Letters to the Editor - March 2012

Dealing with a Weak Hive

This letter is in response to the article written by Howard Scott in the January issue of the ABJ on page 35.

I agree with the logic Mr. Scott has that you should not go into winter with a weak hive. However, I disagree with his solution to the matter. The first thing a beekeeper should do is determine why the hive is weak. There are many reasons for a hive to be weak. A failing queen, high mite levels, diseases, pesticide use and low food stores to name a few.
You should look first at the queen’s brood pattern. If the queen is failing, it will be obvious because of the spotty brood pattern.

You should perform a mite load check. If the mite load is high, this is a reason for low population of bees in the hive.

Look for any diseases that may be present in the hive.

Check for low food stores in the hive, both honey and pollen. A hive could have plenty of honey, but if there is no pollen stored or coming into the hive, the queen will reduce her egg laying activities. Unsealed brood requires pollen to eat.

You should “Never” unite two hives together before you dispose of the inferior queen. It is intentionally cruel to force two queens to fight to the end. It is also intentionally cruel to pull all the food from a hive and leave them to suffer a long slow cold death. You should “never” move comb from one hive to another before you are absolutely certain that there is no disease present in that hive.

After performing the above inspection, you will usually find out which problem (maybe more than one thing) the hive is suffering from. If it is just that the queen is failing, (the bees are still good) dispose of the queen and properly unite the hive with a hive that could use the boost in bees and food. If the problem is from a high mite population, dispose of the queen and start a powdered sugar treatment to reduce the mite level (and dispose of any queen cells that are made). After the level is down, go ahead and unite the hive. If the hive has a disease, you should take all necessary measures according to the type of disease. If the weak hive is suffering from low food supply, you have options according to how much time you have before the cold weather hits and or how much this hive is worth to you. If possible, you may have time to feed this hive if it is worth saving. A nuc is better than a package of bees in the spring time. People winter nucs up North all the time.

Let’s not forget all the pesticide use that you have subjected the hive to all year long. It is certainly enough to have caused the hives to become weak. If you have to use chemicals in the hive, then you do not have a hygienic queen. A hygienic queen will produce bees that will keep the mite level down and keep the hive clean without the use of pesticides in the hive.
More and more beekeepers are getting away from chemical use and it works. You just have to have the right queen source.

Dennis Brown,
Bryan, Texas
www.lonestarfarms.net

Reponse to: Newbees, Bee-Ware!
By Anne Frey
ABJ Vol 152 No 1, January 2012 pg 41

It’s hard to know where to start or how to respond. I certainly wish to be respectful to the author and I wish to acknowledge things I agree with. I’m sure it was intended to be helpful. I am sorry to be long winded, but it seems to require a point by point analysis and that is a bit long for a letter, so I will limit this to only a few points, mostly swarming and wintering.

First I guess I’ll give my background. I built my first top bar hive back in the 70’s based off of a Greek basket hive. I built my first horizontal hive a few years later and my first horizontal top bar hive about ten years ago. I’ve kept between three and five of them since. I have top bar hives that can take standard medium frames and I have some Kenya style ones. I’ve had top bar hives in the Panhandle of Nebraska (USDA zone 5) and in Southeast Nebraska (USDA zone 6). For 29 years most of my hives were the typical Langstroth double deeps with shallow supers. Now most of my hives are eight frame medium Langstroths.

The author has some valid points. It seems a lot of people get into top bar hives with a lot of misconceptions. They seem to think that a top bar hive is “natural” and there is no other way to have a natural hive of bees. I’m not exactly sure where this comes from, but I suppose part of it is that a typical top bar hive has natural comb and a typical Langstroth hive has foundation. But I have seen top bar hives done with foundation, and I have thousands of foundationless frames in Langstroth hives. So, if your only reason for going with a top bar hive is to get natural comb, you have other alternatives.

Another is the belief that the shape is more natural. I’d have to say ANY shape is natural. I’ve seen successful colonies in soffits, gas tanks, walls of houses, floors of houses—bees aren’t particular about the shape. I see nothing more or less natural about a top bar hive. But the author makes the same error assuming natural is vertical rather than horizontal. Either is just as natural for bees and I see successful colonies in both configurations in the “wild” and in my hives.

The issue of “cold starving” is hardly unique to top bar hives. Starving within reach of stores is a common issue with Langstroth hives. Assuming that having a hive horizontal is the cause is “post hoc ergo proctor hoc”, the primary error in logic. Anyone with Langstroth hives in a cold climate for any time has seen this in a vertical hive. Occasionally you see a horizontal hive eat their way to one end with stores at the other and they starve if there isn’t a break in the weather. But if you put the entrance on the end (which I would highly recommend) you hardly ever have this issue in a horizontal hive as the brood nest is almost always at the entrance end. However if you have middle entrance, then I recommend (as the author quoted me) that you move the stores to one end and the bees to the other so they can work way from one end to the other. But again, this is not unique to horizontal hives. A Langstroth cluster often leaves stores behind as well and gets stuck.

To pick just two convenient examples, the idea that a top bar hive doesn’t do well in cold climates is inconsistent with the experiences of Dennis Murrel (in Casper, WY, USDA zone 4) and my experience in Nebraska.

It is also inconsistent with the history of beekeeping. Swienty (Swedish bee supply company) still sells a horizontal hive which is the traditional hive in all of Scandinavia and Russia. According to Eva Crane, horizontal hives have been and still were, at the time of her writing “The World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting” (1999), the most popular style hive in every climate from the far North to the tropics.

The study which is quoted to demonstrate how poorly horizontal hives winter, says “When packages were received in mid-May, many appeared weak and several absconded soon after being installed. In addition, the packages arrived too late to take advantage of the spring/summer nectar flow, the best source of nectar for most of New Hampshire” and later, “The project resulted in over 97% loss of colonies, but many of those losses stemmed from weak packages and queens, unfavorable weather and lack of beekeeping experience.” I’m sure the same could be said of a lot of winter losses in Langstroth hives. The fact is that packages have been of less quality in recent years and winter losses have sky rocketed for everyone in every kind of equipment. The results of this study appear to be irrelevant due to the circumstances that occurred.

One of the author’s points is: “2: More care needed with overwintering.”
 
I take no more care overwintering with top bar hives than any of my other hives and have just as good success. If I had a center entrance, I might have to move some stores around, but I don’t. If I did, that wouldn’t be that much work if I only have a few hives.

One of the REASONS for a top bar hive is that you want a horizontal hive to eliminate lifting all those boxes to get to the brood nest. But you can build a horizontal Langstroth hive. I have a few and they do just as well as the top bar hives.

I think the real reason for a top bar hive is that you can build it from scraps for next to nothing AND you get the above benefits, to wit: natural comb, (with both natural cell size and clean chemical free wax) no boxes to lift (horizontal). If you want all of these in one combination, then a top bar hive is for you.

The biggest down side I see is that a top bar hive, because it has a limited and fairly constant space, requires more frequent interventions to manage it well. This is not a problem when it’s in your back yard and you can’t wait to get into the hive. But it’s very inconvenient if it’s somewhere further away where you have to drive there.

The swarming issue brought up by the author is not so much the fault of a top bar hive per se, as a SMALL top bar hive. Some of the commercially available ones are very small and in that case I would have to agree they are almost impossible to manage without swarming. You need a volume AT LEAST equal to two Langstroth deeps. You only have a limited space to work with and no supers to add on, so if you start with a very small TBH, it will swarm. Constantly. You need to start with a large one and manage the space well. But the labor of management is less. Fewer boxes to lift. Easier to get to the brood nest if you want to check for queen cells. It requires a lot LESS labor to manage a top bar hive to prevent swarming, but more frequent interventions.

Michael Bush
michael@bushfarms.com


New South Carolina Honey Law Exempts Small Producers

Looks like we have a new honey law in South Carolina as far as extracting and how much we can produce without a honey house.

Dave Macfawn
South Carolina

A BILL

TO AMEND SECTION 39 25 20, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS REGARDING ADULTERATED OR MISBRANDED FOOD AND COSMETICS, SO AS TO PROVIDE A DEFINITION FOR THE TERM “HONEY” AND TO PROVIDE LABELING REQUIREMENTS FOR HONEY.
Amend Title To Conform

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Section 39 25 20 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding at the end:

“The term ‘honey’ means the raw food product produced by honeybees for human consumption.  Honey and honey products are subject to all labeling requirements of this chapter.  Honey sold wholesale to other retail outlets for resale must be processed and packaged in an inspected and registered food processing facility in accordance with the act regardless of the amount of overall honey produced by the beekeeper.

Beekeepers producing no more than four hundred gallons (4,800 pounds) of honey annually and who only sell directly to the end consumer are exempt from inspections and regulations requiring honey to be processed, extracted and packaged in an inspected food processing establishment, or from being required to obtain a registration verification certificate (RVC) from the Department of Agriculture.  However, labels are required on all containers of honey that are sold in South Carolina.  Beekeepers must file for the exemption on forms to be provided by the Department of Agriculture.”


Re-activation of Brother Adam’s Mating Station on Dartmoor

The summer of 2012 will see the re-activation of Brother Adam’s isolated mating station on Dartmoor. After something over 80 years, Buckfast Abbey had decided to cease using the mating station. The Dartmoor mating station played an important part in the development of the Buckfast bee, its distance from other apiaries being critical. It would have been a terrible shame to allow this site to remain out of use, and for no Buckfast bees to be bred in the United Kingdom, which is their country of origin. So permission and access was sought from the farmer to re-activate the famous mating station for the original use. In addition to this, the Abbot of Buckfast Abbey has graciously permitted the use of the Buckfast name for our queen bees, bred, according to the selection methods and breeding tools taught to us by Brother Adam. 

In September 2011 Peter Little visited the mating station, finding it was becoming rundown and overgrown. Many of Brother Adam’s hives had been left on site, some of them having intact combs unused for some time. These will remain in the mating station, although Peter plans to use different designs.

The re-activation of the Dartmoor mating station and the re-commencement of serious breeding of the Buckfast bee in the United Kingdom is a project that began under the initiative of Roger White (Cyprus) and Peter Little (UK).  In addition to the Dartmoor station, two other mating stations will also be set-up at remote locations on Exmoor. The management of the breeding program will be under the direction of Roger White, whilst the actual day-to-day management of the mating stations and supervision of the breeding stock in the UK will be under the direction of Peter Little of Somerset.

As the production of the queens will involve a marriage between the existing Buckfast programs and the Cyprus based Superbee breeding program, it has been decided to use the name “Buckfast Superbee queen bees” to best describe the queens produced. Permission to use the name has been sought from and given by the holders of the ‘’Buckfast Superbee” name.

The main aim of this co-operation is the breeding of a present-day Buckfast type bee and the production of these queens for our own use and so that they will be available to UK and beekeepers in other European countries who wish to carry out their beekeeping with this type of bee. Emphasis is on a docile, highly productive bee with a low swarming index.  Future selection will be to increase the resistance to Varroa destructor and to increase the hygienic behavior in general.

The project will be supported by the Buckfast breeding programs of Roger White’s Superbee based in Cyprus and Crete, Greece using present instrumental insemination, isolated and island mating stations and Peter Little’s breeding program in Somerset supported by instrumental insemination and isolated natural matings.

The first batch of queens will be available around the end of June 2012.

Further information may be obtained from: http://www.superbee-cy.com/ or http://www.exmoorbeesandbeehives.co.uk/

A Buckfast beekeeper’s group for English speaking Buckfast beekeepers has been formed and their website is: http://www.buckfastbeekeepersgroup.co.uk/ with a discussion forum: http://bbgroup.forum-phpbb.co.uk/ membership is free and open to all.


New California Beekeepers

Our love affair with bees began the day we met Steve Gentry.

A beekeeper for over 30 years, Steve has been selling honey in northern California at the San Ramon Farmer's Market since it opened, as well as the markets in Orinda, Lafayette and Walnut Creek. We were enthralled by his extensive knowledge, his relaxed and jovial nature, and, of course, his heavenly honey.

Brian, who’d recently been laid off from his Internet marketing job in San Francisco, had found himself a mentor and a new path. He began working with Steve and his bees several days a week.

Meanwhile, our 10-year-old son Dylan (then 7) joined the Tassajara chapter of 4-H, and got involved with the Bee Project, led by Douglas Graver. Dylan received a blue ribbon two years in a row at the county fair for the Bee Project entry. He was thrilled when he got his own bee suit for Christmas.

One of the reasons we decided to keep honey bees is to help strengthen their numbers, at least here in our own community. We established our first hive with bees that Brian and Dylan rescued from several abandoned, broken down hives near Berkeley.

Since we began our bee venture, some of our friends expressed interest in hosting bees on their property. Brian and Dylan maintain the hives, and our friends get to enjoy watching their gardens flourish, knowing they are helping boost the honeybee population. And, of course, come summer, they get to share in the delights of local honey – right in their own backyards.

In 2011, Brian served as President of the Mt. Diablo Beekeepers Association (MDBA is one of the largest beekeeping clubs in northern California, with almost 400 members). This year marks our fourth as members. Brian has been re-elected to serve in 2012, but even more exciting is the fact that Dylan has been elected Vice President for 2012 – the club’s first 10-year-old officer!

Dylan got involved by first serving as assistant librarian and helping out with the raffle. He felt comfortable using a microphone and enjoyed calling out the winning numbers. MDBA members seemed impressed with his maturity and charisma.

January 12 was the first MDBA meeting of the new year, and Dylan’s duties as vice president will began. He is responsible for ordering raffle items and running the raffle itself, and is delighted to have this opportunity. Proceeds from the raffle fund member and community education programs, including school visits, garden club talks, local county and state fair entries, etc.

Brian and Amy Wort
California


Kissing Bees

Beekeeping has become a passion for me; however, I will readily admit that in two years of experience, I've done many foolish things, most of them unintentional…

But to deliberately kiss a cluster of bees? Most people would no doubt shake their heads. Yet I imagine that some beekeepers have done the same, and others at least contemplated doing so. Isn't the relationship with honey bees a love affair for many of us, after all?

That first kiss is always a memorable experience, and kissing bees for the first time is special in it's own way. It took a bit of nerve, but, just like any first kiss, it was awesome!

This swarm was, for our region, a very late one (early September) and I was not sure how long they had been clustered there. As opposed to most swarms in my experience so far, they seemed very reluctant to leave the branch. Once I finally brushed most of the cluster into a hive box, the reason became obvious — they had been there long enough to accept the tree (only 50 feet from the parent colony) as a new home and start building a comb on that branch.

It took a few hours for all the bees to leave their chosen nest site, even with the queen already in the box below. Given those circumstances, it was surprising that I didn't get stung.

This swarm-kissing self-portrait was done by a trusting bee-lover who may not know any better, and generally doesn't wear any protective clothing. Should you disregard the potential 'danger' -- keep in mind that kissing a cluster of bees really tickles the lips, so bee prepared… and DON'T sneeze!

Ashley Vido
NB, Canada


Tell Me Honeybees
A poem by Dick Marron
photos by Ian London

Tick-tock the mortal clock
Just time to gather stock
Of the flower-bounty

Tell me honeybee,
Did you ever stop to see

About eternity?

Or ever stop to think
That you live upon the brink;
That there will be a final measure
Of summers golden treasure?

When you woke, you cleaned the cell
That had housed and kept you well;

Then began a life so loyal
To your mother oh so royal.

When you fed your sisters
The magic in your mixtures;
When you lacquered up the wall
Did you ever think: … “Is this all?”

Did you guard the gate with pride
Keeping warm and safe inside

Replacements of the corps
Of bee sisters, evermore?

At last you use your wings
And know so many things

… the ecstasy it brings.

And when your wings are tattered
Will you wonder if you mattered?

Did you ever take a break
Or think, for heaven’s sake

Of what’s beyond the gate?

As you drag your mortal coil
To join it with the soil

Will you answer what I’m asking
And end my stupefaction?

She answered with surprise
And laughter in her eyes:

“It’s dumb to look for meaning!
It’s a great distraction.”

“All of life is action.”

Dick Marron


My Favorite Bee Poem

Reading Dick Marron’s poem reminded me of a “blast from the past.”

When Mary Toynbee sent this poem to me in 1986, I liked it so well that I featured it on the cover of the March 1988 American Bee Journal.

Enjoy!
Your Editor
Early Spring

The sun was shining brightly,
Though winter’scarcely past,
The bees were out in jolly force,
From cluster free at last.
All tumbling round the doorway,
More myriads in the air;
One landed on my eyebrow,
Another in my hair —
But off they went rejoicing
That spring had finally come.
Reluctantly I turned away,
With duties to be done.

“Twas later in the afternoon
Again I climbed that hill
To see how fared my little friends
As evening’s early chill
Was spreading ‘cross the shadowed land,
The sun behind a cloud.
I wondered what had happened
To that wildly wanton crowd.
The beehive, it stood silent
Beneath the slate-gray sky,
And not one darting figure
To catch my searching eye.
But there upon the landing board
In sorrowful array:
Sixteen little bodies
All curled and crumpled lay.
Caught too quick by springtime’s prank
— Too eager and too bold —
They’d dropped just short of sisters’ warmth,
Their body-blood turned cold.
I poked them with my finger;
Quite dead they seemed to be.
But then — one small antenna moved
As if to beckon me.

I quickly scooped them in my hand
And cupped my fingers round
And breathed warm breath upon that heap
So gripped in sleep profound.
At length I felt a tickle
Of tiny little feet,
And wings that started stirring
With short and shivery beat.
I breathed some more and peeked within,
And sure enough — ‘twas true:
That heap of cold-dead bodies
Came alive — like Lazaru!
Some pushed, some crawled, some wriggled,
Struggling to be free
From each other’s cold embrace,
Restored to dignity.

One by one I took them
Upon my finger tip
And placed them to the open door
Of home. Without a slip
Each one in haste and hurry
Responded to the hum
Of sister’s wings and warmth within,
Until at last just one
Remained upon my dampened palm -
Her sisters didn’t wait.
Fifteen made it safely home,
But for one I was too late.

