Bug Squad
Article

Honey! Look What UC Davis Is Offering in the Way of Mead and Honey Classes

Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollination Center (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
One of my fondest memories of my beekeeper father: Mixing warm butter and golden honey and spooning it onto freshly baked (homemade) yeast bread.

Nothing is better than this!

A glass of mead. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A glass of mead. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
How much do you know about honey? About mead (honey wine)? How much would you like to learn?

Amina Harris, director of the UC Davis Honey and Pollinator Center at the Robert Mondavi Institute, is actually the "queen bee" of this organization but she's also a worker bee. She's scheduled two mead workshops in February, and a series of three honey exploration classes--exploring honey in California, United States and the world--in February, March and April.

2023 Mead Making Bootcamp

Want some hands-on experience? This hands-on course will feature small learning groups, each with its own UC Davis leader and a talented mead maker. Groups of 5-6 will follow a basic mead recipe. Finally, students will bottle the mead made in previous workshops. The bootcamp is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Feb. 2 in the Robert Mondavi Institute, LEED Platinum Winery  Event Details

2023 Intro to Mead Making

Brewers and winemakers alike know that the buzz in the world of alcoholic beverages is all about mead. Explore this fascinating fermented beverage from its rich history to its recent rebirth in America. Taste and learn the styles, ingredient selection, and steps to making good mead. This is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Feb. 3-4 in the Sensory Theater, Robert Mondavi Institute, located at 392 Old Davis Road, Davis. Event Details

A cordovan honey bee, as golden as they come. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A cordovan honey bee, as golden as they come. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Exploration: California

This is the first in the series of three classes. You can taste the honeys of California while learning about the unique characteristics of each varietal, Harris says. The honeys will be paired with a selection of cheeses from throughout the state. The first class is from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Feb. 8 in the Sensory Theater, Robert Mondavi Institute. As earlier mentioned it's located on 392 Old Davis Road, Davis. Event Details

Honey Exploration: United States

The second of the three classes in the Honey Exploration Series is from 5:30 to 7 p.m., March 22 in the Sensory Theater, Robert Mondavi Institute. Event Details

A
A "glowing" jar of honey from the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Center, UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Honey Exploration: The World

The last of the three classes in the Honey Exploration Series means "traveling the world through your taste buds."  You may not have traveled much, but you'll taste honey from Brazil, Australia, Europe and perhaps even a tiny bit of the rare Melipona, a genus of stingless bees.  (Factoid from Wikipedia: "The largest producer of honey from Melipona bees in Mexico is in the state of Yucatán where bees are studied at an interactive park called 'Bee Planet' which is within the Cuxtal Ecological Reserve. The class is set for 5:30 to 7 p.m., April 25 in the Sensory Theater, Robert Mondavi Institute. Event Details

You can also sign up to receive the Honey and Pollination Center's newsletter here.

 The Honey and Pollination Center aims to help UC Davis " to become the world's leading authority on honey bee health, pollination, and honey."

Goals include:

  1. Expand research and education efforts addressing the production, nutritional value, health benefits, economics, quality standards and appreciation of honey.
  2. Help the industry develop informative and descriptive labeling guidelines for honey and bee-related products to establish transparency in the marketplace.
  3. Elevate the perceived value of varietal honey to producers and consumers through education, marketing, and truth in labeling with the end goal of increasing the consumption of honey.
  4. Organize and implement programs and short courses about pollinators and pollination, beekeeping education and honey and honey products.
  5. Support students engaged in research, teaching and outreach, which promotes the mission of the Center. 

 Now about that honey-butter....how many more minutes until that loaf of yeast bread comes out of the oven?