Community Education programs educate youth and adults who are interested in learning about honey bees. Everyone, however, impacts pollinators in their daily lives through their choices and activities. Learning about honey bees and pollinators in general changes lives, especially those of the youth.

The Community Education Program is how SABA interacts and engages our neighbors across the greater Sacramento area, continually reinforcing our place as knowledgeable and helpful beekeepers to the public at large.

Members volunteer as educational speakers for schools, youth groups, service clubs and organizations. Members also staff tables with demonstration hives, bee literature and honey sales at public informational events, exhibits and fairs. Beekeeper educators seek to emphasize the importance of honeybees, correct common misunderstandings and serve as resources to our communities.

Bees

SABA Classes

Hands on Mead Making Class

Back by popular demand! Learn how to make mead. Leave with your own mead and the know-how to make more. Award winning mead maker Victoria Alvarez will take class participants step-by-step through the process of making mead. Participants will take home a batch of young mead to be fermented and finished at home.

Sunday, September 22, 10 am to 2 pm at the Sacramento County-UC Extension Branch Center, 4145 Branch Center Dr, Sacramento.

Registration fee: $75 for course. There are also required materials you will need to purchase ahead of time and bring to class.

Required Materials:

  • 1 One Gallon glass carboy with narrow opening (apple cider jug or similar)
  • 1 airlock with stopper that fits snugly in the opening of the carboy
  • 1 funnel
  • 5 pounds honey (preferably not crystalized)

Class size: 15 participants—register soon for this popular class

Registration fee: $75

Beekeeping Basics – Beginners/Novice Course 1

If you are a new, novice, or prospective beekeeper this is the series for you. Take the whole series or sign up for just the classes that interest you. Because the classes are designed to follow the typical patterns, wonders, and challenges of a year in beekeeping, we recommend the whole series for new beekeepers. If you’ve been keeping bees for a few years, you might want to sign up for Hands-on in the Apiary to sharpen your skills, ask questions, or clear up confusion about what you’re seeing in your hives. Course 1 Beekeeping Basics, February 18th. Course 2 Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary, April 7th or May 12th. Course 3 Bee Health and Summer Beekeeping, June 2nd. Course 4 Honey Extraction and Preparing for Winter, August 18th.

Class 1 in the SABA Beginning/Novice Beekeeping Classes
Topics:

  • Introduction to the SABA Beginner Beekeeping Series
  • Basic Biology of Bees and the Hive Workers, Drones, and Queens
  • Beekeeping Equipment, The Hive and Accessories
  • Getting Started – Choosing an apiary location, Best Honey Bees for the Sacramento Area
  • Installing Your Bees – Packages and Nucs
  • Caring for Bee Health – Varroa and Viruses, IPM Basics
  • Seasonal tasks, Time commitment and What to Expect as a New Beekeeper
  • Keeping it Legal – Registering your hive and beekeeping responsibilities

Sunday, February 18, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County Ag Office, 4137 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $60

Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary – Beginner/Novice Course 2

If you are a new, novice, or prospective beekeeper this is the series for you. Take the whole series or sign up for just the classes that interest you. Because the classes are designed to follow the typical patterns, wonders, and challenges of a year in beekeeping, we recommend the whole series for new beekeepers. If you’ve been keeping bees for a few years, you might want to sign up for Hands-on in the Apiary to sharpen your skills, ask questions, or clear up confusion about what you’re seeing in your hives. Course 1 Beekeeping Basics, February 18th. Course 2 Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary, April 7th and/or May 12th. Course 3 Bee Health and Summer Beekeeping, June 2nd.Course 4 Honey Extraction and Preparing for Winter, August 18th.

Classe 2 in the SABA Beginning/Novice Beekeeping Series
Topics:

  • Spring build-up
  • Managing th colony
  • Lighting and using a smoker
  • Opening and inspecting hives
  • What am I seeing in this hive? What am I looking for?
  • Troubleshooting

Sunday, April 7, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County Ag Office, 4137 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $60

Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary – Beginner/Novice Course 2

Sunday, May 12, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County Ag Office, 4137 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $60

Bee Health & Summer Beekeeping – Beginner/Novice Course 3

If you are a new, novice, or prospective beekeeper this is the series for you. Take the whole series or sign up for just the classes that interest you. Because the classes are designed to follow the typical patterns, wonders, and challenges of a year in beekeeping, we recommend the whole series for new beekeepers. If you’ve been keeping bees for a few years, you might want to sign up for Hands-on in the Apiary to sharpen your skills, ask questions, or clear up confusion about what you’re seeing in your hives. Course 1 Beekeeping Basics, February 18th. Course 2 Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary, April 7th and/or May 12th. Course 3 Bee Health and Summer Beekeeping, June 2nd.Course 4 Honey Extraction and Preparing for Winter, August 18th.

Classe 3 in the SABA Beginning/Novice Beekeeping Series
Topics:

  • Honey bee anatomy and biology
  • Manitaining a healthy hive
  • Disorders, pests and integrated pest managment (IPM)
  • Monitoring and treating varroa mites
  • Managing the colony in the summer
  • Inspecting the hive and assessing colony health
  • Issues with queens, re-queening options and how-to

Sunday, June 2, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County Ag Office, 4137 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $60

Honey Extraction & Preparing for Winter – Beginner/Novice Course 4

If you are a new, novice, or prospective beekeeper this is the series for you. Take the whole series or sign up for just the classes that interest you. Because the classes are designed to follow the typical patterns, wonders, and challenges of a year in beekeeping, we recommend the whole series for new beekeepers. If you’ve been keeping bees for a few years, you might want to sign up for Hands-on in the Apiary to sharpen your skills, ask questions, or clear up confusion about what you’re seeing in your hives. Course 1 Beekeeping Basics, February 18th. Course 2 Managing the Colony: Hands-On in the Apiary, April 7th and/or May 12th. Course 3 Bee Health and Summer Beekeeping, June 2nd.Course 4 Honey Extraction and Preparing for Winter, August 18th.

Classe 4 in the SABA Beginning/Novice Beekeeping Series
Topics:

  • Extraction techniques, tools, bottling, labeling requirements
  • Hands-practice uncapping and extracting
  • Preparing your colony for winter
  • Winter bees
  • Late summer/fall varroa treament
  • Combining hives
  • Winter tasks and looking towards spring
  • Troubleshooting

Bring a small jar and leave with a sample!

Sunday, August 18, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County Ag Office, 4137 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $60

Products of the Hive: Body, Bath, and More

Louis Zurlo and Vickie Lewis will offer a hands-on class using beeswax, honey and propolis to make products such as lip balm, lotion, soap, beard balm, candles, and other products.Participants will leave the class with products they created that will make perfect holiday gifts.

This class was very popular last year, don’t wait until the last minute to sign up!

Sunday, October 27, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Sacramento County-UC Extension, 4145 Branch Center Road, Sacramento CA 95827

Registration fee: $75 (plus materials)

Required Materials: Materials needed for the course will be supplied by the instructors. $25 cash or check , no credit cards or electronic payments. Paid to instructors at the course.

Class size: 15 participants

Educational Presentations

The heart of the SABA Community Education Program is educational presentations in which teachers may solicit a trained volunteer to give a grade appropriate presentations at their school, or members of a community organization may request a presentation for adults.

For younger students, our presenters offer hands-on activities including singing, drawing, and manipulating bee-related items. For older students and adults, more advanced topics are covered including genetics and environmental issues.