Robert D. Koehnen

A memorial celebration will be held to honor lifelong Ord Bend beekeeper and farmer, Bob Koehnen, on Wednesday, December 10, 2014 at 11:00 am at the Koehnen Ranch, 3131 Highway 45 in Ord Bend.
Bob was born August 2, 1934 in Chico, CA to Carl and Anna Koehnen, the youngest of three children. He passed away peacefully Saturday, November 22, 2014 in the company of his wife and family after a full and successful life.
Bob went to Ord Grammar School and after graduation from Hamilton City High School he attended University of California, Davis, studying pomology. He took fall semester classes, because he was needed at home in the springtime for the busy bee season. He was active in SAE fraternity at Davis.
At age 16, Bob became a legal partner of Koehnen Apiaries, with his dad and older brother Bill. It was the beginning of a family beekeeping business that produced package bees and queens and honey, and later supplied beehives for pollination. Today the business, C.F. Koehnen & Sons, Inc. has expanded into almond and walnut orchards and includes his brother's son Mike plus both of Bob's sons Kalin and Kamron. And now the fourth generation is also being brought into the operation.
In 1957 Bob was drafted into the Army for two years and spent his time in Alabama. In 1962 he married Yvonne Millar of Glenn, and together raised their two sons, Kalin and Kamron. Yvonne was always supportive of Bob's endeavors.
Bob was passionately dedicated to beekeeping, which his father had branched to Ord Bend in 1925. He was a quiet and respected member of the agricultural community, in which he was an innovator in many aspects of both.
Some 35 years back, Bob was co-founder of Tri-County Bee Notification Service which notifies beekeepers of pending pesticide spray applications where beekeepers have a bee location; it continues today in four local counties. Bob designed a towable bee-moving forklift able to move four pallets of colonies at one time, then spread the pallets apart too. He perfected an assembly-line system for making up queen-mating nuclei. Koehnens have been producing queen cages for 45 years; 20 years ago Bob designed and created the California mini queen cage that remains the standard to this day.
Bob was generous about sharing his expertise one-on-one or with the beekeeping industry at large. He always made time to explain any aspect of the procedures used by the Koehnen operation and layout the reasoning behind the practice.
One major farming credit that Bob was directly involved with includes the mid 1970's development and pioneering of the bankout unloading cart system for harvesting almonds and walnuts. It was designed, built and tested in the Koehnen shop under Bob's close supervision. The system is considered the most modern to date; it allows the harvester to never stop harvesting, which reduces time in the field.

Bob served on the board of directors of the California State Beekeepers Association, and helped initiate a reward program in 1977 for the arrest and conviction of persons involved with theft or vandalism of beehives. He was involved in the California Bee Breeders Association and was a 50 year member of the American Beekeeping Federation, the national professional organization. In the past he also served on the California Farm Bureau Federation's bee advisory committee, representing beekeepers in Glenn County.
Bob was named 1981 Beekeeper of the Year by the California State Beekeepers Association; the award is given annually to an outstanding beekeeper. Later, in 1999, he was presented with the prestigious Lifetime Honorary Beekeeper award, recognizing his dedication and contributions to beekeeping over the years.
Bob was a 50 plus year board member of the Ord Bend Volunteer Fire Department. He was a life member of National Rifle Association, life member of Second Amendment Foundation and life member of Harley Owners Group. He was supportive of waterfowl, hunting and fishing organizations.
Bob maintained quite a number of interests, most of which could be pursued with his wife Yvonne. Over the years, he enjoyed fishing, boating, water skiing, scuba diving and snowmobiling. He enjoyed photography, metal fabrication in the farm shop, building and flying model airplanes, motorcycling, driving muscle cars, traveling, camping, shooting and duck and pheasant hunting. In recent years he enjoyed taking cruises with friends, watching the 49ers, Giants, Kings and NASCAR and going to their Almanor cabin.
Bob is survived by his wife of 52 years, Yvonne; son Kalin (Lisa) and grandchild Alexa; son Kamron (Julie) and grandchildren Reed and Kelly; brother Bill (Pat) all of Ord Bend; sister Cleone (Bill) Wiley of Maryland; and numerous nieces and nephews. He enjoyed all the good times spent with family.
To honor Bob, donations in his memory may be made toward the building of the Beekeeping Museum, which will be constructed on the grounds of the Patrick Ranch Museum in rural Chico, or to the Ord Bend Volunteer Fire Department. Either may be sent in care of Brusie Funeral Home, 626 Broadway, Chico, CA 95928.