Beekeeping workshop held in Santa Margarita
Photos by Teresa Turner.
By Teresa Turner
– A beekeeper’s workshop was held Thursday afternoon in Santa Margarita at the town’s park. Hosting the workshop was beekeeper Albert Chuback of Murray, Utah, the director of Western Apiculture Society and the founder of Eco Bee Box.
Chuback teaches sustainable beekeeping, queen rearing, bee management and local pedigrees, and how to increase profits in a honey operation. He was in construction for over 25 years and is a bee removal specialist in Utah. Chuback developed the patent pending Eco Bee Box and currently is marketing this product throughout North America and the rest of the World. 2014 Eco Bee Box was recognized as “The Most Innovative Business” of the year by Best of State in Utah.
Chuback started his workshop with exhibiting the decorative bee hives that he has designed and built. Instead of a standard bee hive, Chuback has designed a cedar box. The bigger box, which sells for $700 is adorned with copper brackets and an embossed bee on the front. There are smaller cedar boxes that have aluminum brackets which have the embossment on the front as well.
It is possible to build handmade bee boxes, there are some things to stay clear of: walnut and plywood are not a good idea and galvanized brackets are not recommended since it can leach lead into the honey. To protect the outside of the wood, Chuback uses beeswax and coconut oil to allow the wood to breathe.
At the workshop, there was about 20 experienced and new beekeepers -aka “nu-bees.” Vickie Conte of San Luis Obispo contacted the Fathers at the New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur and asked if she could raise bees for them. For a year now she has maintained five bee hives on her property for the retreat and monks.
Cindy and Carl Schindler moved to Atascadero four months ago and have been raising bees for their son who lives in San Francisco. He makes his own beer and wants to use mead in his brew. Mead is an alcoholic liquor made by fermenting honey and water. Cindy said, “He visits more often since we have what wants. Honey.” Since this is a new hobby for the Schindler’s, they wanted to come to the workshop to learn.
John Hupp of Santa Maria, who is teaching “Honey Harvesting and Packaging,” wanted to remind the public about the crisis called Colony Collapse Disorder, which is claiming the lives of bees across North America. “Bees are like a canary in a coal mine, and they are letting us know what is going on with our environment.” He said. He mentioned to “avoid spraying flowers with chemicals since the bees can bring that back to the hive and kill the colony.”
Chuback included notes such as “Do not harvest your first year” and “Too much humidity in the hive could cause them to die,” and to, “Protect a hive by locking it so that robber such as skunks can go into a hive and devour the honey.” He mentioned that “Queen bees lifespan from 7 to 8 years has dropped to about one year and your lucky if it survives for three years. But there are ways to make sure you have a good Queen bee.”
Beekeeping is a science, but it is a great for the environment since depletion has increased in the past years.
There is another class in Santa Maria starting this Saturday. To attend, contact Allan Hancock College in Santa Maria.
