We rely on honeybees for 40% of our food.
Bee populations are collapsing world-wide. A recipe for concern? Absolutely!
Through presentations, bee-yard tours, urban beekeeping classes, honey and candles, Livehoneybees gives you information action-steps to give back to bees.
Background
For thousands of years people have lived very closely with bees. We have:
- been fascinated by their secret and harmonious society
- coveted the honey and candle-making wax we take from bees
- relied on bees for producing thousands of varieties of staple foods
But human impact on bees in the past 50 years has created a crisis for bees - and thus humans. Today honeybees are in dire need of our help.
8 thousand year old cave painting
Most small scale beekeepers, and all but a handful of commercial beekeepers are suffering from what is called Colony Collapse Disorder. Following the mainstream/commercialized industries you would hear only of high-tech solutions - further digging the hole we have made.
A true solution is found in strengthening bees. Steps in this direction will deeply challenge our modern way of life.
This is the mission of Livehoneybees: to teach children and adults about this bees and our growing understanding of them. Livehoneybees programs fascinate, educate and motivate to return to a healthy, balanced relationship between bees and humans, upon which much depends.
Livehoneybees offers these programs:
For ages 6 and older.
A one-hour program which includes a hands-on portion, in which children taste honeycomb, look into a real hive (no bees) and handle equipment beekeepers use in the field. There is also a movie / conversation portion. On a large screen you view images and movie segments that reveal the obscured life of bees, how and why they cooperate, and many funny stories - historic and recent - about the deep relationship between people and bees.
For ages 12 and older.
A two-hour program that goes more deeply into the stories, biology and life cycles of bees. More time for lively questions and answers.
A two-hour program for ages 18 and older.
This program addresses the above, but also more adult-appropriate topics such as sexuality, spiritual and religious-myths and beliefs different cultures have held from their understanding of bee society. We also go into greater depth about the causes and actions we can take to pull back from the bee crisis.
Tours of my bee yard / apiary.
I give periodic two-hour long tours of my bee yard, located just north of Milwaukie, Oregon on a large organic garden. We dress up and open the hives, so you can learn how to handle and talk to the bees.
Purchase honey and beeswax candles.
Candles: like animal fat, toxins in a bee’s environment will concentrate in their wax. My wax comes from both my hives and local trusted sources that uses no toxic chemicals to suppress mites. They are about as clean beeswax candle as you can find, and they support Livehoneybees.
Honey: Pure Bee Honey is local and raw - a mix of my bees and honey from Charlie, a local beekeeper in Colton Oregon.