The Bee Team at the Vacaville Museum Guild's Children's Party
A honey bee sting in action.
Bug Squad
Article

The Bee Team and the Joy of Bees

  • August 19, 2026
  • By Kathy Keatley Garvey
Kian Nikzad, co-program manager of the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP), Abi Moreno, senior at UC Davis studing global diseases, and Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator, UC Davis Bee Haven. Nikzad and Murray are members of the E. L. Nino bee lab at UC Davis.
Pictured are Kian Nikzad, co-program manager of the California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP), Abi Moreno, senior at UC Davis majoring in global diseases, and Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator, UC Davis Bee Haven. Nikzad and Murray are members of the E. L. Niño Bee Lab at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Did you know that World Honey Bee Day is celebrated annually on the third Saturday in August? This year it fell on Aug. 15.

Roll the calendar back to Aug. 6 and voila! Members of a bee team at the University of California, Davis, were sharing their love of bees at the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party. 

The team interacted with children ages 3 and 9--youngsters eager to learn about bees and their role in the world.

The event, held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the museum courtyard, drew a crowd of more than 350. The bee team included:

  • Kian Nikzad, co-program manager of the UC Davis-based California Master Beekeeper Program (CAMBP) and a member of the E. L. Niño Bee Lab. CAMBP uses science-based information to educate stewards and ambassadors for honey bees and beekeeping.
  • Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator of the UC Davis Bee Haven and a member of E. L. Niño Bee Lab. The Bee Haven is a half-acre public garden installed and maintained by the UC Davis Department of Entomology and Nematology and located next to the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility on Bee Biology Road. 
  • CAMBP member and master beekeeper-to-be Rick Moehrke of Vacaville who staffed the table holding the bee observation hive
  • Abi Moreno, a senior at UC Davis. She is majoring in global diseases and is also interested in pollinators.

Moehrke discussed the queen bee, worker bees and drones inside the glassed-in bee observation hive and asked the youngsters to locate the queen.  When they did, they excitedly called out "I see the queen! I found the queen!"  Some returned to the bee observation hive again and again.

Meanwhile, Nikzad answered questions about bees and their enemies and encouraged them to examine them through a microscope. The youngsters also spun a colorful wheel, designed with questions for them to answer. They included:  

  • What is pollination and why is it important?
  • What plants do pollinators like?
  • How many bee species are in California?
  • What is the waggle dance?
  • How many eyes does a bee have?
  • Name a  bee predator.
Rick Moehrke of Vacaville, a member of the California Master Beekeeper Program, shows guests the bee observation hive.
Rick Moehrke of Vacaville,  a master beekeeper-to-be in the California Master Beekeeper Program, displays a bee observation hive at the Vacaville Museum Guild's annual Children's Party. With him are Vacaville Museum Guild member Tammy Gullette and two sisters, Ryan Kline, 10 and Addison Kline, 7. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Murray and Moreno helped the youngsters craft bee antennae headbands, as well as make seed cookies for them to take home to plant for the pollinators. Each youngster also took home a honey stick, donated by The Hive, Woodland.  In addition, Murray invited the youngsters to add replicas of plants and pollinators to a paper pollination garden. 

Theme of the Guild’s 2026 Children’s Party, a much-loved, traditional event launched in 1984, was "Kids Want to Have Fun," a repeat of last year popular theme.

And they did, with food, fun and games, and much, much more.  

Samantha Murray helping youngsters with bee projects.
Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator of the UC Davis Bee Haven, helping Audrina Lockett, 7 and sister Ava, 5, with bee antennae headbands. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Sisters Audrina Lockett, 7 and Ava Lockett, 5, show their new bee antennae headbands.
Sisters Audrina Lockett, 7, and Ava Lockett, 5, show their new bee antennae headbands. In back a youngster spins the wheel that will land on a question to ponder and answer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Evie Thurston, 5, and her brother Noah, 7 look at the bee observation hive. At right is Brooklyn Rusert, 4, with honey sticks donated by The Hive, Woodland. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Noah Thurston, 7, and his sister, Evie Thurston, 5,  look at the bee observation hive and ask questions of beekeeper Rick Moehrke (not pictured). At right is Brooklyn Rusert, 4, with a honey stick donated by The Hive, Woodland, and a buzz kazoo she made at the Bohart Museum of Entomology table. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

Cover image: Pictured are Kian Nikzad, co-program manager of the California Master Beekeeper Program, Abi Moreno, UC Davis senior; and Samantha Murray, education and garden coordinator, UC Davis Bee Haven.  (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)