Women Who Keep Bees: Part of 'Women Feeding the World' Display at UC Davis

Beekeepers in Bolivia tending their hives. (Photo by Britta L. Hansen)

One is a noted commercial queen bee breeder in California.

One is the head of the beekeeping section, Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana government.

And two are beekeepers in Bolivia.

Washington, California, Botswana and Bolivia...

They all have at least two things in common: (1) they are women who work with bees and (2) they form part of the UC Davis "Women Feeding the World: Farmers, Mothers and CEOs" online photo gallery.

Meet bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey of Washington State University, formerly of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis. 

Meet commercial bee queen breeder Jackie Park-Burris of Palo Cedro, a past president of the California State Apiary Board and the California State Beekeepers' Association.

Meet Queen Turner, former Humphrey Fellow at UC Davis and  the head of the beekeeping section, Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana government.

And meet the two beekeepers in Bolivia through the eyes of former Peace Corps volunteer Britta L. Hansen, now a staff member with Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (Horticulture CRSP), one of the sponsors of the project.

How did this all come to "bee"?

Brenda Dawson, communicators coordinator for the Horticulture CRSP, says a number of campus and community organizations came together to sponsor the event and its gallery, including several units from the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences: the Blum Center, Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program, International Programs Office, and Program in International and Community Nutrition. Additional sponsors include the World Food Center, Office of Campus Community Relations, Women's Resources and Research Center, and the off-campus organization Freedom from Hunger.

Of the approximately 80 photos submitted by faculty, staff, students, alumni and community members, 12 were selected for display on the first floor of the Coffee House, UC Davis Memorial Union. One depicts Cobey holding a frame of bees at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, UC Davis.  Dawson said the display, which can be viewed until the end of the winter quarter, is part of this year's Campus Community Book Project focusing on "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide," authored by the husband-wife team of Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn. 

"The photos depict women in a variety of roles related to food—including bean farmers, beekeepers and breastfeeding mothers—in California and around the world."

A thumbnail sketch:

Susan Cobey. Bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, former manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis, is internationally renowned for her expertise on queen bee-rearing and for her classes on instrumental queen bee insemination. Honey bees are her passion. She studied with Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. at UC Davis. Cobey is now a bee breeder-geneticist at Washington State University but stays involved with California queen bee breeders, the Almond Board of California, and the California State Beekeepers' Association. One third of the American diet is pollinated by bees. Without bees, we'd be reduced to eating grains like wheat (wind-pollinated). 

Jackie Park-Burris. Jackie Park-Burris, owner of Jackie-Park Burris Queens, Palo Cedro, wears many hats besides her bee veil. She is a commercial queen bee breeder, a second-generation beekeeper, a past president of the five-member California State Apiary Board, a past president of the California State Beekeepers' Association (CSBA), a past president of the California Bee Breeders' Association, and a past president of the Shasta Beekeepers. She purchased the queen-rearing portion of her parents' business when her father, Jack Park, passed away. In 1997, she was selected the CSBA Young Beekeeper of the Year, and in 2009, the CSBA Beekeeper of the Year. She and her cousins Steve Park and Glenda Wooten are the only second-generation beekeepers to have received the CSBA Beekeeper of the Year.  CSBA presented it to her father in 1979 and her uncle, Homer Park, in 1971. Both are also past presidents of CBBA and CSBA. There are now six Park family descendants on CSBA's perpetual trophy, Beekeeper of the Year. 

Queen Turner. Queen Turner is head of the beekeeping section, Ministry of Agriculture, Botswana government. As a Humphrey fellow, Queen Turner completed a 10-month stay in the United States, which included studies at UC Davis. She attended many classes and seminars last year and presented a lecture on "Beekeeping in Botswana" to the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. One of her activities was inspecting the beekeeping operation on the rooftop of the San Francisco Chronicle. After completing her Humphrey fellowship, she returned to Botswana last June.  The word for bee in her native language, Setswana, is "notshi." 

Bolivian Beekeepers. Former Peace Corps volunteer Britta L. Hansen, now with the UC Davis Horticulture CRSP, worked with a group of female beekeepers in Bolivia and captured this photo of two beekeepers in 2008. "We received funding to help the women purchase Langstroth style hives that were made in Bolivia," Hansen related. "Sara was the secretary of the group, and she and I drove into the regional capital to pick up the hives and transport them back to our community of Paredones."  

Be sure to check out the online photo gallery and the display at the Memorial Union of "Women Feeding the World." Great project!