Buzzing around the California Honey Festival: Learn about bees, snack on honeycomb
Along Woodland’s Gum Avenue, the air smells warm and sweet throughout the weekend as the California Honey Festival is in town for its eighth year.
Through strong winds and rolling dust at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, members of the community learned about pollinators and tried local honey products Saturday morning. The festival, hosted by Visit Woodland and the Woodland Hoteliers Group, focuses on educating the community about a critical part of the food system: bees.
Al Eby, founder of Visit Woodland, started the honey festival in 2016 in support of his beekeeper friend, John Foster.
“We started just talking about what issues he faced as a beekeeper,” Eby said. “I’m like, ‘Well, people need to be aware,’ and he goes, ‘That’s the problem ... How do you educate them?’”
Honey vendors from around the Sacramento region and as far as Hawaii brought their unique honey varietals to sell, while bee-focused organizations showed off their hives and taught visitors about the role of the pollinators in agriculture.
This year, the free community festival has expanded from a single-day fair on Woodland’s Main Street to a two-day event across the Yolo County Fairgrounds. In previous years, the California Honey Festival has seen around 35,000 attendees. This year, organizers hope to see that number on each day of the weekend.
“This is our first two-day California Honey Festival, so we’re kind of excited to see (when attendees come)” said Visit Woodland spokesperson Emilia Zarate.
Spreading pollinator knowledge
Young children donning yellow-and-black headbands were wide-eyed while looking at observation hives throughout the fairgrounds. These hives feature a single frame with clear panes to demonstrate how bees work together to maintain their ecosystem.
“The bigger thing for us is the kids, when they’re just amazed (by the bees),” Eby said.
Many of the educators and beekeeping enthusiasts at the festival shared Eby’s sentiments about the younger generations.
“I often see people who don’t even know where their food comes from, so they’re amazed to learn how good pollinators are for food production,” said Elina Niño, a professor and bee researcher at UC Davis. “Providing that education, particularly to younger generations ... is super important.”
Emily Helton, a volunteer and apiologist with the Honeybee Discovery Center in Orland, said she likes to share fun facts about bees that young children will remember on their own.
“One of my favorite facts (to share) ... is that (bees) can’t see red,” Helton said. “I’m still learning every day and (sharing) as much information as I can get out to the people.”
The 2026 American Honey Queen, Delanie Craighead, also made an appearance at the California Honey Festival.
As a representative of the American Beekeeping Federation, the Honey Queen travels across the U.S. during her yearlong reign, attending agricultural events and visiting schools to share knowledge of the importance of beekeeping. During her time in Yolo County, Craighead visited 11 schools and spoke to about 4,000 students in the region ahead of the festival.
“I get to meet beekeepers all over the U.S. ... There are some great stories they’re always ready to share and that’s what I love about beekeepers,” Craighead said.
For Craighead, the California Honey Festival is also a trip home. Though raised in Southern California, Craighead attended UC Davis.
“I think I’ve been (to the festival) once as an undergrad, so to be here as a representative is nice, it feels like a full circle,” Craighead said.
Indulging in a sweet treat
Enjoying the sweet fruits of the bees’ labor is another main aspect of the festival. Though a number of honey vendors had jars of all sizes and flavors filled with the sugary delicacy, the West Sacramento-based Golden Honeybees sold dripping chunks of honeycomb.
“It takes 7-10 pounds of honey to make 1 pound of honeycomb,” said Yuriy Kotseruba, whose family runs Golden Honeybees.
He said the Sacramento Valley’s warm weather, junction of rivers and channels for wind encourages bees to begin swarming earlier in the year than in other places, which allows the family to harvest plentiful honey and honeycomb for selling.
“Sacramento is actually an amazing place,” Kotseruba said. “All this area, it’s amazing (for beekeeping).”
At the festival, adults can kick back and cool off in the festival’s mead garden. The honey-based wine comes in a variety of flavors, and one vendor offered the beverage as a refreshing summer treat.
Norse Legend Mead, based in Humboldt County, had frozen mead slushies for sale in pink lemonade and blackberry flavors.
“We have a lot of fun with our flavors,” said Jody Everett, co-owner of Norse Legend Mead. Her husband helped launch their meadery using his Norwegian family’s traditional recipe for the wine after Everett started experiencing stomach upset after drinking grape wine.
“I love honey in general, I have a collection of it on my shelf,” Everett said. “Anything to do with honey, I’m a fan of.”
Event concludes Sunday
The California Honey Festival continues on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Yolo County Fairgrounds, 1250 East Gum Ave. in Woodland.
There is no fee for admission, but parking costs $10.
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