Welcome to the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association, founded in 1873, to foster the interest of bee culture and beekeeping within Los Angeles County. Our primary purpose is the care and welfare of the honeybee. Our group membership is composed of commercial and small scale beekeepers, bee hobbyists, and bee enthusiasts. So whether you came upon our site by design or just 'happened' to find us - we're glad you're here! Our club and this website are dedicated to educating our members and the general public. We support honeybee research, and adhering to best management practices for the keeping of bees.
The Latest Buzz:
The LACBA on World Bee Day and the LA County Fair Bee Booth
/Let’s Celebrate the Bees on
World Bee Day
On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734.
The purpose of the international day is to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. The UN Member States approved Slovenia's proposal to proclaim 20 May as World Bee Day in December 2017.
Image Credit: Kodua Galieti
The Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association
The Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association was established in 1873 to foster the interest of bee culture and beekeeping within Los Angeles County. Our membership is composed of commercial and small scale beekeepers, bee hobbyists, and bee enthusiasts.
Our primary purpose is the care and welfare of the honeybee. Our association and this website are dedicated to educating our members and the general public about bees. We support bee research, and adhering to best management practices for the keeping of bees.
LA County Fair
Bee Booth
We were deeply saddened to hear that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the LA County Fair has been cancelled for 2020. The LA County Fair is one of the largest county fairs in the country and the most-visited event in the Los Angeles region in September. It has been an end-of-summer tradition for many.
LA County fair bee booth
For over twenty years, the LACBA has provided and maintained the Bee Booth at the LA County Fair educating thousands of school children and the general public about honeybees and their importance in our lives. Honeybees are responsible for nearly 1/3 of our entire diet in regards to the pollination services they provide for a large majority of fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.
Catch the Buzz About Bees!
Honey bees are one of the most fascinating creatures on the planet.
Inside the Bee Booth, fair goers gathered round our fabulous HONEY BEE OBSERVATION HIVE. Experienced beekeepers sparked their interest in honey bees, explaining their social structure, how the bees help feed the world, how bees communicate through scent and the 'waggle dance,' how they travel for miles to gather nectar to make honey, the jobs assigned to the worker bees, the duties of the drones, how a bee becomes a queen, and how they have survived for millions of years.
Scroll through our Photo Gallery!
Take A Walk Though The Bee Booth!
The LACBA Supports!
Over the years, the LACBA has been a generous supporter of bee research organizations through sales of honey at the Bee Booth and other events. Here’s a list of some of the organizations we’ve been honored to help fund:
California State Beekeepers Association (Bee Research Fund)
CSU Channel Islands (Bee Campus USA)
We Need Your Support!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all the events where the LACBA has previously had the opportunity to raise funds though honey sales (such as the LA County Fair Bee Booth, among others), have been cancelled. The honey bees don’t know this. The bees keep on buzzing, they keep on flying, they keep on making honey, and some keep on dying. We need your help. The bees need your help.
We ask for your support:
Buy your honey and bee products from local beekeepers at farmers markets or direct from the beekeeper. LACBA member beekeepers: https://www.losangelescountybeekeepers.com/honey-bee-products.
DONATE to the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association. The LACBA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Funds raised go to honey bee education and research.
Thank You!
Enjoy World Bee Day!
LACBA Activities Moving To Online Formats
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The Executive Committee has been meeting weekly to discuss how to proceed with Club business, monthly meetings and club activities. We are following the guidelines for no face to face interactions until this Covid-19 virus subsides.
We are cancelling the April meeting and will implement an online monthly meeting using Zoom technology. We will send you an email link and you will click on that to enter the meeting. Since there are only 100 spaces allowed in a meeting, we will record it and/or simultaneously broadcast it on our Facebook page. Still, to be determined...
More information to follow but mark your calendars for May 4th at 7 pm. Our tentative plan is to show videos of club members working on Spring tasks such as installing a nucleus hive, checking for mites, and mite treatment. Please submit other areas of interest or questions you would see discussed. You can email me at lacba.secretary@gmail.com.
You will need to be a paid member to gain access. A reminder to renew your membership will be sent out soon.
Regarding the 101 classes at the Valley Hive, these classes will also move to an online format. Priority will be given to paying members who have signed up for the class and have donated to the class (there is a paying option for the class and a non-paying option, paying people will be given priority). Mark your calendars for the next 101 class: April 19
NUC deliveries for Club volunteers are still scheduled for late April. The weather has had an impact on queen mating so there are delays. More information to follow...
