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Previous Classes

Sunday, October 24, 2010: 10am-4pm

This day will give the opportunity to approach and study bees in a holistic way. We will learn about their life forces and new ways of supporting their health and instinctual well being. Once we understand who they are, we know how to be with them. We will examine various hive designs, and we will provide resources for winter tasks and the beginning of the next bee season 2011. We will investigate our own range of perception and how we can deepen our relationship with the bees. Biodynamics and the specific approach of the Melissa Garden will be part of the day. People not currently living with bees are welcome. Most of the class will be held outside, weather permitting. Please dress accordingly and bring a bag lunch.

Wednesdays, 7-9pm; October 20, 27, November 3, 10, 17, 2010

This course will give the opportunity to approach and study bees in a holistic way. We will investigate our own range of perception and how we can deepen our relationship with the bees. First we need to understand who they are, and then we know how to be with them. The life of the bees is centered around altruism, love and service. They are a gift given to this world. How can they inspire us to establish a new relationship with them and the world? We will study various texts (see under resources on this web page) and new ways of taking care of bees. Biodynamics and consciousness studies will be part of it. This course will be an opportunity to prepare for a new approach on various levels for the 2011 bee year. People not currently living with bees are welcome. The book on bees by Rudolf Steiner will be at the base of our studies. The course will consist of 5 evenings, at Michael's apiary at 686 Snow Road in Sebastopol. Fee is $20.00 per evening/ $80.00 for the entire series.

Saturday, June 19, 2010: 10am-3pm

This tour appreciates the pollinators that make it all happen! On this tour we'll visit sweeeet local business Beekind, owned by Doug and Katia Vincent, followed by a potluck lunch in Healdsburg at The Melissa Garden, a honeybee sanctuary founded in 2007.

Sunday, May 23, 2010: 1-4pm

The Melissa Garden has become a magnet for a community of bee lovers. We would like to pull our special friends together for an afternoon of celebrating the bees and affirming our ongoing commitment to supporting them. The garden will be in glorious full bloom, and provide the opportunity to identify plants the bees are enthusiastic about that you might plant in your own garden.

Michael Thiele will take us on a tour of the hives, and lead a ceremony for the bees. We'll have time to gather together and hear from each of you. Please come and share your stories on how the honeybees have touched your life along with recommendations for what you believe supports their health and wellbeing.

Jana Muhar and her Bulgarian dancers will be there with line dances they learned in Eastern Europe at springtime honeybee festivals. And we'll have some yummy snacks made with honey. All are welcome, beekeepers or not, along with children and seniors. Space is limited so you must RSVP.

  Fee : $20

Sunday, April 18, 2010: 10am-4pm

This day is dedicated to what Rudolf Steiner calls the "love life" of the bee-colony: "That which we experience within ourselves only at a time when our hearts develop love is actually the very same thing that is present as a substance in the entire beehive." We will combine the study of their life forces and rhythms with the exploration of our deepest heart connection with the emanation of the bees. We will explore the nature of bees and our relationship with them through stillness, observation, meditation, inner journey and exposure. We will approach bees not only as beekeepers, but rather as sentient beings, with an open mind and heart, and a strong focus on listening on all levels. We will take a look at different ways of relating, and examine new levels of communication with them. The day will be centered on the premises that bees can be a medium to touch our own heart , and to touch life as a miracle. Please feel free to bring a journal, something to draw, or anything else, you would like to bring. Having bees is not a prerequisite at all.

Bring a bag lunch
  Fee : $30-60 sliding scale

Sunday, March 14, 2010: 10am-4pm

We will gather in the early spring and prepare our journey with the bees through the “bee-season”. We will study the life forces and rhythms of the bees and the different ways we can support and nurture them. BD standards and the Melissa Garden approach will be part of the curriculum. We will see, how “bee-tending” can become an art, and a practice of respectfully engaging in the web of life. The day will include practical aspects of bee-tending e.x. natural comb, swarming, hive designs, initial set up of hives and more. Weather permitting, we will be in the apiary with the bees. Beginners are welcome (this is the first day of day-light-savings).

Bring a bag lunch
  Fee : $30-60 sliding scale

Sunday, February 21, 2010: 1pm-3:30pm

Learn how to make healing herbal skin salve! Use common plants, oils and beeswax to create an ointment that will promote wound healing, and help your skin heal itself from fungal infections and rashes. Learn how Camilla Barry taught women in Afghanistan to make this salve and start their own successful businesses.
  Fee : $50.00

Camilla Barry has taught science and nature studies for over twenty years. She founded a nonprofit agency, Classrooms Across Cultures, to lead teacher-training in Afghanistan. This past summer she completed her 8th trip to Afghanistan, where she helped develop the national science curriculum. Her lessons about bees and botany led to founding several women's businesses, selling the same skin salve that will be taught in class.

