San Francisco Honey & Pollen Company

This was an amazing experience! So much information, and so very, very interesting. We had a wonderful time. We also enjoyed the meadery next door. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Fun and hands-​on introductory class to learn about beekeeping. Thanks to the instructor who provided a wealth of information on the bees, I definitely have a new found respect for them (and will never take a jar of honey for granted).
This is a great 3-​hour class by yourself, as a couple or with a group but space is limited so need to reserve ahead.

Such an amazing and informative introduction to beekeeping.
This is a great experience and introduction for anyone who is interested in getting started with beekeeping or just wants to know where honey comes from. With the initial class-​room session you’ll learn some basics and about all the other things we rely on these beautiful creatures for. Then out to the yard to see the bees at work, close-​up and personal.
Taste the honey and pollen then you’ll buy some I’m sure. Highly recommended for a weekend afternoon and hopefully you’ll be inspired to get your own hive (s) too.

Purchased a Groupon and had to cancel this and move this out a few times, but finally arrived! It was awesome!
It’s 3 hours of first intro, then suiting up and touch the bees, then lately you taste a few honey. Although if you come early enough, you can taste all the honey you want. I do find that you will have a better appreciation of the honey after you learned about the bees and the process.
Nevertheless, it was super informational and I learned a lot about bees.
The advance class allows students to go right into spinning honey and extracting it into a jar, might be interesting if you plan to beekeep.
The class had about 10 – 12 people, not a bad size. I would recommend this to anyone.
Be sure not to wear black, closed toe shoes with socks, long pants, and white shirt (preferable long sleeve). I suggest wearing a bandana or hat as you can get heat stroke if you’re out around summer time in the heat. I got a major headache afterwards, even though I was out in the sun for about 1.5 hr.

A unique and informative experience. During a 3-​hour period, we learnt about bees, put a hive together, scraped honeycomb off the hive and tasted fresh honey straight from the bees mouth. Oh, and we also watched a colony flat-​out murder their old queen. Cold!

Purchased this experience through living social and had no clue what to expect coming in. It is located in a warehouse in the outskirts of San Francisco. Parking can be found along the streets in the neighborhood, but I wouldn’t recommend parking a really nice car here.
John, the owner and class instructor was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. He picked up bee keeping as a part time hobby, and continues to run this business on the weekends with his family. The class consisted of around 20 people, and ranged from those legitimately interested in bee keeping at home to those just looking for a new experience, like us. The class starts out with an introduction to the life of a bee, and how their society is structured. Next, you are given a bee suit and taken outside to the hives. Here, you are given the opportunity to see how honey is created and collected, as well as taste fresh honey comb. It made me a lot less scared of bees, because John, along with a few others in the class didn’t wear any gloves and made us realize that bees only sting as a last resort. Lastly, the class comes back in the sample different types of honey, as well as purchase some to take home. His daughter came with homemade honey ice cream, and it was delicious, try it!
Overall, we had a great time and felt comfortable during the whole experience. There is also a meadery next door. The mead isn’t made of John’s honey, but is still of great quality and the owner is extremely friendly and welcoming. Great places to spend an afternoon at!

I bought a 3-​hour beekeeping intro class this past Wednesday for myself and three girlfriends and it was AWESOME. The informational section was engaging and very interesting. John is super down to earth and has a great sense of humor. He’s really good at what he does and his love for beekeeping is infectious.
Taking pictures with the beekeeper suits on was really fun and John did a little photo shoot with the whole group (about 15). Then… it was time to meet the bees.
It was not scary at all… it was an absolute blast. John did a great job of explaining everything and making it fun. At the end we got to try delicious honey and other products.
I would DEFINITELY recommend making the drive out here and doing this. It’s an awesome afternoon activity for couples or groups and John is the man!

They host amazing beginner beekeeping class where you get to see local beekeeping in action! The team is super knowledgeable and conscious about taking care of bees, and they have hives in a pretty organic garden (with $ 5 freezer bags of fresh vegetables from the garden if you want them!). You can’t get any more authentic than this. Highly recommended!

I purchased a 3 hour class for two on an «intro to beekeeping». I had absolutely no idea what I had signed up to do, but was looking forward to it nonetheless.
Upon arrival, I was greeted with a warm welcome and shown around the facility. The back yard is a beautiful oasis with a large organic garden and… of course… bees!
The entire experience was fantastic and we were given a great explanation of how the entire process worked throughout. When it came time to see the bees, we were given a full length bee suit and gloves. We even found the queen bee in a colony.
It was a fantastic experience that I’d highly recommend to anyone looking for something different. :)

Exploring how the dynamics of how a hive works is fascinating ! The class is a educational fun experience! I recommend it to anyone who is interested in honey bees or who is considering getting their own hive! You also get to experience the taste of their honey! It’s amazing how each if their honeys taste so different!