Queen of Sheeba Farms

Everything you want to know about bees, Khaled Almaghafi knows. Born and raised in Yemen where there is a long tradition of beekeeping and honey hunting, Khaled’s father was a beekeeper, and Khaled learned his craft at a young age. In 1986, Khaled moved to California with hopes of studying bees at UC Davis. Unable to afford the tuition, he took a job as a gas station clerk. In 1992, he fortuitously found an Oakland beekeeper to work with by looking up “bee removal” in the Yellow Pages. When the beekeeper died a few years ago, Khaled inherited the business.

Khaled offers bee removal services and harvests much sought-after local honey from his East Bay hives. Khaled is passionate about bees, and works hard to relocate rescued hives to farms where they will thrive. He says, “We learn a lot from bees. We learn how to be social. We learn how to give, not only take. They give us honey. They pollinate and give us fruits and vegetables. They give us medicine. And they don’t ask for anything in return.”