Circle of Bees' Hives Tackle Bee Crisis Locally

September 29, 2016

by Judy Moores and Leslie Crenna

Welcome to our new Cool Davis partner, Circle of Bees!

Circle of Bees, or CoB for short, promotes care for both domestic and wild bees, which are currently threatened nationwide. This non-profit group, headed by Board President Christian Coulon, works to help people understand that humans and bees are part of the same ecosystem.

Why is this important? We need bees as pollinators if we want our front and backyard fruit orchards and even veggies like prized tomatoes to ripen successfully.

Another reason is that when a native bee colony “swarms” or leaves its hive in search of another, humans don’t usually understand what’s going on and might not react well in an urban setting like Davis.

Circle of Bees addresses these needs by matching up local beekeepers with hive hosts, building “capture” boxes for bee swarms, and developing hives that best address bees’ needs.

You don’t have to know anything about beekeeping to host because your personal beekeeper takes care of everything and you still reap the amazing benefits of hosting: honey made on your site from nectar and pollen harvested in your neighborhood.

Circle of Bees crew sports a beautiful bee hive including Christian Coulon in the middle and Derek Downey second from the right.

The group naturally supports growing food locally which reduces the amount of energy needed to get food to people, thereby reducing greenhouse gas emissions, plus, of course, the food is much fresher.

Local food production and healthy local pollinators are also central themes for Slow Food, a movement that is picking up steam across the world and right here in our backyard with Slow Food Yolo.

Circle of Bees is on the verge of launching its 100 Hives Davis campaign to fill Davis with living art monuments celebrating sub/urban pollinators, their habitat, and their keepers.

The campaign will begin with 5 demonstration hives for local schools, a fundraiser to raise $25,000 towards building our hive network, and a plan to partner with the Explorit Center to build a transparent hive on their premises.

The group is just getting started and has very limited funds. Fundraising will be important to advance their mission. They also need organizational expertise and reliable people to help move the effort forward. Cool Davis 2010 Eco-Hero Derek Downey has been part of the group from its beginning.

In the past year, Circle of Bees established itself as a 501 (c) (3) organization and has begun plans for going public. Check out their gorgeous Circle of Bees website for more information and to get involved!

All local businesses, organizations, and other groups are welcome to apply to become a Cool Davis Partner.