the site. Downey anticipates filling the other empty hives in the sanctuary via swarms he collects in Davis, Dixon, Sacramento, Woodland, and Winters.
Derek Downey checks the cluster on a newly hived colony. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
First-year beekeeper Eva Dopico, a second-grade teacher in Davis, examines one of her newly emerged bees. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Beekeeper Elizabeth Frost (facing camera), a staff research associate at UC Davis, brought along a bee observation hive. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
They Want the Weather to 'Bee Nice'
Don’t tell that to Derek Downey, who has been trying to schedule the grand opening of the Davis Bee Sanctuary now for the past two weeks.
It appears that rain is falling mainly on the Davis Bee Sanctuary.
A grand opening initially set March 21 and then changed to March 31 has now been re-scheduled for Sunday, April 1.
“It’s supposed to rain hard on Saturday, March 31, and be nice on Sunday, April 1,” said Downey, who heads the Davis Bee Collective and its newly landscaped site, the Davis Bee Sanctuary.
He’s hoping the weather will “bee nice.”
The Davis Bee Collective, a community of small-scale beekeepers founded by a former UC Davis entomology graduate student Eli Sarnat, will host the grand opening of the sanctuary from 1 to 5 p.m., Sunday, April 1 on Orchard Park Drive, near The Domes student housing. The public is invited.
The open house will be an opportunity for area residents and prospective members to “come meet the beekeepers," Downey said. The event will include tours, honey tasting, a permaculture lesson covering hugelkultur (the drought-tolerant technique being used at the sanctuary), a free flower giveaway, seed exchange (bring seeds), and a presentation on native bees, which also will be sharing the sanctuary.
A special guest speaker will be Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology. Also planned: a display of native bee condos from Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis.
As of March 29, six hives now occupy the Bee Sanctuary. "We have four empty hives and space for a total of 12," Downey said. The hives are decorated with such names as "Just Bee," "Bee Happy," "Birdhouse" and "the Whaler Superorganism."
"The bee sanctuary is also place for people to meditate, smell the flowers, watch the bees and hummingbirds in the trees, and learn about permaculture---we're using a drought-tolerant method of gardening called hugelkultur ("hoogle culture") which involves burying logs of different sizes under the soil," Downey said. "The wood breaks down and becomes a sponge able to hold on to a ton of water so that in summer months you don't need to irrigate very much, if at all!"
Sarnat established the Bee Collective in 2005. Downey, who received his bachelor's degree in engineering from UC Davis in 2009, joined the Bee Collective in 2005 and then founded a small beekeeping business, the Davis Bee Charmers in 2010 and the Davis Bee Sanctuary in 2011. As the founder of the Davis Bee Charmers, he catches swarms, relocates hives, and teaches beekeeping lessons to individuals and groups.
Downey invites interested persons to join the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary; information on how to join is on the Davis Wiki website at http://daviswiki.org/Davis_Bee_Collective. He moderates the Google group and adds new members. "If someone wants to just help out and learn about bees, they are always welcome to take part," he said. "We will have hives that are collectively managed so everyone can learn together. If someone wants to keep their own hive there, it is first-come, first served. We have space for 10 to 12 hives, max."
Members of the Bee Collective share resources, such as beekeeping equipment, books, and tools. Downey accepts donations for the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary (contact him at davisbeecharmers@gmail.com or (310) 694-2405). He recently received dozens of donated perennials.
Bee Sanctuary work parties are held every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m. at the site.
Downey anticipates filling the other empty hives in the sanctuary via swarms he collects in Davis, Dixon, Sacramento, Woodland, and Winters.
Mmeanwhile, the Davis Bee Charmer is hoping the third time is the charm--for the weather to relent, that is.
View of the Davis Bee Sanctuary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
If the weather cooperates, visitors to the Davis Bee Sanctuary can see foragers on the nearby blossoms. This one is on a nectarine blossom. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Davis Bee Sanctuary: The Place to 'Bee'
The Davis Bee Sanctuary is the place to "bee" on Saturday, March 31.
That's when the Davis Bee Collective, a community of small-scale beekeepers founded by a former UC Davis entomology graduate student, will host the grand opening of their newly landscaped apiary, aptly named the "Davis Bee Sanctuary."
The event, open to the public, is scheduled from 1 to 5 p.m. at the site on Orchard Park Drive, Davis. The main ceremony starts at 1 p.m. However, folks will be filtering in and out from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., said Derek Downey, a seven-year beekeeper who coordinates the Davis Bee Collective and the Davis Bee Sanctuary.
Where is the Davis Bee Sanctuary? It's adjacent to the western edge of The Domes, a cooperative student housing community known for its dome-shaped structures. If you drive past The Domes on Orchard Park Drive, you'll see the Bee Sanctuary at the end of the street.
Ant specialist Eli Sarnat, who received his doctorate in entomology from UC Davis in 2009, founded the Davis Bee Collective in 2005. Now residing in Happy Camp, Siskiyou County, Sarnat is a postdoctoral researcher based at the University of Illinois, Urbana. And yes, he still keeps bees. He and a beekeeping partner maintain about 20 hives in Happy Camp.
His friend, Derek Downey, who received his bachelor's degree in engineering from UC Davis in 2009, joined the Bee Collective in 2005. Then in 2011, Downey founded The Bee Sanctuary as the place to keep the bees.
Downey owns and operates a small beekeeping business, the Davis Bee Charmers; he catches swarms, relocates hives, and teaches beekeeping lessons to individuals and groups.
Among those participating in the work parties at the Bee Sanctuary, held every Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m., are Melanie Lataste and her husband, Pierre Arrial of Nantes, France. Arrial is a postdoctoral scholar in the UC Davis Department of Geology.
What's on tap Saturday, March 31? "Come meet the beekeepers," Downey says. The event will include tours, honey tasting, a permaculture lesson covering hugelkultur (the drought-tolerant technique being used at the sanctuary), a free flower giveaway, seed exchange (bring seeds), and a presentation on native bees, which also will be sharing the sanctuary.
A special guest will be Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
Downey invites interested persons to join the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary; information on how to join is on the Davis Wiki website. Downey moderates the Google group and adds new members. "If someone wants to just help out and learn about bees, they are always welcome to take part," he said. "We will have hives that are collectively managed so everyone can learn together. If someone wants to keep their own hive there, it is first-come, first served. We have space for 10 to 12 hives, max."
Members of the Bee Collective share resources, such as beekeeping equipment, books, and tools. Downey accepts donations for the Bee Collective and Bee Sanctuary (email him at davisbeecharmers@gmail.com). He recently received dozens of donated perennials.
One of the hives at the sanctuary is actually a birdhouse, or what Mussen calls "a birdhouse for wood ducks." Davis homeowners "installed it to invite birds to live in it," Downey said, but a swarm of honey bees soon claimed it. So, Downey moved the birdhouse--bees and all--into the sanctuary.
Today (Tuesday, March 20) the bees in the birdhouse swarmed, as expected. They're now occupying a nearby hive in the sanctuary.
Downey anticipates filling the other empty hives soon with swarms.
Derek Downey checks out a birdhouse filled with bees. The bees swarmed March 30 and are now established in a once-vacant bee box in the sanctuary. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Melanie Lataste examines a frame of honey. She and her husband, Pierre Arrial, are new members of the Bee Collective.
