Bids for Kids President Represents Dixon at California Ag Day

By Kathy Keatley Garvey

A key attraction was the bee observation hive at the California State Beekeepers' Association (CSBA) booth, and the 1800 honey sticks they handed out to the crowd.

CSBA member Bill Cervenka, who owns Bill Cervenka Apiaries in Half Moon Bay, provided his bee observation hive. “Feel the heat and hear the buzz,” he said, urging folks to place a hand on the glass to feel the heat and an ear to hear the buzz.

CSBA secretary-treasurer Carlin Jupe, and Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño and Extension apiculturist (emeritus) Eric Mussen, both of UC Davis and both members of the CSBA, greeted the guests and answered their questions.

“Have something sweet from the California State Beekeepers' Association,” Cervenka told the passing crowds as he handed out the sticks.

Each honey stick contained a message:

• Honey bees are the backbone of agriculture
• They pollinate 1/3 of the human diet
• They pollinate 50 varied U.S. crops worth more than $20 billion
• They pollinate California's $2.5 billion almond production
• They produce $150 million in U.S. honey and beeswax

James Fuller, of Dixon, president of Bids for Kids at the Dixon May Fair and Solano County Fair and a sergeant in the detective division of the Elk Grove Police Department, was among those checking out the bee observation hive. Bids for Kids, a 30-year organization that recently regrouped, is committed to helping youths who raise animals and show them at the Junior Livestock Auction at the Solano County Fair and Dixon May Fair. The youths include members of 4-H, Future Farmers of America, Grange and independents. The organization bids on the animals--including beef cattle, swine, poultry, goats and lamb--to help them finance their poets.

Among those those visiting the booth was Secretary of Agriculture Karen Ross. She earlier addressed the crowd, calling attention to the theme of the event, “Golden State on Your Plate.”

It's time for us all to “come together to celebrate agriculture and say thank you to farmers and ranchers but more importantly to say thank you to all the hands and hearts and minds that it takes to bring food from the field to our dinner tables every day,” Ross told the crowd.

“If you live and eat in California, you know what we mean—and across the nation and around the world, if it's on your plate, there's a good chance we grow it right here," she said. "Our farmers and ranchers grow 400 crops and agricultural commodities, from fruit and vegetable crops to livestock, dairy, eggs, nut, beans and grains. And we don't stop there—we grow timber, flowers and nursery plants, seeds, cottons and more.”

Ross said state legislators recognize the importance of farming in the Golden State, “just as they recognize farmers' responsibility to be good stewards of the natural resources under their care.”

She called Ag Day “an opportunity for those representatives to shake a farmer's hand and advance our shared understanding of the importance of our food supply.”

Visitors—including legislators, agriculturalists and city folk--eagerly sampled not only honey sticks, but strawberries, almonds, dried plums, walnuts, pistachios, tangerines, apple slices, milk, ice cream, popcorn, chips, pulled pork in a cup, and tri-tip beef sliders, among other foods in the 40 agricultural booths.

California's Floral Industry gifted each visitor with flowers. Other booths displayed a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Photo of James Fuller of Dixon, president of Bids for Kids for the Dixon May Fair and Solano County Fair and a sergeant in the detective division of the Elk Grove Police Department, checks out the bee observation hive with Extension apiculturist Elina Lastro Niño of the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology. By Kathy Keatley Garvey