Saturday, October 24, 2009: 10am-4pm

We live in a challenging time for bees and we will have the health of the bees as a special center point of this class. We will explore different treatment/ management approaches within the organic and biodynamic realm, investigate the meaning of health and provide information to maneuver through the challenges (such as varroa ) posed to bees and “bee-tenders”. We will follow the path of the bees into Fall and Winter and examine how to prepare them for the upcoming months during the time of contraction. Early outlook into the next bee season and study of the life forces of the bees will be part of this day. For beginning and seasoned beekeepers.
  Tickets : $55.00

Parts of the class will be outside – please dress accordingly and bring a bag lunch if not choosing the catered option.

Michael Thiele grew up on a farm in a tiny village in central Germany. He has been deeply influenced by the German biodynamic beekeeping movement. Michael lived with his wife and children at San Francisco Zen Center, where he was the beekeeper and received lay-ordination.

Barbara Schlumberger gets to live at The Melissa Garden with her husband Jacques, Luke the Tibetan terrier and Horus the Peacock. She has been practicing “inspired beekeeping” for several years and takes great pleasure in the direct teaching the bees provide. It is a mutually beneficial and cherished relationship.

Saturday & Sunday, November 14 & 15, 2009 ~ 10 – 5 PM

Please join us for a journey into the world of bees and more. Master Beekeeper and Skep maker Uwe Bodenschatz will give an overview of alternative hives, and, in particular, straw bee hives (with movable frames). He will share with us the evolution of various straw hives, of traditional and modern kind. Uwe will reveal the entire process from harvesting straw to preparing the materials and teach different techniques for weaving and sewing straw hives. During the class we will all work together on making several straw “Golden Hives” / “one-room-hives” (as used at The Melissa Garden – see videos for info on the “one-room-hive”). Hives will be available for sale at the end of the workshop. The history and background info about the Haengekorb will be part of this weekend. Uwe will give instructions for beekeeping with both beehive designs. For those who would like to join for one day only – parts of Saturday will combine lecture and hands on hive making, Sunday will be dedicated mostly to the building of the hives. Please bring a bag lunch. Dress warm enough since part of the day will be outside.

  Tickets : $55.00 per day/ $100.00 for both days

Uwe Bodenschatz lives with his wife and family in southern Germany. He has been a beekeeper for almost 20 years. He is deeply involved with the Biodynamic beekeeping movement in Germany and with Mellifera, the holistic beekeeper’s association in Germany. In conjunction with Mellifera and their Biodynamic apiary, Uwe co-designed alternative beehives which he builds on his farm. He is the owner of a holistic beekeeping supply company (some of his hives are at the Melissa Garden) and keeps bees according to Demeter Standards.

Saturday, September 5, 2009: 10am-4pm

Rudolf Steiner described the bee colony as being completely permeated by love. How can we today re-discover that love within us and how can bees become a deep inspiration to our life? For millennia humans included bees in their most sacred places of life. Monastic settings were always complemented by bee hives. Bees have been part of religious ritual and inspirational to culture and arts. This class invites everybody, beekeeper or not, to The Melissa Garden for a day of contemplation as well as a day of unusual exploration of ways in which bees can be a medium of inspiration for the human soul/heart. Participants are welcome to bring something to share, whether it’s a poem, art or something else important to you.
  Tickets : $55.00

Parts of the class will be outside – please dress accordingly and bring a bag lunch if not choosing the catered option.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

9:30 AM - Noon: Growing a Honeybee Garden with Kate Frey

2 - 4:30 PM: Overview of Bee Venom Therapy (BVT) with Dr. Kelly Sutton

Tour The Melissa Garden with Daily Acts

Saturday, May 23rd, 2009 ~ 10am to 4pm

The first stop on this stimulating new tour is Beekind in Sebastopol, where owners Doug and Katia Vincent hire local carpenters to build bee boxes, call on local keepers to provide bees to those in need, support organizations and programs focusing on honeybee health, and bring to the community table a variety of perspectives on bee life and husbandry.

Next, Healdsburg’s April Lance, a master gardener, teacher and experienced beekeeper, will show us her busy 5 acres of nectar-rich, bee thriving environment, with 10 healthy Mother Hives annually spawning 50 nucleus hives. Kathy Kellison, founder and director of Partners for Sustainable Pollination, will join us to share collaborative approaches between farmers, growers, beekeepers and scientists working to improve the health of honey bees in pollination services and support native pollinators.

We’ll end this dynamic day at The Melissa Garden honeybee sanctuary located at the home of Barbara and Jacques Schlumberger. The Melissa Garden hosts two acres of honeybee forage situated in the center of a pristine 40-acre ranch lush with native vegetation. Created for honeybees to live natural lives, insulated from known stressors, and nourished in a beautiful setting; the garden was designed by acclaimed designer Kate Frey. It’s a Biodynamic paradise abounding with botanicals offering year-round nectar and pollen sources for honeybees.

This is one busy li’l tour that’ll leave you buzzing with excitement about the future of our relationship with bees. Please sign up for this event with Daily Acts.

