the alameda county ardener · the alameda countyardener june & july 2016 gardener at a glance...

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IT’S EDUCATIONAL

❦ Another Lawn Gone Page 5

❦ Bees, a Critical Pollinator Page 8

❦ Backyard Beekeeper 0

❦ Why Honey Does Not Spoil Page 11

❦ Bringing Back the Natives Page 13

❦ Kangaroo Paws Page 14

ACMGs AT WORK

❦ ACMG Plant Sale Review Page 3

❦ MG Class of 2016 Page 4

❦ Farmers Markets Page 6

❦ Garden of Grace Page 7

❦ Lake Merritt Trials Garden Page 9

ACMG BUSINESS

❦ President’s Message Page 1

❦ Calendar of MG Events Page 2

President’s MessageVeronika Fukson ’06

H ello again, gardening friends. We have had some wonderful recent developments which should please us all. As of May 10 we have 37 new Master Gar-

deners thanks to their hard work and the conscientious dedi-cation of the Training Committee — Margot Wenger, Irene Bee-be, Ed Ellebracht, Judy Quan and dozens more Master Garden-ers — who spent countless hours ensuring that we offered a first-class training experience. From the energy and infectious enthusiasm of the graduates who celebrated at the ceremony and potluck, I believe we were more than successful.

Of special interest is the fact that 23 of our First Year MGs have already qualified as members of the Speakers Bureau, so we will be able to increase our presence in the community by presenting talks and hands-on demonstrations. If you know of organizations which might be interested in arranging an event, please contact Susan Fritz, Speakers Bureau Chair, so she can follow through on scheduling.

GardenerThe Alameda County

June & July 2016

Gardener at a Glance

(continued on Page 2)A group of 2016 MGs and their mentors.

UC Master Gardener Program of Alameda County June - July 2016

Second, and very importantly, our new Coor-dinator, Dawn Kooyumjian, has been hired and is expected to begin on June 1. She comes with outstanding credentials as a Contra Costa County MG, a lecturer at UC Berkeley and a horticultur- alist at Blake Garden. In addition to her educa-tion and experience in horticulture, Dawn holds a degree in piano and harpsichord. I can’t imag-ine a better combination of interests!! Many attendees at the 2016 graduation were able to meet her, and I expect you will be invited to a re-ception shortly after she formally joins the staff.

The Plant Sale in April was a great success, and we are awaiting the final tally of the pro-ceeds. Many, many thanks to Ed Ellebracht and the committee, which included many trainees and multi-lingual students from Tennyson High School, Project EAT and Cal State East Bay.

Because we are approaching the end of the fiscal year, Jean Follette, Treasurer, has solicited proposals from committee chairs for program plans and priorities for FY 2016-17; the Board will begin preliminary consideration of propos-als at its May meeting. We expect to finalize deliberations in June and will then be notifying members about our projected annual budget.

ACMG Board meetings, held on the third Wednesday of the month from 6:30-8:30 PM at the Winton Avenue office, are open to all mem-bers. We welcome your interest, so please don’t hesitate to attend.

Finally, I am pleased to report that your Advi-sory Board has new Area Representatives. East

County will be co-represented by Maria Lopez and Carol Vander Meulen; Dolores Morrison will represent South County; Jo Judt and Aixa Gannon will co-represent North County. We are grateful that they have agreed to share their years of experi-ence and organi-zational skills with us.

HAPPY GARDENING!!

Margot Wenger and Paula Glogovac receive gold 1,000 hour MG badges at the graduation celebration.

CalendarPlease visit our VMS website https://ucanr.org/mg/

for a complete calendar, for details of all MG events & to sign up.

Jun-Jul Garden of Grace workdays, every Tuesday & Wednesday 10 AM - 12 PM, every Friday 3 - 5 PM, first & third Saturdays 9 - 11 AM. 4743 East Avenue, Livermore.

Jun-Jul 11 AM - 1 PM Lake Merritt Trials Garden work-days/outreach every Wednesday (& from Mar-Oct on second & fourth Saturdays). 666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland.

Jun-Jul 9 AM - 12 PM Livermore Demo Garden workday, every second Saturday. 3575 Greenville Road, Livermore.

Jun-Jul People’s Victory Garden workdays, second & fourth Wednesday 1 - 2:30 PM, first & third Saturday 10 AM - 2 PM. 666 Bellevue Avenue, Oakland.

Jun-Jul 9 AM - 12 PM Quarry Lakes Demo Garden workdays first Saturday & third Tuesday. Quarry Lakes Park. 2100 Isherwood Way, Fremont.

