During this difficult time Simi Valley Bees knows it is the public can be easily exposed to the Corona Virus when doing shopping. We are trying to mitigate that risk by doing socially distancing and porch pick up of our honey products. If you wish to order honey please call Linda at 805 404-4955 then make an appointment to come over to our home at 2125 Magnolia St. in Simi Valley.
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Bee Season is Beeing Happy for Me
I am very excited about our new upcoming season at Simi Valley Bees. We were fortunate to have ten hives go to Almonds this year. That was 1/2 of our Apiary gone to help pollinate the Almond orchard. It felt like quite an accomplishment because each hive had to have two deep boxes with ten frames in each box. That is very hard to do. Plus they had to be healthy from the Verrora Mites. We are looking forward to producing Almond Honey, possibly Citrus Blossom honey if we have things go well in Somis this year, and more wonderful Wild Flower honey. Who knows what kinds of adventures Matt and I will have in our Bee Suits? We always look like Teletubbies when we are running away from angry bees. We have had our truck stuck up in the canyon before. We have had to deal with angry Africanized bees. Plus all of the fun adventures of hearing creepy sounds in the bush at night when we work the bees at nigh in our apiary. When I heard an owl hoot for the first time in my life I thought that was amazing. When I hear sounds an animal stalking us because it’s running around in the bush around us. Well, that is not such a great sound. Especially when you have heard reports of the mountain lions around Simi Valley.
Producing the honey and storing the honey is well, my least favorite part. Why? Because it’s all over my house! I have one of my bedrooms taken over as a storage room for all of the boxes of honey from last years harvest. There is honey boxes of bottles in my dining room. I have my office as proudly the messiest mess ever because it has Simi Valley Bee supplies all over it. It has a honey closet in it. My living room has two retail shelves in it.
What is my favorite part of my business? Dealing with the wonderful customers. Everyone has been so supportive of our business here in this area. I get such wonderful comments about our honey. People close their eyes to my obvious difficulties with my huge laundry on couch (sorry for that nonprofessional disclosure, but it’s so true). They just want the local honey.
Now for a personal note. I broke my neck when I was nine. I had neck surgery in December of 2017. I have had severe pain which most people would not want to acquaint themselves with in their life time because my nerve pain settles on the occipital nerve, which is the main nerve at the base of my neck. I have had amazing doctors, physical therapists, acupuncturists, pain doctors, and psychiatrists, to help me deal with my pain and anxiety that comes with it all. I also struggle with ADD. That is really hard on everyone around me. I really wish I did not have ADD. A lot of times I laugh at the crazy things that happen because of my disorder. Like when I mix up my words and say funny things, or when the keys fall off the hook, and I go crazy looking for them. Things like that. I just have to laugh, and not go insane. In addition to this all I am at the point in my life where I am getting back to my chosen profession which is working in the field of Special Education. I am now working as an after school teacher at Walnut Canyon Elementary School as an Arts and Crafts teacher and a Homework teacher in Moorpark. I really love working with children. They are very understanding of my weaknesses like having a short term memory problem (I forget their names a lot), and we have tons of fun. I let them make slime on Fridays in my classroom.
I love the people that message me, and want to meet me and get some local honey. It is such a privilege to go beyond my health problems and live my life fully. I have had some amazing doctors who have helped me do this, and I am so grateful for them. Sometimes when I have a migraine Matt will need help up in the apiary. I go help him, and the migraine goes away. Or I need to go work, and I have a migraine. Then the migraine goes away. It would seem that getting beyond my self helps these pesky migraines to disappear. That’s all I have to write. My poor dog Rocky really wants to go on a walk, so I think I will take him on a walk now. Thank you everyone who supports my bee business. I love all my customers and friends a lot.