Respectfully submitted, Be safe! Stay home!
Mary Ann Laun, LACBA Secretary (4/1/2020)
Pierco Beekeeping Plant Tour: Saturday, February 15, 2020
/REMINDER!
Pierco Beekeeping
Plant Tour
and
Parking Lot & Store Sale
Saturday, February 15, 2020
10:AM - 2:PM
LACBA Meeting Minutes, Monday, February 3, 2020
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Minutes of the Los Angeles County Beekeepers Association
February 3, 2020 General Meeting – 7pm
Next meeting March 2, 2020 General Meeting – 7pm
Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
3561 Foothill Boulevard La Crescenta, CA 91214 losangelescountybeekeepers.com
Kevin Heydman called the Meeting called to order at 7:04pm
1. Welcome (Kevin)
a. Flag Salute (Kevin Heydman)
b. Introduction of the Board (Kevin Heydman)
Kevin Heydman-- President
Dave Williams--Vice President
Mary Ann Laun--Secretary
Jon Reese--Treasurer
El Rey Ensch–Member at Large
c. Announcements
Raffle tickets – Misty volunteered
New Blue Club t-shirts are available for $15. See Dave Williams.
d. Use Index cards for questions
e. Introductions of new attendees. (Approximately 12)
f. Thanks to Doug Noland for tonight’s treats.
g. Pierco Beekeeping Equipment Plant Tour on Saturday, February 15, 2020 (10am-2pm)
680 Main St, Riverside, CA 92501 https://www.pierco.com/
2. Special presentation:
Scott Jeffreys
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Beekeeping Instructor
Queen Breeder, Worked for Kona Queen Company, Hawaii.
Gave his personal history
Gave a historical perspective from California to Kona, Hawaii
Overview of queen breeding (cloak board method)
1500 cells a day escalated to 3500 cells a day
Went back to Cal Poly SLO in 2000 to teach
Spoke about the Cowen Honey Extractors, swarm capture cardboard boxes; Dolittle method of raising queens, Chinese grafting tool, Chinese chalk for Ants (same product as Raid, Miraculous Insecticidal Chalk (illegal))
Borax soap cuts surface tension of the water.
VP queens bees Scott buys breeder queens from Adam Finkelstein vpqueenbees.com. Open breeding. Pol-line 2.2: Italian
Call Scott to order: Scott’s Bee Rock Honey and Queens http://www.beerockbees.com/, smj6789@gmail.com
1278 9th Street
Los Osos, CA 93402}
805 528-6789
3. Update on Bee Literature (El Rey Ensch) no update tonight.
4. American Beekeeping Federation Conference Report. Keith Roberts and Jeremy.
Keith provided an overview of the ABF conference.
Demonstrated varroa tester (Honey Bee Collector).
Samuel Ramsey, bee researcher, Tropilaelaps mites worse than varroa.
Very inclusive to urban beekeepers
Seminars on value added projects
International in scope.
See Keith’s evening conference notes on Facebook under The Valley Hive
5. Committee reports.
a. Secretary’s report. (Mary Ann Laun) Please contact her as soon as possible about any corrections, additions, etc.
b. Treasurer’s Report (Jon Reese) $6,000 down from last year.
c. Membership report (Cheryl Thiele) Pay your dues and preferred members pay online.
d. Beekeeping 101 at the Valley Hive.
Beekeeping 101: Danny Finkelstein or Cheryl Thiele. Starts February 16, 2020. At the Valley Hive.
e. Education Committee. (Mary Ann Landau)
Mary reported on the bags she found at Michael’s. The plan is to have several bags throughout the county for class presentations.
f. Website report. (Eva Andrews) Eva summarized some of the current articles added to the website (Hives stolen in Sutter County, Bee Lab now at UC Davis.) Her year-end report cited 43.9K unique visits and 94.4K page views. Over 100 countries follow us, listed most visited pages, bee removal pages (17,000 hits).
g. LA County Fair (Cindy Caldera) Cindy mentioned that hours for the Bee Exhibit have been cut. Now will be 4pm to 11 pm. Friday mornings will be reserved for education. Cuts made due to low attendance. Barn shuts down at 10 pm so probably Bee exhibit will be closing at 10 pm.
h. Bill Lewis mentioned that his packages will be available April 18th. https://billsbees.com/
i.. Cal Poly Pomona Beekeeping workshop on April 21st.
