I really, really want to complete this pro- gram and see where it takes me. I think that there’s promise in this.” By participating in the program, Foutz said, she hopes to stay sober for good. “I’m hoping through the reentry program, I’m getting some tools to make it stick because I don’t want to use anymore. I desperately want to never, ever be in this place again,” she said. Inmates learn different aspects of com- mercial beekeeping, which in California is a $25 million business, according to a 2021-22 crop report by the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Commercial beekeepers contract with farmers, who use bees to pollinate or set the crop, such as in almond orchards. Beekeepers also extract honey from the hive that is bottled and sold to consumers, and they raise queen bees, which are sold to fellow beekeepers to build new hives. “If they want to pursue beekeeping as an occupation, it’s almost automatic that they can get a job,” Hays said. “It’s definitely a foot in the door.” He said he enjoys combining his love of beekeeping with a longtime career in law enforcement, adding, “If I can make a dif- ference to one offender at the jail through beekeeping, that is my reward.” The program, which has educated 24 inmates since it began, also discusses the trials of beekeeping that many beekeepers face, such as drought or other factors that Beekeepers Continued from Page 6
Steve Hays, instructor of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office Second Chance Beekeeping program, teaches inmates Denaysia Thompson and Missy Peavey about beekeeping and general job skills.
reduce the season’s honey crop or lead to bee losses. “Because of the last three years of droughts and bees competing for flowers and food sources, it’s been difficult for us to produce a lot of wildflower honey,” Hays said. “During the last three years, we’ve produced about 80 1-pound bottles of honey. Whenever we have a large surplus, we use it in our kitchen or as a sweetener for the jail’s vocational barista program. If there is a greater surplus, we donate it to the local food bank.” Thompson, who also participates in the jail’s vocational barista program, said, “We make a honey latte, which is basically a shot of 2 ounces of espresso and then we melt it into the honey and it infuses together
really well, plus a little steam and milk.” For inmates, the beekeeping program offers more than a window into the world of an intriguing insect. The course, which offers a certificate upon completion, Hays said, teaches professionalism in the work- place, public speaking and tips for a suc- cessful job interview. “I try to teach them confidence. A lot of them lack basic confidence and this car- ries over into beekeeping because if you’re nervous, the bees can sense it and they’re going to be more upset,” Hays said. Missy Peavey, who served time for a stolen vehicle charge, was among the program’s first participants. She said she enjoyed the program because “I’m not looked at as a criminal. I’m looked at as a
human and I’m still capable of learning. I’m still capable of being brought into the community and being OK. “Even though I’ve messed up and I made a wrong choice, I’m still able to have an opportunity to try to pull back out of that situation. It’s a whole new, fresh start,” said Peavey, who said she took interest in the program to recon- nect with her family members, who are in the beekeeping business. “I got back into contact with my dad and now I help with the family business.” (Christine Souza is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at csouza@cfbf.com. This article was first published in the July/August 2023 issue of California Bountiful® magazine.)
CIMIS REPORT | www.cimis.water.ca.gov
CALIFORNIA IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM
For the week of July 13 - July 19, 2023 ETO (INCHES/WEEK)
YEAR
3.0
THIS YEAR
2.5
LAST YEAR AVERAGE YEAR
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
MACDOEL II (236)
BIGGS (244)
DAVIS (06)
MANTECA (70)
FRESNO (80)
SALINAS-SOUTH (214)
FIVE POINTS (2)
SHAFTER (5)
IMPERIAL (87)
THIS YEAR LAST YEAR AVG. YEAR % FROM AVG.
2.03 2.06 1.82 11
1.87 1.93 1.82 3
1.92 1.98 1.89 2
1.88 2.01 1.82 2
2.11 2.16 2.03 6
1.52 1.55 1.40 10
1.97 2.20 2.03 -2
2.05 2.14 1.89 10
2.39 2.16 2.04 16
W eekly reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is the rate of water use (evapotranspiration—the sum of soil evaporation and crop transpiration) for healthy pasture grass. Multiplying ETo by the appropriate “crop coefficient” gives estimates of the ET for other crops. For example, assume ETo on June 15 is 0.267 inches and the crop coefficient for corn on that day is 1.1. Multiplying ETo by the coefficient (0.26 inches x 1.1) results in a corn ET of 0.29 inches. This
information is useful in determining the amount and timing of irriga- tion water. Contact Richard Snyder, UC Davis, for information on coefficients, 530-752-4628. The 10 graphs provide weekly ETo rates for selected areas for average year, last year and this year. The ETo information is provided by the California Irrigation Management Information System (CIMIS) of the California Department of Water Resources.
For information contact the DWR district office or DWR state headquarters:
SACRAMENTO HEADQUARTERS: 916-651-9679 • 916-651-7218
NORTHERN REGION: Red Bluff 530-529-7301
NORTH CENTRAL REGION: West Sacramento 916-376-9630
SOUTH CENTRAL REGION:
SOUTHERN REGION:
Fresno 559-230-3334
Glendale 818-500-1645 x247 or x243
July 26, 2023 Ag Alert 15
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