SAN FRANCISCO BEE-CAUSE

Helping bees, helping people

The Buzz

Latest News

Bee Farm Honey & T-Shirts

We have various honeys for sale - $10 for a 0.5-lb or $15 for a1-lb in glass jars. Sales of our honey comprise 99% of our operating income.

We are down to our final inventory and we only have a few Bee Farm T-Shirts left, so get yours soon! $15 donation.

Our Apiary & Pollinator Garden

Historically, our apiary was located at Alemany Farm (2009-2011), Hayes Valley Farm (2010-2012), the Palou-Dunshee Garden (2010-2012) and a large empty lot on San Bruno Ave (2012-2017).

Before consolidating our hives in the above apiaries, we managed

1-3 colonies in community gardens, backyards and roofs throughout various San Francisco neighborhoods.

In January 2018, The Bee Farm honey bees moved to their new home within the school garden of the June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE), operated by Urban Sprouts.

Periodically on Saturdays, we have Volunteer Work Parties at our site within the JJSE school garden. We work on our planting berms, weeding, deadheading spent flowers, collecting seeds, watering and planting pollinator-friendly plants, especially native plants favored by native bees. We provide garden gloves and tools available for use. Watch our Facebook page for announcement of our Volunteer Work Parties.

Stay updated!

We have an active facebook page and community Like and Follow with us and see what all the buzz is about!

We include posts on interesting facts and new information related to bees and other pollinators, and we announce upcoming events of interest including our Volunteer Work Parties and honey sales!

Who We Are

Here at San Francisco Bee-Cause, we are driven by a single goal; to do our part in making San Francisco a viable city for native bees and honeybees. Our decision making process is informed by comprehensive empirical studies and high quality data evaluation. We strive to build production relationships and make a positive impact with all of our pursuits.

The Buzz About Us

Turning Interest Into Action

For millennia, humans have had a relationship with honey bees. Sometimes, both bees and humans benefit. But most times, humans benefit at the expense of bees. San Francisco Bee-Cause believes honey and native bees and people can have a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship.
We also believe that an urban environment, such as San Francisco's, provides ideal opportunities for people and bees to benefit one another. San Francisco has a mild Mediterranean climate with abundant trees, shrubs and plants that flower throughout 10 months of the year. This flora provides steady yet varied pollens and nectars needed by native and honey bees to survive and to be healthy. Good nutrition helps bees maintain good health. San Francisco has a growing number of individuals, groups and communities that are committed to urban agriculture, biodiversity and maintaining healthy natural areas. Bee pollinators are needed for the success of each.
San Francisco public policy supports a toxic-free and otherwise healthy environment. That's good for people but also for bees.

Our Projects

Collaborative & Innovative

Our "cause" is to help San Francisco's native and honey bees have a healthy environment needed to sustain them so they can help us with our urban biodiversity and agriculture. In so doing, we aim to be financially self-sufficient. Products from our honey beekeeping enable us to undertake projects, and to lend support to other groups and project, that help our urban native and honey bees thrive.

Specifically, we aim:

To educate San Francisco communities about the value of native and honey bees and, thus, the value of maintaining an urban landscape that integrates and accommodates healthy and sustainable natural ecosystems and native bee populations
To contribute to biodiversity and a productive system of urban agriculture within San Francisco by providing residents with information necessary for them to take actions necessary to ensure we have robust populations of native and honey bees
To contribute to the health and survivability of native and honey bees within San Francisco through projects that provide pollen and nectar resources needed to sustain healthy populations of native and honey bees

The Bee Farm

Making a Difference

We have an apiary in San Francisco is located at the June Jordan School for Equity school garden operated by Urban Sprouts. We've had beehives and educational bee gardens since 2012 in various locations in San Francisco.

Stay tuned to our Facebook page for reminders and other opportunities to get involved.

Beekeeping Apprenticeship

Doing What’s Needed

Through our 2-Year Beekeeping Apprenticeship program, we have the potential to make a real and positive change in the beekeeping community. This is one of our key areas of focus, and a source of much success for our not-for-profit organization. Check out our Apprenticeship page to learn more about our Program and apply. Applications are accepted during a specific time period each January/February, and new 2-year Program begins each March.

Native Bee Surveys

Contributing to Science

During each year, beginning with 2015, we conduct seasonal surveys (spring, summer and fall) of the native bees that lived at and/or visited our former Bee Farm site on San Bruno Avenue and Alemany Farm. The goal of this project was to understand the different native bee species that could be found in San Francisco's urban agriculture, community and residential garden environments, their flower preference and nesting needs, and to share that information with the public so they can "help our bees" through planned plantings and creation of bee nesting habitat. We plan to eventually share this information on our website.

Elizabeth Lawrence

"The hum of bees is the voice of the garden."