Jun-Jul 10 AM - 12 PM Oak Tree Farm workday every Tuesday. 1440 29th Avenue, Oakland.

Jun-Jul 3 - 4 PM Albany Demonstration Garden work-days first & third Tuesday. 900 Buchanan Street, Albany.

Jun-July 10 AM - 1 PM Help Desk Sessions Monday, Wednesday & Thursday.

Jun 6 Alameda County Fair MG booth setup. Check VMS for days and times for opportunities to work in the ACMG fair plant doctor booth.

Jun 11 10 - 11 AM Garden Talk. Livermore Demo Garden. MG Plant Favorites of Summer and Fall.

Jun 11 12:30- 3 PM Garden Talk and Plant Doctor. Great Compost at Home.

Jun 15 6:30 PM Advisory Board meeting. UCCE Office, 224 West Winton Avenue, Hayward.

Jun 18 11 AM - 12 PM Garden Talk. Albany Demonstra-tion Garden. Growing Vegetables in Drought.

Jul 9 10 - 11 AM Garden Talk. Livermore Demo Garden. Native Plant Maintenance.

Jul 12 Newsletter articles due for August/September issue. Send to [email protected].

Jul 20 6:30 PM Advisory Board meeting. UCCE Office, 224 West Winton Avenue, Hayward.

(continued from Page 1) President’s Message


T he second ACMG plant sale was held on April 23 at Tennyson High School in

Hayward. After the sale, MG Ed Ellerbracht, Plant Sale Chairman, noted that:

People were lined up, waiting for the sale gates to open. Ev-erything was stocked on time and ready to go at 9 AM.

The plant stock looked great, healthy and strong. Several varieties sold out quickly.

Informative garden talks were held in the nearby community garden, under an oak tree. The ACMG had their first talk in Spanish, thanks to Aixa Gannon.

Two Tennyson High School groups were at the sale to raise money for their programs. The agriculture class sold suc-culents and the football team sold hamburgers, hotdogs and beverages.

Business was steady through-out the hours of the sale.

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Many interns were available from California State Uni-versity East Bay to help with carry-outs, new stock transport and other activities supporting the sale.

The Ask a Master Gardener table had customers most of the day.

MGs were in very good atten-dance. Many helped with the sale, from growing the plant stock to set up to tear down at the end of the day.

The cash register line ran smoothly because they were staffed with experienced MG cashiers.

Many trainees attended the sale and helped in different capacities.

It was a beautiful day, spirits were high and the MGs did a great job running the event.

Financial matters are still being finalized but it looks like the sale brought in about $6,000.

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ACMG Plant Sale ReviewEd Ellerbracht ’14


I n a festive and well-attended celebration on May 10, 37 new Master Gardeners graduated

from our 2016 training program and were officially welcomed into the ACMG community.

Chosen from a highly com-petitive group of applicants, our trainees fully and enthusiastically engaged in 18 weeks of rigorous training. This included weekly reading, lectures and written homework, answering help desk-type research questions designed to encourage familiarity with the many UCCE and other digital re-sources at their fingertips.

Our curriculum subcommittee devised a challenging and thor-ough horticultural learning experi-ence. To supplement the weekly reading, homework and lectures, and with the express goal of giv-ing our trainees hands on experi-ences, our training program this year also included lab activities, from effective use of the VMS/CT to propagation to weed identifica-tion to certification as a Speaker’s

Bureau Presenter. In this training we certified 23 new presenters, broadening significantly the talent in our Speaker’s Bureau.

For the first time, our ACMG training included a passport exercise in which each trainee was

asked to visit a number of ACMG project sites. This new activity proved a total success, as trainees made over 150 site visits, includ-ing much-appreciated participation in our spring plant sale. The pass-port exercise gave trainees a look at the ACMG program in action and whetted their appetites to be part of that action. When we had our Jobs Fair on the last substan-tive day of training, our trainees were already familiar with many of

the volunteer opportunities and began signing up to begin their MG service.

Also new this year was an expanded mentor/home-work reviewer structure, which we called a mentor ‘pod.’ Each pod of three to six trainees had designated mentors, who not only reviewed and gave feedback on written homework, but also served as a resource to assist trainees throughout the training process and integration into our ACMG

community. Mentors went above and beyond our expectations. They made sure trainees were included in regional county meetings to meet their MG colleagues, they ac-companied them to ACMG project sites, they invited them to tea and

coffee and dinner, and they were a constant supportive presence.

