The Heart of the West: Beetreat

Building connections + knowledge around the importance of bees

with Sarah Red-Laird + Ginelle Dekker

July 17 - 20, 2026

Join us for an immersive four-day retreat in the pristine landscape of the Centennial Valley, Montana, where art, science, and conservation converge. The Heart of the West Beetreat offers a unique opportunity to deepen your connection to pollinators, land, and community through hands-on learning, creative expression, and meaningful conversation. 

Set at the beautiful J-L Ranch in the Centennial Valley, this retreat brings together women from diverse backgrounds to explore the critical role of native bees and honey bees in our ecosystems. Through guided pollinator habitat walks, hands-on beekeeping experiences, yoga and mindfulness practices, nature journaling, and a cyanotype art workshop, you will gain both knowledge and creative tools to carry this work forward in your own communities. 

You will receive a plant press to collect wildflowers and botanical specimens from the ranch landscape. These collections become the raw material for your final creative project: a cyanotype artwork that captures the beauty and interconnection of pollinators and their habitat. No prior artistic, beekeeping, or scientific experience is required—just curiosity, openness, and a desire to see the natural world through new eyes. 

This retreat emphasizes spaciousness and connection, with ample free time to explore the ranch, rest, reflect, and build relationships with other participants. Whether you are a land steward, artist, educator, conservationist, beekeeper, or simply someone who cares deeply about the living world, you will find community here. 

*Anyone who identifies as a woman is welcome!

Itinerary

  • ARRIVAL + OPENING

    3 pm: Arrival

    4 pm: Welcome and settling in 

    5 pm: Opening circle, guided journaling, and introductions 

    6:15 pm: Dinner 

    Evening: Free time to explore the ranch, rest, and connect

  • BEEKEEPING + BODY CONFIDENCE

    Morning: Mindfulness, intention setting, and introduction to the day

    Classroom session on honey bees, native bees, and women in beekeeping

    Apiary experience: Nature journaling, hive tour, and hands-on beekeeping

    Yoga session: Moving from external to internal through slow flow practice

    Lunch

    Afternoon: Guided meditation, journaling, and open sharing 

    Native bee and flower walking workshop, distribution of plant presses and introduction to collecting 

    Happy hour “wine bar” featuring Bee Friendly Vineyards partner, DIRT wine

    Dinner 

    Evening: Closing circle and reflection

  • POLLINATORS + PLACE 

    Morning: Yoga, breathwork 

    Breakfast 

    Facilitated pollinator habitat walk and field observation 

    Lunch 

    Afternoon: Free time for exploration, specimen collecting, rest, and conversation

    Dinner 

    Evening: Community time and preparation for tomorrow's creative work

  • ART AS ADVOCACY 

    Morning: Three-hour cyanotype workshop with Sarah 

    ~Introduction to cyanotype process

    ~Creating artwork with collected specimens 

    ~Discussion of art as conservation advocacy 

    Lunch 

    Closing circle and reflections 

    Departure 

Itinerary is subject to change.

Meet Your Artist Facilitators

Sarah Red-Laird

Sarah is founder and co-director of Bee Regenerative, a women-led environmental nonprofit whose mission is to inspire and advance bee conservation on agricultural landscapes. 

Sarah graduated with honors from the University of Montana with a degree in Resource Conservation, focused on community collaboration and environmental policy. She has served as director of the American Beekeeping Federation's "Kids and Bees" program, president of the Northwest Farmers Union and Western Apicultural Society, and as a National Farmers Union board member. 

She spends the colder months living near her Southern Oregon art studio and her field seasons living in a campervan laboratory, documenting bees and botany, working at the intersection of science and community across the Western United States. 

Sarah will be the primary facilitator for the journaling, cyanotype, beekeeping, and native bee and flower portions of the workshop.

Ginelle Dekker

In addition to co-directing Bee Regenerative with Sarah, Ginelle Dekker is a yoga and mindfulness practitioner with 15 years of experience honoring the value that connecting mind and body creates in one's life. After many years of self guided practice, attending workshops and classes, she completed her RYS 200 training in 2021 as a certified Anusara Elements Yoga Teacher, and Yoga Wall Fundamentals Level 1 in 2025. She offers private sessions, group classes, and community yoga. 

Ginelle will guide mindful intention setting, instruct group yoga while maintaining alignment and body safety, and facilitate guided meditation and breathwork. She will hold space for participants to feel welcomed in, and for body work to feel comfortable and approachable.

Retreat Price: $1,725

Reserve your spot via the button below.

*Shared room lodging and meals included. Airfare/transportation NOT included.

If you have specific lodging needs, requests or questions please inquire--private rooms and rustic reduced-rate lodging may be available!