Honey Bee Discovery Center Interactive Exhibit and Museum

Honey Bee Discovery Center

The first interactive exhibit and museum of its kind, the Honeybee Discovery Center in Orland, teaches the importance of pollinators, including bees, especially honey bees, in our environment. It shares the history of beekeeping, stewardship of our environment, and offers a pollinator garden.

From Evolution to Observation The Honeybee Discovery Center takes visitors from the past to the present, as bees and humans adapt to the challenges of an ever-changing world. Foremost, it provides a unique opportunity to observe and study honey bees scientifically and socially.

Bees and Blossoms

There exists a clearly-defined nexus between pollinators and our food supply, especially almonds. Nestled in “The Valley of the Queens,” The Honeybee Discovery Center’s permanent exhibits include an in-depth emphasis on beekeeping and California’s almond industry and the queen bees produced in this unique microclimate known as Northern California.

Richard Marple, a long-time resident of Berkeley, California, had collected beekeeping artifacts for 80+ years. This desire to share his collection and lifelong fascination was the inspiration for the Honeybee Discovery Center. Mr. Marple gifted his collection to a group of visionaries, led by Yvonne Koehnen, the matriarch of one of the area’s oldest beekeeping families. Today the Founding Committee behind the project is comprised of local beekeepers, government officials, gardeners, educators, and individuals interested in supporting and understanding pollinators and their importance.

In 2017, the City of Orland, California, became the 44th “Bee City, USA.” Being situated within the Mediterranean microclimate of Northern California, Orland is recognized as “The Queen Bee Capital of North America,” annually producing and exporting hundreds of thousands of queen bees throughout the world to support the pollination of agricultural crops.

The perfect union of Orland as Queen Bee Capital and the Honeybee Discovery Center was born in 2018 when the two groups joined to make the vision come to life. At present, the Honeybee Discovery Center administrative offices are located at 501 Walker Street in Orland, California. Fundraising is currently underway for the construction of the state-of-the-art Discovery Center, and pollinator gardens.

The Honeybee Discovery Center will be a leader in creating a cultural awareness of bees and the beekeepers who care for them. Interactive activities and displays will teach the importance of honey bees and native pollinators, and our world’s dependence upon them. Visitors will leave with an understanding of the responsibility we all share in conserving and supporting their habitat and species.

In order to build The Honeybee Discovery Center, we are relying on tax-deductible contributions from supporters like you. Philanthropy will bring the Discovery Center to life. A gift of any amount is sincerely appreciated.

The Honeybee Discovery Center is a program of the Butte Agriculture Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and increasing agriculture education and awareness. Visiting their giving page: https:// www.butteagfoundation.org/giving

will explain how almonds are produced and will show what happens in the orchard from winter, through pollination, the growth of the almond through the spring and early summer and then harvest in the late summer early fall. We will have old-fashioned equipment on display and photos of almond production in the past and currently how almond trees are cared for and harvested.

We are currently looking for old equipment and art for this display. If you have anything that you might loan us for this exhibit, you can call Donica O’Laughlin at (530)514-5061.