The Beginning of a ‘Buzzing’ Relationship
Holly Eve presents the first check for proceeds from the sale of ‘Bees’ candles to Sue Cobey, Extension Specialist in Agriculture at the Harry H. Laidlaw Honeybee Research Facility at the University of California Davis.
Earlier this summer, black & light® teamed up with the honeybee research team at The University of California at Davis. Through proceeds of their ‘Bees’ candle, black & light ® was able to present their first check to the University while visiting San Francisco in early October.
During that same visit, Sue Cobey and Jan Kingsbury were kind enough to show members of the black & light ® team around the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility for the better part of an afternoon opening their eyes to the wonderfully busy world of the honeybee.
They donned netted hats and actually stepped out into the hive area behind the research facility for an up-close-and-personal meeting with the honeybees. Fully expecting an uncontrollable mob of angry bees, the black & light ® team was amazed to find that the majority of the bees were fairly docile.
Inside the Hive
Inside the hives with Sue Cobey. Holly Eve is featured on the far left.
Cobey would pick up a hive (with her bare hands!), point out the various features such as the brood, the queen, and the drones and the honeybees would simply shrug off their intruders and go about their business. The consistent ‘buzzzz’ all around simply faded away into pure amazement at the complexity and intelligence of the hardworking honeybee.
Where normally one’s ears immediately ‘perk-up’ when they hear that fateful ‘buzz-ing’ sound while sitting on their porch, the team was relatively at ease, amazing considering that there were literally thousands of bees within five feet of their faces!
Since first noticed in 2006, honeybee populations have been in an immense decline across the United States but especially in California, which happens to have the largest and most progressive bee breeding operation in the US. The cause of this decline is poorly understood, and it is up to institutions such as UC Davis to help find the cause.
Although the team only spent a relatively short time at the facility, they gained an immediate greater appreciation for the purpose of the honeybee in American agricultural practices and began to realize what an integral part of farming the honeybee actually is. There are dozens of crops that depend on honeybee population to survive in the western United States as well as across the globe. Without research like that conducted at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. facility at UC Davis, the agricultural practices of the entire United States would be in severe jeopardy.