These fifteen bees, I don’t suppose,
When summer comes and nectar flows,
Will add much honey to the pot,
And by their sisters quick forgot —
But never mind—let secrets be
Between these fifteen bees and me.

Mary W. Toynbee
April 1986


Lotion Bar Primer Article

Many beekeepers have contacted me about purchasing the smallest bee mold shown in photo 2. It is called a 'Bee Applique' Mold product number 10997, available from www.GloryBeeFoods.com. All measurements for ingredients are done by weight except teaspoons or tablespoons. I'm glad everyone is enjoying themselves this winter making lotion bars!

T'Lee Sollenberger
Burleson, Texas

Letters to the Editor - February 2012

Concerned About Monsanto in the Bee Business

    I am writing in response to a letter from Nitzan Paldi of Beeologics. Yes, as you mentioned I am concerned about Monsanto getting into the bee business. This is a company whose past and present history is not a good one. For you to mention that they have a commitment to sustainable agriculture could not be further from the truth. They have the same old commitment to chemical agriculture which is the total opposite of sustainable agriculture.

Chemical farming damages the land and the environment whereas sustainable does the opposite. Is it not ironic Monsanto has chosen to enter the bee business claiming to work to improve the health of the bee? Many beekeepers have the opinion (which I agree with) that they contributed to the decline of the bee's health through the products they market. Not an uncommon business plan selling a product which you make a profit off of while creating another problem which you sell another product to make more profit.

 Considering Monsanto's history, (pcb's, agent orange, GMO's, toxic dump sites, revolving door with government/Monsanto, etc.) I definitely will pass while looking over my shoulder. My guess they would try to patent the bee and sue me when I captured a swarm. I believe a Trojan horse has arrived.

Bruce McMahon


New Drug for American Foulbrood

On November 16, 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced the availability of a Public Master File (PMF) containing safety and effectiveness data to support a new animal drug application (NADA) or supplemental NADA for use of lincomycin hydrochloride water soluble powder for the control of American foulbrood (Paenibacillus larvae) in honey bees.

These data have been reviewed by FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) and demonstrate the safety and effectiveness of this product. Sponsors need to supply the additional manufacturing, labeling, and other required information to constitute a complete NADA. Today’s announcement is not for the approval of this product - only that data are available to support a pharmaceutical sponsor’s new animal drug application.

The data, contained in Public Master File (PMF) 5988, were compiled by the USDA’s Minor Use Animal Drug Program (formerly, the National Research Support Project 7 (NRSP-7), a national research program that facilitates generation of data to support FDA approval of new drugs for minor uses and minor species of agricultural importance. Pfizer will be submitting the rest of the information needed to obtain approval for this indication on the current product label.
Source: Stephen F. Sutherland DVM, Senior Director of U.S. Regulatory Affairs at Pfizer Animal Health’s Veterinary Medicine Research and Development organization. (courtesy SE Michigan Beekeepers Association)

Michael G. Hansen
Regional Supervisor/State Apiarist
Michigan Dept. of Agriculture & Rural Development
Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division
St. Joseph, MI 49085


Perfect Swarm

In New England we had "The Perfect Storm" and now we have had "The Perfect Swarm". My friend Stanford Brown has kept bees since he was 12 years old. In this photo he is 91. Swarms do not come more perfect than this. I had to set down the camera to snip off the branch, we tied up the bag and brought the swarm to an existing hive that was weak. The landowner was happy to have the bees removed and we thought we had a once in a life time swarm catch because they do not come more perfect than this.

Karen Thurlow-Kimball
 

Letters to the Editor - January 2012

Pushing The Adoption of State Honey Standards

    In a letter from the FDA dated Oct. 14, 2011, the agency has once again denied the major industry groups petition for a national standard. Was anyone surprised by the news? No. Since 2006 when the Petition was submitted, the FDA has been courteous, almost to a fault, always sending hints that “this year”  beekeepers and honey packers would get their standard, and every year, the answer was the same; no…
    Dedicated beekeepers across the U.S.  gave up on the FDA in 2007 and decided to do for themselves what their government would not do for them; they started campaigning for state-adopted honey standards. Florida was the first, followed soon after by California. Since that time Wisconsin, Utah, and the most recent state, Nebraska, now have standards of identity for honey (North Carolina recently adopted an impressive state association standard).
What’s even more impressive are the number of states which have the issue before their legislature or departments of agriculture:  Texas, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Missouri, New York, Montana, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Tennessee.  Beekeepers in Georgia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts are working to begin discussions in their state associations or farm bureaus.
  As every state legislative session convenes, more and more of these states will get a honey standard.  Do these dedicated men and women believe their state honey standard will assure that never again will a consumer end up purchasing a jar of adulterated honey? No. The mantra of the FDR years, “The government is your friend; the government will protect you” is no more. We live in a global economy where neither  the federal  nor state governments will ever again, or at least not for a long time, be able to protect their citizenry from those who put our food supply at risk or sell our consumers deceptive products, or in the case of honey, adulterated junk.
Beekeepers who lick their wounds in private and say “things will be better next year” will end up with next year no better than the first. Fortunately, staunch supporters of honey standards have refused to be defeated. Sue Daly in Ohio, Pat Bono in New York, Byron Rice in Maryland and many other hard-working, good ole stubborn beekeepers know that having a state honey standard is better than having nothing at all.
  With so many states working on standards, it has been hard maintaining an accurate list of what states are involved in the initiative and who is spearheading the project. The more information I have about what is happening in a state, the better I can lend support and make sure all beekeepers in a state are aware of each other’s work.  I would appreciate it very much if you could both contact me by email, and let me know how goes the fight. The only hope left for the preservation of honey lies in the adoption of state standards of identity for honey.

Nancy Gentry
Spokesperson for state adoption of honey standards
Email: farmbees@gmail.com


Nebraska Adopts Honey Standard

  Upon the request of the Nebraska Beekeepers Association http://nebraskabeekeepers.org/ and following the lead of Florida and other States in an effort to spur the USDA into taking action, in 2011 the Nebraska Unicameral considered and adopted honey standard legislation, LB 114.
  Senator Annette Dubas, representing District 34, http://news.legislature.ne.gov/dist34/ introduced LB 114 to provide  for a honey standard. http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/bill/view_bill.php?DocumentID=11934
  The adopted slip law copy of the adopted bill reads as follows. www.nebraskalegislature.gov/FloorDocs/Current/PDF/Slip/LB114.pdf LB 114 has been codified as statutory section 81-2,181. http://www.nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=81-2,181
  In LB 114 the legislature instructed the Nebraska Department of Agriculture to promptly adopt regulations to implement LB 114. The NebDoA has proposed
such new regulations for Title 19, Chapter 3, sections 001 through 005. http://www.sos.ne.gov/rules-and-regs/regtrack/proposals/0000000000001030.pdf
  The Nebraska Secretary of State is responsible for tracking the process of the adoption of the such regulations, and its website provides up to date information on that process. http://www.sos.ne.gov/rules-and-regs/regtrack/index.cgi

Prof. Michael J. O’Hara, J.D., Ph.D.
Finance, Banking & Law Department
College of Business Administration
Mammel Hall 228
University of Nebraska at Omaha
6708 Pine Street
Omaha, NE 68182-0048


There’s More to the Story

    Dr. Conner’s July 2011 Traveling Beekeeper article mentions data from “beekeepers in the Mid-Atlantic region” that showed a three-to-one advantage in survival from nucleus colonies to package bees and then makes the linkage to examining queen stock. The data was a result of the project "Promoting Sustainable Beekeeping Practices through local production of nucs (nucleus colonies) and local queen honeybees" run by the Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association in Northern Virginia and funded by Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE).
I offer ABJ readers a chance to view this bit of citizen science in the full report and appendices found here:  http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FS08-223&y=2011&t=1 and subsequent SARE article found here: http://www.southernsare.org/Newsand
Media/Press-Releases/Virginia-Beekeepers-Successful-in-Rearing-Local-Honeybee-Colonies

Karla Eisen
Gainesville, GA


Randy Oliver’s “The Rules Redux” . . . A Classic!

Randy Oliver’s defense (The Rules Redux, ABJ October 2011) of an earlier ABJ article is no doubt a classic must read for anyone new to beekeeping … or those tired of the old harangues issued by those individuals who believe they have a right to govern without regard for any valid observations. Trouble is, those setting out THEIR rules for beekeeping, either vocally in beekeeper meetings, privately, or in internet beekeeping sites are too set in their ways to realize their errors. In his hard hitting writing style he referred to those misguided people as “taliban.” Perhaps that word unsettles many in this post 9/11 era, but it is valid as he demonstrates to the reader the importance of studying the bee FIRST and what its PRIMARY needs are before the beekeeper dictates his misguided thoughts about bee hive management.
  Mr. Oliver’s premier credential is being a successful full time beekeeper. He produces much honey in his yards and operates a pollination business along with producing many queens and nucs every year. He must get great satisfaction when he sells bees to those who will not follow his very simple beekeeping lessons which center on providing bees with (1) good food, (2) a warm and dry cavity, (3) low parasite counts, and (4) minimum toxins. Those four  “cornerstones” are the bases for his Beekeeping classes that he teaches in colleges close to his California home.
He is particularly annoyed with those who make up rules about beekeeping and alarms his readers with the observation that nature has no rules and only the strong survive after enduring the cruel punishments provided by the errant mistress we sometimes call “mother.” He illustrates this by means of the queen excluder. He mentions that it is used by many successful beekeepers who have bumper crops of comb honey free of any brood. He points out there are many who refuse to admit such.
  In his primary thesis or point of view, whichever you wish to call it, Mr. Oliver uses the main accomplishment of the Rev. L.L. Langstroth … that being the bee space, a simple linear measurement somewhere between three-eighths and half an inch long.
(Before I go any further let me diverge …. To be an ordained Minister Rev. Langstroth was educated in Philosophy and Theology. Philosophy taught him to think and how to think. Theology honed his ability to communicate, either verbally or in print. His Sunday Sermons and private meetings with members of his flock lead many to a deeper understanding of God.)
  That very religious man/beekeeper saw a problem in honey production … the honey frames in those hives of the early 1800s were hopelessly stuck together in their helter-skelter arrangement. He also saw clear spaces. His observations lead him to believe this as a bee problem and not that of management. In other words, the Reverend thought for the bee FIRST. As with many problems in science he simply tried different spacings and eventually discovered what the bees knew all along AND WHAT IS BEST FOR BEES. Generally, they would not propolize a space known as the “bee space.” From his central observation and hypothesis that bees would not fill up certain holes and spaces lead to a revolution in beekeeping and is still unsurpassed.
  Randy Oliver proposes the same basic and simple thinking of Rev. Langstroth. In other words, THINK for the bees FIRST and not about your own ill-conceived plans already proven worthless by someone not fully equipped. His observations about those talking with a religious fervor about beekeeping is particularly poignant. He pleads with his readers NOT to give human characteristics to bees (anthropomorphize), but to see the bees as insects first that can be controlled under some conditions favorable to bees and beekeepers.
Mr. Oliver’s writing style can be biting and “to the point.” He copied the following directly from a critic’s email: “The fate of bees does not rely on man; the fate of man relies on honeybees.” His response: Native North Americans had thriving agricultural societies long before honey bees were introduced to the continent and lived well in the absence of honey. He observes that many of today’s bee problems are the result of habitat destruction, monocropping, environmental pollution, overstocking, and pathogen transportation.
  Another critic was quoted, “It sounds like you’re down on natural beekeeping.” His quick response, “… I support ‘natural beekeeping’. What I have a problem with is when it becomes a religion …”
  Randy’s article will not change those with “captain concrete” minds (thoroughly mixed and well set) who would plant wheat by moon signs if given the opportunity. He has woken the awareness of beekeeping newcomers and veterans alike to search and develop better methods of beekeeping that are best for the bees.

Tom O’Brien
Ingersoll, Ontario

Letters to the Editor - December 2011

(Excerpt)

"Honey Sells Everything But Honey"

  I am relatively new in the honey business. Fifteen years ago I began buying USA bulk honey from a few honey processors and reselling it to food processors, mainly meat and poultry processors. To my customers, honey was a commodity; they required only that honey be Grade A to insure that the moisture level was low, maximum 19%; that deliveries were dependable; that price was relatively low.
  My customers made and sold foods that were improved in flavor and in marketing by the addition of honey. They made sausages and roasted chicken and smoked turkey breast and chicken breast that had "honey" in their formulas. They labeled their products "HONEY-cured SAUSAGE", "HONEY-Cured Roast CHICKEN", "HONEY Cured Smoked TURKEY BREAST", "HONEY CURED HAM".
  I saw other food products that also featured "HONEY" on their labels: HONEY Cereals, HONEY Cough Drops, HONEY Candies, HONEY cookies, HONEY Sweet Rolls, HONEY Sugar Buns. Obviously, "honey" performed a function in processed foods formulas and in their products' marketing.
  I once asked a food ingredient buyer why his ingredient formulas called for honey instead of cheaper cane sugar. He replied, "honey sells everything but honey".
I knew his claim was an exaggeration, but he made a good point. Shoppers apparently prefer processed foods that are sweetened with honey over foods sweetened with other sweeteners. And since sales of honey-sweetened processed foods far exceeded sales of bottled honey, my buyer could claim "honey sells everything but honey".
At that time, processed food formulators had to comply with FDA regulations that defended two natural syrups, honey and maple syrup. FDA required that processed foods whose label stated 'honey' or 'honey flavor' must contain a minimum 10% honey. Similarly, processed foods whose label stated 'maple syrup' or 'maple flavor' had to contain minimum 10% real maple syrup.
  But in the years since, FDA has apparently abandoned the requirement for a minimum honey content in processed foods that portend to contain honey. Not so for "maple" on a label; stating "maple' or 'maple flavor' on the label apparently still requires 10% real maple syrup in the formula.
  Today we see many processed foods that feature the word 'HONEY' on the front label, but contain little or no honey! "Honey" is on the label, but barely exists in the ingredients. Or, in extreme cases, "HONEY" is prominent on the front label but doesn't appear at all in the ingredient list!
  Somewhere, somehow, the FDA requirement for a minimum honey content in processed foods that claim 'honey' on their label, disappeared. In its place, the current FDA regulation states that FDA "may" require a specific minimum honey content in such processed foods. I didn't know that the declining content of honey in processed foods was studied in depth, product by product, by a concerned, diligent beekeeper, Jim Fisher. Jim Fisher's 'Wall of Shame' (http:bee-quick.com/wall/shame2.html) identifies many popular processed foods that violate what consumers naturally believe: that the product label accurately describes the product. ("Maple" flavored products carry labels that accurately identify the sweetener as real maple syrup. That is why so few pancake syrups show "maple" on their front label: to state "maple" or "maple flavor" on the label, FDA demands the product contain minimum 10% real maple syrup! Why not require the same honesty in 'honey' flavored foods?)
  But it is insufficient to identify a problem without proposing a viable remedy. What's the remedy? What actions can be taken by beekeepers, honey dealers, honey importers and the concerned public to require that processed foods that claim to contain 'honey' actually contain a significant honey content?
  We can petition FDA to require 10% real honey content in processed foods that display the word 'honey' on the front label. No new legislation is required to give FDA such authority. Current Federal Regulations state that FDA "may" establish a minimum honey content in processed foods that claim honey as an ingredient. Jim Fisher's market studies reveal that FDA does not now require a minimum honey content.
  The word "Honey" on a food label should guarantee a significant honey content in the product. And my old customer's axiom will then be revised to "honey sells more than honey".

Bill Kentor
President, Great Foods Inc

National Honey Bee Day 2012

National Honey Bee Day 2012 has been scheduled for August 18, 2012 We ask that previous participating groups, as well as new interested groups and individuals make plans for this event. Now is the time for beekeepers and associations to get this event on the schedule for the upcoming year.
  This is the fourth National Honey Bee Day event. The program involves beekeeping associations, individual programs, as well as public venues, simultaneously scheduled for one day to reach out to the public in a collective voice. This event is based on promoting and educating the public to honey bees, beekeeping, and how the environment impacts the industry.
  Information, guidance, and details for participation can be found at www.national
honeybeeday.org. If your local bee association is not yet involved, please consider approaching your officers. This is a great program to expand the association with new beekeepers, as well as promote the local bee industry. If you do not have a local beekeeping association, or one willing to get
involved, we encourage individual participation. Even one beekeeper can make a huge impact in the local community.
  If you have any questions, please email at mailto:mikenida@ptd.net or call 717-938-0444

Mike Thomas

Honey Bee Collecting Pollen

The photo you are looking at is a honey bee collecting flower pollen, as I observed up close and personal. I now understand more about what it really takes for these honey bees as they are collecting pollen. I have a new respect for the honey bee.

Ralph Vix

Beekeeping Rap poems Help Educate

 I write (and perform) educational rap poems. I live in Brooklyn where for sometime it was against the law to maintain honey bee hives. There was a big hubbub in the news when the ban was lifted. That's when I got the idea to write bee raps. Each rap is 36 lines, and each line is ten syllables or less. The rap can be used as a primer or as a review.

Mordy Mandell
Brooklyn, NY

Letters to the Editor - November 2011

(Excerpt)

Canadian Barrier to U.S. Honey

    As a 35 year commercial beekeeper and retail seller of honey a situation has arisen that I felt should be brought to the attention of other beekeepers.
    As a beekeeper who lives 2 miles from the border with Canada, access to this market is important to me and important to our Canadian customers who come down to purchase our honey. The "door" has been effectively shut! For the last 25 years we have taken honey up and sold it and now Canadian regulations have cut that off as now the honey needs to be in approved metric sizes, French and English labels, approval by CFIA, all of which have created a barrier that's just too high for us to comply, so we no longer take it up and we’re forced to take it off grocery shelves in Rossland, B.C.
    Now to add insult to injury, a Canadian customer who had come down and purchased a 5 gallon container, was turned back by Canadian Customs as the 5 gallon container is no longer allowed!
    As I know much Canadian [honey] comes down to the U.S. by the semi-load duty free, this is just a little upsetting to me and also to my many loyal Canadian customers. I've contacted CFIA, USDA, Dept. of Commerce, and now you to complain about this unfair trade practice. I don't have much hope that any federal agency, either American or
Canadian, will do anything to remedy this situation, but I do believe that you giving it the light of day will have a much bigger effect.
    If you would like to find out more,
please let me know, either by e-mail
webeeple@gmail.com or call me at 509-732-6246.