Being a Mascot
I never thought I would be a star at a preschool at age fifty two, but apparently that is one of my job descriptions as a beekeeper. I went recently to the Justin Early Learning Academy in Simi Valley, CA, and they had the bees as their school animal/mascot. Consequently, when I was honored to teach these adorable preschooler (some with Special Needs) about bees they were pretty impressed by everything I did. They really liked doing the bee dance where we threw our arms in the air and went one way and then another. They really liked it when I impersonated the queen bee, but when I put on my beekeeper suit some of them where really impressed. And sadly some of them were a little scared. It was the best experience I have had as a beekeeper. It was also amazing to see how well the staff handled all of these kids. Some of them where a bit more challenging to manage than others, and especially when tantrums happened. What would preschool be without a good tantrum from a child now and then? Pretty boring. The kids were also really great at asking me questions, which I was pretty blown away by because I thought they were very well educated about bees. None of them liked being stung by bees that is for sure. The staff was very amazing, and so accommodating to my needs. When I left they all said to me, “Bye Beekeeper!” It was so precious seeing their big eyes and enthusiasm for all things bees. I would go back and do this service any time! 🙂
Cute Clip Images of Bees! Click and Print
The Wisdom Of Using the Right Equipment
I got a call by a guy named Richard. He said, “I have a hive that I need to have removed, but no money.” I was like “I charge $80 for hive removal.” He then told me how it was in his neighbor’s yard, and how the hive was sitting there on the wall. He said it was from a larger hive in a bush. I told him I could spray the bees on the wall with some bee removal spray for free, but the bees in the bush would cost him some money. I imagined it would be a pain in the neck to get a hive out a bush.
Then a flash of brilliance hit me. I had a friend, who needed a beehive. He wanted some bees, and here I could get him some for free. I called my friend and asked him if he could help me, and then he said yes. He was really excited to be getting free bees. So I called Richard back, and I told him it was his lucky day.
We arrived at Richard’s house on Galena Street, and I discovered I forgot to get some equipment. Yep I was spacey about getting all my beekeeping stuff. I had to go back to my house and get two bee boxes (large deeps), etc, and I had to get some empty bee frames that went in the deeps (18).
When I returned I got into my bee suit, and I realized that my bee gloves were not matched. I gave the extra suit to Richard and he got the matching gloves. Not a real big deal. I also realized I wasn’t wearing a hat. I knew I was in trouble, that I was going to get some bee stings. This realization made me sick in my stomach. Yet I couldn’t run home again. I felt the need to supervise my friend, who is 72 and is very new to bee keeping. Also there was Richard, the neighbor that I lent the bee suit to. He was a willing helper, but he had never worked with bees before. How could I leave them alone to face a dangerous African bees? I got my smoker started. Then we proceeded to smoke the bees on the wall. My friend and I tossed the bees into the nuke box. That was the easy job. They quickly went into my friend’s nuke box and marched in. Just like you see it in the videos.
The hard job came up next. The huge beehive that stretched about three feet long dangling vertically in the bushes. The bees were in some bushes that had some thorns on them, we had to sit and cut the branches down with hedge clippers while the bees buzzed around us. Fortunately, they ignored us for the most part. However, the more we cut down, the more agitated they become. Let me just say during the time we were cutting down the branches and the bees were stinging us, and we were alternately running away and then coming back to attack the bush with the awful bee hive that some choice words were said. Richard had his veil compromised and got some holes in it from branches poking holes in it. He got 4 bee stings which made me feel awful. My friend unfortunately did not have bee gloves on. He wore leather gloves made for yard work. According to my friend, the bees stung his gloves about forty times. Fortunately, my friend did not have much of a reaction to all of his bee stings. I was very worried about him.
When we finally got the hive down we had to separate some of it to fit into a large deep box. I realized my friend had not brought any large elastic bands to preserve the beautiful wax brood of the beehive. I got into my car with $5 from Richard and zoomed off to Staples. I still had my bee suit on. I took off my hood to drive, which is good because you can’t see to good. I then ran into Staples with my suit, and breathlessly asked the clerk where they kept the rubber bands. They kindly told me. I could tell I was getting some funny looks. I then went to check out, and my words tumbled out about how I was trying to save the baby brood in the beehive. The clerk was very sympathetic and kind.
Then I zoomed back to our work site on Galena Street. my friend had most of the brood in the first box, and we managed to get the clump of bees into the box cut down enough so we could put a lid on it, and shut the box up. Then we put another lid on the bees with the brood in it. We cleaned up the site, and I went and talked to Richard who thanked me and gave me $25 for my work. It wasn’t much, and I wanted to donate it to the bee club, but Matt says I have to pay for the suit to get repaired. my friend took both hives home, and the box with the brood in it probably died because it wasn’t put with the main hive. I was pretty sad about that. The bees needed to be kept warm by the main hive.
The main thing that I wish I could convey to people is how important it is to wear the right gear and to wear it correctly. If you don’t you don’t “The bees will learn you.” This is what Matt always says. I got stung four times because I didn’t have the right hat. My friend got stung repeatedly through his leather gloves because they were not beekeeping gloves. Richard was stung because he had a hole in his suit. They sure learn you the hard way. Owie!!!
SIMI VALLEY BEES 
