UC Master Beekeeper Program Creates 'The Buzz' at Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party
The UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program created quite "the buzz" when they presented an educational and entertaining program at the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party, held in the Museum courtyard.
CAMPB introduced the children, ages 3 to 9, to "the wonderful world of bees."
CAMBP members displayed a bee observation hive and encouraged them to "find the queen'; answered questions about bees; and engaged them with arts and crafts activities. The “ingredients” included crayons, paper plates, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, papier-mâché, pipe cleaners and other materials.
Staffing the bee tables were four CAMBP members: Wendy Mather and Kian Nikzad, co-program managers of CAMBP; Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator of the UC Davis Bee Haven; and Rick Moehrke, beekeeper and retired Vacaville teacher who is working on his CAMBP master-level beekeeper project.
If the children found the queen, they could win a prize. If they spun a wheel and answered a question correctly, another prize. The questions included:
- How many legs does a bee have?
- Why do bees have fuzzy bodies?
- What do bees eat?
- What is royal jelly and who makes it?
- What is the job of a worker bee?
- How many eyes does a bee have?
- Name a crop that bees pollinate.
The crops included strawberries, which tied right into the strawberry and blueberry ice cream that Fenton's Creamery and Restaurant, Vacaville, donated. Fenton's generously donated 10 3-gallon tubs of ice cream: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, mint chocolate chip, and blueberry.
The children delighted in looking for and finding the queen.
Question: "Can you find the queen? She's in here with the worker bees and drones. The worker bees are the girls and the drones are the boys."
Chlld: "What does the queen look like? Is she wearing a crown?"
"No, she's wearing a number!"
Child:"I see her! There she is! I found her!"
The event offered a wide variety of activities, including games, arts and crafts, face-painting, chalk art, a petting zoo of farm animals, Mother Goose storytime, books, live music and more.
The Hive, part of Z Food Specialty at 1221 Harter Ave, Woodland, provided honey sticks (straws) at the Children's Party. "Queen Bee" Amina Harris of The Hive, served as the founding director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center, part of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, until her retirement in 2023.
Bee scientist Elina Lastro Niño, professor of Cooperative Extension, Apiculture, founded CAMBP in 2016 and continues to serve as the founding director. She's a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and the director of the UC Davis Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly demonstration garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis and open from dawn to dusk.
CAMBP offers science-based information to educate stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping. It provides "provide science-backed, practical training informed by the latest research and industry best practices." It'a train-the-trainer kind of program offering classes. Beekeepers can advance from Ambassador and Apprentice to Journey and Master levels. The general public--including those who are contemplating becoming beekeepers--can learn about bees at the Ambassador level.
The Hive, part of Z Food Specialty at 1221 Harter Ave, Woodland, provided honey sticks (straws) at the Children's Party.
Pamela King, who chaired the Children's Party, described it as "amazing" and "a great success. We drew more than 300 people, all smiles and happy faces."
Although the Vacaville Museum Guild launched the Children’s Party in 1984, the price of tickets, $3, remains the same. It is more of a "fun-raising" party than a fund-raising program.
