Why "Bees", "Cause" and why in "San Francisco"?
For millennia, humans have had a relationship with honey bees. Sometimes, both bees and humans benefit. Many times, humans benefit at the expense of bees.
We think honey bees and people can have a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship. We also believe that an urban environment, such as San Francisco's, provides ideal opportunities for people and bees to benefit one another. Importantly, we believe that such a relationship can, in turn, benefit our declining urban, native bee populations.
Here's why:
- San Francisco has a mild Mediterranean climate.
- San Francisco offers abundant trees, shrubs and plants that flower throughout 10 months of the year. This flora provides steady yet varied pollens and nectars needed by native and honey bees to survive and to be healthy. Good food for bees helps them maintain good health.
- Honey bees in San Francisco do not need large honey stores to get them through winter and into the spring.
- Beekeeping in San Francisco is stationary beekeeping. No migration of hives means less stress on the bees.
- The races and strains of European honey bees, that have demonstrated traits enabling them to fend off many honey bee diseases and pests, have demonstrated the ability to do well in our cool microclimate.
- San Francisco has a growing number of individuals, groups and communities that are committed to urban agriculture. Most food plants we can sucessfully grow in San Francisco need native and/or honey bees for pollination of the flowers to produce fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds.
- San Francisco public policy supports a healthy environment for native and honey bees, and supports urban agriculture.
Our Purposes
To use urban apiculture within San Francisco, and products from urban apiculture, as means to further "causes" that benefit San Francisco's human and bee residents.
- Specifically, we aim:
- To educate San Francisco communities about the value of native and honey bees and, thus, the value of an urban landscape that integrates and accommodates healthy and sustainable natural ecosystems
- To contribute to development of a productive system of urban agriculture within San Francisco by ensuring an adequate presence of bee pollinators
- To contribute to the health and survivability of native and honey bees within San Francisco by initiating and participating in ecosystem rehabilitation and development projects that provide pollen and nectar sources needed to sustain healthy populations of native and honey bees; and
- To contribute to economic development within San Francisco's Communities of Opportunity and other San Francisco communities by: (i) providing transitional work experience for adults whose backgrounds have barred them from employment, and (ii) providing summer and after school jobs for youth
Current Projects
Apiaries. We currently maintain hives at the following locations:
Classes. We offer the following classes at various times during the year. For 2011, all of our classes are offered in partnership with Hayes Valley Farm. Class schedule and registration are through the Hayes Valley Farm website. Students of these classes would include those who are relatively new to keeping their own bees, and those would think they may want to keep bees in the future. We especially welcome the “honey bee agri-tourist” -- someone who wants the experience of taking a tour of live honey bee colony -- to our Inspection classes.
- The Urban Beekeeper's Primer - The A's Bees and C's of Urban Beekeeping: In this 3-hour class, we cover everything you want to consider before starting to keep honey bees in an urban environment: legalities; fulfilling responsibilities to your bees, your household and neighbors when keeping bees; hive equipment options and sources; options for acquiring bees; time committment and costs.
- Understanding the Honey Bee Colony: Knowing basic honey bee and colony biology is essential for the beekeeper to work with, rather than against, the bees’ natural inclinations as they change throughout the seasons. In this 3-hour class we provide a comprehensive review of honey bee anatomy and physiology, life cycle of individual members of the colony (workers, drones & queen) as well as the colony as a superorganism.
Langstroth Hive & Equipment Assembly: Being able to assemble equipment can help save the beekeeper lots of money and impart a greater appreciation of “bee space”. In this 2-hour class, students will participate in assembly of boxes and frames of various sizes, and will learn options for and install various types of “foundation” into the frames.
Inspection & Maintenance of the Urban Honey Bee Colony: Through regular 2-hour classes, students have the opportunity to actively participate in the inspection and management of SFBC honey bee colonies at Hayes Valley Farm throughout the year under the guidance of experienced beekeepers. Through a generous donations by beekeeping supplier, Mann Lake Ltd (http://www.mannlakeltd.com/), we are able to offer our students use of full beekeeping suits and hive tools for these classes. We also supply gloves for hand protection. All students must read and sign an Assumptions of Risks & Waiver Agreement in order to participate.
Harvesting the Gold: There are various methods of harvesting the excess honey produced by a honey bee colony depending on the type of hive equipment used. In this 3-hour class, these methods will be discussed, as well as cleanliness and safety, and students will actively participate in harvesting honey from SFBC hives using the "crush and strain" method, and using an electric extractor.
|
|