As many of you know, after a long and frustrating search for a training site last year, we had the great good fortune to locate a free training site, with free parking, at the Hayward Veterans Memo-rial Building. However, there was a cost to this wonderful site: each week we had to set up and take down the tables, chairs, IT equip-ment and refreshment supplies. This was no small task, and doz-ens of MGs acted as class stew-ards, lending a lot of sweat equity to make this free location work.

It really does take a village to train a Master Gardener. Thanks to a lot of hard work by a very committed training committee, the mentors, the class stewards and many other MGs who lent a hand, the training program met its key objective. Our new first year Master Gardeners have begun their integration into our ACMG orga-nization, are enthusiastic, knowl-edgeable and skilled, and are ready to hit the ground running.

Hurrah and congratulations to our newest MGs — and thanks to the entire group of ACMGs in-volved in this training effort for a job well done.

Welcome to Our 2016 Class of ACMGs!Margot Wenger ’14, 2016 Training Committee Lead

Alameda County Master Gardeners, Class of 2016.

Margot Wenger, Dolores Morrison, Irene Beebe of the 2016 ACMG Training Committee.


Help an Oak Tree

A fter completing the removal of our backyard sod lawn and replacing it with Eco-lawn seeds in November of 2013 (see Gardener Newsletter

April-May 2014), we were finally rewarded with a more drought resistant lawn at the end of 2014. It did take several more reseedings and rust treatments in 2015 for the back lawn to have a more cohesive appearance.

In the meantime, the piles of excess mushroom compost and topsoil were there in the front RV drive-way to remind us that the front lawn still needed to be addressed. We had decided to shut off that sprinkler system in 2013. The area was only getting watered from the sparse winter rainstorms and looked it.

I had looked into the Zone 7 front lawn replacement water rebate program that year but was discouraged by its strict rules and timetable, plus I would need to choose from their list of plants, mostly ornamentals. I wanted to replace the lawn at my pace and expand the native plantings that were already established in the bed that bordered the sidewalk.

We needed to sheet mulch the lawn so it could be decomposing while I researched and planned out the replacement plants and their groupings. On a warm August evening in 2014, my husband, Mark, and I set to work. The existing lawn was mowed very low and sprinkler watered one last time.

I laid out 4’x4’ pieces of cardboard, overlapping them so they covered the lawn area. I had obtained the card-

board free from Costco, where one can help themselves to the pieces used to layer the merchandise but no longer needed. The front lawn area measures 28’x17’. Its square footage is 476 square feet, divided by 16 square feet (4’x4’); I needed at least 30 pieces. I filled the shopping cart with 40 pieces but still had bare spots to cover. The neighbor’s shipping boxes filled the voids.

The whole area got another good watering, and then we covered it all with the mushroom compost and topsoil, having first flagged all the sprinkler heads. It received weekly sprinklings and meager fall, winter and spring rains for the next several months.

Meanwhile, I had given the new garden design a lot of thought. With the help of my brother, Stuart, a general contractor, I was able to purchase native pen-stemons, hybrid monkey flowers and flats of trailing strawberries, coral bells and native blue fescues from a wholesale nursery. The garden was anchored with an Australian fuchsia in each corner, grown from cuttings from an existing shrub that really enjoys its front yard location in a nearby bed. Penstemons and monkey flower plants line two sides of the yard, fescues and coral bells the other two sides. Trailing strawberries and lobelia plants fill in the middle islands.

A stone bird bath that once resided in my parent’s front yard is now the focal point in the middle of this new garden room. Stuart donated the lobelia and several wild ginger plants. I focused on plants that can tolerate dappled shade, as there is a tall Chinese hack-berry tree with spreading branches in the front yard.

I managed to get all these plants in the ground in early June of 2015. I spent the rest of that summer converting the old sprinkler system to drip heads and laying out the lines to the plants. I only had to replace

Lawn about to be gone.

Setting out cardboard.

Another Lawn GoneErica R. Dedon ’01

(continued on Page 6)


Alameda Farmers Market1st and 3rd Saturdays, 9 AM - NoonMay 5 through SeptemberCoordinator: Linda Carloni 510-263-9339

[email protected]

Berkeley Farmers MarketSaturdays, 10 AM - 2 PMMay through SeptemberCoordinator: Nancy Litton 510-486-1947

