Natalie Willis, Reporter, Valley Ag Voice
As the bee population continues to decrease in the U.S., one Bakersfield family revamped efforts to spread agriculture education and the importance of pollinators through a start-up nonprofit—Bee Day Events.
According to Holly Kuntz, founder of Bee Day Events and former beekeeper with Kuntz Family Farms, the nonprofit’s first major project will support Vista West High School with a community garden.
Although there is no set date, the nonprofit plans to host a paint night fundraiser for the project before its implementation in the Fall.
Bee Day Events began in June 2022 as a natural succession to the Kuntz family’s agricultural education initiative. Kuntz explained the personal value of spreading agriculture education as she did not have a connection with where food came from until her husband, the son of a grape farmer, showed her the intricate world of agriculture.
“He drove me through the vineyards to show me the difference between the table grapes and the juicing grapes, and I had no idea that there was even a difference,” Kuntz said. “So, I became kind of fascinated with it at that point.”
The Kuntz family’s introduction to bee education and awareness started with the discovery of a beehive on their property.
“My daughter was like, ‘I want to keep them,’” Kuntz said. “She would sit out there and just watch the bees all day. Then she comes in so excited about ‘Oh, I saw white pollen and purple pollen on their legs’… so we just kind of started learning everything there was to know about bees.”
What started as a small-scale bee farm quickly became an opportunity to spread pollinator education at the annual Teacher’s Ag Seminar. Kuntz offered teachers free classroom visits to share their presentation, teaching students from kindergarten to adult school about the importance of bees to the ecosystem.
Upon receiving several requests to speak in classrooms, Kuntz moved to cover the cost of each visit through an annual Bee Day fundraiser. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Kuntz began donating funds from Bee Day to the Teacher’s Ag Seminar as well as the Kern County Young Farmers and Ranchers to support various FFA chapters.
Soon after, Kuntz officially instated Bee Day Events as a nonprofit organization dedicated to spreading agricultural education. Vista West High School will be the first of several projects to deepen students’ understanding of agriculture.
“This is something we have to do. People don’t know how important these bees are. They don’t know about their anatomy—like you don’t focus on that. You learn about a frog and a butterfly in school…you don’t really learn about everything else,” Kuntz said.
