OFFICERS & COMMITTEES

2023 LACBA 0FFICERS & COMMITTEES

Committee Chair Persons:
Education & Outreach: Mary Landau
Speakers Committee: Charlene Potter and Barbara Knighton
LA County Fair Bee Booth: Cynthia Caldera
LA Zoo Bee Booth: Jay Weiss
Membership: Cheryl Thiele
Website: Jeff Laun
Bee Tea: Anne Nicholson
Slack: Michael Pusateri

President: Kevin Heydman
Kevin has been taking care of bees for over twenty years. He's a commercial beekeeper who each year takes his honey bees to pollinate almonds, avocados and oranges in Southern California. Kevin is also a live beehive removal specialist. He's been a member of the LACBA for eight years and dedicates his services to club activities. During the month of September, Kevin spends a week in charge of the Bee Booth at the LA County Fair where he supervises volunteers and educates the general public about honey bees. Kevin served as the 2018 and 2019 Vice President of the LACBA. You can find Kevin's Bare Bees honey, pollen and beeswax at the Gardena, Monrovia and San Dimas Farmers Markets. kevin.heydman@gmail.com.

Vice President: Charlene Potter
Bees have always fascinated me and thanks to LACBA and The Valley Hive, I learned that you don’t need a farm to keep bees. Urban beekeeping is a thing! Joining LACBA, taking beekeeping classes at The Valley Hive, and studying everything I can with UC Davis’ California Master Beekeeper Program, the bees have pollinated my world. Every day I connect with people who have questions and are concerned about the bees. The pollinator effect is real and bees are at the center of it. Together we are making a difference for the health of the planet and life on it.
You can get my books at Bee-n-Bee Vacation and Lili l'Abeille (in French).
If you need raw honey, healing balms, soaps, or if you need bees removed, you can email me at beekeeperchar@yahoo.com
Follow me on Instagram #everybodylovesbees
Facebook San Gabriel Valley Beekeepers

Corresponding Secretary: Jared Stone 
Jared Stone is a beekeeper, author, and television professional. In addition to his duties as Corresponding Secretary, he helps teach the club's Beekeeping 101 course for new beekeepers.
He attended the University of Kansas, graduating with dual B.A.s in Cultural Anthropology and Film, with a concentration in Visual Anthropology. He began his career with National Geographic in Washington, DC, starting as an intern and rising through the ranks to become a producer. At that point, he moved to Los Angeles and entered the agency world, producing television for a multitude of clients including ABC, NBC, FOX, the CW, FX, Bravo, USA, Lifetime, Sony, and Warner Bros., where he won Emmy Awards in 2013 and 2016 for his work on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
In addition to his television work, Stone is also the author of several screenplays and the book, Year of the Cow (Flatiron, 2015), which details his quest to make the absolute best use of an entire cow that he possibly can.
Stone lives in the valley with his wife, Summer, their two children, a large dog and many, many bees.

Recording Secretary: Catt Stine
Catt began keeping bees in 2016 after a colony had taken over her compost bin while away at summer school in Italy. The bees came at the perfect time in her life which led  to her and her husband taking classes and getting their hands on anything bee-educational including the LACBA courses hosted by The Valley Hive. With the expertise of Keith Roberts and Ryan O’Dell, the honeybees (Queen Penelobee and her kin) were transferred safely into Catt’s first urban hive. Since then, Catt has volunteered with LACBA at the beekeeping 101 classes, painted a honeybee wing mural at the Valley Hive, and started working alongside friend and colleague Tyson Kaiser of Sweet Bee Removal. Becoming a live honey bee removal tech helped her pay her way through much of her Bachelors program at University of La Verne. She now has graduated, gave birth to two adorable kiddos Finnegan and Maeven, and is working remotely under the Head of Brand at a health tech startup that is helping patients with epilepsy. She still has three hives in her backyard in Reseda, but sure misses seeing bees full time! 

Treasurer: Jon Reese
Jon was born in Culver City and grew up in Canoga Park. He graduated from Chatsworth High School in 1969, then attended SFVSC where he received a BA in Ceramics.  Jon traveled throughout United States and Europe during school summers.  He established pottery in 1976, built kilns, and produced hand-thrown utilitarian ware. In 1981, Jon apprenticed into the tile industry and in 1994 opened his own tile contracting company, Stoneware Tile, that has operated for the past 22 years. From 1998 to the present, Jon has been a signatory to Local Union18.  From 2000 to the present, he has been the management officer of the Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee.  How Jon ‘got into bees’: “In 2011 bees moved into the eaves of our house," he says. Jon contacted Walter McBride, a seasoned beekeeper and member of the Los Angeles Beekeepers Association. Walt helped him move the bees out of the eaves and into a hive box. That was the beginning of Jon’s beekeeping career. Since 2011, Jon has been a hobbyist beekeeper. He presently has 19 hives. In 2016, Jon was awarded the *LACBA Golden Hive Tool Award. Jon is dedicated to service, especially helping beekeepers with their bees. He volunteered countless hours at the Bee Booth at the LA County Fair, educating the public on bees and beekeeping. Jon served as President, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer with the LACBA. stonewaretile@sbcglobal.net.

Representative at Large:  Jay Weiss
Jay has been an urban beekeeper for the last fifteen years and now keeps his bees at three locations in Altadena. As a member of LACBA, he supports the beekeeping community by mentoring, helping with LACBA'S Beekeeping 101 classes offered at the Valley Hive in Chatsworth, doing bee removals, and much more. Jay has a very colorful personality with an exciting background as Kundalini yoga instructor, magician, computer guy, skydiver, and rock climber. Jay loves cycling, cooking, laughing, and being alive. As a person, Jay is very open-minded, caring, humble, and always eager to learn new things, especially about bees. His passion for bees and life is contagious.

Professionally, he runs a computer business called ComputerHMO.com and has a blooming side business all related to bees. Check out Pasadena Urban Beekeeping Company!

Representative at Large:  El Rey Ensch
ElRey has been a beekeeper for over 30 years. He is both an urban and commercial beekeeper. ElRey is one of the most experienced beekeepers in our club. At every LACBA meeting, we can count on ElRey to present an informative and entertaining show and tell about bees: choices in bee hives, how to add pollen traps, preventative measures for mites, and how to deter bears from getting into your hives.