Matt Wolohan
Rainbow Honey
Northport, WA



Thoughts on Treating and Sampling for Varroa Mites

The problem I have with many of the articles on treating and sampling for Varroa mites is that there seems to be an underlying assumption that a Varroa mite is a constant in its ability to damage bee hives. Anyone that has kept bees for over 25 years, as I have, has seen the huge variability in individual colonies. This variability exists in the Varroa mites as well.
A Varroa mite is a parasite. In the realm of parasites, a Varroa mite is NOT a successful parasite because, at least initially, it killed its hosts, the bees. A parasite that kills its host cannot survive! Essentially if a hive dies from an infestation of Varroa mites then the Varroa mites die also.
As of today there are too many stories of people successfully keeping bees without any treatments for Varroa mites to dismiss.  For people to keep bees without treatments for Varroa mites a couple of things must have occurred:
1.Bees must have evolved or adapted in some way to deal with a Varroa mite infestastion.
2.The Varroa mite must have evolved or adapted to become less virulent in order to let its host survive so it too could survive.
Most likely a combination of the two has occurred. We have seen the Varroa mite adapt to both Fluvalinate and Coumaphos in order to survive. To me it seems highly likely that the Varroa mites have also evolved to become less virulent to the bees in order to survive.
Getting back to my problem with many of the articles is that we can do ether rolls or whatever other complicated, time-consuming sampling technique for Varroa mites we choose, but however number of Varroa mites we come up with in our counts, we don’t know whether those mites are particularly virulent or whether they are transmitting viruses. In my opinion it does no good to sample or treat for Varroa if we don’t know how virulent the strain of Varroa is or what viruses it is carrying.
Maybe it makes more sense to look at the big picture. If a bee hive can survive the winter and produce a good honey crop, regardless of whether it has Varroa mites or not may be the only test that matters.

Doug Townsend
Bedford, MA



Russian Honey Bees

    I am a Russian honey bee breeder and certified member of the Russian Honey Bee Breeders Association.
Today I received a copy of the August issue of Bee Craft which is the official journal of the British Beekeepers Association.
In it I find an interesting article from proceedings of the (IBRA) International Bee Research Association. Dr. Doran Pritchard’s presentation titled: Varroa Tolerance or Intolerance
The article begins and I quote: “Examining student reports has taught me that precision in language is a good indicator of the other qualities of any work reported. So does anyone really want Varroa-tolerant bees? If there were such things those hives would act as strongholds for the mites, from which they would harass the neighborhood. What we all should be working toward is Varroa intolerant bees.”
I felt a sense of vindication to hear this language clarification for I always considered my Russian bees to be mite intolerant in that they will tolerate only a limited number of varroa and resist others to the extent that they are unable to damage the colony. Dr. Pritchard then goes on to discuss progress and lack of progress in achieving mite resistance and refers to the Russian bees as an example of mite-resistant bees. Russian bees are resistant to mites and very intolerant of them in the hive or else they could not be managed without mite treatments. I too believe that the use of correct language is important.

Carl Webb
Clarksville, GA



An Early Summer Test of Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS)

    Randy Oliver in ABJ September issue wrote:

“DISCUSSION
Formic acid is an effective and well-proven Miticide, but with devilish problems in handling safety and in controlling the vaporization rate such that it will efficiently kill the mites without excessively harming the bees.
MAQS is the most user –friendly formic application method that I have seen to date.”

Randy I admire you for the amount of work you do and how you explain complicated issues in layman's beekeeper language...
The July “Rules for Successful Beekeeping” is a great example of the good work you do.
Unfortunately, the above MAQS article is damaging your credibility.

1- A few years ago you gave the same high appraisal to MITE AWAY II.

2- There is no “Devilish problems in handling safety” of formic acid if the beekeeper is careful and uses MITEGONE ready to fill kits and has common sense.

3- The method that will control “the vaporization rate such that it will efficiently kill the mites without excessively harming the bees” was developed in 1994 and patented in 2000. Refer to the MiteGone website at: http://www.mitegone.com. The problem in the USA is that liquid formic acid is not registered as a pesticide in the USA. Beekeepers can use it in their own hive, but no one can sell it for use on bees. Many who use it, keep quiet about it.

4- Your whole trial is SCIENTIFICALLY and STATISTICALLY incorrect. YOU forgot to do to your controls the same as was done to treatment colonies.
A-    If you remove all capped brood and kill it in mid July when 90 % mites are in capped cells, you will have instant 90% efficacy and you will save the open brood in the colony.
B-    If you caged the queens preventing them from laying, you will have the same reduction in mites by breaking the mite/bee brood cycle and you will not lose any queens.
C-    If you did all of that manipulation on your control hives, you probably would have found that your control would have had the same efficacy as the MAQS treatment. The controls only lost capped brood while the treatment hive would have lost capped brood, open brood, and some queens; therefore to get the same or better results you do not need to use any acid at all.

Bill Ruzicka
Bill’s Honey Farm
Home of MiteGone Formic Acid Treatment
Kelowna, British Columbia
CANADA
www.mitegone.com


Randy Oliver Responds

Thanks for the comments, Bill. I am testing MAQS for my own information as a beekeeper, and sharing the results—good, bad, or indifferent—with my readership. Re: test and control groups, I am testing simply to compare the effect of MAQS treatment vs. no treatment upon the resulting mite levels.
I was not trying to compare treatment vs. any brood removal or queen caging methods.

Randy Oliver


Rattlesnakes in Almond Orchards

    This year (2011) a rattlesnake was found in an almond orchard in the California Central Valley. No rattlesnakes had been reported in the area for over 60 years. There are an infinite number of ways that the rattlesnake could have arrived there. One possibility for the reader to consider is inside or under a bee hive. Bee alert! It is a rare occurence, but it does happen.

Alan Buckley
Portola Valley, California


Beekeeping in Oman

    I read the article Beekeeping in the Sultanate of Oman, very interesting indeed. I allow myself to draw your attention to the right figure on page 878, the plant pictured is not Ziziphus spina Christi as mentioned, but one of the acacias. Both are in Israel and are very attractive to honey bees, mainly Ziziphus, which supplies pollen and nectar.

Dan Eisikowitch Ph. D.
Professor emeritus
Dept. of Plant Sciences
Tel Aviv University
Israel


Mxing Sugar Syrup

    In my September 2011 article, “Feeding Basics”, I referred to mixing large quantities of syrup in clean or new metal garbage cans. Since then, readers have informed me that many garbage cans nowadays are not watertight and will leak. Therefore, if a beekeeper wants to use them for mixing syrup, he wIll need to solder the bottoms to make them watertight.
In addition, if plastic trash receptacles are used, try to avoid those with deep side grooves since they will make thorough sugar mixing more difficult. They have a tendency to hold in unmixed sugar.

Roy Hendrickson
Chardon, Ohio

Letters to the Editor - October 2011

(Excerpt)

Indian honey ban

Your August editorial urging the USA to immediately ban all imports of Indian honey because some shipments may include transshipped China honey is a bad idea. If Washington bans the import of Indian honey, what next? Do we then ban honey from all Asian countries if we suspect that their honey exports to USA may include honey of Chinese origin? And will the countries whose imports we ban simply accept our actions and not retaliate by banning our exports to them?

We have experience with banning imports. In 1930, with the Great Depression raging in USA, we banned the imports of products that competed too aggressively in our market. The Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 banned the imports of 20,000 such goods. Countries with products on the USA ‘Denied Entry’ list retaliated by banning an equal number of USA goods.   

The United States is the world’s biggest exporter. We must not jeopardize this achievement by acting irresponsibly against other countries’ exports to the USA.   

USA laws banning the import of trans-shipped and false ‘country-of-origin’ goods are important to protect the USA consumer, as well as USA domestic producers of such goods, beekeepers and honey processors included. USA Customs is working hard to enforce these laws. With more time and a bigger budget, Customs will do a better job of identifiying and rejecting honey imports that violate our laws. The great majority of USA importers respect our laws and want USA Customs to enforce all laws on imported goods, including honey.

Bill Kentor, President
Great Foods Inc.
 

Letters to the Editor - September 2011

(Full Version)

Restructive Laws which force the Cutting of Wildflowers Inspire Poem

The attached poem by me should be appropriate to publish in the ABJ. This poem is inspired by jurisdictions all over our nation who in ignorance are passing restrictive laws on cutting weeds (wildflowers) which the honey bees in my area depend on for fall pollen and nectar to overwinter.

38 year Beekeeper,
Maywood L. Wilson
Yorktown, VA

Ode To A Honeybee

A field of weeds to a honeybee,
Is paradise to see,
Blooming wildflowers nectar sweet,
She gathers fore the Winters sleet.

No other creature supplies for man,
The honey that we eat,
To stay healthy and strong,
Thru Winter's cold and Summer's heat.

But foolish people set on boards,
And demand we mow them down,
With no knowledge of the ecosystem,
The honeybee is bound.

In Fall from weeds she gathers,
Pollen and nectar store,
To keep her brood thru Winters storms,
Till Spring will bring her more.

So cut the weeds and kill the bees,
Your ignorance will seal our doom,
Two-thirds of all the food we eat,
Depends on flowers bloom.

Maywood L. Wilson

Veteran Worker Bee

During our springtime honey flow this veteran worker, with time-worn wings, was photographed collecting nectar from a blackberry blossom - adding it's floral fragrance and taste to the ever-changing, always delectable honey crop produced here in East Tennessee.

Fred Sloop
Buzzy Bee Apiary
Oak Ridge, TN

In Defense of Warre Hives

Jerry Hayes writes that Warré hives look like a pain in the neck (ABJ 150(12), Dec 2010, p. 1113). Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 'Warréors' love their hives. Warré's 'People's Hive' is almost as aesthetically pleasing as a WBC hive.

How do we administer pest, parasite and disease control in Warrés? Such control is far less necessary in the extensive beekeeping that Warré beekeepers practice. Contrast this with intensive beekeeping that has shown its spectacular failure in recent years. When required individual Warré combs are inspected after simply freeing them from the walls with a comb knife and resting them on a holder for close examination. Some Warré beekeepers do treat their colonies for Varroa, but as far as I know most don't, as they find it unnecessary. Their bees do fine without pesticides.

Hayes says that horizontally expanded (Kenyan) top-bar hives (hTBH) are better for comb manipulation than Warré's vertically expanded top-bar hive. In truth, both require a comb cutter to free the comb from the sides, whereas the smaller comb format of the Warré makes it easier to handle than hTBH combs. Furthermore, having kept Warrés for five seasons, I have never found the few connections of the combs to the top-bars of the box below to be a problem. Boxes so connected are easily freed with a slight rotation. Rarely is a cheesewire needed to separate them. Adhesion is almost eliminated by using smooth top-bars treated on the top surface with raw linseed oil.

Hayes says 'under supering is a pain'. Warré beekeepers rarely use supers, i.e. boxes placed on top of the nest. Instead, they allow the colony to extend naturally downwards by nadiring new boxes under the brood nest and harvesting from the top the boxes that have filled with honey as the brood hatches. This has a huge health benefit for colonies because old comb, which may harbor disease, as Hayes acknowledges, is automatically removed and rendered as the colony expands. If there's no assistance available for nadiring, we use a Gatineau lift. Mine cost $30 and will pick up five Warré broods without difficulty.

Hayes statement, 'you kill a lot of bees', may reflect his own experience with Warrés, but I don't kill bees with mine. I have not come across any Warréors who do. I and many others have also noticed that Warré bees are generally more docile than those in frame hives. 

We concur with Hayes: Warrés are not honey factories. Those who use them are not primarily seeking honey money. Instead they want as bee-friendly a habitation for their bees as they can find, and yet still get some honey while complying with state bee disease inspection regimes.

Hayes writes: " 'bee space' ... allowed beekeeping to become easier, more efficient and enjoyable. It is the basis of all successful beekeeping. Are you sure you want to go back over 150 years into beekeeping history and re-invent the wheel?" We answer 'yes' and for sound scientific reasons detailed elsewhere. Bee space was invented to suit beekeepers. It is not present in a natural bee nest, nor is the pile of sticks that is needed to maintain it. Bees build holes through and round combs but know of no 'bee space'.

Towards the end of his comments on Warrés, Hayes implies that ugly words come out of his mouth when working with the hive. Let's face it: some personalities are just not suited to slow, sustainable, near-natural beekeeping. So let's have diversity of hive type and management as part of efforts to reduce the massive losses of honey bees that we in the UK often hear about from the USA.

In his 1887 book, British Beekeepers' Association co-founder Frank Cheshire classified hives for bees and hives for beekeepers. The Warré hive is a hive for bees par excellence.

For more on the Warré hive itself see www.warre.biobees.com, and on the scientific basis of bee-friendly beekeeping see www.bee-friendly.co.uk .

David Heaf
Wales, UK
david@dheaf.plus.com

Chemical-free Beekeeping

The recent article [July 2011, "Rules" for Successful Beekeeping] by Randy Oliver is a recap of the talk Randy gave to our club recently. Randy has his pulpit and gets to say whatever he wants.

Randy chooses to embrace chemical treatments of his bees. That's his prerogative. He very fervently justifies this to himself and to others through his talks and writings. If you don't agree he brands you a Taliban? I'm very suspicious of this zeal to righteousness.
In the 25 plus years of my beekeeping life there have been many changes in the way bees are kept.

We are organic farmers. We have never used any chemical treatments on our certified organic farm and the farm is very successful with few if any pest problems. We do this by building the soil. Healthy soil builds strong plants. Strong plants don't get sick. This is the organic method.

We observed a similar system applied to beekeeping at the apiary of John Kefuss north of Toulouse, France in 2009. John is arguably the godfather of non-chemical treatment beekeeping. His credentials are impeccable. An article that appeared in the ABJ about John can be found at:

http://tinyurl.com/3gus2p9

We searched one of his apiaries for mites and after an hour of opening up hives and pulling out pupae, we never found one mite.  He offers one Euro cent for every mite anyone finds in his apiary. 

John advertises throughout Europe to purchase mite-infested capped brood so he can keep up resistance to mites in his apiaries.  He believes that mites will one day become extinct because their hosts will be naturally resistant.

I really don't need someone to lecture me about how good chemicals are for my bees.  If someone wants to keep their bees that way, then good for them. I will not be labeling them the Taliban of all beekeepers for their choice.

We are making progress with our bees this year. We have a plan and it's all about breeding bees that are naturally resistant to mites.

Jerry Draper
Beekeeper
California

Randy Oliver Responds

Jerry, I feel that you may have completely missed the point of both my presentation to your club, as well as that of my article. My point was to free beginning beekeepers from some of the dogmatic exhortations by proponents of some methods. For example, I'm also a long-time organic gardener and orchardist, but I don't try to force my personal preferences upon others.

Far from "embracing" chemical treatments, the reality is that I have a clear history of promoting the breeding of naturally resistant bees as the first choice in fighting varroa, using biotechnical methods as the second, and resorting to the use of natural treatment with organic acids or botanicals only if necessary (for hobbyists). I don't support the use of any synthetic miticides.

As with you, in my own operation I breed for resistant stock, with considerable success, and also use the excellent USDA Russian and VSH lines. In addition, I offered your club assistance in breeding locally-adapted stock (as I have already done for two of your neighboring clubs).

Jerry, I am very sorry if I offended you-the point of my article was simply to point out that beekeeping should be free of rigid dogma. This must have struck a chord with beekeepers, as I received more positive feedback from beekeepers and researchers than for all my previous articles combined!

Randy Oliver

Slovenian Beekeeping Association Initiates Save the Bees Campaign

Apiculture is a traditional agricultural activity in Slovenia. Anton Janša (1734-1773), the first apiculture teacher in imperial Vienna, brought the knowledge of the Slovenian rural beekeeper to the world more than 230 years ago. One hundred years later the region became renowned for its bee, Apis mellifera carnica, which soon became famous throughout the world.

Bees have remained uniformly populated throughout the territory of Slovenia, thereby contributing to maintaining the balance of nature. By pollinating indigenous and cultivated plants, bees contribute the most to food production by far. International experts assess pollination as having a 10- to 20-times greater economic significance than the direct economic significance of apiculture products.

Bees are not only important as pollinators in agriculture, for through pollination they also significantly contribute to the extraordinary biological diversity in our country, which Slovenian experts rank as one of the most naturally rich regions in Europe. Today the conditions for apiculture have changed: presence of varroa mites in bee colonies, intensive agriculture and the use of phyto-pharmaceutical preparations, climatic changes and environmental pollution, all of which have resulted in apiculture becoming an increasingly endangered industry. To avoid the catastrophic effects of the deterioration of bee colonies, the Beekeeping Association of Slovenia has launched the large Save the Bees campaign. The purpose of the campaign is to declare bees as an endangered animal species, inform the public of the importance of bees, emphasize the need for educating and training young beekeepers, increase bee pastures through the planting of bee plants and trees, increase the number of studies on bee maintenance, eliminate and decrease the detrimental effects of using phyto-pharmaceutical substances, increase the concern for a clean environment and clean water, and encourage a nature-friendly economy, etc.

We collected 30,000 signatures in 2010 with the Save the Bees Petition, asking the competent institutions to adopt suitable legal solutions in line with the specified demands.

The Beekeeping Association of Slovenia carries out numerous activities within the scope of the Save the Bees project. We call on Slovenian municipalities to only plant indigenous medicinal plants in public spaces such as parks and lawns, inform people of the importance of bees through educational and promotional materials, proclaim municipalities and companies whose activities are environmentally-friendly as bee-friendly, cooperate with the association Eco Slovenia and collect donations within the fund for preserving Carniolian honey bees in order to build didactical apiaries in the adjacent surroundings of Slovenian elementary schools. We also established the Save the Bees website in a number of languages.

