Sarvodaya Bee Club
Learn to Love Bees With Us
Become a Bee Friend.
Bee populations are on decline around the world, from the millions of native bees responsible for the pollination of endemic plants to the honeybee, which pollinates most of our food crops.
Sarvodaya Institute's Bee Club is working to educate and engage our community around caring for indigenous bees, honey bees, and their habitats.
Sarvodaya Farms is creating diverse home for all our pollinators, from the 1600 species of California indigenous bees to the honey bee.
Just like a beehive, its going to take everyone's participation to come back to caring and loving relationship with bees. Your Membership to the Bee Club supports
- The creation & maintenance of our bee sanctuaries at Sarvodaya Farms- Paying our Bee Amiga Lola to guide others in the care & nurturing of all varieties of bees- Maintaining 6 honey bee hives and our indigenous bee hotel at Sarvodaya Farms & Nursery- Creating a community dedicated to the upliftment of bees in urban spaces- Promoting urban bee care through our Bee Club classes
About Bee Club
What You'll Learn:
- Why honeybees are important to our food supply
- Monthly care & maintenance of honey bee hives- When & how to open a honey bee hive
- Honey & beeswax harvesting techniques- Creating medicinal products from honey & beeswax
- How the 1600 species of CA indigenous bees support our local ecosystem
- Creating habitat for indigenous bees
- Which plants support bees need for nectar, pollen, and construction materials
Bee Club Meetings
Our Bee Club centers around our monthly Beekeeping Day, held on a Saturday every month.
Bee Club Meetings generally consist of a 1 hour Bee Lesson followed by a guided inspection of our honey bee hives and indigenous bee hotels. All led by our Bee Amiga Lola.
Beekeeping Days are held on Saturdays from 10am to 1pm.
BuzzAlongs
Along with our Bee Club meetings, Club Members are invited to join us for two monthly BuzzAlongs. BuzzAlongs are more intimate sessions where Club members will help with daily care & inspections of hives & indigenous bee hotels. Dates for these sessions are announced at the beginning of every month.
Bee Club Online
Bee Club has an online home too! Once you're signed up you can access the Bee Club Member's Portal. In the portal, member's will find resources from workshops such as slides & handouts, and links and videos for continued learning.
The portal also serves as a space for our club members to connect outside the farm, to ask questions, and share updates of their own Bee-loving experiences.
Bee Club Meeting Dates for next 12 months are:
2022: April 30th, May 28th, June 25th, July 30th, August 27th, September 24th, Oct 22nd, November 19th, December 17th2023: January 28th, February 25th, March 25th
Beekeeping suits are not provided at this time. We are working towards having our own set of suits. If you would like to donate a beesuit, please reach out to us at bees@sarvodayainstitute.org
Bees are diverse. Bee lovers should be too.
Sarvodaya Bee Club encourages the participation of people of all backgrounds. Our program centers the participation and leadership of people of color, women, non-binary people, and historically marginalized groups. Reduced fee membership is available to anyone identifying with these groups who needs financial support to participate.
The Details
Bee Club Fee options:
$375 annually OR
$99 every 3 months
Reduced fees available for those experiencing financial difficulties. Click Reduced Fee Application below.
Membership fees to Bee Club are Tax Deductible Donations to Sarvodaya Institute
Included with your membership:
- 2 Sarvodaya Bee Club sticker decals- 1 Sarvodaya Bee Club patch for your beekeeping suit
About the Bee Amiga
Lola Salgado
My name is Lola Salgado and I’m the daughter of two beautiful Mexican immigrants.
In a field that has been predominated by older white males, I’m excited to have space at Sarvodaya to introduce and teach other people of color about bees and beekeeping
I have learned how to care, love, and listen to bees from the Sweetest Man of El Sereno, he’s a 97 year old Mexican Winnie the Pooh.
Every time I see a bee I thank them, they do so much, and are so small, it makes me feel evermore inspired and encouraged to protect and educate about them.
Adopt-a-Hive Program
Want to support bees? get honey? learning beekeeping? support others learning beekeeping?
Join our Adopt-a-Hive program!
We need your support to create and grow this program. All the beehives, suits, tools, and time really add up for our small non-profit organization. By adopting a hive, you'll be supporting all of this work and helping our young Beekeeper Lola get a foothold into the profession of beekeeping.
We offer 2 options to adopt a hive:
Adopt-a-Half Hive
$650 annual tax-deductible donation
- Includes Membership to the Bee Club
- You'll receive one-half of the honey harvested from your adopted hive (Please keep in mind that a portion of the honey is kept by the honeybees themselves so they have enough during the winter)
- Your name written on the bee box as a sponsor.
- Certificate of Adoption
Adopt-a-Full Hive
$1200 annual tax-deductible donation
- Includes Membership to the Bee Club
- You’ll receive all the honey that’s harvested from your hive for the year. (Please keep in mind that a portion of the honey is kept by the honeybees themselves so they have enough during the winter)
- Your choice of color/design painted on the box.
- Your name written on the bee box as a sponsor.
- Certificate of Adoption