By José Eli Villanueva, County of San Diego Communications Office
Here’s a class where the top grade is a B, so to speak. The County’s Agriculture, Weights and Measures department and the University of California Cooperative Extension in San Diego have joined forces to host a six-month program for apprentice beekeepers looking to become Master Beekeepers. That’s one class a month for six months.
This pilot program is an extension of the Master Beekeeper Program at UC Davis, and was funded by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors. It allows local beekeepers the chance to get training in beekeeping without traveling to Northern California.
This is the first year of a three-year program, and the hope is to get funding to bring the Journey level program to San Diego County next year. Participants had to have had hives for at least one year.
For information on beekeeping in San Diego County, visit UC Cooperative Extension in San Diego and the Honey Bee Protection Program online. In addition, the County’s Honey Bee/Insect Hotline is 1-800-200-2337.
José Eli Villanueva is a multimedia designer with the County of San Diego Communications Office.