Our mission and objective are to inform as wide a circle of people of the significance of bees for our environment and lives. Therefore, we have also prepared promotional shirts bearing the slogan: "No bees, no life", "Keep healthy through bees" and "Plant a flower for a bee".

Next year at the end of March Slovenia will be the host of the Second International Conference of Beekeeping Organizations. This Conference will be dedicated to the preservation and planting of indigenous, melliferous, bee plants across European countries. The Beekeeping Association of Slovenia is also calling on apiculturists from other countries to join in the campaign, for we should all have the same goal, namely to SAVE THE BEES.

Additional information and promotional activities are available at the website www.ohranimo-cebele.si.

Boštjan Noč
Pres. of the Beekeeping Association of Sloveni

Letters to the Editor - August 2011

Excerpt

Controlling small hive beetles?

 My wife and I started beekeeping just one year ago. We have five acres in a rural area about half way between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. Our yard backs up to a two-acre pond. Nearby is farmland and a lake surrounded by a forest.

 The site we chose for our apiary is near the pond with a line of arbor vitae in between for a proper windbreak. I decided to use concrete pavers, left over from having sidewalks installed around our house, for the foundation of our apiary.

 First, I laid thick black plastic sheets on the ground and then placed the pavers on top. The plastic sheets were to prevent grass from growing up between the pavers. Since the ground is on a slight incline, I leveled the hives using concrete slabs that were once used for A/C units. These slabs provided excellent stabilization.

 Because skunks are prevalent in our area and we occasionally have horses passing through our yard, I installed a fence with a gate around the apiary.

 In reading articles about small hive beetles, I learned that they are capable of flying several miles. The females lay eggs in the cracks and crevices of the hives, and sometimes on brood comb. The larvae enter the soil within a few feet of a hive and dig down several inches. They create underground chambers where the larvae change into pupae and then into adults. The new adult small hive beetle will dig its way out of the soil. In about one week, the adult female will start laying eggs in the hives.

 By using the leftover pavers and plastic sheets, could I have accidently prevented the small hive beetles from infesting our hives by denying them access to the soil? Maybe this was unknowingly a proactive prevention mechanism. The bottom line is, we have no small hive beetles.

 Beekeeper Bio: My wife and I started with two colonies in 2010, and now have four colonies including one top-bar hive. We are members of the Howard County Beekeepers Association.

References:
American Bee Journal, Vol. 151, No. 6, "Honey Bee Biology" by Dr. Wyatt A. Mangum
ABC & ZYZ of Bee Culture, Forty-first edition

Ross L. Englehart
Dayton, MD

Letters to the Editor - July 2011

Full Version

The Extraordinary "Honey Man" of Florida

I'm lucky to call him my mentor, he's George Waldoch "the Honey man", 91 years young and still helping teach novice beekeepers and keeping 100 + hives himself in Northeast Florida.
 One day a couple of years ago George invited me to accompany him to check one of his apiaries and that began a year's adventure for me traveling with him from time to time to help and learn.
 George began beekeeping as a child in Minnesota on the family farm and came with his father to Florida to bring hives for the winter. After military service, George settled in Florida with his family. He sold and serviced sewing machines and made many friends in the area. This hard working father of four is known fondly by one local resident I spoke with recently as "the dear man who was determined to help my mother provide sewing machines for her daughters and the wonderful source of our local honey too." There are many such stories.
 And these days he is still busy attending our local association meetings, often bringing a spray of whatever wildflower is blooming to help teach. He is held in such high regard that members stand in line to greet him and ask for his advice. Always modest, George enjoys the questions and provides straightforward solutions to beekeeping issues.

Gayle Prevatt
Florida

Decorated Hive Donated to Michigan Garden Club

 We donated this decorated hive to our local Master Gardeners Club to be displayed and used as an educational hive. The windows actually open up on the side and back to reveal the bees. We are also going to be doing another demonstration with a hive give away at our "Wild Lapeer Day" on May 21st. We will be giving out 8-frame supers to be painted and decorated. They will then return the supers 30 days later at the Master Showcase Gardens for judging. We will then give away another modified hive (It will either look like a log cabin or a barn) to the winner we think painted/decorated the nicest super. People always think hives have to be a boring white - we are trying to educate people that they don't have to be that way. We have received such a good response from the hive so far - more people are thinking about getting into bees!
 Eric Kramer was the beekeeper who made the hive. I'm the beehaver (the bees are on my property because his wife doesn't like bees, but she's learning to. They live across the road from me and they help me on the farm)

Melissa Jaskiewicz
Michigan

New Bee Article Site Available­

 I work on the Digital Media team at Discovery Communications and wanted to inform you of a content feature we're launching today. We've developed and compiled nearly 50 articles related to issues and challenges facing bees and will be featuring this collection of content across our network of sites today. Based on the work your organization does, we wanted to make you aware of this collection of content in case you find it useful. Please feel free to share this link with others interested in creating awareness around the many issues facing bees. http://news.discovery.com/earth/bees-colony-collapse-honey.html

Regards,
Amy Todd

BEEKEEPER EDUCATION

I write this to all beekeepers; veterans and new alike. Both groups need to appreciate the other and be willing to help the other. Not everyone will have a lot of time to help another beekeeper. The veteran may be able to answer emails and phone questions, but not have the time to spend a day in another apiary. That's understandable; however, if you could put that new beekeeper in contact with someone who has the time for onsite visits it would be greatly appreciated.

Both groups can potentially learn something new or see something old in a new light. I have heard veteran beekeepers tell new beekeepers that something shouldn't be done that way, it will not work like that, or it needs to be done like this. Also, I have heard veterans say that you have to have at least a certain number of hives to be successful. I ask veterans to keep in mind that they may have a different goal in mind than the new beekeeper who may be seeking advice. The new beekeeper may only want just a few hives. Please be careful not to push a certain technique of the way things should be done just because it works for you. Take the time to discuss the alternatives and the reason you chose the method used by yourself. Without the right encouragement and support, new beekeepers can feel like they don't fit in with other beekeepers, that their ideas are "wrong" and that the methods they want to try are stupid ideas. Eventually, they may feel stupid and discouraged. If the beekeepers feel stupid and become discouraged, they may pull away from beekeeping without even giving themselves a chance.

All of us have been to bee schools and club meetings and seen the number of different people who attend. How many of those different people do we see who continue to come to meetings and bee schools? If we look at the ages of current beekeepers, we will notice many are in older age classes. We all need to try and encourage younger beekeepers so our experience and way of life continue for future generations. Everyone needs a little encouragement; whether it is veteran who lost 50% of his hives over the winter or the new beekeeper who is struggling to keep one hive going. Remember that what is common knowledge to a veteran may be like a foreign language to a new beekeeper.
 
As we enjoy our interest, it is important to note beekeeping has changed in recent years and will continue to change as we face the changing environment. What beekeepers know and the management styles we use will need to continue to change to stay successful. New beekeepers need to be made aware of the everyday challenges of beekeeping as well. Everyone has split hives to prevent swarming, but even though the hive isn't strong enough to swarm, they still swarm. Bees will do what they want if they want to bad enough. Veterans have for the most part learned to accept these things about beekeeping. A new beekeeper may not know that the bees cannot always be controlled; that things don't always work as they were discussed at the meeting, or as written in books.
 
I can't count the number of times I have heard it said a management style that works for one beekeeper may not work for another. However, beekeepers still tell others that their management idea will not work. For example, some beekeepers treat with chemicals, but others do not. Many beekeepers automatically assume that all beekeepers treat with chemicals. This is just like saying that everyone uses two deep hive bodies, but not everyone does. Each beekeeper will find their own way to keep bees; which should be what the veteran is striving for. Knowing they helped another new beekeeper reach the point that they can run their bee hives by themselves should be a good feeling for a veteran. Every situation is different, every beekeeper's goals and ideas are different. If the veteran and the new beekeeper have similar thoughts and/or goals about beekeeping then the process will go better. Having very different ideas for beekeeping between the two will cause problems and make the experience bad for all those involved. 
 
Bee clubs need to appreciate their new members and help them reach their goals, as well as the goals of the veteran members. Be willing to ask the new beekeepers what would help them or what they are interested in. When preparing bee schools for new beekeepers, the newest members in your club can be a great asset to you. Listen for what they want to learn at a bee school and adapt a method of teaching that will help them learn best. Beekeeping is an art. As such we all start out being able to do the art, albeit maybe not that good, but we can do it. Hopefully, as the seasons progress our skills in the art will improve. Some will start beekeeping and it will be very easy for them and they will have few problems. Others will be able to keep bees, but it will be more difficult for them. Others will keep bees only because of their never ending desire to not be beaten.
 
We all started out new to beekeeping and I think sometime veterans lose that connection with that time in our beekeeping lives. I know I've been asked questions before and after answering I have wondered whether the answer given, fit that beekeeper and the situation or if the terms I used were understood by the beekeeper. Beekeeping has many terms that apply only to beekeeping, so be sure that new people know the terms. Explain to new beekeepers that just because they are not as successful as you doesn't mean they are a bad beekeeper. Experience helps increase success and so does luck; rain, good queens, etc. Success itself can be determined by different things; honey production, the number of queens produced, keeping your hives alive, or just enjoying beekeeping. Every beekeeper must determine what success to them is. Have goals that are obtainable.
 
Education, both continued and new education, is the important component to keeping bees today. New diseases and pests have been found in bee hives recently and without continued education we would not know anything about them. Nosema for example, now has two different forms: Nosema apis and Nosema ceranae. Without continued education we would know nothing about the newest form of Nosema. Many scientists worldwide are devoted to the study of things involving bees. Much information is available through books, magazines and the Internet. Some sources of information on bees like anything else are not factual. Many states have government employees whose job has to do with bees. These agencies will often have websites with useful and timely information. Many colleges and state bee associations have websites that offer much information. If you will take the time to search, many hours of reading material is available at your fingertips. However, reading and hearing about things involving beekeeping is not the same as doing what you read. Firsthand experience working your hives will teach you many things. Books may talk about different ways to manage your hives, but you still must put those management techniques to use in your hives.

Brian Stiff
Queensboro, KY

Letters to the Editor - June 2011

Excerpt

Beekeeping Course Suggestions Requested

 Help! I am planning to teach a course on bees in the fall of 2011 at our local college. It will be a three-semester hour course offered in the evenings for college credit, but open to anyone who wants to take it. It is not expected to be just a beekeeping course, although I hope to introduce basic beekeeping as part of it. The intent is to explore pollination, bee biology, and bee culture of both native bees and honey bees.

 I would welcome any suggestions, activities, topics, curriculum, or methods.
 I am a professor of biology, but my training was all done in the field of parasitology. Later I did research in insect pathology, but not specifically bees. I understand biology pretty well, but have never studied bees professionally. I am just a hobby beekeeper myself. But I believe that hobby beekeepers and part-timers may hold the key to better bee health of both native and honey bees by providing a stable environment for bees to evolve. In other words, I would like to contribute to regional pollination through this course. If anyone can help me out in designing such a course I would be very grateful.
 
Please send suggestions to me at any of the following:

Dr. Gary McCallister
Biology Dept.
Mesa State College
Grand Junction, CO 81501
970-248-1939
mccallis@mesastate.edu

"Old Beekeepers Will Do Strange Things for Fun"

As you may know, I am the main volunteer beekeeper at the DuPage County Forest Preserve Kline Creek Farm and am beginning my 28th year taking care of bees.
I thought perhaps you may find my story amusing as to how old beekeepers have fun.
Tuesday night, March 30, one of my volunteers called to discuss a feral colony in an old white oak tree that had been cut down Friday. After four days the colony was still surviving.
I made arrangements to meet him at the site at 0930 this morning. I was reminded that a nuc might not be large enough to hold all the bees and comb. Also, bring a container for a lot of honey.

At the site this morning I discovered that, indeed, this had been an old tree and could have been as old as 150 years - more or less. The tree had been cut in about 2-foot sections. The section with the bees was about three feet in diameter and the cavity section, which was filled with old comb, was a little more than one foot in diameter.
Mostly, the cavity was filled with old comb, but we did find ten or twelve square inches of capped and uncapped brood which I tied in an empty frame. We did not see the queen, but assumed she had entered the nuc with, maybe half a pound of bees.

I then took the nuc back to Kline Creek Farm, gave them a quart of sugar water - using a Boardman Feeder and wished them well. I am interested in seeing how these bees behave - under my supervision after living more than one year in the wild.
As for honey, I believe there was enough for my two pancakes which I usually eat Saturday morning.

As I said before, we old beekeepers will do strange things for fun. But I do have the satisfaction of knowing I did save a feral colony from certain death and some day they may build up to a whole pound of bees.

Lawrence A. DuBose
Carol Stream, IL

Article About Beeswax

 Concerning the article on "Beeswax" by Dr. Larry Connor in your March 2011 issue, p. 245, Dr. Connor states, "Once the scale is large enough the workers remove it with a spine on their hind leg and transfer it to their mouthparts." While studying in the Master Beekeeping Program at NC State University, I read in one of the suggested references about honey bee anatomy that, "the middle pair of legs have a stout spine which is used to spear wax scales from abdominal wax glands and pass them to the mouthparts." This reference is Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping, by Dr. Dewey M. Caron. This discrepency - while certainly not making any difference to my bees - may be important to some of us who are studying to pass the exams and become Master Beekeepers.

Thank you for the wonderful job that you and others do with the "American Bee Journal." I look very forward to receiving and reading my magazine every month.

Vernell Gillispie, Jr.
Eden, NC

Letters to the Editor - May 2011

Full Version

California Apiary Research Commission Proposed

 Go West young man go West. When things got tough in our history as a nation, many looked to the west for a fresh start. Many found that fresh start. Today the almond industry brings many beekeepers from all over our great nation to the state of California to pick up that extra income that almond pollination provides. With that tremendous opportunity comes some problems. The main problem is the rapid distribution of diseases and pests. Any disease or pest that has entered the United States in the past year is probably going to be brought to California for almond pollination. Diseases or pests are then shared with all the neighboring beekeepers in adjoining almond fields here in California. Then they are taken back and distributed across the United States.

 In some ways you could say we are responsible for this. But we are also looking for some solutions to these problems. The government has been good on promises of money to research CCD, Varroa, Viruses, Nosema, Trachael mites, and others. However most of the money promised just never seems to arrive.

 The California State Beekeepers Association (CSBA) has consistently raised over $50,000 dollars annually and donated this money to research around the country. Our requests for donations, which involves encouraging people to attend benefit auctions, has been stretched to the limit. We are simply unable to raise enough money from the generous people who donate and go home with over priced items they really do not need, not to mention the generous people who hunted up or hand-made those items to donate to the auctions. Research does not come for free; people have to be hired to do it. The first step in solving a problem is to understand it, and that takes information, which is acquired through research.

 The CSBA has taken the first steps necessary to create a "California Apiary Research Commission". The purpose of this commission is to raise funds to use in the beekeeping industry for education and research. If established, the Commission would assess all bee colonies in California on March 1st of the year being assessed. Beekeepers with 50 colonies or less would be exempt. While none of us like to pay additional fees, this assessment would allow us to be less dependent on the government for our research dollars. It would be an investment in our future. This assessment will provide a stable, dependable source of research dollars for our whole industry. The commission will be in control of the rate of assessment, and where those funds are spent. The proposed commission would be run by beekeepers (including at least one from outside of California) who are elected by the bee industry.

 Finally, our Board of Directors would like you to know some important facts about our industry-sponsored legislation AB 1912 which sets up the Commission:
 1) The law AB 1912 now exists, but the Commission will not exist until approved in a referendum conducted among the eligible producers (those of us with 50+ colonies in CA on March 1st).
 2) The Commission's members will be beekeepers, chosen by the industry. Its purpose will be to fund research and educational programs to benefit beekeepers.
 3) The Commission will be allowed to annually assess beekeepers with 50+ colonies at a per colony rate as low as one cent but never to exceed one dollar.
 4) This Commission, if established, would be in control of collection and expenditures of the assessments as spelled out in the law.
 5) The State of California is prohibited by law from ever taking any of the funds collected by these assessments.
 6) The commission will have six beekeepers and one public member. Three of the beekeepers will be residents of California, one will reside out-of-state, and the other two will be elected regardless of residence.
 7) The CDFA (CA Dept. of Food & Ag.) will compile the list of producers who will vote on the referendum and be assessed if the referendum passes. While CDFA is looking for names electronically, they will gladly accept signups. There is a signup form on the CDFA website. The referendum is open to out-of-state and California-based beekeepers, subject to the restriction on colony numbers. To vote, out-of-state beekeepers must have brought 50+ colonies to California and been in California on March 1, 2011.
 If this commission does not fulfill our needs, we only have to go to our fellow beekeepers who serve on the commission. If they do not listen, we can elect other beekeepers or vote to end the commission. This commission is the best solution that has been proposed to help solve our own problems and spread that cost out over the entire industry in the fairest manner possible.

Thank you for your time,
Frank Pendell
President, California State
Beekeepers Association
(see ad page 426)

Bee Diseases and Varroa Mites

 All of the sophisticated work done on colony collapse disorder and the virus problems that may be associated with it that has been published in the ABJ is very very impressive. It would appear that the varroa mite has been implicated as a source of many, if not all of the problems. This is just a suggestion coming from a dumb hobbyist beekeeper, but why don't they subject the varroa mites to the same analytical techniques they have used on the bees to determine if the varroa mite is a carrier for all of these viruses. If it is, that would emphasize an even greater need for varroa mite control.

Douglas S. Doremus
Baton Rouge, LA

Screened Open Bottom Board Rebuttal

 Roy Hendrickson's paper, titled "Waxing Frames", was published in the February 2008 issue of Bee Culture. The procedure looked logical so I tried it. It worked! Thank you Roy for sharing that information.
 However, in his paper titled "Managing Varroa (Part 1) IPM Realities" published in the March 2011 Issue of American Bee Journal he states: "In reality, after 10 or 12 years of continued use it should be obvious to all concerned that screened bottom boards have very little to offer in the way of Varroa control." I do not agree with that statement.
 I have been using the "Screened Bottom Board/Dead Air Space Configuration" since May 2005 with great success. (Ref. Bee Culture September 2008, Page 44, J. Hoffman, "DEAD AIR SPACE - A Hive Configuration For All Seasons"). For six years, that system has proven quite capable of keeping the mite population at a comfortable low level. What makes my system better than all other "Run of the Mill" Screened Open Bottom Boards?

