View this email in your browser

Photo credit: Melinda Torvinen

When it comes to sweetening our lives, honey has long been a favorite, cherished for its natural flavor and health benefits. However, not all honey is created equal. Choosing to buy local honey offers unique advantages that go beyond simply supporting your neighborhood beekeeper.

Health BenefitsLocal honey is more than just a sweetener; it’s packed with potential health benefits, especially for those who suffer from seasonal allergies. Local honey contains pollen from local plants, and consuming small amounts of this pollen through honey may help your body build resistance to allergens in your area, potentially reducing allergy symptoms over time.Environmental ImpactBuying local honey supports sustainable agriculture and the local environment. Local beekeepers often maintain smaller, more environmentally friendly operations that prioritize the health of their bees and the surrounding ecosystem. By choosing local honey, you’re encouraging practices that protect bees, which are crucial pollinators for many crops.Supporting Local EconomiesWhen you purchase local honey, you’re directly contributing to your community’s economy. You help sustain local beekeepers, who in turn reinvest in the local economy. This creates a positive cycle of support that benefits everyone in the area.Quality and PurityLocal honey is often less processed than commercially produced honey, retaining more of its natural enzymes, vitamins, and antioxidants. Commercial honey is sometimes mixed with syrups or heavily filtered, reducing its nutritional value. Local honey is typically raw and unfiltered, preserving its natural qualities.Unique FlavorsLocal honey offers a unique taste of your region. The flavor of honey varies depending on the flowers the bees visit, so local honey reflects the unique flora of your area. This makes each jar a distinct, flavorful experience that you can’t find in mass-produced honey.In conclusion, buying local honey is a simple yet powerful way to enjoy a healthier product, support your local economy, and promote sustainable practices. The next time you’re looking for a sweet treat, consider reaching for a jar of honey produced close to home. It’s a choice that benefits not just you, but your entire community.If you’re in Northern Nevada, the Help Save the Bees Foundation has compiled a list of places where you can purchase local honey. This is a great starting point for finding fresh, local honey and supporting your local beekeepers. If you're located elsewhere, don’t worry—finding local honey is easier than you might think. A simple online search for "local honey near me" should yield a variety of options in your area. Additionally, asking friends or neighbors if they know of any local honey producers can lead to some great discoveries. Farmers markets are also excellent places to find local honey; you can often meet the beekeepers and learn more about their practices. Finally, consider reaching out to local beekeeping associations—they can often point you in the right direction.Supporting local honey producers benefits your health and the environment and helps sustain these vital contributors to our ecosystem.

Why is it important to provide a safe water source for bees? Have you ever gone inside after a hot day, and enjoyed a cool glass of water, then breathed in a sigh of relief when you felt the air-conditioning? It felt pretty great, right? That’s how bees feel when they have access to a safe and reliable water source.

Bees and other pollinators get thirsty just like all living creatures. They need a source of water to stay healthy. Not only do bees drink water, but they also use it to regulate the temperature of their hive, feed the young bees, and dilute the stored honey for easy drinking. Some research suggests bees even receive nutrients from water as well. A happy, healthy, busy hive can drink and use more than a QUART of water daily!

A simple, DIY honeybee waterer is all you need to hydrate your friendly pollinators.

But, wait, can’t bees find their own source of water like from a river or a pond? Yes, they absolutely can. However, not all beehives are near a natural source of CLEAN "dirty" water. In these cases, bees will look for water elsewhere. Like in a neighbor’s swimming pool or in a ditch. These sources of water may contain chlorine, pesticides, or other harmful chemicals. YUCK.

Even though bees have five eyes, they still rely largely on scent. Water with a slight scent is more likely to attract bees. (This is why bees are often drawn to saltwater pools.) Or water that’s a little bit dirty and has some plant growth. If given a choice, bees will always choose to drink clean “dirty” water. They appear to favor water that has become murky with algae. You can grant them their wish and set up a bee pond. It doesn’t have to be a big, fancy pond. You just need a barrel, mosquito fish and some floating plants.

Bee watering stations are important—and really simple to setup! You can make yours as elaborate or simple as you’d like. The key is to offer water for bees without the drowning risk! If your water source is deep (like a dog's water bowl) simply add corks, sticks, or anything else that floats to give bees somewhere to perch. If a bee pond is not for you, here are a few simple ideas for creating a safe water source for your friendly pollinators.

Bird baths, or a large shallow dish from your kitchen, or even just a frisbee! Bird baths make excellent bee waters because of how shallow they are. Bees can usually perch on the edge of the bath to drink. Remember, bees can’t swim, so if you want to keep them safe you can add pebbles to give them extra places to stand. You may find that you need two bird baths. One for the bees and one for the birds! Bees like trickling water because there is less of a drowning risk. Adding a drip line into your bee bath or a bubbler is a great addition!

The downside to bird baths is that they need to be refilled often. Some beekeepers simply use buckets. They add a sponge in a bucket for a simple landing pad or hang a rag halfway in so the bees can take water directly from the rag, or float corks in the water. Any non-toxic floatation device will work! Make sure you refill your bucket and check it often for mosquito larvae.

