Sonoma County Beekeepers Association

Sonoma County Beekeepers Association Our mission is to have a thriving and sustainable bee population in Sonoma County.

We strive to improve honey bee habitat, educate the community on the importance of pollinators, and practice sustainable beekeeping in our area.

Join us for our very first ONLINE Silent Auction!Proceeds from Sonoma County Beekeeper's Association's Online Silent Auc...
06/16/2026

Join us for our very first ONLINE Silent Auction!

Proceeds from Sonoma County Beekeeper's Association's Online Silent Auction will benefit our Education and Pollinator Habitat Programs. Bidding starts June 22 and ends on June 27, BUT you can view the auction packages now!

Our silent auction features many items including:

* A 4 day / 3 night stay in a gorgeous home near Tahoe
* Pollinator Habitat packages with gift cards to local nurseries
* Wine tours at Korbel, VJB, Wellington, Russian River Vineyards
* Zipline Adventure
* A ride on the Skunk Train
* and soooo much more!

Items are still being added, so check back in to see what is new! and come on June 22 to start bidding!!

https://givebutter.com/c/2026-silent-auction-euewew/auction

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to cancel our annual Pollinator Brunch. BUT we are moving forward with the Silen...
06/05/2026

Due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to cancel our annual Pollinator Brunch. BUT we are moving forward with the Silent Auction online.

Stay tuned for more information on our first virtual silent auction towards the end of June!

We have some AMAZING items from ziplining in the redwoods, a wonderful assortment of honey and other tasty goodness in our "Taste of SCBA", a 4 day / 3 night stay in a beautiful home near Tahoe, and so much more!

More details next week!

06/05/2026

One of our amazing Beekeepers and Swarm Rescuers, rescuing a swarm at Sonoma Raceway.

Swarms are natures way of splitting one colony into two. When we move into spring, and resources become abundant, colonies will grow and soon will outgrow the space they live in.

When that happens, approximately half the colony, with the queen, will leave to establish a new hive somewhere else. The queen does not fly well, and they have to take many stops and rest along their journey to find their new home. These breaks in their journey provide opportunities for our swarm rescuers to capture and relocate them to a hive ready and waiting for them.

Approximately 20% of swarms survive the swarming process and their first. SCBA's Swarm Rescue program increases that swarms chances of survival and decreases the chances of it establishing a home in an inappropriate location (we received 3 calls yesterday along of a new colony is the side of a wall)

If you see a swarm, go to our website www.sonomabees.org and click "report a swarm" to find a swarm rescuer near you.

Today is WOLRD BEE DAY. A day to celebrate and appreciate ALL the BEES. Most of the time when we think about bees, what...
05/20/2026

Today is WOLRD BEE DAY. A day to celebrate and appreciate ALL the BEES.

Most of the time when we think about bees, what comes to mind is the honey bee. We love them for the delicious honey they produce and their role as pollinators in agriculture.

BUT there are over 20,000 different species bees world wide!
In North America there are over 4,000 different species of bees.
That is over 20% of the worlds bees live in North America.
In California there are over 1,600 different species of bees.
over 40% of North Americas bees live here in California.

All the microclimates and diverse ecosystems in California provide an environment where the bees can thrive.

Honeybees were imported to North America because of how well they pollinate, they are not native here and are considered agriculture livestock. While the native bees evolved alongside native plants, are essential to local ecosystems and are the bees that are threatened.

We must do what we can to protect not just the honey bee, but all bees! Without bees the agriculture and the food web will collapse.

How can you help? By creating pesticide free, diverse pollinator habitats and supporting your local bee associations.

Bees are amazing, diverse insects. Without them there is not future. Join us in protecting the bees and the keeping them safe.

05/15/2026

North American native bees are responsible for pollinating billions of dollars worth of agricultural crops in the US every year. Many of our common food plants cannot be pollinated by honey bees.

A major reason for the reliance of honey bees in agriculture is the use of insecticides that kill native bees but honey bees have resistance to.

"About 20%-45% of native bees are pollen specialists, meaning that they use only pollen from one species (or genus) of plants. If that plant is removed, the bee goes away. If bees are removed, the plant doesn't reproduce. Some of the native bees are specialists on the very plants that we use for food, including squashes, pumpkins, gourds, and the annual sunflower.