Four factors:
 #1: I use 1/2" x 1/2" mesh wire screen - nothing bigger and nothing smaller. Larger mesh, mice will enter. Smaller mesh, sufficient hive debris cannot pass through. The hive debris, with mites, drops down and accumulates on either the standard wood bottom board or the popular 1/8" X 1/8" mesh screen. The mites cannot survive much more than 24 hours without feeding on a host bee. The mite cannot walk very far nor fly so she will wait on the hive debris for the inevitable "Housekeeping" bee to stop by to clean up the debris. When the bee is close enough, the mite attaches itself to its new host for a free meal and transportation back up into the brood chamber. The cycle continues unabated.
   The 1/2" x 1/2" wire mesh screen allows sufficient debris, including live mites, to pass through and dumped outside of the hive. The housekeeping bees do not go outside to clean up the debris so the cycle is broken. The live mites die outside the hive within 24 to 48 hours. Without hive debris to clean up, the housekeeping crew can then concentrate on keeping the brood chamber in top condition.
 #2: Expose the sticky board to the debris drop (24 hours maximum). Keep the sticky board at room temperature and complete the live mite count within the following 24 hours. Count only live mites on the sticky board. Dead mite and empty shell counts are just random confounding factors.
 #3: Very inexpensive! I have refined the device to its simplest form. One empty super (shallow or medium/old or new) and one piece of 1/2" x 1/2" mesh galvanized wire screen 16" x l9 1/2". Staple the screen to cover the top of the super. Place the screened super on your hive stand (screened side up) and place the open bottom of the brood chamber directly on top of the screen. (Note: The old super must be sound enough to support the weight of the hive.)
 #4: I use the "Dead Air Space Configuration" which prohibits any opening or vent above the screen level. That eliminates what I call the "Chimney Effect". The screen remains completely open through all seasons, but must be protected from the East, West and (in the winter) North winds. Snow must not be allowed to block the screen opening.

John G. Hoffman
718 Sandbank Road
Mount Holly Springs, PA 17065

Dave Cushman Website

 Dave Cushman passed away in the hospital on Feb 22, 2011 after a long period of ill health. He was probably best known for his website http://www.dave-cushman.net/ that is a tremendous resource for beekeepers worldwide and considered by many to be the best.

 Several weeks before he died Dave asked me to take over his website, which I couldn't do immediately due to his declining health. I want beekeepers worldwide to know that I will do the best I can to make sure this valuable facility will continue to be available for future generations of beekeepers.

 I am unaware of the size of the task ahead of me and there may be interruptions in service which I hope will be understood.

Roger Patterson
roger-patterson@btconnect.com

Letters to the Editor - April 2011

Excerpt

Bee Educated

On Saturday, February 12, I proudly presented 18 books and 1 CD about beekeeping to Connie Whitt, head librarian, Eden Branch of the Rockingham County Public Library. Also present were Dr. David Tarpy, associate professor of Entomology at North Carolina State University, and extension apiculturist; and Jerry M. Isley, Piedmont regional director, North Carolina State Beekeepers Association. Dr. Tarpy and Mr. Isley offered their congratulations, and Dr. Tarpy added, "This activity of yours typifies the Master Beekeeper Program. It is exactly the type of good works and active citizenry that we want to foster in the NCSBA, and the Master Beekeeper Program, and Cooperative Extension."

After inquiring at the Eden Library for the books necessary to study for the Master Beekeeper Program (sponsored by the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association, along with the NC Department of Agriculture, and the Apiculture and Cooperative Extension programs at NC State University), and finding only one, I decided to contribute books about beekeeping to the library as a part of the community service necessary to attain the Journeyman level. I contacted Dr. David Tarpy, NC Master Beekeeper Program chairman, for approval to do this; and Project "Bee Educated" was born.

My project poster brandishes the theme of "Bee Educated: My Honey - My Sweat - Your Money." I explained to anyone willing to listen that I wanted to purchase and donate "bee books" to the Eden Library, fulfilling a need of the community for knowledge about honey bees. So many people had asked me questions about bees, and I wanted much of this knowledge to be readily available to them - as well as to other local beekeepers and those interested in the Master Beekeeper Program. Once you read something, it sticks with you better than just word of mouth.  Also, we need to be able to obtain scientific answers to our questions, get rid of the "witchcraft" and old wives tales, and come out of the Dark Ages. Beekeeping has changed - we now face Varroa and tracheal mites, small hive beetles, viruses, pesticide poisoning, and other problems. One of the latest is Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), where all the bees in a hive just disappear.

Project "Bee Educated" is providing books for all ages and levels of interest - from hobbyist beekeepers to members of the general public who have an interest in the welfare of the honey bee. Educating children about bees is especially important. Children's books being donated include The Magic School Bus, A Taste of Honey, and The Life and Times of the Honey Bee.

To raise funds, I sold honey from my hives; people donated money for me to purchase books; and several bee supply companies donated books. Special thanks go to Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, Dadant & Sons, Miller Bee Supply, and the Rockingham County Cooperative Extension Service for donating books. I express deep appreciation to the concerned citizens of my community for donations and support, enabling the Eden Library to have the following books:

 Honeybee Biology & Beekeeping - Dewey M. Caron
 Contemporary Queen Rearing - Harry H. Laidlaw, Jr.
 Backyard Beekeeping - Kim Flottum
 First Lessons in Beekeeping - Keith S. Delaplane
 A Taste of Honey - Nancy Elizabeth Wallace
 Hive Management - Richard E. Bonney
 Honey Handbook - Kim Flottom
 The Backyard Beekeeper - Kim Flottum
 The Hive and the Honeybee - Dadant & Sons, Inc.
 Honeybees and Beekeeping: A Year in the Life of an Apiary - Keith S. Delaplane
 The Magic School Bus - Joanna Cole and Bruce Degen
 The Life and Times of the Honey Bee - Charles Micucci
 Natural Beekeeping - Ross Conrad
 Beekeeping for Dummies - Howard Blackiston
 ABC & XYZ of Bee Culture (41st edition) - Dr. Hachiro Shimanuki, Kim Flottum, and Ann Harman
 Basic Beekeeping - Starting Your First Hive - Rancher Ron CD
 The New Complete Guide to Beekeeping - Roger A. Morse
 Honeybee Ecology: A Study of Adaptation in Social Life - Thomas D. Seeley
 Honey Bee Pests, Predators, and Diseases (2nd edition) - Roger A. Morse

I received strong support from the citizens of my community, and I believe that Project "Bee Educated" would serve other communities and beekeepers, as well. I am an active member of the Rockingham County Beekeepers' Association, the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association, and the Henry County (VA) Beekeepers' Association.

Acknowledgement: The author thanks Jean Light Kinyon for her comments and help on this manuscript.

R. V. Gillispie
rvgillispie@gmail.com
jlkinyon@vnet.net

Improved Rules for Beekeeping in Howard County, Maryland

After a nearly three-year-long struggle, on Feb. 7, 2011, the Howard County Council approved relaxed rules for backyard beekeeping.

A zoning-related nuisance complaint filed in 2008 by an opponent of backyard beekeeping was the impetus to this struggle. The original complaint was lodged against a beekeeping couple, Dan and Jeri Hemerlein, members of the Howard County Beekeepers Association. The opponent was an older gentleman who emerged as the point person for a small and disparate group of individuals opposed to beekeeping in the urban and suburban parts of the county. His disdain for stinging insects, honey bees included, was based on a notion that "there are already enough honey bees" and "I don't want bees in my backyard."

At the time of the complaint, Howard County zoning officials chose to interpret the existing Howard County livestock ordinance to include honey bees. The ordinance was designed to apply to chickens, horses, pigs, goats, sheep and cows. It required adherence to restrictive rules that required a 200-foot setback from any neighboring property line. If honey bees were "livestock," then the 200-foot setback would also apply to the keeping of apiaries.
Such a restrictive standard if applied to beekeeping would have effectively outlawed beekeeping in the eastern third of Howard County, an area of thousands of acres in size, making it one of the most restrictive jurisdictions in the county. It would have prevented 75 percent of the beekeepers in Howard County from legally keeping bees.

Fortunate for Howard County beekeepers, wiser arguments and facts won the day. One helpful fact is that New York City officially legalized beekeeping in 2010 (it has always been going on, just done quietly). In addition, favorable publicity for the Obamas having a bee colony on the South Lawn of the White House was another plus.

The improved beekeeping rules could not have been passed without the efforts of many people, the officers and members of the Howard County Beekeepers Association, members of the Maryland State Beekeepers Association, committed citizens and neighbors. Woody Medina, a member of the Howard County Beekeepers Association formed an independent organization called "Don't Squeeze the Bees," whose mission was to educate and inform. Sponsorship of the improved beekeeping ordinance by Council members Mary Kay Sigaty and Greg Fox was critical. Developing consensus for "Beekeeping Best Practices" was critical. The most important feature of the improved beekeeping ordinance would permit bee colonies to be within 10 feet of a neighboring property line, as long as a six-foot high fence or hedge is in place.

The final hurdle came with the adoption of three additional amendments to the proposed legislation. One would require beekeepers to force bees to fly at least six feet above any deck on an adjoining house, primarily through the use of plantings. A second would permit bee colonies in a front yard, if set back at least 50 feet from the street. The third amendment offered by Council member Courtney Watson and taken from the Baltimore City beekeeping code, would require that bees not "unreasonably interfere with the property of others or the comfort of the public."

This story was picked up by newspapers including the Baltimore Sun, the Washington Post, local television and by ABC news nationally. The ramifications of the case are important because Howard County is a county-level jurisdiction. Across the country, there are towns, cities and smaller municipalities that have significant beekeeping restrictions. If anti-beekeeping forces had won here at the county level, this would have serious implications for other large jurisdictions to conclude that they too, could "ban bees."

James Denny
Catonsville, Maryland

Letters to the Editor - March 2011

Full Version

Clinical Trials to Start for Bee Venom Arthritis Product

Apimeds, Inc. US Chief Operating Officer Robert Brooks PhD announced the company received a clearance letter from the US Food & Drug Administration on December 22nd  authorizing the company to proceed with its Phase III clinical trial. Apimeds plans the launch of its Phase III Apitox, a honeybee toxin, for the indication of pain and inflammation of osteoarthritis early in 2011 with clincial sites in India and the United States. 
Apimeds is a South Korean pharmaceutical dedicated to biological pharmaceutical products for unmet medical needs. This is the first US Phase III clinical trial for a Korean pharmaceutical company. The company continues to explore its Apitox product for the multiple sclerosis indication, but has not filed its intention to conduct a clinical trial for this indication. A Phase III clinical trial is the last development phase of clinical studies leading to submission of a new drug application in the US leading to marketing.

Robert Brooks PhD
Chief Operating Officer
Apimeds, Inc.
3418 Big Rd
Zieglerville, PA 19492
dbrooks@apimeds.com

Virginia State Farm Policy Dropped Due to Honey Bees on the Property!

I wanted to pass along to you my short story so that beekeepers around the country are aware of an insurance issue I am currently going through. I feel that everyone should know that this can and does happen.

About a month ago I asked my State Farm agent to look into seeing if my renter's policy covers my bees like any other personal property since it is only a hobby at this point and we were looking at increasing my policy anyway due to life changes... they did...

Last week State Farm's Underwriting department sent me a letter canceling my renter's policy (with State Farm it would not have mattered if I had a Homeowners policy) due to an increased risk with honey bee hives on the property!

I called my agent who has been very good through the years to my family. Keep in mind I have ZERO auto or renters claims and a perfect driving record. He began a week long search and battle with the underwriters, their supervisors, and State Farm Corporate.

However, State Farm has an "Underwriting Guideline" specifically against insuring property with honey bees since they cannot be controlled when they swarm and thus is seemingly more risky than a known dangerous dog (which they will insure assuming you have signs and a fence)! So my policy WILL be canceled and not renewed.

I was told that State Farm would HAVE covered a claim if I ever had one, IF they didn't know about the hives, but it would have been a one-time thing and I would then be canceled after they settled
.
So NEVER mention to your agent you have bees, give them honey, etc.

On a lighter note, Farm Bureau WILL give me a renter's policy at a very similar price, even knowing I HAVE bees, so there are options out there. However, once I sell honey or bees it will be a business and no longer covered even for one claim... so you must have a business policy if you sell honey or bees or you stand to be personally liable.

So the moral of this story and my journey is: DON'T ASK DON'T TELL !!!!

Douglas Ladd
Virginia

Ban on Australian Bees

 It is very disappointing to see that the US has placed a ban on bees from Australia on the most  spurious grounds. The Australian government is putting huge resources into controlling the threat of Apis cerana in areas of northern Australia which are not areas which produce queens or package bees anyway.  Apis cerana certainly poses no threat to major breeding apiaries over a thousand miles away in the south of the country. I remember many years ago that the USDA similarly stopped Australian bees transiting in Hawaii en route to Canada because of native cerana on the isolated  Torres Strait islands between Australia and Papua New Guinea. The claimed threat of slow paralysis virus is even more bogus given that no evidence of this disease has been reported in Australia. We can only assume that this is a political decision motivated by trade interests rather than genuine disease control concerns. And, of course, it is reminiscent of the erroneous blaming of CCD on Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus from Australian package bees in recent years.

I have been importing queens into Japan from Australia and previously Hawaii for over 30 years. Japanese officials take note of these actions in the US  and they have implications in Japan and other countries. Last year Japan reopened queen imports from Australia after another politically motivated ban involving a perceived threat from nosema. Since this trade restarted I have had six  successful shipments of queens of the highest quality from Australia. Warren Taylor, who owns Australia's  largest queen export company, put in an enormous effort to meet our requirements and the last  three shipments were 100% free from nosema. It is unfair practice and also a loss to US beekeepers to have quality suppliers such as this prevented from trading with no real justification.

It is very disheartening when disease control issues become entangled in political motivations. The USA along with Australia, New Zealand and Canada have a high level of knowledge about beekeeping management and techniques that the rest of the world, including Japan can learn from. These countries should be showing leadership to developing  countries and working together to improve beekeeping worldwide, but politically motivated actions such as this ban only serve to erode our trust.

Takashi Ochi
Beeline Inc, Japan

IPM for Pest Control

I have been in the landscaping industry for a number of years but am new to beekeeping.  I was reading the January 2011 issue of the American Bee Journal and enjoyed the article "Beekeeper Extraordinaire" about Jim Coneybeare and Coneybeare Honey (pg 49). However, I wish to point out that in the discussion regarding his methods to reduce hive loss, IPM is referred to as "implemented pest management", when it actually refers to "integrated pest management."

For those unaware of this practice, this might be a good opportunity to educate the readers on what is involved in the use of Integrated Pest Management to control pests. I recently read well done article by Michael Hood in the Clemson (univ.) cooperative extension bulletin "What Integrated Pest Management means for today's beekeepers" and Cornell also has some well done articles by Nicholas Calderone. Thank your for your interesting and informative articles.

MC Haering
Farmington, Michigan

Letters to the Editor - February 2011

Excerpt

Young Illinois Beekeeper
Several of the beekeepers from our bee association said to send this picture to the ABJ.  I am doing so - so that I can look these old timers in the eye and tell them - without lying - that I did send it.  I don't know if it is appropriate material for a magazine or not.
 
Our granddaughter, Audrey Grace, has her own bee suit and, in our bee yards, is usually between Grandpa and the hive. She hasn't gotten stung yet, so she is fearless.

I am often called upon by our bee association to do bee presentations at schools and for other groups. My granddaughter usually goes with me and assists in demonstrating how to suit up for the bees, how to work a smoker, how bees pollinate, etc. At four years old, she thinks she knows everything, and, in fact, she does know quite a lot.

Grandpa takes an observation hive to the Illinois State Fair every year and talks all day to the public on behalf of the Illinois State Beekeepers Association. Our granddaughter is often beside him and interrupts, pointing out the marked queen and saying, "There's only one queen per hive. She is an egg-laying machine. She can lay 2,000 eggs a day. That's all she does. The bees around her are her 'tendants. They feed her and clean her." Grandpa tries to get youngsters to hold "a real bee" and then surprises them a 2" foam letter "B". Audrey hands out "real bees" all day long.

Audrey was rejected as a pre-school candidate when she was three because she scored zero needs. The speech pathologist said she articulated better than most second graders.  As her babysitter, it is an on-going challenge to keep her challenged!
Her latest conquest is Jim Belli, Illinois State Beekeeping Association president and host of the 2010 ISBA Summer meeting. At that event, she helped with the raffle drawing, calling out raffle numbers and charming all the beekeepers with her personality.

She helps us with all aspects of our honey production and even entered some honey products at the state fair where she won "all different colors of ribbons, but not green."  Next year she wants to win a green one! Her favorite entry was a molded beeswax puppy that she named "Queenie". She melted down her beeswax bears to have enough wax for the pup!

Audrey often comes with me when we make a trip to Dadant to pick up orders for the Lincolnland Beekeepers Association. Maybe she will get to meet you on one of our trips.
The photo shows Audrey with her drone "baby bee" after winning a local Halloween costume contest dressed as a beekeeper.

Although Audrey doesn't turn five until January, she is a true ambassador for beekeeping.

Grandma Carolyn Gerberding
Rochester, IL

The Honey Bee's Sense of Smell
During the last few months we have heard reports about the possibility of training bees to locate drugs and search for disease, etc. This fall I experienced a situation which enforces the possibility of the above.

I have about 12 bee hives and this fall I decided to barrel feed rather than use individual feeders. Usually, I would put the sugar/water mix in a tub and add some straw so the bees would not drown. This year I did not have any straw, so I went to my neighbour's farm and procured a couple of flakes of fresh clover hay.

Early in the morning I mixed the sugar and stuffed in some of the hay to prevent drowning. I left the remainder of the hay about 20 feet from the sugar mixture.

