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Show Me the Honey: UC Davis Picnic Day
You'll probably like lima bean honey.
Lima beans are a honey production crop, and this varietal is one of the six honeys to be sampled at the UC Davis Department of Entomology's free honey-tasting event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, April 20 at Briggs Hall. It's all part of the 99th annual UC Davis Picnic Day.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen has been staffing the activitity at the UC Davis Picnic Day for more than three decades.
Every year Mussen tries to offer something new and/or different for visitors to taste. He's gathered everything from cotton honey to starthistle honey. (Starthistle, by the way, is his favorite, and is also favored by many beekeepers.)
This year, in addition to lima bean honey, the varietals are manzanita, pomegranate, orange blossom, almond blossom and northern desert shrub (from Nevada). (See the National Honey Board website for information on varietals.)
Honey bees are trucked to California from all over the country to pollinate the state's 800,000 acres of almonds. But have you ever sampled almond blossom honey? Most people haven't. It's rather strong and leaves an aftertaste, Mussen says.
What many folks are also eager to try is the reddish-tinged honey from the northern desert shrub.
The honey tasting will take place in the courtyard of Briggs Hall, which is located just off Kleiber Hall drive. Each person will be given six toothpicks, one for each varietal. Due to popular demand, two tables will be set up to accommodate everyone.
Guess which one will be the last honey to be sampled? Almond blossom honey. That's because of the aftertaste.
Honey-tasting is a popular activity at Briggs Hall during the UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee heading toward almond blossom. Almond blossom honey will be one of the honeys to be sampled at the UC Davis Picnic Day. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Taste of Honey
Honey!
Today at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, we borrowed a plastic spoon and offered a taste of honey to newly emerged honey bees.
It was their sisters' making and now it was theirs. And soon, they will be making their own.
Norman Gary, emeritus professor of entomology at UC Davis and author of the newly published book, Honey Bee Hobbyist, the Care and Keeping of Bees, writes that "When all conditions are ideal (good weather, long days, intense nectar secretion and very populous colonies), bees can collect enormous quantities of nectar--perhaps around 6 pounds or more in one day--yielding around 2 to 3 pounds of honey per day."
Still, we often hear folks complain about humans stealing honey from the hives.
"Bees consume most of the honey they make," writes Gary, who has kept bees for more than six decades and continues his work as a professional bee wrangler. "Honey is primarily food for them and secondarily a treat for us because they produce more than the require for sustenance, which is 200 pounds per colony annually. The extra honey--anything over 200 pounds--is known as 'surplus' honey because it can be harvested without jeopardizing colony survival."
However, hobby beekeepers usually expect to produce around 100 pounds of honey per hive, he says.
That's definitely more than just a taste of honey!
Honey bee sipping honey in the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of bee sipping honey. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Honey bee quickly finds the honey in a spoon. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
What's That Buzz?
Things are buzzing over at the Robert Mondavi Wine and Food Science on the University of California, Davis campus.
The RMI folks are gearing up for the big Honey! event, set for 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Friday, Oct. 21 in the UC Davis Conference Center.
It's not every day that there's an all-day event about honey. Clare Hasler-Lewis, executive director of RMI and executive assistant Kim Bannister promise a "sweet" event--"too sweet not to miss."
Yes, there will be talks about honey and bees, a honey-themed lunch, honey tasting and a honey taste-off. To add to the sweetness: Gimbal's Fine Candies of San Francisco is donating individual-sized packets of Honey Lovers, its popular candy made with honey. This company generously donates 5 percent of the proceeds from the sale of Honey Lovers for UC Davis bee research (Department of Entomology).
And, then there's the sweet harmony of the Honeybee Trio, comprised of three teenagers from Vacaville. They'll sing "Sugartime," and...cross your fingers...they may come up with a version of Jimmie Rodgers' "Honeycomb."
Meanwhile the "bee guys"--Eric Mussen, Brian Johnson and Norm Gary--are polishing their speeches as are the other speakers, Louis Grivetti and Liz Applegate, all UC Davis faculty or former faculty.
Beekeeper Brian Fishback of Wilton will bring in two bee observation hives. Other displays include a beekeeping exhibit from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility and bee specimens from the Bohart Museum of Entomology.
Check out the Honey! agenda on the RMI website. You can reserve your space there or contact Kim Bannister at kbannister@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5171.
Honey bee nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Bee observation hives loaned by Brian Fishback of Wilton will enable folks to see a retinue. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Fingers dipping in a honeycomb at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey).
Show Me the Honey! (And the Wonder of Bees!)
Honey in the morning
Honey in the evening
Honey at suppertime
Be my little honey
And love me all the time...
So sang the McGuire Sisters in their 1958 hit tune, "Sugartime."
And so will sing the Honeybee Trio of Vacaville at the Honey! event on Friday, Oct. 21 in the UC Davis Conference Center. The site is located across from the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.
The public celebration of honey and bees, set from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., will include talks by five UC Davis or former UC Davis faculty, a honey-themed lunch, a "best honey" contest and a reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. where the Honeybee Trio will sing.