[email protected] Grand Lake Farmers Market2nd and 4th Saturdays, 9 AM - 1 PMMay through AugustCoordinator: Jackie Hermes-Fletcher 510-559-8713 [email protected] Livermore Farmers Market1st and 3rd Thursdays, 4 - 8 PMMay 5 through SeptemberCoordinator: Janis Turner 925-443-4372 [email protected] San Leandro (Bay Fair) Farmers Market1st and 3rd Saturdays, 9 AM - 1 PMMay through SeptemberCoordinator: Kathy Cotta 510-909-3852 [email protected] Pleasanton Farmers MarketSaturdays, 9 AM to 1 PMMarch through September, Rain or ShineCoordinator: Carol Jesse 559-999-9599 [email protected] Temescal Farmers MarketSunday, 9AM - 1PMApril through OctoberCoordinator: Roger Terlet 510-788-6268

[email protected]

ACMG Farmers Market Plant Doctor Booths

CONTACT INFORMATION

SIGN UP on VMS

to VOLUNTEER

A new yard.

one sawed-through PVC pipe. Last fall, Orchard Supply Hardware had a sale on red stepping stones, 59 cents each. I purchased 40 of them to create parallel paths down either side of the middle beds. It took me two days to lay one path. It took Mark an hour and a half to do the other one.

The ample rains of the last six months have put a major dent in the drought. I have marveled at the transformation of this garden from the rains. The ginger plants did not survive. The other plants have all become established from the natural watering. Silver dollar plants, Lunaria annua, have grown in their place along with multiple California poppy, purple scabiosa and calendulas, all from seeds not planted by me. The front yard area has been transformed, and the process was a great example to the neighborhood of how to replace a thirsty lawn.

(continued from Page 5) Another Lawn Gone

A group of 2016 Master Gardeners with their mentors.


A big part of successfully growing an array of organ-ic vegetables year–round

in the garden for use by the Open Heart Kitchen is maintaining the fertility and quality of the soil of beds in the Garden of Grace. This is done by rotating plantings, grow-ing cover crops and adding compost to the beds.

Cover crops are important: they increase the organic matter in the soil, increase the availability of nutrients, improve soil tilth, fix nitrogen in the soil and enhance biological activity. After read-ing The Market Gardener by Jean Martin Fortier, a farmer, educator and author specializing in organic and biologically intensive cropping practices, Bruce decided to try a dif-ferent method of dealing with cover crops in the Garden of Grace.

In the past, after the cover crop had grown, it would be cut down, left as a mulch on the garden bed and eventually added to the com-post piles. Roots were left in place to rot when possible, but their presence in the beds made prepa-ration for the next crop difficult. While leaving the plant hay in place helped, the beds would still eventu-ally dry out, usually before the bed was prepared for the next crop.

Now, with Jean Martin Fortier’s method, the cover crop is cut and/ or flattened at the appropriate time and laid out on the bed. The soil moisture content is checked; if needed, the cover crop and soil are watered. If cover crop cutting is timed shortly before or after a good rain, no watering is required. Next, the bed/s are covered with 6-mil black plastic to stop photosynthesis and kill the plants, including any weeds in the aisles.

After three to six weeks, the cov-er crop, including roots, has decom-

posed, creating a flurry of biological activity —nutrient mineralization and soil cultivation by “shredding” organisms such as earthworms. The soil is thus cultivated in-place and allowed to retain its crumb/ag-gregate structure.

After removing the cover, any re-maining plant straw is raked off the bed, the soil loosened — aerated at depth with a digging or broad fork — and compost and organic fertilizer are added as needed to the soil and gently worked into the top 4 inches. After planting the new crop, the remaining plant straw is put back onto the bed to serve as mulch. Over the course of the grow-ing season, the plant straw decays,

enriching the biological activity in the soil. In this fashion, the cover crop is not taken away from the bed; rather, it enriches the bed both during its growth phase and as it decays and returns to the soil.

This approach also saves a lot of time and effort, completely forgoing material handling and composting steps for the cover crop. The well-structured crumbly state of the soil precludes the need for heavy dig-ging and tilling; the plastic sheeting can be used again and again.

Jean Martin Fortier describes soil as the engine that runs the gar-den operation. The garden must have an active fertile soil which contains a plethora of micro organ-isms, earthworms, fungi, spiders and life-giving nutrients. He sees a good soil as loose, breathable and rich with bacterial life. In order to achieve this, the soil must have good pH balance, good aeration and drainage, and it must be fed with organic matter. Crop rotation and cover cropping are vital com-ponents to soil health. Good soil yields good crops. Fortier’s method for dealing with cover crops should benefit the Garden of Grace and en-able it to continue its role of pro-viding organic vegetables for the Open Heart Kitchen and other local food pantries.

Garden of GraceBruce Campbell ’10 and Judy Matthew ’10

Cover crop cut down

Black plastic in place over the bed.

Bed planted with the new crop. The plant straw in the aisle will be put back onto the bed as mulch.