By mid day my neighbor came over and reported she had bees in her barn, a situation she had never encountered before. As the barn is about 1,000 feet away, I thought a swarm had landed on her barn, but upon examination I found no one area where the bees were congregating. They seemed to be going in through cracks of the walls in the barn and I found that a huge number of bees were in the hay mow as well as the horse stable below. Since the stable had a considerable number of horses, needless to say, I was pretty concerned. When I examined my bees at home, I found that part of the flake of clover which I did not put in the syrup was also covered with bees.

Obviously, the bees associated the fresh clover smell with an abundant food source as was the case in the tub. The bees returned home at night and I cleaned up the feeder and removed the loose clover. The next day not a bee was to be found in the barn. Indeed, it may be relatively simple to train the bees to search for many different items. 

Allan Sinton
Barrie, Ontario

Letters to the Editor - January 2011

How Often Should You Inspect Hives?
 Your series on Sick Bees has been most interesting. Part 3, discussed the bees' use of "propolis to form an antibiotic envelope around the colony." It discussed how effective propolis was against various plagues on the bees.

Some hobbyist beekeepers seem to think "inspecting" their hives every couple weeks during honey flow and less often until winter, is important to determine if there is a problem, so they can correct it immediately. Other beekeepers report only opening their hives 4 +/- times a year.

I would like to see some discussion regarding the consequences of separating the hive bodies and removing, inspecting, replacing brood and honey frames. Each time the hive is "taken apart", bees glue everything together again with propolis. Logically, this seems like it takes a lot of bee effort away from other tasks at hand and before the hive is again sealed, it is more accessible to invaders.

It would be interesting to know if research has developed recommendations for the least disruptive frequency for "inspecting" hives, while still putting the beekeepers' minds at ease over their concerns.
 
A. Earl Cheal, D.B.A.
Chattahoochee Valley Beekeepers Assn.
Columbus, Georgia

Memories of Merwin's Apiaries
 I was enjoying the article about Mr. G. H. Cale, Sr., in the October issue when I was surprised to read that he had spent a summer working for Mr. J. B. Merwin of Prattsville, NY. My younger sister and I worked one summer for Charles Merwin, J.B. Merwin's son, while we were in high school. We got the job through our grandfather, who had been friends of the Merwins since childhood. The Merwins used to winter in Bradenton, Florida, where my grandfather, my sister and I were all born. We were excited to spend the summer in a place so different from Florida, even if it did mean handling bees (I was stung only twice the whole summer).

By the time we worked for Mr. Merwin, his operation was reduced to two apiaries and about 125 hives. Mr. Merwin was a World War I veteran who survived a poison gas attack; he suffered from emphysema when we knew him. The Merwins specialized in wild thyme honey which grew in several valleys in the area. According to my uncle, who also spent a summer working for the Merwins, they shipped their honey to customers all over the world. If you look up wild thyme honey in Frank Pellett's "North American Honey Plants", the Merwins are cited for the entry about the honey.

The nearby valleys had a lot of dairy farms and the cattle kept the grass short enough for the thyme to grow. According to Dr. Roger Morse, when the area dairy industry dried up, so did the wild thyme honey; I understand it is difficult to obtain these days. I have attached a scan of the Merwin's honey label that I keep on my desk. My one summer with the Merwin's introduced me to beekeeping, and obviously, it stayed with me. Thank you for the unexpected memories.

David Morris
Laurel, MD

Observation Hives in School
 It's been over a year since you published my article on managing an Observation Hive (November 09 ABJ issue). I regret not having included my e-mail address at the time to find out if there had been any reaction from your readers.

I did hear from Melanie Kirby of Zia Queen Bees, (from whom I happened to acquire a hygienic queen,) that people in Santa Fe, NM were thinking of setting one up in their Children's Museum, as well as from Dyanne M. Tracy, who published an article on Preparing Teacher-Beekeepers which appeared a few months later in the ABJ, and who had read our article (Jenerra and I), but otherwise very little.

At my end, however, there has been some activity. Last November I went to New Orleans to an Educational conference to make a presentation about Observation Hives in the classroom with Jenerra and Amina, the two teachers, who have the hive in their classroom.

Benadette Manning and Michel Goe, from another Boston School, got very enthusiastic about the project and decided that they wanted a hive, too. When they returned, they set about getting permission from the school authorities to proceed. We arranged a meeting in January and with much apprehension we went to the administration headquarters in Boston.
To everyone's surprise, it turned out that they had never heard of hive #1 even though it had been on the site for now almost 10 years. It was one of those moments that everyone dreads when conducting official business: a big surprise. In spite of this, every one joined together coming from different perspectives to find a solution to a difficult problem.
To start with, there was liability. We were immediately sympathetic to their concern. I had run a small contracting business and I knew what it was like to worry about potential accidents even if they never happened. Waking up in the middle of the night and assessing the different risks and their consequences which, because I did not have all the information at hand, never allowed a resolution, and therefore pushed me towards endless obsession. The anxiety ran like an underground stream that would undermine anything built above.
We also live in a litigious society, but in the nine years we had the hive in the Mission Hill School, we had a perfect record: no one had ever been stung. The most important part of the exhibit was it's safety: the fact that the hive could be broken down into its component parts without a bee ever escaping into the room!

So, the teachers and I felt that it was worth making a strong case for an Observation Hive in the classroom. Many questions were raised at the January meeting. Through the slow process of answering each one, both sides benefited. Here are some of the principal ones and how we resolved them:

1.Was there an ordinance prohibiting hives in the city of Boston? There was none.

2. Would the building department view the hive as a fire hazard? (I had visions of having to construct one all in extruded aluminum pieces, that would be time consuming and expensive.) The building department never commented on the hive as a fire hazard-they indicated that it was not in their jurisdiction, and it was ultimately up to the school department to OK it. Presumably, it did not seem to be the kind of danger that would have them override this jurisdiction.

3. We also checked with other departments to find out if they had any special requirements. The Health Department and the State Board of Education had none.

4. In our initial presentation, the one area that I had to admit was a concern was swarming and absconding. In nine years we had had five incidents. I was able to deal with three, but two swarms got away because no one was there on the weekends and during vacations. The solution was so obvious that I am embarrassed to say that I got it only when I spoke to an entomologist, Prof. Heather Mattila, from Wellesley College when I could easily have thought of it myself: Take the hive out of the public space in early May before the swarming season, place it in a private residence where it could be monitored continually, and return the hives in September as school starts. There is still plenty of activity at the beginning and the end of this period for students to watch the functioning of the hive in its entirety.

5. The administration on their side made valuable requests: that we tighten up the information to parents, that a letter be sent out at the beginning of the year informing them of the existence of the hive, finding out which child was allergic, and having them registered with the school nurse.That a teacher must always be present in the room while viewing the hive, and that posters be put up alerting everyone that they were entering a room with a hive.

There was a second meeting in April. We had done our homework and we had answered all the questions; what would happen next? This is where my brilliant colleagues did their thing. They were the ones who could interpret the meaning of what was said and what was not. While the authorities did not say yes, they did not say no either, which they took to mean that we could go ahead. So, we started the complicated process of setting up the hive at the Fenway High School. This involved not only installing the hive itself but also, because the windows were so high off the floor, building a special platform so students could get up close and see what was going on. We notified the administration each step of the way, and on Oct. 7, 2010 at a school assembly we officially inaugurated the hive with the principal and vice principal, the teachers, and especially a group of enthusiastic students. If anyone is interested in setting up a permanent Observation Hive in a classroom or anywhere else, I can be reached at : jnj.murray@verizon.net.

Jeff Murray
Cambridge, MA

Arkansas Beekeeper Recounts How his Interest in Bees Began
 I grew up on a farm in northwest Arkansas. Our farm was in Coon Hollow. We farmed the bottom land. The hills on both sides were mostly covered with timber. I knew very little about bees. I knew of neighbors who found bee trees and cut them for the honey. Our closest neighbor, Henry Owenby, hunted bee trees. When he found one, he took his ax and cut a large "X" on the bark of the tree. This was to let anyone else who found it know that someone already had laid claim to it.

One afternoon I saw him standing in the road near our house and he seemed to be watching something. I was curious to find out what he was doing so I walked to where he was. He said he was watching bees getting water. There was a small spring on the hillside and the water ran down into the road making a wet spot. He told me that when a bee got filled with water, it would fly in a straight line back to its home in a tree and by following its line of flight, he would know where to look for the bee tree. He did find the tree and later he asked my father to help him cut it. I watched from a safe distance. As soon as the tree was down, he took a small stick with cloth wrapped around it with sulfur inside it and set it afire with a match. This he inserted into the hole the bees used for an entrance. The burning sulfur killed all the bees. Then, he cut into where the honey was and took it all out. I still did not have much interest in bees.

Several years later, when I was 20 years old in the spring of 1939, I found a tree on the hillside near our barn that had bees going in and out of a hole in the tree. I had found a bee tree. This caused me to become interested in bees.

Water for our household came from a spring some distance up in the hills above our house. It ran through a pipe down to the house and on to the barnyard to supply water for the cattle and horses. It ran into a water trough and we kept it full and running over. This caused a wet spot as it ran into a creek nearby. This made a perfect place for bees to get water. On checking, I found bees getting water there. This brought back memories of what I had learned from Henry, our neighbor. I started watching bees getting water. By following in the direction of their flight, I found three more bee trees on our farm. I was really interested in bees then.

At that time, our Montgomery Ward mail order catalog had a couple of pages devoted to bees and beekeeping supplies; also a book on beekeeping - I ordered the book. It was Productive Beekeeping by Frank Pellett. I learned a lot about bees from it. In July, with the help of my father and sister, Ethel, we cut all four of the trees and transferred the bees into hives. Summertime ended and as the weather cooled off, my interest in beekeeping cooled off too. I was 21 in the fall and in January, 1940, I left the farm to find employment elsewhere. By June 1, 1942, I was married and working in Tulsa, Oklahoma. On June 2, I was inducted into the military, where I spent three and one-half years in the Air Force. I was discharged on December 7, four years from the day that Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese.

I bought a farm in central Oklahoma near the small town where my wife's parents lived. We moved into our new home on the farm on Dec. 27, 1945. In the spring of 1948, I purchased one 3-pound package of bees and was into beekeeping again. By 1955 I had four colonies of bees. In the spring of that year I had 20 acres of hairy vetch that would have lots of blooms in June. I ordered four new queen bees and split my four hives, making eight. That summer was very dry; the vetch did not make much seed. When fall came, I failed to check my bees for a winter supply of honey. They had very little and I lost all of them to starvation.
In 1967 I sold the farm and moved to Joplin, Missouri, where I lived and worked. In 1978 I retired and started building a house on the family farm in Coon Hollow. I had already purchased my three brothers' inherited shares in the farm. I purchased my two sisters' shares later. In 1979 We moved into our retirement home on the farm. Also, I purchased two packages of bees and I was back into beekeeping again. I subscribed to two beekeeping magazines and started collecting books on beekeeping. Since I was retired, I had time to spend with the bees and it became my number one interest. The farm was all in pasture and I rented it to neighbors. In 1982 my son, Mark, moved to the farm. He had a good job in a nearby town. He started raising sheep on the farm and later he also got into beekeeping. Now, at age 92 and 70 years in love with the bees, I have five hives of bees. If I should live to be 100 years old, I will still want some bees. I love to stand and watch them going in and out of the hive entrance.

Loren Davis
Decatur, AR

Letters to the Editor - December 2010

Excerpt

Still No Beekeeping Merit Badge, but Beekeeping Will Receive Greater Exposure

 The national office of the Boy Scouts of America has recently received a number of requests proposing reinstatement of the Beekeeping merit badge, in part because America's bee populations are declining. After receiving input from youth members and
review by merit badge volunteers and professionals, the BSA has formulated a way to bring greater exposure of beekeeping to youth.

The plan includes the following:
 Emphasis of the importance of bees and their symbiotic relationship with humankind will be added to or enhanced in eight existing merit badge pamphlets: Bird Study, Forestry, Gardening, Nature, Plant Science, Pulp and Paper, Environmental Science, and Insect Study. This will be accomplished by the end of 2015.
 The first merit badge to receive the addition will be Environmental Science, which is required for all Scouts earning the Eagle rank. Annually, 73,000 youth earn this merit badge.
 When fully integrated into the targeted merit badge pamphlets, more than 100,000 Scouts each year will discover the importance of bees and beekeeping as part of a larger environmental picture. The Beekeeping merit badge was first offered in 1915, and from 1980 to 1994, the number of youth earning it ranged from 700 to 1,000 per year.
 Beekeeping projects, such as working with a colony or harvesting honey, will be considered for addition to one or more existing merit badges so that highly motivated youth members can earn advancement recognition for their beekeeping activities.

The BSA believes this will increase the awareness of honeybees and their critical impact on our environment, and training America's young people about caring for this important natural resource.

The Boy Scouts of America invites those associations and experts in the beekeeping community who are interested in helping with this project to e-mail us at merit.badge
@scouting.org. Please put "bees" in the subject line. The success of the merit badge program is enhanced by qualified merit badge counselors; if you are interested in serving as a merit badge counselor, contact your BSA local council to initiate the process.

Renee Fairrer
Public Relations Manager
Boy Scouts of America

How I Became a Beekeeper

 Here is a short backdrop to our story. I journeyed along as a single mom for almost 13 years. So amazingly blessed in so many ways, dear devoted friends, faithful, loving family, a good providing job and a wonderfully cozy home. My precious son and I have always been tight companions. (Now that he's 14 "tight" has been given a new meaning as his favorite slang, which also applies, as being awesome, "far out" or "rad" depending on your generation.)

However, I lacked and strongly desired a husband and companion in this journey called life. I waited, prayed, made my fair share of mistakes and hoped for all those years. Then, one amazing day, God brought the bees. He was telling me to bee patient, I know your heart and I am working on it because I love you and I have good things in store for you. Just as you will see how carefully and diligently the bees work, I am putting something together for you, something sweet and strong. That day I was deeply encouraged. I was also given something for me, something that I cherish.

Carrying the load of a single mom (though it was an amazing blessing in itself), one tends to lose her focus on herself and she finds that all her own hobbies & interests have somehow fallen by the wayside long ago. Needless to say, my son thought I was a bit crazy when I told him I wanted to keep those bees that looked so intimidating. He has since gotten very comfortable in his bee suit and the grin that spread across his face when we first cracked open that honey gate and watched that golden blessing flow into the honey bucket was priceless. Now, I bee-lieve we're both a bit crazy about bees. My hope is that one day he will continue as an adult and a father/grandfather to carry on this new family passion.

But the story doesn't end there and probably never will. Because since the bee's arrived on the scene, God has added a husband and a father to our small family. My Husband now has a giddy grin for honey as well and I think perhaps the bees will grow on him as time carries on.

The Lord continues to teach me things through these sweet little messengers, like how to work hard together to build your home and care for each other. That hard work brings sweet rewards in many ways, one of which we were able to reap together this season for the first time. That he provides for our needs. These bees are a gift, a blessing.

Marnie Griggs-King

Letters to the Editor - November 2010

Full Version

Fire Destroys Hives

 On Aug. 28, 2010 I noticed some smoke north of my property. I thought it was odd that they were allowed to have a burn permit. I thought about it for a bit and then it clicked that burn permits were not issued right now, nor is fire allowed out here this time of year. I jumped in the truck and went to investigate. The fire was just starting to get out of control. A road grader was moving very fast trying to make a fire break and I mean this thing was moving! The fire was towering over the road grader and it made it look like a little toy out in the field.
 The wind was blowing very hard and just fueling that fire! The ground speed of the fire was moving between 4 and 6 miles per hour, showing no sign of slowing down. I knew it was going to be a bad fire and it was headed to some houses near my property. At that time, I never thought it would reach my property.
 I raced back home (I'll admit I was speeding well beyond the speed limit). I had to pull my tractor off some other equipment and hook it up to the plow. I had my two kids (6 year old daughter, and 2 year old son) with me, because my wife was working. We took off cutting through my field to get to the neighbor's houses as fast as I could. I was doing about 15 mph through the field just pushing that tractor for all it was worth! It took about 15 minutes to get over to the houses.
 I started plowing around the houses and around some wheat fields creating a fire break about 60 feet wide. By the time I got a second pass done, the fire was bearing down on us. The alternator light then came on and started to beep at me. I was watching these huge flames near me and I had my kids with me. All I could think about was "please don't die, please don't die". I'm only 33 years old, but I have a bad back and no way could I run with two kids.
 The fire stopped at the fire break I created. By now several other farmers had joined the battle. In just two hours the fire reached my property. I knew now that it was headed right for my bee hives. They are in several locations.
 The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Forest Service, police, fire, and fire planes have now shown up. I jumped out of my tractor and told them I have bee hives that I would like to save. They told me "that is the least of the problems right now. We are not going to put people in front of the fire." I did understand though. I was not going to get in front of that fire either.
 We were able to keep the fire from reaching two of my apiaries. But my third apiary was directly in the path. I pushed that tractor trying to get up there in time to make a path around my hives. The fire was too fast though. I wasn't even 1/2 way there when it went across the apiary. By the time I reached the hives, the fire was there and gone. I kept hoping on my way that the fire was moving so fast that the hives would not have time to catch fire. I also hoped that the bees would get out in time, but to no avail.
 When I arrived to the area my heart just sank. I felt so sick, I just can't describe it. All the brush and trees were gone. All the choke cherry trees were gone and my favorite "lone pine tree", was gone. All my hives, that were stacked so high, even one higher than I, were not in sight. We are talking less that 20 minutes time after the fire went across there. I still have to harvest my honey. I know I'm late, but I have been so busy with harvesting wheat, that I was waiting for a rainy day. This way I would not be able to cut wheat, but I could work with the bees and extract the honey.
 I only have 60 hives. The fire burned 20 of my hives. I've attached some pictures of the burnt hives, or what was left. They were still smoldering when I took the picture. You could see the river of honey and wax that flowed from each hive. The honey turning to candy because of the heat. The fire was so hot and intense, that I know the bees didn't have time to get out. It even melted some of the tin on the roofs of the hives. Just amazing! Anyone who owns bees knows the work involved in setting them up and working with them. Talk about a heartbreak to see all of that work go up in smoke!
 It was my best apiary out of all of them. My best hive was also in that section. I had already taken 210 lbs. of honey off of that hive and was planning on more! No kidding either! I have never seen or had such a good hive! It had tons of bees, excellent production, and excellent cleanliness.
 I had hoped to get my little hobby up to 100 hives by next summer. Now I'm down to 40. I had them in a good cover area to protect them, but I guess it came back to bite me. Just be prepared for a fire, because you never know when it will happen, and if you are like me, you will think it will never happen to you.
 This is something that I had never thought of until this happened. Insurance on the hives! I have used the Farm Service Agency and insured the bees, but I never thought of insuring the actual hive. I had the 60 hives and 20 of them burned up. When you add the lost revenue from honey, bees, and all the components of the hives, then it added up to a large amount of honey. My insurance only covered 1/2 of the true value of the honey and hives. The insurance company went to a local company and asked them what they sell the honey for. They quoted them 1.25 per lb for wholesale. So, that is what the insurance company used as a price. I sell (retail) my honey at $4.50 a lb. I don't wholesale any of my honey. This was a huge loss to me!
 Next they went online and found some companies to buy bee hives. They found the cheapest most inexpensive hives and parts they could find. These were less than mine again. I've built a lot of my hives. I build the boxes, inner and outer covers, bases, and the entrance reducers. I make nice large handles to hold them when I am packing them full of honey.
 So, I argued with the claim's adjuster about the amount he told me he was going to give me.  Mostly because I've lost that income for the next two years. Granted it's not a huge amount, but every little bit helps when you are a farmer! He told me that I am lucky that I was even getting a check. "They could have easily denied me," He said. They were not on my insurance policy, so they claimed them as "personal property". The adjuster said that the hives should not even be considered personal property. They feel that "personal property hives" refers to one or two hives in the back yard, not 60 hives out in the field.
 Long story made short... Insure your hives! Make sure they are on the policy and that your agent knows what they are worth.  Also, plan for a fire! It's not a matter of "if", but "when". I never dreamed that I would have a huge wild fire burn across my property. I have sure had my eyes opened though!
 May everyone have a successful year!