Hummingbird feeders cost less than $15 and works as a good bee watering station. Just fill it with water instead of sugar syrup.

Rocks in a self-filling pet bowl make a fine watering source. If you don’t have the time to refill your bee watering station often, this is a great option. A small gravity-fed pet feeder usually holds a little under a gallon of water and costs about $15. Be sure to add rocks so you can provide water for bees without the drowning risk. Plastic poultry feeders work just like gravity-fed pet bowls, but they’re a little more durable and stand up to the outdoors. Just like with the other suggestions, if the bowl of the feeder is more than a few centimeters deep you should add pebbles or marbles.

Concerned the bees won't find your new pollinator watering station? You can add a small amount of lemongrass oil or salt to your bee waterer to help the colony locate it. Once bees find your source of water, wait a few days and you can stop adding the attractant.

If you have a green thumb, you can place your water station near pollinator friendly flowers!

Board member Melinda Torvinen shows students the equipment used by a beekeeper and offers honey samples as well.

One of the major goals of Biggest Little Bee City and Help Save the Bees Foundation is to educate the public, starting with children and visiting events in the Reno area. We teach about the similarities and differences among honeybees, native bees, bumble bees, wasps and hornets. Many of the teaching members are in both organizations.

We generally start our education programs in late spring and summer with young children in schools and then summer camps throughout the season. Master Beekeeper Ray shares his knowledge of pollinators, spending a few minutes speaking to the entire group and answering questions. The kids are engaged and eager to show off their knowledge from school units and camps. Ray teaches a “Bee Part Countdown” (6 legs, 5 eyes, 4 wings, 3 body parts, 2 antennae, and 1 stinger). All information is then reinforced through hands-on demonstrations at rotating stations in groups of 3-5.  

We set up five tables with different themes for children to rotate through approximately every 10 minutes. Stations include:

Our members and volunteers find these visits incredibly rewarding as the kids are such enthusiastic learners. They often want us to stay to answer more questions. We hope they take new information home to their families and that we’re setting a solid foundation for their interest and engagement about all things pollinator for years to come.

HSBF Treasurer Ray Hopper, left, explains the role of pollinators in the environment at the Great Basin River School in Reno, while Queen Bee Barb, top right, shows the children emerging native bees at Urban Roots summer camp. Bottom right, Ray teaches bee parts at Galena’s summer camp.

Donate Here

Our mission to save the bees starts right in our own backyard.

The Hidden Dangers in Our Yard

While many of us rely on pesticides and herbicides for our yards and gardens, these chemicals pose significant threats to bees and other pollinators. Thankfully, there are natural, bee-friendly alternatives that keep these areas thriving while safeguarding these vital insects. Synthetic chemicals used to control pests and weeds can have unintended consequences, contaminating soil and harming bees by infiltrating the nectar and pollen they collect. This contributes to the alarming decline of bee populations, which are essential for pollinating one-third of the plants we rely on for food.

What Is a Weed?

Before diving into how to manage weeds, let’s clarify what we mean by "weed. "A weed is simply any plant growing where it’s not wanted. However, it’s important to differentiate between general weeds and invasive weeds. Weeds are plants that might be out of place in a particular setting but can still offer benefits. For example, plants like dandelions, clover, and plantain may be considered weeds in a manicured lawn, but they provide significant benefits to your garden and the environment. These plants often offer nutrition to pollinators, improve soil health, and can even be used as food or medicine. Invasive weeds, on the other hand, are aggressively spreading plants that can overtake and dominate an area, often displacing native species and reducing biodiversity. Examples include cheatgrass and white top. While some invasive weeds, like white top, do provide nutrition for bees, their aggressive nature makes them a threat to the ecosystem. Others, like cheatgrass, offer no benefits to pollinators and are particularly damaging.

Ranking Weeds by Invasiveness and Usefulness to Bees

If we were to rank some common weeds on a scale from most invasive and least useful to bees, down to least invasive and most beneficial, it might look something like this:

Jim Trowbridge of Kansas, sharing his love of bees with the next generation of beekeepers.

What do you do when you retire? You decide you need a “hobby” and become a beekeeper, of course. At least, that’s what my dad, Jim Trowbridge, did. He and my mom, Sandy, live in a small town called Tonganoxie, just outside of Kansas City. Ten years ago, they attended the 4-H county fair where my dad saw a bee exhibit. He started asking questions, and the rest is history.

Having farmed and gardened most of his life, he was naturally concerned about the declining bee population and decided to get involved. He watched every video he could find on beekeeping, researched plants and flowers, built hives, talked to anyone who would listen, and genuinely fell in love with his new hobby. He quickly went from student to teacher, becoming a mentor to many in his corner of Kansas, even sparking the interest of some of his grandkids. His bees were pampered, and his honey was always in short supply due to its exceptional quality.

We lost my dad this summer to complications from heart surgery. It was our first summer harvesting honey without him, and we deeply missed his wit, wisdom, and guidance. While we know we may never do it as well as he did, we hope to carry on his legacy and take up his torch to Help Save The Bees.

