Evening with Hannah Nordhaus

We went to Auburn, Calif for an another event at Placer High Auditorium. It was put on by "One Book, One Community" - an Evening with Author Hannah Nordhaus hosted by Beth Ruyak on Thursday, April 16, 2015

National bestselling author, Hannah Nordhaus, appeared  to discuss her book, “The Beekeeper’s Lament.” She tells the remarkable story of John Miller, one of America’s foremost migratory beekeepers, and the myriad and mysterious epidemics threatening American honeybee populations. The interview went very well and Hannah read many passages from this book and others. It was a very enjoyable evening.

All the while, hiding backstage in the 'wings', was John himself rolling around in a wheelchair - still recovering from a beekeeper accident,

Marlene Zuk, Los Angeles Review of Books:

“The Beekeeper’s Lament is not only about bees, or the people who make a living off of them, fascinating as both of these subjects are. It’s about the dying of rural America, the way we grow and sell our food, the reason people take risks… It is a poignant and keenly observed narrative.” 

 John Miller talks about The Beekeeper's Lament:

Installed New Honeybees

I traveled to Olivarez Honey Bees Ranch in Orland, California to participate in their 7th annual Field/Hobbyist Day on Saturday April 11th, 2015. I bought 3 pounds of Carniolan bees with a mated & marked queen and picked up a couple pollen patties from the Mann Lake table. 

I did not stay for the free BBQ, but did listen to Randy Oliver, Bee Researcher of Scientificbeekeeping.com

That evening I shook the bees into their new hive. Unfortunately I ran out of daylight while making final adjustments to the hive stand. Installing bees without protection during daylight would normally not be a problem. However, I did get stung. The bees were very gentle but they can (and do) attack light sources at night, like my flashlight. I am not allergic to stings like ~98% of people but, I should have worn a long sleeve shirt - I did get an infection later that required antibiotics.

...more to come

Beekeeeper's Lament Panel

I went to a very interesting discussion panel at Placer High Auditorium. It was moderated very well and was good to see all the participants.

Attending was Randy Oliver who currently has about 1000 hives here in Northern Calif. Also, John Miller (see his TED talk) of  Miller Honey Farms and Elina L. Niño, Ph.D. - the Apiculture Extension and Research chair at U.C. Davis.