Day of Tours at Bees N Blooms

NOTE: Because of Heat Warnings, these tours have been postponed to Saturday, September 26, 2020. The links below will allow you to purchase tickets for the new date.

As our 2020 open-farm season comes to a close, we are offering a special Tour Day on Saturday, September 26! After much demand for tours, we decided to offer three of our most requested tours. Typically, we offer tours on a regular basis, but due to COVID we had to put a halt to most of our offerings. However, we will have our main tours all on one day, as a last hurrah. The farm is otherwise closed for the season. Reservations are required because space is limited. Please read about each tour below and find the links to reserve a ticket.

Learn About Lavender

Interested in learning about different types of lavender for your garden? How to propagate your own? Or perhaps you’d like to learn more about how lavender is harvested and processed into buds, oil, and hydrosol. This tour will provide an overview of all things lavender and will include a demonstration of our processing equipment to make lavender buds and lavender oil. Event price includes a 5 mL bottle of Bees N Blooms certified organic lavender oil, a sachet of our finest organic lavender, and a Bees N Blooms coffee mug.

The tour is outdoors and involves some walking on uneven terrain. Wear sturdy shoes and bring a hat for sun protection. Bring a mask to wear during the tour. No children under 12. Ticket required for each person 12 and over.

Tour #1

How are the Bees Doing?
The Inner Workings of a Honey Bee Colony

On this tour, we’ll take a peek through the window of one of our top-bar hives (no bee suit required) to watch the bees at work, talk about the structure of a honey bee colony and the different jobs the bees have throughout their short lives. We’ll also talk about how the bees are doing in the U.S. as “Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD)” has played out over time, with managed honey bee colonies still failing to thrive almost 15 years after CCD was first noticed. We’ll also touch on how bees reproduce by swarming and how they transform flower nectars into delicious honey, ending the tour with a tasting of two different Sonoma County honeys. Event price includes a 1.5oz jar of Sonoma County honey and a Bees N Blooms coffee mug.

The tour is outdoors and involves some walking on uneven terrain. Wear sturdy, close-toed shoes with socks, long pants, and a hat. Please do not wear lotion or perfume. Bring a mask to wear during the tour. No children under 12. Ticket required for each person 12 and over. This tour is not recommended for those with a life-threatening allergy to bee stings, as we will be close to the beehives for part of the tour, and a sting is possible, although not likely.

Tour #2

Creating Habitat For Pollinators

Pollinators of all types benefit from the work of home gardeners. On this tour, you’ll learn about which flowers are most attractive to honey bees, different kinds of butterflies and native bees (bumblebees, carpenter bees, longhorn bees, mason bees, etc.), and why trees should be a part of your plantings. Regenerative organic agriculture approaches to gardening will be highlighted, including composting, no-till gardening, inclusion of cover crops in your rotation plan, organic pest management strategies, and integrating livestock. You’ll also learn how to plan your garden to ensure season-long bloom for pollinators. Event price includes two seed packets of flowers loved by pollinators and a Bees N Blooms coffee mug.

The tour is outdoors and involves some walking on uneven terrain. Wear sturdy shoes and bring a hat or sunscreen for sun protection. Bring a mask to wear during the tour. No children under 12. Ticket required for each person 12 and over.

Tour #3