2018 Beginning Beekeeping Class | Ashland

This is the time to be thinking bees! The beginning of the year is the time to order your beekeeping equipment and your bees for the spring. Beginning Beekeeping is for you if you are thinking about the possibility of keeping bees, or know that you would like to keep bees, but aren’t sure where and how to start. Topics to be covered: what you will need to be a beekeeper (equipment, money, time, space, etc.), and where and how to get bees.  I will also cover the rewards of beekeeping such as honey, wax, propolis, and of course the psychological benefits for you. I'll also discuss the history of bees and beekeepers, and the unique need for hobbyist beekeepers in this trying time for bees. Beginning Beekeeping will be offered at: The Ashland Food Co-op Community Classroom 300 N. Pioneer St., Ashland February 20th, 6:00-8:00pm $20The Bear Hotel2101 NE Spaulding Ave., Grants PassFebruary 21th, 6:00-8:00pm $20 About your instructor: Sarah Red-Laird is the founder and Executive Director of the Bee Girl organization with a mission to inspire and empower communities to conserve bees and their habitat. Sarah is native to Southern Oregon, where she has been teaching beekeeping since 2011.  Her love of bees and their honey began in Oregon, on a little farm at the end of a country road. There resided two hives of honey bees near her aunt's cabin. She was fascinated with the colonies, the beekeeper, and the honeycomb they produced. After high school, she traveled throughout the West. Her adventurous spirit landed her jobs on fishing boats, helicopters, sea kayaks, ski mountains, and even a gold rush era saloon. She finally brought her affinity for beekeeping to fruition at the University of Montana, Missoula. She chose honey bees and Colony Collapse Disorder as her Davidson Honors College research thesis, and her relationship with the bees picked up right where it left off.  She is extatic to bring the love for bees back home to Southern Oregon, to teach beekeeping and work hard to conserve our bees.  More about her work at www.beegirl.org  About the Bee Girl organization:  The Bee Girl organization is a nonprofit with a mission to educate and inspire communities to conserve bees, their flowers, and our food.  The organization, founded by Sarah Red-Laird, aims to conserve our bees by educating people, especially kids, on bees’ importance through our programs focused on community classes and events.  We have also formed unique and important partnerships with universities, public land managers, and private companies to conduct bee heath and habitat research.  Sarah and the Bee Girl team engage with communities across the nation, and the globe, spreading knowledge and bringing a sense of wonder from the hive to the people.