Ryan Weston
Arbon, ID

Beekeeping in Switzerland

I was in the French-speaking part of Switzerland staying with family at a relative's vacation home in Ollon, Canton of Vaud, for a couple of weeks over the summer and took some pictures of hives next to the railroad tracks and some photos of honey bees on some beautiful flowers which I could not identify.
The round ball composite bluish-purple flowers were on the roadside in Ollon as were the tall spikes of bluish-purple flowers. I suspect the tall spikes of flowers may be some type of Russian Sage...but am unsure.
I traveled to Zermatt for a day trip (on Saturday, July 24, 2010...the day after the fateful derailment of the Glacier Express between Zermatt & St. Moritz which ended in 1 death and 42 injured individuals...apparently the driver was going too fast around a curve...a really rare occurrence with the famous reliable service of the Swiss Rail system). Unfortunately, the Matterhorn was shrouded in clouds during my visit, but I photographed honey bees foraging on the beautiful bluish-purple thistle-like spiky blooms (Russian sage).
My cousin, Simone Roth & her father, Beal, told me when I saw the same flowers blooming in a charming historic mountain village "Grimentz" in Canton "Valais" that these flowers only turn the beautiful bluish-purple color when they are grown above 1200 meters above sea level...and that the blooms are green when grown at lower elevations.

Christopher J. Stalder
Orange Blossom Beekeepers Association
www.orangeblossombeekeepers.org

Bad Queen Excluders

This summer I had a queen get above the queen excluder. In carefully inspecting the old excluder, I found there were 2 wires that had broken welds, which allowed the queen room to move up. Later, in inspecting some new excluders purchased from a company, I found about half had either bad welds or improperly spaced wires. The company associate agreed to take them back, and reimburse my return shipping. I told her that I would mark the bad wires so they could see where they were defective. Then, I got an email stating:
"Since we have verifed that the queen excluders are not defective and you have defaced them by marking them with black marker, we will not be crediting the shipping back to us."
I called and said that since I had told the agent I would be marking them, I didn't feel it was fair to not keep their word on reimbursing my shipping cost. Then I did some research and found the proper spacing should be .163'' (4.1 mm.) between wires, and recommended that they measure them before they declare them okay. This didn't get me anywhere.
You may have also been delayed in taking honey off due to brood in a a honey super. Pupal cocoons may also make the comb more likely to be damaged by wax moths.
I suggest beekeepers and suppliers check their metal-bound excluders for accuracy. Could it be that excluders are now made in China and that their technology is not up to our standards?

Happy Beekeeping,
Charles Frederic Andros
Linden Apiaries since 1973
NH/VT Apiary Inspector 1978-1989
lindena@sover.net
P.O. Box 165
Walpole, NH 03608-0165
603-756-9056

What Are These Bees Doing?

Attached are pics of some unusual behavior we had in beehives I help manage at the Sibley Quarry Yard. There was one hive that had these small, consistently sized sticks (we thought they were white pine needles at first) that the bees apparently carried up into the hive and stuck through the frames. The sticks went all the way through about two frames and were in every super at the same location (same corner of the super).
It seemed to be some kind of "ladder" between the frames. The sticks were all the same length and diameter, but we saw that there was some kind of rodent nest of the same material near the cement blocks under the hive, so the rodent must have determined the size of the sticks.
It seems that the sticks where placed at the same time or after the foundation was drawn as there was no damage to the foundation or capped cells (the damage you see was from us pulling out the frame).
It does not seem that a rodent had been up in the supers as everything around the sticks was completely drawn, mostly capped and clean. The sticks were all placed on a slight angle to fit through the center of a cell on both sides and into the center of the cell in the next frame.
Has anyone seen this behavior before - and does anyone have any idea what the bees are trying to accomplish?

Judy Durfy

Beware of the Bee Club Killers

We who live in the South have seen the headlines screaming in the papers and on our local newscasts: "Beware the Killer Bees, Beware the Killer Bees!!!"
Newscasters and newsprint publishers like sensationalism and get as much coverage as they can to boost their ratings and sell their product. They will search out anyone who has been stung by a bee and try to tie it into the Africanized Bees, referred to as "AHB" by most folks in the bee world and called "Killer Bees" by the public.  Sometimes they report AHB stings in areas where there are no AHB. You can go on any search engine and type in, "AHB locations in US," and you will find maps, charts and lots of information on the AHB.
Are they dangerous? Of course, they are just as dangerous as any stinging insect is dangerous if you have a bad encounter with them. The problem with AHB is that they are more aggressive than the European honey bees or Apis mellifera. They don't just chase you away from their nest or hive, but continue to aggressively chase you for a half mile or more.
The AHB have caused some long-time beekeepers to leave the business due to the extra cost of insurance, extra gear needed to work AHB, and of course the cost of hiring people dedicated enough to put up with the extra work needed to make a living with AHB. Since AHB swarm more than the European bees that beekeepers have been keeping for years, it takes much more time and effort to work them, but it can be done and is being done in parts of the world where the AHB have taken over the area.
They are a problem that can be dealt with, but we have a bigger problem facing beekeepers around the world and it may happen in your local area as well, even if you are not in an area where the AHB are located.
What I am referring to are the folks who are not into beekeeping for the right reasons. They seem so eager to get into beekeeping, coming to the meetings of your local bee club, asking a million questions and appearing to be willing to become a great asset to the club.
The problem arises usually after a year or two when they get to the point that they now "know everything" and want to be the person in charge. I call these folks "Bee Killers". They are dangerous and need to be watched for.
Did they put in their time learning under a mentor and working with the bees for years out in the rain, heat, cold, and taking the thousands of stings that happen when a forklift flips over or a truck gets into an accident and the millions of bees are aggravated and in a stinging mood? Have they ever gotten their veil caught on something and had it pulled off just as the bees attacked? Ouch! Have they lost entire outyards to vandals, fire or diseases like foulbrood? Or worse, did they lose hives and equipment to the thieves that are becoming more prevalent now that the price of honey is going up and the demand for pollination goes higher?
Many old-time beekeepers will not join a bee club because of all the problems they have faced over the years with these Bee Killers. I stopped attending meetings myself back in the 1980's because of this very thing. Now after retiring, I am trying to do my part to help our bees and other pollinators by starting new bee clubs and mentoring new beekeepers.
Beekeepers are a kind lot and welcome with open arms anyone who likes honey, wants to learn the correct ways of keeping bees, or just wants to help save the bees from all the harmful chemicals and bee pests in the world today. But who wants to attend a meeting where one side is antagonistic to the others?
State and even national bee organizations need to stress the importance that all organizations should strive to be efficiently run and have some type of support system in place to help the local bee clubs.  Many folks ask why they should join a state or national organization: "Why spend money on an organization that is just building up their mailing list so they can ask you for more money constantly?"
A good club should strive for 100% participation.
If you want to be a beekeeper, you should stop and ask yourself the following questions:

Am I trying to learn all I can about bees and the proper way to keep them?
Am I supporting the club leaders and offering my time and talents to make the club better?
Am I willing to make changes in the way I keep my bees if someone shows me a better way?
Am I willing to support someone even if I disagree with what they are doing until a better solution comes along?
Am I willing to step up and do what is best for the club?
Am I willing to ask questions if I don't understand what is being said, instead of just complaining about how the "clique" only cares about itself?

We have folks who hate commercial beekeepers. One told me she hates them because they adulterate their honey, use chemicals that are not good for humans to eat, and keep the small beekeepers down so that they can't make any money. When asked for proof, you get the same answer: "Well, that's what I heard." That is a Bee Killer attitude.
Think about what you are saying. Have you ever been a commercial beekeeper with the unbelievable costs and problems that go with it? If you haven't been there, give it a rest and be thankful for the ones who spend so much time away from family and friends to make sure we have honey in the stores, not to mention all the other products they provide.
What about the commercial beekeepers who won't help the small beekeeper? I have heard commercial beekeepers complain that "hobbyists" (I hate that word) are ruining beekeeping because they don't know what they are doing and they are helping to spread bee diseases, etc.
Wait a minute. Did you start with the 1000 hives you have, or did you work your way up by increasing each year? Did an old timer help you learn what you know now, or did someone loan you the money to buy the equipment you have? Did someone help you along? Don't be a Bee Killer by discouraging the new beekeeper who may replace you some day.

Chappie McChesney
Alachua, FL

Tornado Strikes Bee Equipment Facility at the Ohio State University

On September 16, 2010, a tornado struck the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), which is the agricultural research campus of The Ohio State University at Wooster, Ohio. In addition to the OSU facility, many private homes were damaged, but there were no deaths and few injuries. However, damage to the Center was extensive and the loss of facilities, equipment, and research projects was significant. The storm directly struck the OSU honey bee equipment storage and maintenance facility. The building, a classic structure built in the 1920's, and all the holdings were declared to be a 100% loss.  The destroyed bee hive paraphernalia represents the accumulation of about 80 years of bee hive and related equipment acquisition. The modern equipment, over time, can be replaced, but much of the old and novel equipment is gone forever. Also lost were the archival holdings of the Rothenbuhler Bee Lab. Original data and cataloged publications were either blown away or rain/mud-soaked.
So much as possible, equipment and devices were salvaged but most pieces bear marks of the storm. Several large extractors were broken beyond use. Several remaining extractors are seriously dented, but could possibly be made to run again.  A Maxant Series 500 thirty-frame extractor was simply blown away and has never been found but a Maxant Vertical extractor survived but with damage. The wind force was great enough to tip full honey drums (600+ pounds) onto their sides. The drums leaked attracting large numbers of honey bees and yellowjackets to torment cleanup workers. The storage cabinet that held the lab's supplies of bee repellents was crushed so the strong odor of "Bee Go" saturated the area. A day later a 2" rain saturated the chaotic scene and added thick mud to the mix.
As time passed, the triage was performed on remaining holdings and the building along with destroyed equipment has been hauled away. So much as possible, the remaining equipment will be stored in two semi-trailers. Everywhere, parts are missing or are damaged. The marks of this storm will linger for many years and the blank space left in the history of OSU's honey bee program will be permanent. But bee life will go on at the Wooster campus. Only the field lab and storage facility were destroyed. The primary bee lab structure, located about .2 Mile away, was undamaged as was about 50 supered bee colonies in a nearby apiary.
Donations for our recovery fund are absolutely welcomed. We can be contacted at Beelab@osu.edu or at (330)263-3684.  Our web page (http://www.honeybeelab.com) also lists a site for contributing to the program's recovery. Photos are posted on the Lab's Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/beelab). Obviously, all expressions of concern and support are deeply appreciated. 

Dr. James E. Tew
State Specialist, Beekeeping
Department of Entomology
The Ohio State University
Wooster, OH 44691
tew.1@osu.edu

Multiflora Rose Provides Only Pollen in His Area

I recently read in your Northeast area reports that multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) produces honey. Well, we have lots of it here in southeast New Hampshire, but it is only a pollen source (see also Ramsey's book). It produces lots of orange-brown pollen, and the pellets are large, as no nectar is carried, and only small weight gains are made during its bloom. Some days this year, the trays were so full that pollen was scooped off the top of the tray on removal, and trays would not go back in all the way due to pollen between tray and front wall of the trap! I collected a 5 gallon bucket full from 48 traps on several days this season, some of them on staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), which is a more golden pollen. It was one of the best years for pollen collection.

Best wishes,

Charles Frederic Andros
Linden Apiaries since 1973
NH/VT Apiary Inspector 1978-1989
lindena@sover.net
P.O. Box 165
Walpole, NH 03608-0165
603-756-9056

Letters to the Editor - October 2010

Excerpt

New Queen Emergence

 As my husband and I (brand new beekeepers this year!) were inspecting one of our colonies, a fascinating thing happened. We saw a new queen emerging, taking her first step on the frame. We had our camera and Ben took a beautiful picture of this unforgettable moment. It happened on June 29, 2010. We were in awe to witness such beauty.

Karine Pouliquen

Requeening Laying Worker Colonies

It is generally accepted that a laying worker colony is virtually impossible to requeen. Most of the literature says shake the remaining bees out in front of other colonies and start over. I had good luck for a time of moving the hive off its stand and setting up an identical hive in its place - put a caged queen in the new hive on the old stand, and the returning foragers would accept her. A couple weeks later the original hive could be set back on top and everybody would get together and keep the new queen. I did that for a long time with complete success - then later it would fail sometimes.

With all of the need to make up winter losses, lots of new queens are coming into our apiaries each year. It seems that a percentage of these queens will become drone layers every year. After that happens, those queens will "run" and be hard to find. I found that having a well established nuc with a good queen in it available, and combining them was the easiest fix - but if the nuc was much smaller than the colony to be requeened, even if you used newspaper between, the bees would often keep the drone layer, perhaps because she was young and has lots of pheromone.

It was when I ran into a large colony (2 deeps and a shallow) filled with bees and eggs in all 3 supers from multiple laying workers, that I thought of a solution to all these messes. I pulled off the outer cover, took a small nuc (3 frames in a deep and well established), and set it over the inner cover of the laying worker colony, being careful to slide it back a bit for an entrance. Then, I put the outer cover on top and left for a couple weeks. I used a small nuc because I feared it would be lost. I left the inner cover hole open for a slow mixing, yet with both colonies able to keep a mass take over from happening. They could treat the hole as sort of a demilitarized zone.

I came back later and the bees from below had slowly abandoned the laying workers for a good first lady upstairs. They had filled the upper super with bees, brood and honey, and the queen had gone down through the hole to start laying below. By then the laying workers were gone and I pulled out the inner cover and traded brood frames to get it back to it's original size. I've done it since on many drone layers and it has worked every time so far. I'm not sure this method would work if the queen below was poor, but laying some worker brood. The bees might not abandon her so readily.

Someone may have used this before, but I've never read anything about it. Perhaps it can help others.

Dale Lesser

Pesticide Bee Losses

Mr. Randy Oliver's SICK BEES in the August 2010 issue of American Bee Journal joins a host of similar published articles and speeches that mostly avoid the use of the word "pesticide".
For most of the past four years these presentations with some research completed before David Hackenberg reported the November, 2006 losses of many colonies, have effectively helped promote the greatly expanded use of the new neonicotinoid pesticides. Rachael Carson surely must be revolving in her casket!

I am not challenging data these researchers have presented, but there are so many other issues that are consistently ignored. Except for those with their "heads in the sand" there are countless examples that have been documented that show a definite correlation between colony losses and the use of the new (as well as the old) pesticides. Too many of the researchers have failed to conclude that two plus two still equals four, but are happy to report "plausible" causes using George Orwell's 1984 arithmetic. Many examples can be given:

1) When 35,000 colonies were lost in Germany in 2008, Bayer did not deny that clothianidin had caused the problem, but blamed improper use of their pesticide. Cannot this happen again?

2) Three thousand organic beekeepers claim no CCD problem. One explanation of colonies being lost has been reported under questionalbe conditions. Most researchers would agree that one example out of three thousand does not prove a point!

3) Last year, the beekeepers in Paris, France where pesticides are not permitted, averaged over 100 pounds of honey per hive. Last year only Louisiana and Mississippi averaged over 100 pound.

4) Research has been reported that the pesticides (and other chemicals) weaken the bee's immune system and this makes the bee more susceptible to disease, viruses, pathogens, etc. In the United States, researchers are saying the diseases weaken the bee's resistance to pesticides.

5) With large numbers of chemicals being found in brood combs, is it any wonder bees are sick?

Lawrence A. DuBose PhD
Retired Civil Engineer
with almost 40 years beekeeping experience.
Carol Stream, IL

Letters to the Editor - September 2010

Full Version

Randy Oliver, Yes!

    I am a regular reader of the American Bee Journal, and I want you to know that my favorite feature is the monthly article by Randy Oliver. I find other articles enjoyable as well, but if his was the only one I read in the entire magazine, I would subscribe to the journal for that one article alone.

