Brian Fishback to Teach Introductory Beekeeping Workshop on April 28
Brian Fishback to Teach Introductory Beekeeping Workshop on April 28
Veteran beekeeper Brian Fishback of Wilton, active in several beekeeping organizations and a volunteer assistant at the University of California, Davis, will teach an introductory beekeeping class on Saturday, April 28 in Rancho Cordova as part of the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op program.
The event, open to the public, will take place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Soil Born Farms American River Ranch, 2140 Chase Drive, Rancho Cordova.
Participants will be introduced to the basics of beekeeping and the equipment and tools needed to get started, Fishback said. He will discuss life in the honey bee colony, swarming, and pests and diseases.
Each class member will receive an “Introduction to Beekeeping” booklet and is asked to bring a bag lunch, dress appropriately, and bring along any personal protective equipment they may have. Snacks and drinks will be provided.
Fishback, a past president of the Sacramento Area Beekeepers’ Association, and a member of the California State Beekeepers’ Association and the American Beekeeping Federation, assists bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey with her queen-rearing and instrumental insemination classes at UC Davis.
Fishback, who has involved in beekeeping since 2008, remembers the first time he opened a hive and held a full frame of brood covered in bees. “I was in utopia,” he said. “Everything came together. In my hand I held the essence of core family values.”
Now he shares his knowledge with beekeepers-to-be, beginning beekeepers and veteran beekeepers, and gives presentations at schools and public events.
Back in 2008, he and his wife Darla purchased a ranch in Wilton, renamed the BD Ranch and Apiary (www.beesarelife.com), to pursue a self-sustaining life. “I catapulted into this way of life, knowing that honey bees would provide us with pollination as well as a natural sweetener,” Fishback recalled.
He acknowledges that his first year of keeping bees was a rough one. “I had 40 percent losses due to colony collapse disorder (CCD),” Fishback said. “I was determined to research more into the contributing factors of CCD and how I could raise bees successfully without having to use harsh chemicals to treat them.”
That led him to delve deeper into working with others at all levels of beekeeping and research.”
He has helped out at events such as the California Agriculture Day at the state capitol and at state and county fairs.
He began volunteering at the Laidlaw facility in 2010. “It’s a privilege” to work with bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey and beekeeper/research associate Elizabeth Frost at the Laidlaw facility, Fishback said, “and still have time to share my knowledge in community outreach efforts.” He assists Cobey with her queen-rearing classes and instrumental insemination classes, and also with her field trips to commercial breeders.
He also helps out around the facility, as needed.
Fishback continues his outreach programs “to encourage interest in honey bees and to share the importance of the honey bee to our environment and our food supply.” When he gives his presentations in schools, he brings along a bee observation hive, where the youths can single out the queen bee, workers and drones.
“I allow anyone or any group with an interest agriculture, small-scale farming and of course, beekeeping, to take a day tour of my ranch, get in a bee suit and feel joy that life has to offer,” Fishback said.
Those interested in the class can register at the Sacramento Natural Foods Co-Op web page at http://www.sacfoodcoop.com. (On the top navigational bar, click on “Education” and then “Classes” or search for the keyword, “beekeeping.”) For more information, Fishback can be reached at (916) 709-0686 or [email protected]
Posted by admin
on Apr 19 2012. Filed under Community, Event, Featured, Front Page, Lifestyle, Local Businesses.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0.
You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