In almost all crops, native bees are the primary pollinator or they significantly supplement the activity of honey bees. Even crops like cotton, soybeans, and peppers that don’t need a pollinator have a higher yield if they’re visited by bees." - US Geological Survey (USGS)

05/12/2026

The small metallic blue insect probing your apple blossoms this morning isn't a fly and isn't a wasp — and she's doing more for your harvest than the entire honeybee colony down the road.

She's a mason bee. Smaller than a honeybee, with a body that looks dipped in dark blue-green metal. No hive, no honey, no queen, no defense to mount.

What almost no one realizes is the most efficient pollinator in temperate gardens isn't the one we farm.

She doesn't have pollen baskets on her legs like a honeybee. She carries pollen loose on the underside of her abdomen — and drops it onto every flower she walks across. A honeybee packs pollen tight to bring home, mostly keeping it. A mason bee leaks it everywhere. The result: one mason bee can pollinate as much fruit as a hundred honeybees on the same morning.

She nests alone in hollow stems, woodpecker holes, the gaps in old mortar — anywhere narrow and dry and sheltered. Each chamber gets one egg, a ball of pollen and nectar, and a wall of mud she carries grain by grain in her mandibles. A single female builds five to fifteen chambers in her short adult life and dies before her young ever emerge.

She has a stinger. She almost never uses it. With no colony to protect and no honey to defend, her instinct to sting is functionally absent — children can hold them in cupped hands without incident.

A bundle of bamboo canes tied to a south-facing fence is enough to host a population for years.

The next time you see a small dark bee crawling into a hollow stem or a crack in a wall — you've found a one-female apple orchard.

Leave the cane 🌿

Tickets are now on sale for SCBA's annual Pollinator Brunch, on June 14th!Not only will you enjoy a delicious brunch, in...
05/11/2026

Tickets are now on sale for SCBA's annual Pollinator Brunch, on June 14th!

Not only will you enjoy a delicious brunch, inspired and made possible the amazing "magic" of our wonderful pollinators but you will enjoy learning from awesome speakers:

Kelli Cox and Carol Ellis, SCBA members and founders of the Sonoma County Native Bee Society will not just be talking about native bees, but on the native bees found here in Sonoma County!

Erik Ohlsen, local expert and author of the Regenerative Landscaping, will share his expertise on how to design and build landscapes and habitats that restore the earth

This fundraiser helps to fund our education and habitat programs! The link to the tickets can be found in the comments.

05/10/2026

Thanks to SCBA member and swarm rescuer, Roger, for all you do for SCBA, our community, and the bees. And thank you to Community Market for sharing this story.

Swarms are natural and happen every spring. As the colony grows too large for the space within the hive, approximately half the colony will leave to find a new place to call home.

Approx 20% of swarms survive.

Our amazing team of swarm rescuers are on call to help and relocate the swarm to a hive ready and waiting. This program we offer our community helps INCREASE the chances of the swarms survival and DECREASES the chances of the swarm finding an inappropriate location to call home.

Go to our website - www.sonomabees.org and click “report a swarm” for a list of SCBA Swarm Rescuers near you.

Come out to Friedman’s Home Improvement in Petaluma and meet the bees, and some of our amazing beekeepers. Our observat...
05/09/2026

Come out to Friedman’s Home Improvement in Petaluma and meet the bees, and some of our amazing beekeepers.

Our observation hive is all a buzz and learn about some of our native bees, pollinators, and creating habitat!

We will see you at Friedman’s!

With this gorgeous weather we are having, the bees are active, and our swarm rescuers are on call ready to help!The last...
03/17/2026

With this gorgeous weather we are having, the bees are active, and our swarm rescuers are on call ready to help!

The last couple months the queen has been laying thousands of eggs every day, leading to the hive not having enough space for the growing colony.

The bees have been preparing for this and now that the weather is nice, approximately half the colony will break off, taking the older queen with them, to find a new location to establish a new colony.

This is called Swarming

If you see a swarm, you can contact a member of SCBA and they will come out and relocate that swarm to a hive prepared and ready for them

This increases that swarm’s chances of survival and decreases their chances of establishing a hive in an inappropriate location.

Check the comments for a link to our report a swarm page

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Santa Rosa, CA

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