Flying Goat Cellars creates a buzz around local beekeeping efforts
Honeybee hives consist of the queen bee, the worker bees, and the drone bees, creating a complicated yet “magical” system of productivity and effectiveness that serves as inspiration for Flying Goat Cellars’ co-proprietors Kate Griffith and Norm Yost.
“My husband’s a great winemaker, and I’m more on the marketing communication side,” Griffith explained. “Then, we have a few people working for us that help in certain areas, but we’re figuring out who does what best and kind of helping them realize their best potential within our Flying Goat system. Because we’re such a tight ship, just a small little company, we’ve got to be efficient.
“I marvel at how efficient the bees are.”
Griffith and Yost took up beekeeping in 2012 after being introduced to it by a friend, and for 12 years now, they have hosted monthly meetings for the Lompoc Valley Beekeepers Association at their tasting room. As part of Down to Earth Month and their involvement in beekeeping education efforts, the couple will hold an event with a live demonstration beehive on April 26 from 1 to 4 p.m., open to anyone interested in learning more about bees.
“The educational events are fun because it’s always fun to get the kids looking at the bees and asking questions, and I think it’s so important nowadays because I don’t think kids get enough exposure to the natural environment and the things going on around them,” Yost said. “I think it’s important to understand where your food comes from and what these beautiful little creatures do because they’re amazing.”
Both Griffith and Yost emphasized that bees are not necessary to vineyards in the sense that grapevines are self-pollinating and don’t need the help of bees to reproduce. However, Griffith explained that having bees at a vineyard benefits the health of the overall ecosystem.
“Of course, a lot of times people plant roses at the end of their rows for their vines, and they use the roses not only as decorative but to kind of show the overall health of the plants in the vineyard,” she said. “You need to have bees for other things.”
Because they source their wine grapes from vineyards across Santa Barbara County, the couple started beekeeping simply as a hobby and not to serve a specific need. Initially, Griffith admitted that she felt scared of the bees but explained that those feelings went away after she encountered them a few times and realized she wasn’t going to “die.”
“You have to calm your whole energy level down because bees sense and smell any kind of hyperactivity or fear or anger going on in your body,” she said. “You’ve got to get into a more Zen mode, which is partly why I took it up, because it’s very therapeutic, very meditative. I appreciate that because I’m rather high-strung, so I could use a little bit more calming.”
Griffith took some classes at Allan Hancock College to help the couple get started with their own beekeeping practices and joined a now disbanded local beekeeping group. Not long after, they joined the beekeepers association and, according to Griffith, have loved being a part of the Lompoc beekeeping community.
“When we get together, we always talk about what is going on in our hive so that we can all learn, and we love to share,” she highlighted. “That’s what I did is I found mentors, I went to these organizations, and then, lo and behold, I’m hosting, which is good because there needed to be some continuity. I’m like the den mother for the Lompoc beekeepers.”
While Griffith always considered herself environmentally conscious, one of the most valuable lessons she learned in her time beekeeping is that systemic plant care formulas are extremely toxic to bees. After learning this, she stopped using products containing toxins like glyphosate and started informing others of their effects.
“We just teach people about that when we’re doing our little dog and pony show out in the community, kind of making people be more conscientious about what they’re using in their garden and encouraging people if they do want to become beekeepers that we’re happy to teach them and train them and help them get a leg up. Frequently, we’ll help people get their first hive.”
The monthly Lompoc Valley Beekeepers Association meetings happen on the second Tuesday of each month, and Griffith emphasized that any person interested in learning about bees or taking up beekeeping is invited to attend.
“There’s no politics. There’s no religion,” she said. “We all come from different stripes and colors, but I feel very fond of our beekeeping group. We just have this colony, and we really love our beekeeping world.”
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