A recent workshop at UC Davis sponsored by the California Center for Urban

Horticulture, Your Sustainable Backyard: Pollinator Gardening, focused on what gardeners can do to help pollinators, many of which are bees. Of 19,500 known bee species in the world, 4,000 can be found in North America and 1,600 in California, with 85 species in Berkeley. Bees are the world’s most effective pollinators.

Interestingly, most bees do not live in hives. Only 10 percent of the world’s known bee species are social, and only a small percentage of these construct hives. In North America, only the introduced Euro- pean honey bee and bumble bees build hives and live in colonies. Most bees, approximately 75 per-cent, are solitary, living in individ-ual nests tunneled into the soil.

Our native bees make no honey at all. Bumble bees make a small amount of honey. Their colonies are annual, unlike the perennial honey bee colonies that persist year after year, so they have no need to store surplus honey to sur-vive the winter. Only honey bees make enough honey to harvest.

California bees are not like the honey bee transplants from across

the Atlantic. Our native bees can be green, black or even red. They range in size from giant bumble-bees to some that are barely visible to the naked eye. Some are furry and others are smooth and metal-lic. They mostly live alone or in small groups, sleeping in burrows or staying on flowers at night. Roughly split between male and female, they don’t have queens.

Another misconception about bees concerns Colony Collapse Dis-order and the huge decline in the number of bees. Colony Collapse Disorder only affects honey bees in managed hives. The cause of this disease is still unknown, and there may be a number of contributing factors, including pesticides, stress and malnutrition.

Most native solitary bee species have only a few short weeks of life to mate, construct and provision nests, and give rise to the next generation. Honey and bumble bee workers and males live about six weeks, spending about three weeks working on the hive and the remaining three foraging for pollen and nectar. Bumble bee queens live a full year; carpenter bees can live up to two years in ideal conditions.

It is often rumored that native bees are declining because honey bees are displacing them on flow-ers; however, there is little hard evidence of this according to the

UC Berkeley Urban Bee Lab. It is possible that native bees avoid flowers if they detect a sparse or declining resource. But apart from some occasional territorial scuf-fling between male bees, native and honey bees appear to peace-fully coexist.

Bee expert Gordon Frankie in “Spreading the Buzz About Na-tive Bees” in the June 2014 issue of Bay Nature magazine talked about the impact of the drought on native bees. “Gardens here in Northern California are seeing an average amount of activity, but overall the numbers are down, es-pecially in the southern part of the state. This has a lot to do with the drought, which affects the plants and then the bees: It’s caused delays in the bees’ emergence from their nests and burrows. Some native bees aren’t emerging at all. Some of these native bees are amazing; they can hold over for years before they emerge from their nests. We’ve had droughts before and we’ll have them again, and the bees know what to do. It’s the third year of the drought, and they have the capacity to hold out for another year.”

We can help native bees, honey bees and other pollinators by

Planning for succession blooming

Putting plants in clumps at least 4 feet long if possible

Putting in plants that provide both nectar and pollen (nectar is fuel for adult bees, pollen is protein for the young)

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Bees, a Critical PollinatorJudy Matthew ’10

Bee pollinator.

California native carpenter bee.

Ultra green bee.



T he Lake Merritt Trials Gar-den project is nine years old this spring, and it continues

to evolve based on the input and the work of those involved. We are excited about the energy coming our way from the new MGs who just graduated; several are already participating, and others say they want to get involved. We hope to marshal some of this energy to develop a self-guided tour for our project and to improve our native bee habitat area that has been managed for the last couple of years by MG Sally Hughes.

We had our first summer garden talk, “Growing Great Summer Veg-etables,” on the second Saturday, May 14. This was to be our April talk but was cancelled due to rain. Master Gardeners are invited to volunteer at the talks or to attend them for CE credit. The next one is June11, and the title is “Tips for Making Great Compost at Home.”

In order to receive reminders about our talks and those at all the other demonstration gardens, we encourage all MGs to sign up for the monthly MG email notice pre-

pared by MG Erin Wright. You will find the link on our public website.

This year we are trialing variet-ies of tomatoes and cucumbers we have not tried before. We also are growing old favorite varieties of squash, peppers and beans that have done well in the past.

A new experiment is to plant a tomato into a hole with a fish

The Latest at the Lake Merritt Trials GardenSam Foushee ’01

head, a handful each of worm castings, Dr Earth tomato food and bone meal, and two aspirin. We’ll see what we have to report about how well it grows later in the season.

There is always much to do at the Trials Garden, and we welcome new participants. Sign up on the VMS and come give us a try.