SWITCHEL

Switchel is a curious beverage that is also known as Haymaker’s Punch. Back when haying was a very energetic occupation, farm wives would bring gallons of Switchel to the men working in the fields. Popularized by Vermont doctor D.C. Jarvis in his best-selling 1958 book Folk Medicine: A Vermont Doctor’s Guide to Good Health, this honey and apple cider vinegar drink became a must-have beverage.

This is a great thirst quencher and is very simple to make. Much healthier and more effective than sugary sports drinks and easy enough to regularly keep on the top shelf of your refrigerator, Switchel might just become your favorite go-to summer or post-exercise drink.

~ Laurey Masterton

Serves 8-10

The ingredients:

½ cup honey, preferably sourwood honey

½ cup apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon sliced fresh gingerroot (optional)

Here’s what you do:

Excerpted from The Fresh Honey Cookbook© by Laurey Masterton. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.

Photo Credit: Jason Provencio

Ray moves earth at Valley Wood Wildlife Gardens (left) in preparation for Tom Stille’s park tour (center). At right, an Air Bee & Bee hotel for native bees is installed at the park. Help Save the Bees collaborates with multiple organizations to care for and share the park’s eight pollinator gardens with the community.

Help Save the Bees Foundation celebrated Earth Day with Truckee Meadows Community College in April.

In cooperation with the City of Reno, a new bee hotel was installed at Reno’s Lake Park.

JOIN THE TOUR!

City of Reno Horticulturist Ryan Sharrer will be conducting a guided tour of Valley Wood Wildlife Gardens on Saturday, September 28th at 9 a.m.

FREE to the public!

You probably love bumble bees because they are furry, fat, gentle and cute!  But bumble bees are also very important native pollinators, unlike honey bees that were brought to North America by the colonists during the 17th century. Why are bumble bees such great pollinators?  Due to their long tongue, some bumble bees can pollinate flowers that honey bees cannot.  Bumble bees can fly and pollinate plants  at lower temperatures than honey bees.   Bumble bees employ 'buzz pollination' behavior  where they grab the flower by the pollen structure and buzz their wings.  This shakes loose more pollen.

While most native bees are solitary, bumble bees are social and live in colonies like honey bees.  However, a bumble bee colony may have 50 to 500 members while a honey bee colony can have as many as 50,000.  A bumble bee nest is about the size of a softball.  Another big difference is tha ta honey bee colony can survive for multiple years, but a bumble bee colony is annual.  Only queens survive the winter, without the help of any attendants or worker bees.  Queens that manage to overwinter emerge typically in April and May.  Queens at that point are solitary, establishing a nest and preparing it with pollen and nectar.  The queen lays her first crop of eggs into the pollen balls she has brought to the nest.  She will rear the first female worker bees alone.  The eggs hatch into larvae, progress through several larval states before spinning a cocoon, and complete metamorphosis into adult workers.  The irst workers emerge from their cocoons 2 to 3 weeks after eggs are laid, and take over duties of searching for food, caring for brood and defending the nest.  At that point the queen will remain inside the colony laying eggs and caring for brood.  Late summer or early fall the queen will begin to lay unfertilized eggs which will develop into males/drones, and workers will begin to rear fertilized eggs into new queens called gynes.  The drones and gynes leave the nest and mate.  Worker production at this point has ceased, and the workers and founding queen will die out leaving only the newly mated gynes.  Mated gynes will build fat reserves and leave the colony behind to find a suitable location for overwintering. A typical slumber ranges from 6 to 9 months.  The gynes that survive emerge in the spring as a queen to begin a new colony.  When the new queens first emerge in the late spring you can observe nest searching behavior.  Look for them flying low over the ground ,stopping occasionally to explore cavities and burrows.

Unfortunately bumble bees have suffered huge declines over recent years.  What can you do to help?  Fortunately, our gardens have become a valuable refuge for bumble bees. 

We’ve made this dressing for years using maple syrup, which is a fine thing, especially if you are, like me, from Vermont. But this versatile and easy dipping sauce or salad dressing also works well with honey. Give it a try. And if you have leftover sauce, slather it on a ham sandwich.

~Laurey Masterton

Serves 6

The ingredients:

For the dressing

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/2 cup sour cream

2 Tbsp curry powder

2 Tbsp honey

For the vegetables, cut in diagonal slices

1-2 bunches baby carrots

1 bunch spring radishes

1 bunch baby turnips

Here’s what you do:

Warming honey

To warm honey for ease of mixing, place the honey jar in a bath of warm water for a few minutes, or run it under hot water.

Excerpted from The Fresh Honey Cookbook© by Laurey Masterton. Used with permission from Storey Publishing.

Journey into the Heart of the Hive with a new book by expert beekeeper and creator of Queenspotting and Girl Next Door Honey, Hilary Kearney! This captivating book offers a window into the lives and biology of honey bees, from the collaborative roles of bees within the hive to the ways in which these vital pollinators have helped shape our world. Filled with fascinating facts and stunning, close-up photography from world-renowned honey bee photographer Eric Tourneret, this book is a must-read for anyone who wants to learn more about these remarkable creatures.

Copyright (C) " target="_blank">unsubscribe