Tour of The Melissa Garden Garden Designer Kate Frey
Garden Tour Date schedule for 2009:
Friday, February 6 ~ 10-11:30 am
Friday, March 6 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Friday, April 3 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Friday, July 3 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Friday, August 7 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Friday, September 11 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Friday, October 2 ~ 10 - 11:30 am
Come experience the buzz and blossoms at our honeybee sanctuary with garden designer Kate Frey We will have regular tours throughout the year on the first Friday of most months. Learn why we decided to create this special garden as a honeybee habitat, and about some of the honeybee and pollinator plants in our lush garden. One of our beekeepers will be on the tour to give a brief introduction to some of our “alternative hives.” Wear comfortable shoes.
Kate Frey is an internationally distinguished garden designer who has been awarded two gold medals at London’s Chelsea Flower Show. She worked for 18 years at Fetzer’s organic garden in Hopland, CA which was used as a test plot for pollinators by Dr. Gordon Frankie at U. C. Berkeley. She now specializes in creating beautiful habitat and pollinator gardens.
Registration
Fee: $25. Please register in advance by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com, or by phone: (707) 433-2114. Be sure to include both your email address and phone number when you make your reservation. We will email you a map and the address to mail your check to.
Principles of Holistic Beekeeping
with Uwe Bodenschatz (Germany) & Michael Thiele (Sebastopol)
Saturday, October 4 ~ 10–3 pm
Please join us for a journey into the world of bees and more. We will present beekeeping on all levels in the light of the natural life forces of the bees, where the beehive is understood as a single individual entity. We will talk about natural comb and will explore the various ways in which bees act as agents of transformation in agriculture and society. Additional topics will include bee diseases and treatment, pollination and the flowering world and beehive designs. Uwe will give an update on the European holistic beekeepers. Please bring a bag lunch. Dress warm enough since part of the day will be outside.
Uwe Bodenschatz lives with his wife and family in southern Germany. He has been a beekeeper for almost 20 years. He is deeply involved with the Biodynamic beekeeping movement in Germany and with Mellifera, the holistic beekeeper’s association in Germany. In conjunction with Mellifera and their Biodynamic apiary, Uwe co-designed alternative beehives which he builds on his farm. He is the owner of a holistic beekeeping supply company (some of his hives are at the Melissa Garden) and keeps bees according to Demeter Standards.
Michael Thiele grew up on a farm in a tiny village in central Germany. He has been deeply influenced by the German biodynamic beekeeping movement and now teaches classes on natural and holistic beekeeping in the United States. He worked for seven years as the beekeeper at Green Gulch Farm, a Zen center just north of San Francisco. He takes care of the hives at The Melissa Garden – including several “alternative” hives.
Registration
Fee: $45.00 ($40.00 when also registering for the “Straw/Skep class” on October 5). Please register in advance by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com, or by phone: (707) 433-2114. Be sure to include both your email address and phone number when you make your reservation. We will email you a map and the address to mail your check to.
Making Straw/Skep Beehives: Supporting Bees by Providing
Natural Bee Housing with Uwe Bodenschatz, Germany
Sunday, October 5, 2008 ~ 10 – 4 PM
Master Beekeeper and Skep maker Uwe Bodenschatz will give an introduction into alternative hives, and particular into straw/skep bee hives (with movable frames). He will share with us the evolution of various straw hives, of traditional and modern kind. Uwe will reveal the entire process from harvesting straw to preparing the materials and teach different techniques for weaving and sewing straw hives. During the class we will all work together on making one straw hive. Many beekeepers are interested in the round skep straw hive (which has movable frames) from the Melissa Garden. Uwe will give an overview about the history and instructions for beekeeping with this kind of hive. Also, there will be basic instruction for making it. (A full length 3-day workshop on making the “Haengekorb” is planned for the fall of 2009.) Please bring a bag lunch. Dress warm enough since part of the day will be outside.
Please see bio under October 4 class.
Registration
$45.00 ($40.00 when also registering for the “Holistic Beekeeping” class on October 4), payable on the day of the class. Please register in advance by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com or by phone: (707) 433-2114. Be sure to include both your email address and phone number when you make your reservation. We will email you a map and the address to mail your check to.
Paint Your Hive with Barbara Schlumberger
Sunday, October 5 ~ 2–4 pm There is an old tradition of colorful and imaginative painting of beehives. Barbara Schlumberger, who has been teaching painting for many years at The Painting Place in Santa Rosa, has found a new medium upon which to express herself--The Melissa Garden hives. Bring your hive body, super or top feeder for a Sunday afternoon under the magnificent oaks in the Sacred Grove of The Melissa Garden. We supply the paint and brushes. For non-beekeepers interested in attending, please bring a canvas.
Barbara Schlumberger works as a marriage and family therapist and is a founder of The Melissa Garden. She takes great pleasure in working in the garden and as the beekeeper of The Melissa Garden hives with husband Jacques.
Registration
Fee: $30, plus $12 supplies fee - $42 payable on the day of the class. Please register in advance by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com, or by phone: (707) 433-2114. Be sure to include both your email address and phone number when you make your reservation. We will email you a map and the address to mail your check to.
Hand Dipped Candles with Ross Mendenhall
Saturday, November 1 ~ 2 – 5 PM
Using simple available tools we will work together making hand-dipped beeswax tapers. These are the classic beeswax candles which burn for several hours without dripping, casting a warm glow and delicious fragrance. Each participant will make six candles to take home. You will have the skill to make many more, providing gentle lighting for the dark of the year and great for gifts, too!
Ross Mendenhall has been a beekeeper since 1983. As an associate of The Melissa Garden, he helps tend hives there and at his home in Sebastopol. He also designs and builds homes for both bees and humans.
Registration
Fee: $40, includes wax and wick for six candles. Bring your own wax and you can make more candles. Please register in advance by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com or by phone: (707) 433-2114. Be sure to include both your email address and phone number when you make your reservation. We will email you a map and the address to mail your check to.
Upcoming classes/events:
February 7, 2009: Awakening & Expansion
Preparing for the new bee-season in the light of the “Bien”, the undividable entity of the hive. At “The Melissa Garden”, with Michael Thiele.
March 7, 2009: Third Honey Bee Symposium
This year on holistic beekeeping, featuring Guenther Hauk (author of the book: “Towards saving the Honey bee”). At Summerfield School and Farm in Santa Rosa, CA
Work Exchange:
The Melissa Garden offers a work exchange program. Depending on the class, some or all of the registration fee will be waived in exchange for two hours work. Work entails helping to set up for the class – such as helping to prepare tea and snacks; create bouquets for the tables; register participants; or clean-up after the class. Please inquire about work exchange by sending an email to queenbee@themelissagarden.com or by phone, (707) 433-2114.
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