Margaret Wong, Katie Myszka and Maureen Crosgrove planting tomato with fish heads and other ingredients.

Using native plants where possible; they’re drought tolerant and have what our native bees need

Avoiding most-toxic pesticides and herbicides

Providing a clean source of water (a slow-dripping tap on a sloped surface is ideal; bees like to drink from very shallow sources)

Providing cavity nest holes in wood for carpenter and other bees

Leaving some areas of gardens un-mulched for ground-nesting bees

For a list of the best bee plants for California, visit this web page: http://www.helpabee.org/best-bee-plants-for-california.html

Reprinted from the Alameda County Gardener August-September 2014.

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President’s Message

Bees, a Critical Pollinator (continued from Page 8)

A group of 2016 MGs and their mentors.


T his is the final article in this series. Writing these articles has been fun but also frus-

trating for two major reasons: the vast amount of information that I have not discussed, and the state of bee-health worldwide. I will ad-dress the former in this article, but for the latter all I can say is that honeybee die-off is real, and if you decide to keep bees, you will likely feel the impact directly.

An easy and fun way to learn more about beekeeping is to join a local club or association. I belong to the Mount Diablo Beekeepers Association, which meets in Pleas-ant Hill. They have a speaker and various workshops most months of the year. More importantly, you can meet fellow backyard beekeep-ers likely to be experiencing the same issues you are.

As for books, I found a real gem at the local library: Keeping Bees by John Vivian was published by Williamson Publishing in 1986. It is currently out of print, but ac- quiring a copy is not difficult. This book was written just as the Var- roa mite was coming onto the

scene; it covers Varroa, but there is no panic associated with it. The author is very funny. Just one example of his humor: “Fac-ile manipulation of the smoker is the skill that separates beekeep-ers from lesser folk.” He believes strongly in treating the bees with chemicals to control pests. He also covers candle making, making your own foundation, and building a solar wax melter.

YouTube is a powerful resource for learning beekeeping. For clear theory and understanding, I sug-gest videos by Michael Bush. He also has a website called “The Practical Beekeeper: Beekeeping Naturally.” You can find it at www.bushfarms.com/bees.htm. He is someone who analyzes standard beekeeping practices and challeng-es each one. He is one of the few speakers I have encountered that is actually clear, logical and orga-nized. He has a lot to say about going foundationless, not treat-ing bees for pests, and basic hive manipulations that make life easier for the beekeeper.

Another interesting speaker is

Michael Palmer, who runs a large apiary in Vermont. He will start off some of his talks by admitting that the audience consists of backyard beekeepers, and then proceeds to discuss only commercial beekeep-ing. Nonetheless, there is a lot to learn from him.

“Don The Fat Bee Man” is a sprawling channel by Don Kuchen-meister, from Georgia. He runs a

package- and queen-selling op-eration, plus a beekeeping school where he trains beekeepers. He builds his own equipment us-ing simple methods, has his own feeder design, makes his own foundation, etc. He is always try-ing to save the beekeeper money. He runs a weekly bee chat forum that he posts to YouTube.

“WallsBeeMan Durham” is a channel by Tim Durham, from Walls, Mississippi. I cannot say that I have learned a lot of actual beekeeping practice from him, but his videos are extremely enter-taining. He does a lot of cut comb


Can I Bee a Backyard Beekeeper? PART 10.Mark Brunell ’10


honey. He also has several videos on swarm capture.

“OutOfaBlueSky” is a channel by McCartney Taylor from Austin, Texas. His focus is mostly top-bar hives, but also uses Langstroth hives. This channel has a lot of in-formation on cut-outs, swarm bait hives, beekeeping in developing countries, and top-bar inspection methods. McCartney’s personality makes you want to watch more.

“Jeff Heriot” is a channel by an Australian of the same name. Most of his videos start with “This is Jeff and Wilma here at Buderim.” He lives in a tropical region where he grows ginger, turmeric, pineap-ple, dragon fruit, etc. in his home garden, and he goes sea fishing, makes his own sea salt, and does a lot of beekeeping. He says, “it’s good to let the bees think they are in charge.” He has a lot of cook-ing videos, including much on jam making, which usually end up tasting “absolutely beautiful.” He is a foil to the plans of the FlowTM Hive Company to sell expensive plastic equipment to the public.

People interested in making their own equipment should consult the “beekeepersworkshop” channel, produced by Steve Tilmann and Adrian Bass. He uses his radial arm saw heavily, so if you don’t have one you will need to make adjustments to the plans.