Bee Symposium 2009 with Gunther Hauk

The Honeybee Crisis: A Critical Point in Evolution - "Beekeeping that Respects the Colony as an Organism" - Holistic Solutions to Colony Collapse Disorder

This year’s symposium will explore our critical point in evolution, and what we have to do to protect the honeybees for the future. We are featuring Gunther Hauk, an authority on natural beekeeping. He has been a biodynamic gardener and beekeeper for 33 years. In 2006 he co-founded Spikenard Farm, Inc., a 610 acres farm with a honeybee sanctuary in its heart. The day will also include a Panel discussion with Gunther and local beekeepers: Kathy Kellison, Serge Labesque, , Michael Thiele & Doug Vincent.

  Location : Summerfield Waldorf School & Farm, 655 Willowside Road, Santa Rosa, CA

Additional events with Gunther Hauk:

“The Honeybee Crisis: A Critical Point in Evolution”
At Summerfield School & Farm

Sunday Brunch: March 8, 2009: 11 – 2pm

"Honey Bee Sanctuaries", An Intimate Conversation with Guenther Hauk

Come join a small group to hear from Guenther about the impulse in the world to create honeybee sanctuaries and share thoughts on the spiritual nature of the honeybees.

Holistic Beekeeping series 2009

As the bee season progresses, we adjust to the ever changing activities of the bees. This class will include everything about swarming & propagation and more summer topics. We will spend time at the biodynamic apiary of The Melissa Garden and talk about forage and gardens for honey bees & pollinators. In addition, we will explore simple, sustainable bee hive designs, with instructions on how to build them yourself. If you are interested in starting beekeeping in 2009 with biodynamic beehives and would like information, please contact Michael at gaiabees@gmail.com. (hives are from a BD farm and apiary in Germany; delivery can take up to 3 months).

"Awakening & Expansion" with Michael Thiele - February 7, 2009: 10am-4pm

Preparing for the new bee season in the light of the “bien” -- the colony as a single complex entity. This day long class is for beginners as well as for practicing bee keepers. We will examine the life forces of the colony and explore natural & sustainable bee keeping practices. Among other topics, we will learn how to keep bees on natural comb and/or transition from foundation to comb (in any kind of bee hive). An additional feature of this class will be that participants can use “Melissa link”, an email support link and resource for ongoing bee keeping questions.

Hand Dipped Candles with Ross Mendenhall

Using simple available tools we will work together making hand-dipped beeswax tapers. These are the classic beeswax candles which burn for several hours without dripping, casting a warm glow and delicious fragrance. Each participant will make six candles to take home. You will have the skill to make many more, providing gentle lighting for the dark of the year and great for gifts, too!

Ross Mendenhall has been a beekeeper since 1983. As an associate of The Melissa Garden, he helps tend hives there and at his home in Sebastopol. He also designs and builds homes for both bees and humans.

Making Straw/Skep Beehives: Supporting Bees by Providing
Natural Bee Housing with Uwe Bodenschatz, Germany

Master Beekeeper and Skep maker Uwe Bodenschatz will give an introduction into alternative hives, and particular into straw/skep bee hives (with movable frames). He will share with us the evolution of various straw hives, of traditional and modern kind. Uwe will reveal the entire process from harvesting straw to preparing the materials and teach different techniques for weaving and sewing straw hives. During the class we will all work together on making one straw hive. Many beekeepers are interested in the round skep straw hive (which has movable frames) from the Melissa Garden. Uwe will give an overview about the history and instructions for beekeeping with this kind of hive. Also, there will be basic instruction for making it. (A full length 3-day workshop on making the “Haengekorb” is planned for the fall of 2009.) Please bring a bag lunch. Dress warm enough since part of the day will be outside.

Paint Your Hive with Barbara Schlumberger

Barbara Schlumberger works as a marriage and family therapist and is a founder of The Melissa Garden. She takes great pleasure in working in the garden and as the beekeeper of The Melissa Garden hives with husband Jacques.

Principles of Holistic Beekeeping
with Uwe Bodenschatz (Germany) & Michael Thiele (Sebastopol)

Please join us for a journey into the world of bees and more. We will present beekeeping on all levels in the light of the natural life forces of the bees, where the beehive is understood as a single individual entity. We will talk about natural comb and will explore the various ways in which bees act as agents of transformation in agriculture and society. Additional topics will include bee diseases and treatment, pollination and the flowering world and beehive designs. Uwe will give an update on the European holistic beekeepers. Please bring a bag lunch. Dress warm enough since part of the day will be outside.

Uwe Bodenschatz lives with his wife and family in southern Germany. He has been a beekeeper for almost 20 years. He is deeply involved with the Biodynamic beekeeping movement in Germany and with Mellifera, the holistic beekeeper’s association in Germany. In conjunction with Mellifera and their Biodynamic apiary, Uwe co-designed alternative beehives which he builds on his farm. He is the owner of a holistic beekeeping supply company (some of his hives are at the Melissa Garden) and keeps bees according to Demeter Standards.

Michael Thiele grew up on a farm in a tiny village in central Germany. He has been deeply influenced by the German biodynamic beekeeping movement and now teaches classes on natural and holistic beekeeping in the United States. He worked for seven years as the beekeeper at Green Gulch Farm, a Zen center just north of San Francisco. He takes care of the hives at The Melissa Garden – including several “alternative” hives.