5/27/13

HoneyLove's 2nd Annual Yellow Tie Event



HoneyLove.org says:

Join us for Yellow Carpet photos, fun drinks, local honey tasting, games, prizes and special musical performance in support of HoneyLove’s mission to protect honeybees and inspire and educate new urban beekeepers!

DATE: June 8th, 7-11pm
LOCATION: Writers Boot Camp @ Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Avenue, Building I, Santa Monica, CA 90404

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/343396772412699/
Meetup: http://www.meetup.com/HoneyLove/events/98303182/

5/15/13

Next meeting: Sunday, May 26



The next meeting of the Backwards Beekeepers is scheduled!

Sunday, May 26
11am

Citibank, Silver Lake branch
2450 Glendale Blvd
Los Angeles 90039


This month we're featuring an appearance by Sean Schwab, a longtime treatment-free beekeeper in Orange County. He's accumulated lots of knowledge about capturing and keeping feral bees, and will discuss the many misconceptions people have about them.

We'll be covering a lot of important points about keeping feral bees in an urban environment, including:
  • Getting educated with books, online resources, and hands-on mentoring
  • The risks and responsibilities of hive inspection, hive placement, and maintenance of space to prevent swarming and grouchy bees
  • Hive stand construction, ant control, and the rationale for these set-ups
  • Safety equipment, using a smoker effectively, being aware of neighbors
  • Capturing feral bees safely and humanely

As usual, everyone is welcome to the meetings, especially those who are new to beekeeping.

See you there!






5/8/13

4-H Club makes a swarm rescue in Torrance



LA Backwards Beekeeper Roberta passes this story along from the Palos Verdes Peninsula 4-H club:

Sunday morning our Surfing Group was surfing at Torrance Beach and noticed a beehive on the backside of the Torrance Beach Lifeguard Tower. Bill Johnston, the Surfing Project Leader, notified the Palos Verdes Peninsula 4-H Club Bee Project and the project members made arrangements to meet at Torrance Beach at dusk to capture the swarm.



The Bee Project Members have saved swarms before but never one on the ground, which is very unusual. As the Bee Project members further investigated, they noticed that the swarm had already begun to make a hive structure. They found the queen and put her and most of the other bees into a shoe box which we eventually put into a cooler to transport to John's Canyon in Rolling Hills.



Some of us returned today to Torrance Beach to make sure our operation was successful! And it appears that it was indeed. Our Bee Project members are very happy that they have been able to help the Community in these instances, and it has also given them a chance to educate the public in the value of bees in the environment. We need to be aware of preserving the bee population.

We were happy to help the Los Angeles County Lifeguards and the bees as well.