About
History
Mission
Programs

Beginning Backyard Beekeeping (B3) Classes

Apiary Meetups
Four to six times a year, members meet for two hours at an educational apiary to get hands-on beekeeping experience centered around the seasonal changes and needs of a honey bee colony. Due to COVID-19, these meetups are currently being held virtually, via Zoom.

Sweet Start
Leadership

Paul Cronshaw
Paul “The Beeman” Cronshaw has been keeping honey bees in Santa Barbara County since graduating from SBHS in 1971. He set up his first hive on the roof of his parent’s house, purchased his first hive equipment from Sears Catalog, and ordered a package of bees from Mississippi. Since then he has been following his passion for honey bees by teaching beekeeping classes, maintaining apiaries, humanely removing and relocating bees when needed, and promoting the urban beekeeping movement.
Paul “The Beeman” Crenshaw has been keeping honey bees in Santa Barbara County since graduating from SBHS in 1971.
Dennis Hardy
Dennis is a 43-year resident of Santa Barbara, a hobbyist beekeeper since 2011 and an active member of the SBBA since shortly after its inception. He has served on the SBBA’s Board of Directors since 2017 and stepped into the Managing Director role in early 2020. As President/CEO of local marketing firm EvansHardy+Young, Dennis brings substantial management experience to his duties with SBBA.


Julia Walther
Chief Financial Officer
Julia founded bee conscious, a UCSB student organization dedicated to teaching students about bees, issuing beekeeping licenses and organizing local plant life tours.
Kelton Temby
Board Member
Kelton is the founder of Eyesonhives, a computer vision based bee hive health monitoring system comprised of a camera and data platform for beekeepers, researchers & citizen scientists.


Melissa Cronshaw
Manager of Apiary Operations
Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Melissa grew up following behind her father as he kept bees. Melissa after all does mean honey bee in Greek! Melissa graduated from Antioch University with a Master’s in Education, focusing on the importance of outdoor education in schools. She has multiple hives that are handmade and unique. She presents honey bees and beekeeping to all ages. It is never too early or too late to learn about these magnificent creatures.