Print friendly
E-mail story
Tip Us Off
Comments
Share Article
Facebook
Twitter
Google+1
del.icio.us.
Digg!
Yahoo! Buzz
Diigo
google
newsvine
reddit
technorati
Yahoo!
MyspaceWhat started out as a hobby less than a year ago has become a part-time job for 48-year-old area contractor Todd Bebb, whose backyard has become a haven for bees. Bebb and his wife, Helene, have always enjoyed gardening, and so it was a joint decision to welcome bees into their garden.
They currently have three hives, each of which is home to between 10,000 and 50,000 bees. “I normally try to keep only one hive, but there have just been so many [removal] projects lately,” Bebb said. In fact, the backyard beekeeper has had more than 80 projects since he decided to get involved in relocating bee hives in March of this year.
When removing a bee hive, Todd Bebb said he prefers the “bait-out” method, in which he sets up what he refers to as a one-way door that leaves the bees with only one way to leave a home. “When they realize they can’t get back to their queen,” he said, “they find we have conveniently set them up with a new home and new queen.”
For people who want a quicker solution, Bebb said that it is also possible to do a “cut-out,” though this would mean opening up a building’s ceiling to get to bees that have swarmed there — a process that is both difficult and costly. Luckily, Bebb is a contractor. “It helps that I know how buildings are built,” he said. “I know where to go and what to do.”
Though beekeeping takes up a lot of his time, Bebb insisted, “I really just do it to help the bees.” Before he decided to convert his garden into a paradise for bees, he did a lot of research. He has taken beekeeping courses, and has learned extensively from his mentor, Paul Cronshaw, also known as “The Beeman.”
Bebb feels that it has become his duty to educate people on bees. “I’m mentoring others on how to be a backyard beekeeper, though I still need help from my mentor. I’m a student as well as a teacher. My goal is educating the public.”
Santa Barbara alone has more than 110 backyard beekeepers and a couple of commercial beekeepers. Bebb hopes that more people will open their homes to a hive or two. “Instead of one commercial beekeeper with 60,000 hives,” he explained, “I would rather see 60,000 backyard beekeepers with one hive each.”
Previous Month
Comments
Where are the classes? and how does one go about becoming a one hive beekeeper in the city of SB?
at_large (anonymous profile)
September 2, 2011 at 6:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Come to the film QUEEN OF THE SUN (all about the bees) September 7th, 7:30pm at the Center of the Heart and we will have local beekeepers answering your questions.... See all the details at: http://www.hopedance.org/events/icalr....
hopedance (anonymous profile)
September 3, 2011 at 4:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Cool, in 200 years when I have saved enough money for a down payment in a house with a yard in Santa Barbara I will definitely keep some bees.
Num1UofAn (anonymous profile)
September 3, 2011 at 1:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Sarcasm will get you everywhere, but when you're ready to learn about bees, let me know. If you do not have a yard for bees, we can find a location where you can keep a hive or two.
www.santabarbarabees.com, or coming very soon...www.santabarbarabeekeepers.com will give you all of the information you need to get started.
Also look at the Santa Barbara Beekeepers Google Group for daily posts about what we do.
sbbeeboy (anonymous profile)
September 4, 2011 at 7:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
An article about bees without reference to Adrian Wenner? Shame, shame.
SezMe (anonymous profile)
September 9, 2011 at 1:51 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My mentor, Paul Cronshaw has mentioned Adrian many times, and shared many of his studies. I have not had the pleasure of meeting him.
The Santa Barbara Beekeepers Association is now formalized as a CA Non Profit and can be visited at www.SBBA.org
sbbeeboy (anonymous profile)
September 24, 2011 at 9:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)