Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association

08/21/2024

Please share! We need to learn about all of our options for President before we vote in November. This video does a great job of explaining some of Kennedy’s platform. For more info, go to www.Kennedy24.com.

https://youtu.be/ZlIfWVtRN70

The 2024 Presidential candidate, Robert F Kennedy Jr, has now picked a running mate and continues his campaign for President. But who is his running mate and...

01/14/2023

First Swarm of the Season!!!

07/22/2022

Santa Barbara Bees sure do love Eucalyptus trees and many (up to 63!) located on the Modoc Preserve are slated to be removed to make way for a Class 1 bike path. Please sign our petition if you’d like to see these trees saved:

SAVE THE MODOC ROAD TREES

06/02/2022

The Eco Bee Box is a beautiful and innovative way to keep bees. The smaller size allows the joys of beekeeping to be more accessible to young children, those with handicaps, and seniors. The design reflects the belief that a hive is an incubator first and lastly a honey production plant, thus providing an ethical and sustainable alternative to keeping bees. We could go on! Albert Chubak is the designer and the SBBA would like to salute him for his contribution. 🐝

05/23/2022

You should be seeing lots of pollen in your hives. Watch the colors as your girls come in from the field, and try to understand what plants are blooming nearby. Learning about the seasons, drought conditions and plants can help you know how to help your hives. For example, eucalyptus trees in our area generally bloom October -June, but because of drought conditions the blooms are currently from January - May. This shorter bloom makes food sources even more limited come the end of summer so you may consider pollen paddies.

04/22/2022

Happy Earth Day!!
Photos from a recent swarm rescue. Swarming is a natural cycle for honey bees and it is actually how the mix up their genetics! Although this looks intimidating, they are actually in a very gentle mood as they are vulnerable and really just looking for a place to call home. Our super star Lelsey set up the rescue op perfectly.

03/27/2022

Rain is coming!! Check your straps and make sure your hives are secure. A nice rock on top could do the trick!

03/09/2022

https://foe.org/news/gmo-mass-release-california/

Today EPA approved the mass release of billions of experimental genetically engineered (GE) mosquitoes in California.

12/21/2021

Today is the winter solstice, when we have the fewest hours of daylight in the US. From tomorrow, the days begin to lengthen again. We know this because the calendar tells us so, and we look at our clocks and comment to each other that the mornings and nights are getting lighter.

The bees notice it, too; not because they have watches and calendars, but because that's how they're designed. Over the next few days and weeks the worker bees will gradually warm the brood nest area, encouraging the queen to lay more eggs. New bees will hatch, and the colony will begin to increase in size again. By the time the first nectar is available, the colony will be large enough to collect it, process it and store it as honey...all in preparation for next winter.

Nature really is incredible 🐝

Credit: Jas Payne - Rubery Honey, UK

12/19/2021

Yummy recipe idea for the holidays! 💡🍯🎄

These sticky-sweet fried pastries, drenched in a syrup of honey and orange flower water, are typical of the rustic desserts of Tunisia.

12/19/2021

Bees!!! ❤️

You may recall hearing, since September 2021 a volcano has been continually erupting on the Spanish Island of La Palma, one of the Canary Islands off the coast of North Africa. La Palma is home to banana orchards and over 100 beekeepers. Many people were temporarily forced to flee the area, and among those were a number of beekeepers. Cumbre Vieja’s eruption destroyed thousands of livelihoods, but as it comes to an end, the fightback begins.

Fifty days after the eruption, one beekeeper returned and was amazed to find that the bees in five of his six hives - just 600 metres from the volcano and buried under volcanic ash - had survived. The bees had sealed any gaps in the hives with propolis to keep toxic fumes out, and relied on honey already stored in their hives for food.

It never ceases to amaze me just how incredible bees and beekeepers are. 🐝

Photo credit: Elías González, La Palma Bee Keepers Association, via EPA-EFE/Shutterstock