News

We are so lucky to have the support of a special Boy Scout group that has built a Bee Sanctuary for our Long Beach Beekeepers club and city of Long Beach.  With their hardwork the Boy Scout troop was able to prefabricate the structure and raise the structure at Willow Spring Park.  Stay tuned for new details about upcoming events at the Bee Sanctuary.

 

 

 

I recently spent a couple of hours with a group of local homeschooling families, sharing with the children a little bit about the honeybees. I had written a post on FB, inviting them to join me for one of the many events that Long Beach Beekeepers hosts, and so many of them expressed a general interest that I thought it might be worthwhile to plan something special with them. The date was set, and the fun began. We started off with a picture book about a beekeeper. Kids and grownups of all ages love a picture book. The Beeman (by Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis) is a sweet intro to beekeeping, and there are plenty of books at the library to supplement, for kids who want to learn more (I'll post a short list soon). We then jumped over to inspect the observation hive, and all the kids, from toddlers to tweens, were absolutely fascinated by all the activity taking place inside! They crowded around, pointing and asking questions. After that, we played a game which required the children to run around gathering "nectar" with their "proboscis" from nearby "flowers" and depositing the nectar back at the "hive." Everybody had a blast, and then they all enjoyed some honey sticks from the LB Beekeepers. I hope that some of our new friends will stop by to see us at First Fridays (this Friday, 6-9 pm, Atlantic and Burlinghall, directly across the street from EJ Malloy's), at the South 40 hive next month (Nov 5, 8am, 2813 E South St, LB, 90805), or at the next club meeting(Nov 6, 10am).

I'd like to give thanks to Roberta Kato for inviting me to write this guest blog post, to Dick Barnes for trusting me with his bees, to both for all the encouragement, and to Carlos Angeles for allowing me to share the bees with his tribe. You are all the best! ❤️

 

Reading "The Beeman"

Beating their wings to thicken the honey

 

The observation hive

 

Getting a close-up

 

Gathering nectar

 

Everybody doing their part to fill the hive with nectar

 

Back at the hive, cells are filling up with "nectar" (water)

 

Celebrating a good harvest.

 

Parental "flowers"

 

Honey sticks galore

 

We had an amazing class with a class of 3-6 year olds! They were so knowledgeable and were answering questions like pros and asking questions like "where are the larva?" Pictures and more details to come!

It's getting a little warmer and when springs officially comes and the nectar starts to flow it's good to be ready for your colonies to expand.  Expansion also gives you the opportunity to split your hive or if you hive is already big, you can split to keep them a more managable size.  Ray will be speaking and showing us how.

Please join us in making beeswax products from Terry.  Bring your own ideas and things that you've made to prepare for the giving season.

 

When our bees leave the hive they forage for water, pollen and nectar.  Today we looked at Melissa's Garden list of 5 top forage plants:  borage, tansy, echium, goldenrod and lemon balm.  For more information, check out their site.  We also found a fun guide to nectar and pollen color by season from Eversweet Apiaries.

Bring your beehive removals and cutout stories.  We'll have a computer to project so if you have pictures you can bring those too.

 

 

 

 

 

After a long and arduous journey, the subject of legalizing chickens and bees for Torrance will come before the Torrance City Council on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 at the Torrance City Hall: 

Address: 3031 Torrance Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503 

For all those who want to help support Long Beach Beekeeping, it's important for neighboring cities to support bees too.  Especially if you are a Torrance resident or know someone, please plan to come and speak to the council in support of bees and/or chickens letting them know why it's important to you and your family. 

This is very exciting news that they will consider allowing bees and chickens! I hope you share our joy and will attend!!!

It's item 12, Administrative Matters.

12A.  Community Development - Consider a land use study regarding the keeping of chickens and bees for single family residences within the city.  Recommendation of the Community Development Director that City Council consider a Land Use Study regarding the keeping of chickens and bees for single family residences within the city and provide direction to staff.

For the full agenda go here  http://www.torranceca.gov/PDF/AGENDA_3-3-15.pdf