It Was All the Buzz

It was all the buzz.

Visitors at the annual California Agriculture Day, held Wednesday, March 18 on the west lawn of the State Capitol, made a beeline to the California State Beekeepers' Asssociation (CSBA) booth to see the bees, pocket some honey sticks and talk bees.

Staffing the booth were five beekeepers and Extension apiculturist emeritus Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology, who retired last June after 38 years of service, fielded lots of questions.

Bill Cervenka of Bill Cervenka Apariies, Half Moon Bay, provided a bee observation hive. Carlin Jupe of Sacramento, secretary-treasurer of the CSBA, brought along 2000 Honey Stix containing wildflower honey,  ordered from Nature's Kick, Salem, Ore.

Each honey stick contained a CSBA message:

• Honey bees are the backbone of agriculture
• They pollinate 1/3 of the human diet
• They pollinate 50 varied U.S. crops worth more than $20 billion
• They pollinate California's $2.5 billion almond production
• They produce $150 million in U.S. honey and beeswax

Assisting throughout the morning were beekeepers Bob Sugar, Wendy Mather and Claudia Parrish. Mather, of El Dorado,  is with the NOD Apiary Products; Sugar belongs to several beekeeping associations, including CSBA, the Sacramento Area Beekeepers' Association (SABA), Nevada County Beekeepers, and the Western Apicultural Society, while Parrish serves as vice president of the Delta Bee Club.

"I spent quite a bit of time on  'How do I keep bees in a thirty-third floor apartment with no balcony?'" Mussen related. "I sent a number of people to the Sacramento Beekeeping Supply store to find an opening in beginning beekeeping courses.  I spent time explaining the bee space and how to keep purchasing wooden ware from the same supplier, so the space would not be violated."

Folks also wanted to know how the drought is impacting the bees. State Senator Jim Nielsen "wanted to know that he kicked up enough of a fuss to get agriculture a place at the water conference table.  Up until then, no ag reps were desired."

Eight-year-old Sam Blincoe of Sacramento took a special interest in the bee observation hive, as Mather explained what the bee colony is all about. "He's going to become a beekeeper," she predicted.

 "Breaking New Ground" set the theme for Cal Ag Day. Explained Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross: 'Growing our food supply takes seed and water,  labor and treatment, and a host of other ingredients that all come together at harvest time. But when you get right down to it, our soils are the foundation of California's agricultural abundance. That's why this year's Ag Day event features information about our farmers and ranchers' efforts to preserve, restore and protect the health of this most bsic and most important source."

The theme, she added, "also reflects the United Nations' declaration of 2015 as the International Year of Soils to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of soil for food security and essential ecosystem functions."

She concluded: "Our legislative representatives here in Sacramento recognize the importance of farming in the Golden State, and they also recognize farmers' responsibility to be good stewards of the natural resources under their care. Today is our representatives' chance to shake a farmer's hand and advance our shared understanding of the importance of our food supply. This day is also an opportunity for the public, especially our youth, to meet a farmer, try on a cowboy hat, and learn how California's soil and other natural resources are combined with creativity, technology, ingenuity and determination to produce more than 400 crops and commodities."

Meanwhile, California Farm Bureau Foundation president Paul Wenger issued this statement today, the first day of spring: "On this first day of spring, we celebrate the agricultural bounty of our nation and especially of California, where a unique combination of climate, soils, water and know-how allows farmers and ranchers to harvest food and farm products every day of the year. While parts of our nation continue to shiver in cold and snow, California provides, thanks to one of only five Mediterranean climates in the world. As we celebrate this bounty, we must also resolve to assure we can sustain it. As California suffers through another year of drought, we must pay particular attention to our state's ability to manage the rain and snow that does fall each winter, to sustain us through dry times. Farm Bureau will continue to press our leaders, at the local, state and national levels, to assure sustainable food production by building new water storage and better managing the entire water system, to ensure California remains the No. 1 agricultural state in the nation."