Helping Honeybees

Our primary goal in beekeeping is to help local honeybee populations thrive. The Western Honeybee, or Apis mellifera, while not native to North America, has naturalized throughout the United States. Feral colonies of honeybees are commonly found all around San Diego County in natural habitats and urban settings, including right here in Golden Hill.

Our approach includes prioritizing honeybee health and vitality above all else. To make this happen, we maintain a small operation with only a few hives to maximize the attention and care we provide to our bees to insure that they have the support they need to be happy. We manage Happy Bee hives in a proactive (rather than reactive) way with regular and ongoing inspections.

We use all-natural hive components in our apiary, and we only harvest surplus honey if and when it is available, leaving a healthy reserve in the hives for the bees. Golden Hill provides a wonderful mild climate with an incredibly diverse assortment of flowering plants and trees that are a bountiful source of pollen and nectar year-round.

Promoting Pollinator Protections

honeybees are critically important to the U.S. economy , agriculture, and the environment. California produces upwards of 10% of food for the nation, much of which would not be possible without the work of honeybees for pollination. However, honeybees are not the only insects responsible for pollination.

Local native populations of pollinators such as solitary bees, bumblebees, butterflies, moths, wasps, beetles, and flies are essential to a healthy ecosystem. Our work includes supporting all pollinators in Golden Hill. We have transformed our garden into a thriving pollinator-friendly habitat of native plants that provide a critical source of year-round nectar and pollen for honeybees and native pollinators alike.

Educating our neighbors and the Golden Hill Community about the harmful effects of pesticide use (especially improper use) on pollinators, including the detrimental effects on honeybees, is another element of our approach to beekeeping. Our bees are only as happy and healthy as the environment in which they live and forage.

Nurturing Native Plants

Much of the natural Southern California coastal habitats of flowering plants and shrubs have been displaced by urban development and non-native plant species. Creating native pollinator-friendly gardens and plant installations can make a big difference towards helping not only honeybees, but also native species of bees, butterflies, moths, and other pollinators.

Our work includes transforming as much of the urban landscape surrounding our apiary with native flowering plants. Our native plant garden is not hidden from public view. Rather, it is front-and-center alongside the street and sidewalks, creating intense visual displays of color, wonderful scents, interpretive information, and the opportunity to learn about native plants while catching a glimpse of pollinators in action.

Connecting With The Community

The Happy Bee endeavor includes creating an opportunity within the totally cool community of Golden Hill to build a shared interest in helping pollinators as a means to help each other make connections, meeting your neighbors, making new friends, discovering the sense of place and specialness, uniqueness, and history that defines Golden Hill. The love and support of our community, expressed in a myriad of ways from inquiring about native plants, learning more about bees, taking care of our local living environment, minimizing the use of toxic pesticides, or buying Happy Bee honey, is what puts the "Happy" in Happy Bee.