The group, together for three years, includes Karli Bosler, 16, Sarah McElwain, 15, and Natalie Angst, 16. They visited the Häagen-Dazs Honey Bee Haven at UC Davis today, checked out the six-foot-long bee sculpture by Davis artist Donna Billick, and met with Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen and native pollinator specialist Robbin Thorp, emeritus professor of entomology.
Does anyone in the Honeybee Trio keep bees? No, but Natalie's aunt is a beekeeper in Fremont.
At the Oct. 21st event, beekeepers are invited to bring their best jar of honey for a judging contest. Attendees will decide the winners, and prizes will be awarded to the first, second and third place winners.
Honey varieties are expected to include clover, fireweed, orange blossom, eucalyptus, tupelo, safflower and buckwheat. Further details will be announced on the RMI website athttp://robertmondaviinstitute.ucdavis.edu/honey.
“There will be special prizes for the best honey,” said event coordinator Clare Hasler-Lewis, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science (RMI), which is sponsoring the event.
Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Department of Entomology, a co-sponsor, will coordinate the honey tasteoff. He also spearheads the honey tasting at Briggs Hall during the annual UC Davis Picnic Day celebration.
Morning speakers are Mussen, who will discuss “The Wonder of Honey Bees”; assistant professor/bee biologist Brian Johnson, who will speak on “How Bees Cooperate to Make Honey and What they Do With It When We Don't”; and emeritus professor/bee scientist Norman Gary, an author and professional bee wrangler, whose topic is “Hobby Beekeeping in Urban Environments.”
Afternoon speakers are Louis Grivetti, professor emeritus, Department of Nutrition, discussing “Historical Uses of Honey as Food” and Liz Applegate, professor, Department of Nutrition and director of Sports Nutrition Program, “Sweet Success—Honey for Better Health and Performance.”
Honey tasting, coordinated by Mussen, is scheduled from 3 to 3:45 p.m.
At the reception--guests will sip wine and sample honey--the Honeybee Trio and the Jazz Nuances will perform. The Honeybee Trio's specializes in classics from the 1930s and beyond in three part-harmony. The Jazz Nuances: jazz standards with "a sound and feel reminiscent of the 1950s and '60s West Coast Cool Sound."
Norm Gary will sign and sell his newly published book, “Honey Bee Hobbyist: The Care and Keeping of Bees.” On display will be beekeeping equipment from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, bee observation hives, and bee and book products by Rev Honey (Ron Fessenden, M.D.)
There's still time to make reservations. Recently reduced prices are: industry members and the public: $50; UC faculty, staff and Friends of the RMI: $35, and UC students, $15. For those attending the reception only, the cost is $10 general admission and $5 for students. Reservations may be made online at http://robertmondaviinstitute.ucdavis.edu/honey or with Kim Bannister at bannister@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5171.
This is a first-of-a-kind event at UC Davis...and the place to "bee" on Oct. 21 if you want to know more about bees and honey.
Honeybee Trio is comprised of (from left) Karli Bosler, 16; Natalie Angst, 16, and Sarah McElwain, 15. In back is Donna Billick's bee sculpture. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Honey of an Event
Did you know that honey bees visit more than two million flowers just to make a pound of honey?
Two million visits for one pound?
That's just one of the tidbits about honey that will be mentioned Friday, Oct. 21 at the all-day “Honey!” event at the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Center.
And bees?
"How can the 60,000-some bees in a hive live in such a chaotic environment, divide up the jobs, do them well, and get everything done?" asks Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.
He'll tell you at the "Honey!" event.
This one-of-a-kind event, sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis, will take place from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology, the event will include six experts discussing honey-related topics, a honey-themed lunch, and honey and mead tasting. In addition, displays will feature a bee observation hive by Brian Fishback of Wilton and beekeeping equipment from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.
Among the speakers will be three bee scientists from the UC Davis Department of Entomology: Extension apiculturst Eric Mussen speaking on “The Wonder of Honey Bees”; assistant professor Brian Johnson, “How Bees Cooperate to Make Honey and What They Do With It”; and emeritus professor Norm Gary, discussing “Hobby Beekeeping in Urban Environments.”
Other UC Davis speakers: Louis Grivetti, professor emeritus, Department of Nutrition, discussing “Historical Uses of Honey as Food” and Liz Applegate, professor, Department of Nutrition and director of Sports Nutrition Program, “Sweet Success—Honey for Better Health and Performance.”
The program will begin at 9 a.m. light refreshments, served until 10 a.m. Speakers, lunch, more speakers, honey tasting, and mead tasting will follow. The event ends with a refreshment reception at which Norm Gary will sign and sell his recently published book on backyard beekeeping.
Coordinating it all is Clare Hasler-Lewis, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.
If you're like to attend, you'll want to make reservations now. The deadline to make reservations is Friday, Oct. 14. Recently reduced costs are $50 for the general public and for folks with connections to the beekeeping industry; $35 for UC faculty members, staff and Friends of the RMI; and $25 for students.
To reserve your space, you can contact Kim Bannister at kbannister@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5171. Payments may be made online at http://robertmondaviinstitute.ucdavis.edu/honey.
And while we're at it, let's thank the bees!
Honey bee, packing red pollen from a nearby rock purslane, nectaring lavender. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Close-up of frame of honey from the Laidlaw facility. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
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