The Birds & The Bees: cHICKS n bEES
Backyard Chickens and Hives Get Help From Local Retail Shop and Matchmaking Experts
A free-ranging chicken may attempt to ring you up at the register of Los Gatos specialty store, cHICK n bEES. Seriously, chickens wander freely around this quaint cross between a general store and gift shop, opened in 2016. Co-owners Jon and Melody Garliepp sell equipment and supplies to care for raising hyper-local chickens and beekeeping, as in, your backyard!
You may have heard chickens clucking and noticed bees a buzzing in your neighborhood in the past few years. Many Peninsula and Silicon Valley cities have become “bee friendly” and allow homeowners to own hives and raise a few hens in suburban backyards. Seeing the growing interest in honeybee and chicken-keeping, cHICK n bEES is a hub for information and education to support thriving flocks and hives. “When there’s a store to go to, people to talk to and products to look at, that makes a huge difference when deciding to do that hobby or not,” says Melody.
From February to June each year, broods of curious baby chicks nestle under heat lamps waiting to be taken to their new homes. When Melody fields questions from newbie chicken owners, she delves into her experience helping her daughter raise and keep a flock of 24 hens in their backyard. “We give a lot of guidance,” she says. Aside from a checklist outlining the basics of caring for chickens, cHICK n bEES also offers classes in chicken keeping, health, maintenance and even offers onsite coop inspections.
In late spring a single delivery of preordered three-pound sealed packs of California-bred honeybees arrives at the store. “We’ll have over a million bees in the store at one time,” says Jon. The high concentration of bees continues over a three-day period as customers stop by to pick up their new colonies.
After capturing a swarm of honeybees that had been living in his family’s garage, Jon decided to become a backyard beekeeper for the delicious honey they produce. When talking to prospective beekeepers, Jon finds out what their goals are—pollination, honey production or both—then gives budding beekeepers his recommendations, along with beekeeping classes and questions fielded over the phone or in person. Some years they sponsor honey tasting events, where local beekeepers and artisans let you sample and swarm.
Backyard farming with chickens and bees, or backyard homesteading as it has sometimes been called, is not everyone’s perfect match. If you’re not interested in becoming a backyard farmer, no problem: cHICK n bEES often has fresh eggs for sale. And light, medium and dark honey varieties are always available for tasting and purchase. Whether you start your own hive or flock, or just stop by to enjoy the fresh and sweet rewards of fresh, local eggs and honey, this friendly, colorful outpost is great place to taste and explore.
Cluck and buzz!
