"Special treats" involving honey bees await those attending the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party, set for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in the Museum courtyard, 213 Buck Ave., Vacaville.
The event, for Vacaville children ages 3 to 9, offers a wide variety of activities, including games, arts and crafts, face-painting, chalk art, a petting zoo of farm animals, Mother Goose, books, live music and more. Tickets, $3 per person, are available at the Museum, 213 Buck Ave., Thursdays through Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m. (All children must be accompanied by an adult. The cost for everyone is $3, the price at the Guild's inaugural event in 1984. Attendees also will be served a free lunch.
Now for the special treats! Since this is a "bug blog," we'll focus only on bees--and what the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) and The Hive of Woodland will be offering.
CAMBP will provide a bee observation hive; microscopes to observe the queen bees; a costumed Bettina the Bee, and arts and crafts activities. The “ingredients” at the arts and crafts table will include crayons, paper plates, googly eyes, popsicle sticks, papier-mâché, pipe cleaners and other materials. The youngsters will also make and take home “seed cookies for the bees,” in collaboration with the Planet Bee Foundation.
What's the history of CAMBP? Bee scientist Elina Lastro Niño, professor of Cooperative Extension, Apiculture, founded the organization in 2016 and continues to serve as the founding director. She's a member of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology faculty, and the director of the UC Davis Bee Haven, a half-acre bee friendly demonstration garden located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road, UC Davis and open from dawn to dusk.
What does CAMBP do? It offers science-based information to educate stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping. It provides "provide science-backed, practical training informed by the latest research and industry best practices." It'a train-the-trainer kind of program offering classes. Beekeepers can advance from the Apprentice level to the Journey and Master levels. If you're not a beekeeper, and just want to learn about bees--and help spread the word and maybe someday become a beekeeper--you can enroll in its Bee Ambassador program.
CAMBP co-program managers are Wendy Mather and Kian Nikzad. Wendy will be in costume as Bettina the Bee at the Children's Party. The CAMBP team will answer questions about bees, assist the children with their arts and crafts, and help them make seed cookies for the bees.
The CAMBP Team recently participated in the mini-honey festival at The Hive in Woodland. The children loved the bee observation hive, the microscopes, the seed cookies, and the arts and crafts. Beekeeper Rick Moehrke of Vacaville, who will participate in the Museum Guild's Children's Party, remembers fielding lots of questions about bees from the youngsters, including "What color is bee blood?"
The Hive, located at 1221 Harter Ave, Woodland, will provide honey sticks (straws) at the Children's Party. The Hive includes a honey and mead tasting room and a restaurant.
The Hive is part of the business, Z Food Specialty, founded by the late Ishai Zeldner of Woodland. His wife, Amina Harris, served as the founding director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center until her retirement in 2023. She retired to return full-time as "Queen Bee" of the family business. Her son Joshua Zeldner is the "nectar director" and her daughter, Shoshana Zeldner, is the director of brand strategy. (Read the history here)
In addition, the Bohart Museum of Entomology will loan its popular open-face banner of the California dogface butterfly, the state insect. Parents will be taking images of their youngsters as butterflies.
At the Children's Party, first responders will "meet and greet." They will include Vacaville police, firefighters, Solano sheriff deputies and the California Highway Patrol.
Pam King, who was recently named the Museum Guild's "Volunteer of the Year." is coordinating the Chlldren's Party for the second consecutive year. Pat Zetah serves as the Guild president.
It promises to be an un-bee-liev-able event.