Another useful internet resource is the beesource.com forum. There are continuous posting and replies, and the forums are well-catego-rized. Ask a question and you may get a reply from someone like Michael Bush in a few hours.

That concludes the series. I en-courage you to try beekeeping, and I am sure you will find it a fasci-nating, addictive and rewarding hobby. And who knows, you may get a chance to save the neighbor-hood from a bee swarm someday.

Why Honey Does Not SpoilFROM THE UCCE MASTER GARDENERS OF ALAMEDA COUNTY FACEBOOK PAGE HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/ALAMEDACOUNTYMASTERGARDENERS

H oney is something of an oddity, in that, unlike most foods, it doesn’t spoil over

time. In fact, the oldest known sample of honey, found in an Ancient Egyptian tomb and dated to approximately 3,000 years ago, was still perfectly edible (suppos-edly). What is it, then, that gives honey this unusual property?

To answer this question, we need to understand how bees make honey in the first place. Honey de-rives from plant nectar, which is a mix of various different sugars, proteins and other compounds in a water solution. Whilst nectar composition varies from plant to plant, and a range of chemical compounds are commonly present, often the dominant sugar is su-crose. This is actually exactly the same sugar as table sugar found in your kitchen. The varying con-centrations of the different compo-nents of nectar in different nectars is the reason that a range of types of honey are available, depending on which type of nectar bees have predominantly been collecting.

Bees are the key intermediate step between nectar and honey. Worker bees will collect the nec-tar from flowers and store it in their honey stomach – distinct from their normal stomach. En-zymes secreted from glands are then mixed with the nectar; these enzymes begin the breakdown of the sucrose in the nectar to simpler sugars. Sucrose is what we refer to as a disaccharide; it actually consists of two different simpler

sugars, glucose and fructose, joined together. In the bee’s honey stomach, the sucrose molecules are gradually split by the enzymes into glucose and fructose.

Glucose and fructose can also be referred to as dextrose and levu-lose respectively. These two sugars are actually structural isomers, as hey have the same chemical form- ula. The names dextrose and levu-lose refer to their effect on plane-polarised light. Due to the differ-ence in the arrangement of atoms, dextrose rotates plane-polarised light to the right, whilst levulose

rotates it to the left. The prefixes dextro and levulo come from the Latin for right and left respectively.

Once the worker bee returns to the hive, it will

regurgitate the nectar solution and pass it on to one of the house bees, who remain in the hive. The house bee will continue the pro-cess the worker bee started; for up to 20 minutes, it will regurgitate and re-drink the nectar, continuing to mix it with enzymes, breaking it down further. Whilst some sucrose will remain, the majority is broken down into glucose and fructose.

Once suitable breakdown has been achieved, the house bee de-posits nectar into the honey-comb in the hive. Then another important step in the process begins. Nectar can be up to 70 percent water, and this water must be evaporated in order to produce the consistency of honey that we’re

Backyard Beekeeper(continued from Page 10)



all familiar with. Bees achieve this by fanning the honeycomb with their wings in order to encourage rapid evaporation of water from the nectar mixture. Eventually, the water content of the solution will drop to around 17 percent, vastly reduced from the content of the original nectar. The conversion of watery nectar to syrupy honey takes between 1-3 days.

The water content of honey is a key factor in why it doesn’t spoil. At 17 percent, its water content is much lower than that of bacteria or fungi. Honey also has a low water activity, a measure of the amount of water in a substance that is available to support micro-bial growth. Water activity is on a scale of 0 to 1. Most moulds and bacteria are unable to grow under

a water activity of 0.75; honey has a water activity of 0.6. This, combined with the fact that its low water content dehydrates bacteria, makes it resistant to spoiling.

Another factor that helps honey avoid spoiling is acidity. Its aver-age pH is around 4; this acidity is contributed by a number of acids, including formic acid and citric acid and the dominant gluconic acid, produced by the action of bee enzymes on some of the glucose molecules in the honey. This further boosts honey’s antibacte-rial properties, as many bacteria thrive in neutral rather than acidic conditions. Hydrogen peroxide is also produced by the production of gluconic acid; this too can inhibit the growth of bacteria. Honey’s antibacterial properties are actu-

ally potent enough for it to be effective as an im-promptu wound dressing.

On a final note, you might also notice that over time, honey tends to crystallize and solidify. Because honey’s water content is so low, it can be considered to be a su-per-saturated solution of various sugars; a solution is considered saturated when as much solid as is possible has been dissolved in it. Over time, glucose will precipitate out of the solution, forming solid crystals. The honey is still perfectly fine to eat, and this doesn’t con-stitute spoilage; to revert it to its liquid form, all that’s required is immersion in warm water for a few minutes.

