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	Ray Jr. & Tammy Olivarez and Dan Cummings Owners of OHB

History Ray Olivarez Jr. and his wife Tammy along with long-time family friend Dan Cummings are the owners of Olivarez Honey Bees (OHB). Ray Jr. grew up tending bees with his father and is the managing partner of the business. Ray & Tammy, along with his parents Ray Sr. and Klarene, and his brother Troy all work at OHB performing daily operations. Ray Jr. has a diverse knowledge of the bee industry. His energies are focused on raising the highest quality queens and package bees. OHB ships queens and package bees across the U.S. including delivery to many states in their own custom designed transport trailer. Tammy manages the office and helps coordinate field activities. Her close working relationship with Ray and long-standing involvement with the business makes Tammy an integral part of OHB activities. Dan Cummings is the managing partner of Cummings-Violich, Inc., an Agribusiness Management Company that farms several thousand acres of almonds and walnuts. Dan has been a Director of the Almond Board of California for more than 10 years, serving as Chairman of the Domestic and International Marketing Committees. He is also the Chair0an of an Almond Board Bee Task Force recently formed to ensure a healthy and adequate supply of bees for almond pollination

Queen Mating Yard The primary queen breeding yard was designed and built to efficiently produce the highest quality of mated queens. Groupings of dozens of different pollen and nectar producing plants, a variable topography, and irregular shaped roads and perimeter help orient the bee flight returning to nucs. The yard is centered on a 3,000 acre ranch and surrounded by 1,500 acres of clover based cover crops and 500 acres of three varieties of mustard that bloom from March through June. The rich and natural food supply ensure strong queen nurturing brood and a plentiful drone population. Layers of poplars, 10 different species of Eucalyptus, and native willows protect the yard from wind. OHB also utilizes two other, more traditional yards.

Olivarez Honey Bees manages over 10,000 colonies from Orland to Tule Lake, California. Our mating yard locations offer ideal weather conditions for the annual production of our quality queens. The gravely, warm soil of the Orland area promotes a great mating environment and enables the raising of queens over a six month season from March to September. Headquartered in the Heart of California, we at Olivarez Honey Bees are committed to producing excellent quality queens and package bees and delivering them to our customers with our own Specialized Package Hauling Trailer.

Queen Production Specialist Ray Olivarez, Sr. began in the bee business working for Fred Moore from 1963 to 1967. During his time there he learned the responsibilities of running the day to day activities of a bee business. At that time, he also worked closely with Lloyd and Harvey Penner. In 1968, Ray and his wife Klarene bought 225 single hives from his employer at the time, Clarence Wenner. Later that year, they bought 1,200 colonies from Art Banta in Los Molinos, CA. With the hives came baby nucs and other equipment. This purchase was the start of what would become a very successful queen & package business. Ray, Sr. now oversees the entire queen raising operation for OHB. His love for the bee business is unquestionable and his passion will drive him for years to come.

Ray Sr. and Klarene Olivarez