Guild member Emily Bondor will be presenting this class at Native Revival Nursery.

The class will be focused around the co-evolution of flowering plants and bees and the importance of pollinators to our landscape and our food system. Honey bees are unique among bee species, as they’re a “superorganism” with a social caste. Most other native bees are largely solitary in nature. Emily will do a brief lesson on honey bee biology, caste structure and roles within the hive. The main focus and intention of the class will be “how to support bees in our landscape”. By focusing on forage, we will support not only honeybees but native bees, too.

The takeaway will include a list of some of the best bee forage plants for your garden, some of which will also be California natives. In truth, in order to “save the bees”, we need to think holistically and regeneratively, with a focus on biodiversity and habitat creation and restoration. We need farmers, gardeners, orchardists, ranchers planting pasture and landscapers focused on flowers!

Since we won’t be going in a hive during the class, Emily will bring her beekeeping tools and equipment, wax combs, and some homemade bee products.

*If the class is a success, we can run it again at Native Revival and/or organize a follow-up class with participants who want to do a “live hive dive” workshop with Emily at one of her apiaries in the Santa Cruz area.