A Honey of an Event

Did you know that honey bees visit more than two million flowers just to make a pound of honey?

Two million visits for one pound?

That's just one of the tidbits about honey that will be mentioned Friday, Oct. 21 at the all-day “Honey!” event at the UC Davis Conference Center, 550 Alumni Center.

And bees?

"How can the 60,000-some bees in a hive live in such a chaotic environment, divide up the jobs, do them well, and get everything done?" asks Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen of the UC Davis Department of Entomology.

He'll tell you at the "Honey!" event.

This one-of-a-kind event, sponsored by the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science at UC Davis, will take place from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Co-sponsored by the UC Davis Department of Entomology, the event will include six experts discussing honey-related topics, a honey-themed lunch, and honey and mead tasting. In addition, displays will feature a bee observation hive by Brian Fishback of Wilton and beekeeping equipment from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis.

Among the speakers will be three bee scientists from the UC Davis Department of Entomology: Extension apiculturst Eric Mussen speaking on “The Wonder of Honey Bees”; assistant professor Brian Johnson, “How Bees Cooperate to Make Honey and What They Do With It”; and emeritus professor Norm Gary, discussing “Hobby Beekeeping in Urban Environments.”

Other  UC Davis speakers: Louis Grivetti, professor emeritus, Department of Nutrition, discussing “Historical Uses of Honey as Food” and Liz Applegate, professor, Department of Nutrition and director of Sports Nutrition Program, “Sweet Success—Honey for Better Health and Performance.”

The program will begin at 9 a.m. light refreshments, served until 10 a.m.  Speakers, lunch, more speakers, honey tasting, and mead tasting will follow.  The event ends with a refreshment reception at which Norm Gary will sign and sell his recently published book on backyard beekeeping.

Coordinating it all is Clare Hasler-Lewis, executive director of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science.

If you're like to attend, you'll want to make reservations now. The deadline to make reservations is Friday, Oct. 14.  Recently reduced costs are $50 for the general public and for folks with connections to the beekeeping industry; $35 for UC faculty members, staff and Friends of the RMI; and $25 for students.

To reserve your space, you can contact Kim Bannister at kbannister@ucdavis.edu or (530) 752-5171.  Payments may be made online at http://robertmondaviinstitute.ucdavis.edu/honey.

And while we're at it, let's thank the bees!