Why Honey Does Not Spoil (continued from Page 11)


A lameda County MG Elke Rank enjoyed the recent Bringing Back the Natives

Garden Tour. She went to seven homes in search of ideas for her own backyard – gardens in Liver-more, Pleasanton, Danville, Lafay-ette, Walnut Creek and Pleasant Hill. All the gardens she visited had interesting features and a variety of native plants.

Bringing Back the Natives Gar-den Tour is a self-guided tour of over 30 unique private gardens in Alameda and Contra Costa coun-ties that provide habitat for wild-life, are pesticide-free, conserve water and contain 60 percent or more native plants. To see pictures of each garden and a list of the plants in each garden, use this web link: http://www.bringingbackthe-natives.net/view-gardens

Another feature of this event is a number of garden talks that are given throughout the day. Included

Bringing Back the Natives Garden TourJudy Matthew ’10

among the workshops this year were “Designing Native Gardens for Color and Interest throughout the Year,” “How to Remove Your Lawn (and get paid for it, too!) Sheet Mulching Workshop” and “Gardening with Nature in Mind.”

Mark your calendars for next year’s tour on May 7, 2017.

Three Bringing Back the Natives garden views, photos by Elke Rank.


Newsletter InfoContributionsPlease submit photos, articles and up-coming events for the next newsletter by July 10 to Judy Matthew ([email protected]).

EditorsJudy Matthew Carol Henrie

Graphics & LayoutCarol Henrie

Production UCCE Master Gardener Program of Alameda County 224 West Winton Avenue Hayward CA 94544

ACMG Help Desk:Plant Doctor Hotine510-670-5645 Answered on Monday, Wednes-day & Thursday 10 AM-1 PM. Please leave a message.

Help Desk email:[email protected]

Website: http://groups.ucanr.org/acmg

Rob Bennaton County Director, Alameda and Contra Costa County and Bay Area Urban Agriculture Advisor.The University of California prohibits discrimination against or harassment of any person on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or status as a covered veteran (special disabled veteran, Vietnam era veteran or any other veteran who served on active duty during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized).

University Policy is intended to be consistent with the provi-sions of applicable State and Federal laws.

Inquiries regarding the University’s nondiscrimination policies may be directed to the Affirmative Action/Staff Personnel Ser-vices Director, University of California, Agriculture and Natural Resources, 1111 Franklin, 6th Floor, Oakland CA 94607-5200, 510-987-0096.

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I f you happen to be walking through the Livermore Demon-stration Garden — and I hope

you will, because the garden looks fabulous in an English garden sort of way — you might be grabbed for a second glance by the striking beauty of the Kangaroo Paws.

Planted a few years ago as a result of signing up to trial some Aussie Plants, it virtually disap-peared in the drought. Our rainy winter has brought it back and nurtured it to glory!

Anigozanthos is its botanical name, but it is commonly known as Kangaroo Paws for obvious reasons. It was relatively unknown in the United State ten years ago, but interest in drought resistant plants and its striking appearance has brought it into local nurseries in mild climate locals.

Kangaroo Paws are drought resistant, In fact, they do not like wet feet at all. Nor do they like cold weather. We’ve lost a few ear-lier attempts at growing this plant to winter frost.

In my own garden, I grow it in containers and divide it annually. Often grown as an annual, Kanga-roo Paws will last comfortably five years in a perennial or succulent garden. Yes, do combine it with succulents! They have the same watering and sun needs — little water and moderate sun.

Growers are hybridizing new colors of blossoms all the time. As you can see, this variety in our Demo Garden is almost black. One plant in my garden has fluores-

cent orange paws, although the plant that has been the most vigorous and has mothered plant after plant is bright red.

The flowers are pollinated by birds. The long flower-stalks usually rise above the under-growth and adver-tise the presence of nectar in the flow-ers. The stalks also provide a perch for visiting birds.

The shape of the flowers and the po-sition of the pollen-

bearing anthers is a feature which allows pollen to be deposited on the head of feeding birds. This pollen is transferred from flower to flower as the birds feed. Different species usually deposit pollen on different areas of the birds’ head. This means that pollen from one species is unlikely to be deposited in the flowers of another species.

As I write this, I am in Kauai. I have noticed in flower beds that have contained orchids in the past, Hawaiian gardeners are now plant-ing Kangaroo Paws!

Kangaroo Paws? Really?Shari Wentz ’06

the alameda county ardener · the alameda countyardener june & july 2016 gardener at a glance...

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