The Magical World of Beekeeping
I recently went up to the San Francisco Bay Area to visit my family. While I was there, my friend and I had a girl’s weekend getaway in San Francisco. We wanted to deviate from the typical tourist attractions, which is how we ended up taking an urban beekeeping class at San Francisco Honey and Pollen Co.
We found out about the class when we saw a Groupon deal for it (it was $128 for 2 when we purchased it). By the way, I highly recommend checking out Groupon for travel and activity ideas. It’s a great way to save money and discover local businesses!
I wasn’t sure what to expect, as this was my first beekeeping class. I was also slightly nervous. It’s not so much that I’m scared of bees but I didn’t like the idea of potentially getting stung. I’m happy to report that I didn’t get stung, and the beekeeping class was an amazing experience!
The class started out with an hour-and-a-half lecture. I was admittedly a bit worried about this part since I get restless when I sit for prolonged periods of time. The room was set up a bit like a classroom – there were 4 or 5 rows of chairs facing forward. The room itself was in a warehouse/workshop like environment, so it was visually more interesting than a typical classroom. The lecture was also interactive: there were plenty of opportunities for participants to ask questions, and Christina, the instructor, was incredibly knowledgeable about bees and beekeeping. She held up large posters and passed around items like honeycomb and other beehive components. This definitely kept the lecture engaging.
I also learned a lot about bees! Did you know there are over 20,000 species of bees in the world? 4,000 are native to the US. In California alone, there are about 1,600 species. I also learned about the negative impacts of human activity on honeybees, such as urban land development and the use of pesticides. These activities are making it difficult for honeybees to reproduce. This is something I already had some idea about, but it was really enlightening to get an in-depth insider’s perspective.
Christina learned all about beekeeping from her father, who founded SF Honey & Pollen Co. It started out as a hobby, and over the years has grown into a business that includes selling honey and teaching beekeeping classes. Their family educates the public about urban beekeeping and how to support the declining bee population, which I think is absolutely amazing!
Christina also gave tips on getting started as a beekeeper. While I don’t think I’ll be doing that anytime soon (the start up costs are about $500-700), I am interested in potentially putting a bee hotel in our backyard. I also want to plant some native flowers.
The remainder of the class took place outdoors in the garden. We suited up (this part was optional – some brave souls elected not to) and Christina gave a detailed explanation on keeping and maintaining beehives. One of the coolest parts about this was getting to observe the bees up close. You’re practically surrounded – so many bees are buzzing around you. I definitely felt secure in the suit. While bees occasionally landed on me, they weren’t able to sting me.
I also realized that for the most part, bees are pretty gentle creatures. Unlike wasps, they don’t go out of their way to sting humans. All they want to do is chill and do bee things.
Check out the rest of the pictures from our beekeeping adventure!
The class concluded with a honey tasting of various honeys that were produced locally. I ended up coming home with 5 different types of honey, all of which were delicious! (By the way, did you know honey is basically bee barf?!) The ones I purchased were Eucalyptus, West Portal Wildflower, Lavender, Mt. Tamalpais Wildflower, and Napa Sweet Mixed Berry.
If you happen to find yourself in San Francisco, I highly recommend checking out this beekeeping class at SF Honey and Pollen Co.! You’ll learn a lot and the honey is tasty.
There’s also something really neat about stepping outside your comfort zone and trying something you might not ordinarily do – whether it’s beekeeping or something else! You learn a lot about yourself and the world around you the more you expose yourself to new things.