Since I notice he is not listed as a “Column” or a “Department,” I gather he simply sends in monthly articles and you publish them. I hope you will continue to do this, since it gives me a layman’s scientific understanding of bees and beekeeping. He educates me, and shows by his bibliography that there is a large amount of serious research in the world of apiculture. Everything else in your journal is simply frosting on the cake!
Keep up the good work!

Jeanne Hansen
Madison, WI

Calls for Submissions: Profiles of the American Beekeeper

Like most of you I am a beekeeper. I started last year, and plan on taking the test for my Master Beekeeper’s Certificate. I have a “Bee Sensei” I will be studying with for the next three years. I am also a professional writer and playwright and worked in Municipal Administration most of my adult life.

I am very interested in collecting as many memoirs of beekeeping experiences including getting started, first experiences, tools needed, different hives, disease, fun, pleasurable experiences and not so pleasurable experiences, scientific data, types of bees and why, winterizing, grants, funding, novice and master beekeeping tales, as well as the processes of queen rearing and whatever else you can dream up.

I will need a release to print your story — in return I plan on having a directory in the back of my book for bee farms, bee supply houses, nuc sales, bee sales, queen breeding/sales, equipment, etc. I am happy to include your name and specialty if you are chosen for the book. I will send either a letter of acceptance which will include further instructions — or a letter of rejection wishing you all the best in your ventures in beekeeping. Be assured — you will receive a response from me personally — one way or the other.

A little about me: You might be wary not knowing me personally, but I have written for several different publishers over the years opening with subjects ranging from horse purchases over the Internet, to ruby glass collecting, to antique sword collecting. Some of these publications include Point of View Publications, Blood-Horse Publications, Militaria International Publications, Virgo Publications, Krause Publications, CanPlay of Canada, and Harris Publications. In addition, I have written various newspaper and magazine editorials. My interviewees include a number of remarkable people such as Jim Lehrer of PBS fame, and Canadian playwright David Carley in regards to his staged version of Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman in Canada.
I have also had my play Potato Chips produced by the Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop in Darien, CT and sponsored by the Darien Arts Center July of 2003. My play Final Copy was performed by the Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop in Darien, CT June, 2009. My play Body Shop is being produced by the Catherine Lindsey Actors/Playwrights Workshop in Darien, CT this summer, June 13, 2010. My plays Potato Chips, Final Copy, and Body Shop are all being considered for future production at the Palace Theatre, connected with Colgate University, in Hamilton, New York, as well as Slant of Light Theater in Norwalk, CT.

I am currently writing a timely fiction novel entitled Queen Bee, the genre being Eco/Political/Suspense, as well as this compilation of bee-related memoirs entitled Profiles of the American Beekeeper which will both hopefully be picked up quickly and published — while waiting for a job position to open up for me.

In three years I plan to live a self-sustainable existence on our 35 acre farm with honey-bees – so far we have Russian honey bees, Great Pyrenees dogs, Ramboulette Sheep, and Champagne D’Argent Rabbits.
Please email submissions and pictures to me at hive5555@hotmail.com or, even better, mail me your stories and hard copy pictures to me personally at my NJ address:

Mrs. Mary C. Charest-Professional Writer and Playwright
608 Washington Drive
Ramsey, NJ 07446
RE: Profiles of the American Beekeeper Submissions

Correction

ABJ regrets that Photo 10 of the J. Freeman 2009 article “Things we need to know about small hive beetles” Am Bee Journal 149 (10) 947-949 was used without permission of or attribution to the original author. The source was http://www.southern
matters.com/Bee_Plant/htm/images/x--small-hive_beetle_09-02.jpg.

Sagebrush Colony

Springtime 2010, in Southwest Idaho brought us lots of cool, rainy days interspersed with occasional breaks of near-normal weather. Our swarm season was "on" one day and then "off" the next, as the bees tried to keep up with the weather. Sometimes swarms could find the right weather window to locate a suitable new home. Other times, when caught by the constantly changing weather, swarms resorted to making the best out of a bad situation. On occasion this meant that the swarms would establish their hive in the oddest of places.
Kevin Duesman, a resident Boise beekeeper, found one such swarm building a nest out in the open sagebrush on the outskirts of Boise. On the Fourth of July, he relocated the hive by transferring them from their exposed home to a temporary hive box. The swarm was not the least bit defensive, as Kevin was able to move them into a temporary hive without a smoker or a veil. The bees were even gentle enough that he could make his own "bee beard" and mug this shot for the camera.

Steve Sweet, Chief Drone
Treasure Valley Beekeepers Club
Southwest Idaho

Letters to the Editor - August 2010

Excerpt

Open-Air Colony in Maryland

I am sending a few pics of an open-air hive. The hive is located in Carrol County, MD. I've heard through the grape vine it may be up to 8 years old.

Kim Runyon
Maryland


Honey Bee Stress Syndrome (HBSS) (or redefining what’s been affecting our bees)

For the past several years, the term Colony Collapse Disorder has been so commonly used and bantered about, that it almost seems to describe an identifiable problem that has befallen the honey bee. This perception seems to be particularly true with many of the new beekeepers coming on-line recently, as well as in the mind of the general public.  A primary problem with this assumption however, is that it neither accurately describes what has been affecting honey bees, nor has it led to tangible solutions for preventing future losses.
We need to remind ourselves that the current situation with large bee losses is not new. These situations have been occurring with honey bees in about ten (10) year cycles, since accurate historical records on beekeeping have been kept - and which go back to the mid 1800’s at least. What has happened over the past 20 years though, and probably just within the past 10 years for the beekeeping community, has been the rapid development and use of instantaneous and unregulated communications, particularly over the Internet.
In listening to and reading about accounts of CCD one is reminded about descriptions of “Killer Bees”, with all the attendant hype and exaggeration. Such accounts have tended to sensationalize and in some cases, distort the picture of what is actually going on.  Some, many perhaps, within the publishing and media industry have unabashedly expressed their belief that the foremost consideration for them is to sell newspapers, magazines and sound bites - not necessarily to provide factual information. Is it any wonder therefore, that the use of the term Colony Collapse Disorder may have become distorted and misunderstood?
There also seems to be an institutionalized mentality that has developed around the use of the CCD terminology. Many, but not all, academics and researcher, as well as many respected figures within the beekeeping community, seem to have adopted an acceptance of the term – as if it were established fact – when in actuality the situation with bee losses seems more complex and enigmatic than when the term was first coined.
Two other situations lend weight to the proposition that perhaps the time has come to retire the general use of the term Colony Collapse Disorder in favor of a less ambiguous and more straight-forward description: 1.) A need for greater objectivity/transparency and  2.) A difference of perspective coming from outside of the U.S.
A continual difficulty with the study of CCD has been an inability to nail-down a specific set of conditions and variables that may be responsible for the overall losses.  Viruses, parasitic fungi, pesticides, mites, climatic changes and even beekeeping practices have all been implicated as major causes of CCD at one time or another.  It seems possible, if not probable, that a discrete, repeatable list of causes and factors necessary to initiate symptoms of CCD will never be identified - much the same as it has been for the past 150+ years that large bee losses have been reported.  The analytical and detection technology we have nowadays (within the past 20 years particularly) are sophisticated indeed.  But an accumulation of large amounts of data do not necessarily lead to verifiable and repeatable results, which has been a main drawback with the CCD hypothesis up to now.
It is also noteworthy to mention that the degree of concern and importance that we give to CCD here in the U.S. is not necessarily shared by beekeepers and researchers outside of this country. With the current domestic concerns that we have here nowadays, there is a perception from outside that we tend to be overly preoccupied with issues of security and perhaps plots against us/the government, rather than actually dealing with what is.  This then tends to be interpreted by others as a preoccupation with finding culprits and calculated causes for our problems (including bee losses) rather than objectively looking at the variables.
As much as I would like to say that my training in scientific methodology allows me to make informed and objective choices about things affecting honey bees, I have to admit that this is not always the case.  I assume that this also happens with many of us at one time or another.  The problem seems to be considerably compounded however, when media and anecdotal accounts predominate over a need for statistically significant data.
Therefore, it is my suggestion that the term Honey Bee Stress Syndrome be adopted as a clearer, less ambiguous way to describe what’s been happening with our honey bees for the past several years, particularly in the U.S.  Hopefully, by implementation of new terminology, we can free ourselves from many of the self-limiting preconceptions that have been associated with the term CCD, while at the same time gaining a fresh perspective on what is actually involved with this syndrome.  Besides that, Honey Bee Stress Syndrome sounds much less ominous and foreboding than CCD – doesn’t it?

Allen Summers
Colorado

Letters to the Editor - July 2010

Full Version

July Cover Pictures

Dr. Zachary Huang of Michigan State University sent these beautiful buckwheat photos that he took while visiting Terry Klein, a long-time member of the Michigan Beekeepers Association. The buckwheat is grown by the state to attract ducks and the area is later flooded and used for duck hunting, according to Zachary. He helped Terry gain access to the buckwheat acreage for honey production by providing information to the state. Zachary said that in 2006 the State of Michigan had denied Terry access to the region, saying that buckwheat did not need bees. 
According to Dr. S.E. McGregor in his monumental book published in 1976, Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crops, "The buckwheat flower is usually unable to self-pollinate. The flower type prevents the pollen from automatically coming in contact with the stigma...The necessity of insect pollination for commercial seed production of buckwheat has been well established by Garber and Quizenberry (1927) and numerous workers in Russia, where this crop is grown so extensively...Unquestionably, the honey bee is the best pollinator of buckwheat because it is highly attracted to the buckwheat flower and efficiently and effectively transfers the pollen from anthers to stigmas, whether collecting pollen or nectar."

"Beekeepers Getting Stung By A Beekeeper"

We have some midnight beekeepers in the area of Wisconsin and Minnesota who are in the business of stealing hives of bees. Another way they work is to offer you a service of wintering your bees in the South. They offer to pick up your bees and bring them back in the spring. You may or may not get all of your bees back. You may only get half of them and they may not be in your equipment. You might end up with a lot of junk.
What drives these people to steal? Is it the price of honey and the demand or is it the glory of being able to have enough hives to go for the Almond Gold of pollination out in California? Will it help to have all your equipment branded or your name painted on everything? I am not sure, but it might help a bit. On the nights of the 26th and 27th of April I lost 33 good one-story hives of honey bees that were ready for the second box. In 2009 I lost a lot more through a shady wintering deal in the South arrangement. Are these two related? This person knew where one of my best beeyards was located.
What can you do to prevent this? Don't fall for a wintering deal without a signed contract of exactly how it will go, have all your equipment with your ID and never show them where your yards are.

Been Stung Bad Twice,
Dale Wolf
Wolf Honey Farm
Baldwin, WI

Strawberry Pollination

Here is a picture of strawberry pollination in Eagle, Nebraska. (Photo courtesy of Robert C. Davis)

What Happened to Bee Etiquette?

Is it because the new beekeeper1 with all his fast ways of doing things and big machinery does not respect the old (long-time) beekeeper.2 "Hurry up and get out of my way." I find that the new beekeepers don't look or scope out an area before dropping a hundred hives, whereas the long-time beekeeper has cleared the area and okayed it with the landowner. Nor does the new beekeeper check to see which beekeepers are in the area where he wants to put hives. "Drop, run and don't get caught by other beekeepers" seems to be the motto.
Also, those beekeepers who have a hundred or more hives in one place don't think about the other humans around there when they pick up the left-behind bees. That would mean they would have to come back and they don't want to do that. Instead, they leave it up to someone else to clean up what was left. The long-time beekeeper has had the same spot or territory for years. The territory for the bees hasn't changed. Yes, some groves are gone, but there are new ones. The same with other areas. There is no cause for any beekeeper to take away someone else's territory or overlap the area with bees, acknowedging there is a respect for the beekeeper who has been there for a long time. Yes, there is a lot of territory and a bee can fly at least a 2-mile radius. So, why are they in such a hurry to take one's spot?
The honey will be just as good in one spot as in another. The most is not always the best. "Quality first then quantity," is the long-time beekeeper's motto.

1 New beekeeper is one who is new to area or new at the beekeeping business
2 Old beekeeper refers to the beekeeper who has been in the area a long time or in the business for a long time.

Linda Struthers
Lake Wales, FL

Angel Honey

I have recently stayed in touch with you.
This is one of my honey labels that I made 10 years ago with my daughter, Angel. She was 9 in this photo. I currently sell my honey to local farmer's markets and health food stores in Lehigh Valley, PA. Everyone seems to enjoy my honey and love my label, it's so unique! I am sending you this photo, hoping you will enjoy it just as much as everyone else does and hoping one day it will buzz in on one of pages in your magazine.

Christopher Menezes
Lehigh Valley, PA

Charity Group Helps Beekeepers in Several Countries

We're buzzin' with news!! Beekeepers for Christ (BFC) has broadened its horizons while consulting on more projects worldwide!
* Mongolia - We are continuing to support the program to provide books for school children. We need someone to foster this ministry, teach beekeeping and financially adopt this ministry.
*  Kenya - Consulting with David and his wife Susan about their prospective projects in southern Kenya. David will be teaching beekeeping while Susan develops a yogurt company.
*  Sudan - Dan Mayer, the co-founder of BFC, contracted with Mophart and BBLTP to build smokers to send to a project along the Sudanese border along with the manuals sent out by Beekeepers for Christ.
*  Ivory Coast - BFC is donating bee suits to send to the Ivory Coast for a beekeeping project there.
*  Haiti - An in-depth new project has surfaced. There is a 200 acre established farm without a beekeeping project. We have a gentleman in the U.S. who has stepped up to lead this project. We have a goal in place.
*  Uganda - Continuing to work on our project and ministry in Uganda from its meager
beginnings using logs for hives to today's Langstroth hive-making classes, hive contracts and honey manufacturing; our Blessed Bee for Life Trading Post (BBLTP) project is nearly ready to spread its wings! We are just short of the funding needed to purchase the tools to take them to the next level; sustainability.

We are entering our final phase of the Uganda project by helping Blessed Bee for Life purchase a generator, table saw and other small wood-working tools. We will need $23,000 to complete this phase. GloryBee Foods, Inc. will contribute one-half or $11,500 towards this goal, but we are looking for matching gifts for the balance. Demand has surpassed their capability to produce.
We will continue to support their endeavor of becoming an established supply house for the region by the year 2011. By then, BBLTP will be prepared to handle the growing demand. This project is a success as it is now recognized as "the resource place" where people can get equipment for their own beekeeping projects, not only in Uganda, but in Sudan, Congo, Kenya and other countries. The BBLTP has become a major resource for the region by providing this equipment; it will increase their sustainability.
Beekeepers for Christ will continue to look for opportunitites where we can use the same concept as the Uganda project to bring a successful conclusion in other areas of the world. We will continue to work as a consulting resource for people who have projects of their own. We are not able to fund every project that surfaces in the region, but can provide information and expertise. We continue to support the Kei Health Center by providing food for HIV/Aids patients. A fall trip to Uganda is planned as the plans for an April trip were derailed due to the volcano in Iceland.
We will need your help to complete the final stage of this ministry and are only short a small amount to complete the purchase of the generator and woodworking equipment. If anyone's heart has a particular desire to be involved in this worthy ministry, please join us by sending your donations to BFC, P. O. Box 2744, Eugene, Oregon 97402. 100% of your tax deductible contribution goes directly to the project. Your check will be your receipt.
I have enjoyed sharing with you the incremental growth in each phase or project as we work diligently to fulfill God's plan for this ministry. It is with God's guiding hand that we work together to care for our neighbor as we would have him care for us.

Dick Turanski
GloryBee Foods, Inc.
Eugene, OR

Letters to the Editor

Excerpt

June 2010  

New York Boy Scout Troop Highlights Former Beekeeping Merit Badge

Got Milk?
That's what Boy Scout Troop 16 of Stone Ridge, NY asked when they decided to educate their community about Honey Bees and Beekeeping. The boys needed to come up with an idea to celebrate the Boy Scouts of America's 100th anniversary at the annual Boy Scout show at their local mall where other troops would also be displaying Scout memorabilia, Scouting traditions and games. Troop 16 chose to display the old Beekeeping Merit Badge that was earned by  Boy Scouts from 1911  up until 1995.

First, the boys learned about honey bees and beekeeper's equipment from local beekeepers Jim Ayers, John Petit and Teresa Eggers. Then, the boys decided to create a display that would help teach others what they had learned. They made some posters and planned to set up an empty hive for people to examine. They also had jars of honey for people to see and some beekeeping literature.

But it needed to be fun for younger children. That's where the milk came into play. The boys collected 80 half gallon milk and juice cartons, cut away the folded lid area and reshaped them into a six-sided box. Then, by crushing the 4 bottom corners in slightly, they were able to staple them together to created a giant honey comb. This was suspended above a table. Placed throughout the mall were cardboard flowers with "pollen and nectar" balls inside. Children and adults collected the pollen and nectar and brought it to the giant honey comb. Once they came to Troop 16's display with their forage, they were given more information about the role of the honey bee in our food production, pesticides and other threats to the honey bee, and the life cycle of the bees. The children then had the pleasure and challenge of throwing their pollen balls into the giant honey comb. Their reward was a sample of honey in the form of a "honey stix" donated to the troop by Nature's Kick Corporation.
The Scout Show was a great success for Troop 16 with many interested Scouts and non-Scouts passing by and asking multiple questions about the honey bees and beekeeping. Currently, the Beekeeping Merit badge is not offered by the Boy Scouts of America. Perhaps with more interest by other young Scouts, it will be reinstated.

Teresa Eggers
New York

Boy Scout Christopher Stowell Campaigns for
Re-instatement of Beekeeping Badge

My name is Christopher Stowell. I am 13 years old. I am a Boy Scout in Troop 250. I am also a Beekeeper in Skiatook, OK. I am a member of both the North East Oklahoma Beekeepers Association (NEOBA) located in Tulsa, OK, and The Oklahoma State Beekeepers Association.
I have recently learned that the Boy Scouts of America discontinued the Beekeeping merit badge in 1995. I have contacted the National Council and asked why they discontinued the merit badge.  They explained that there were not enough beekeepers in America who were able to teach scouts beekeeping. They also informed me that the reinstatement of the merit badge had been brought up several times since to no avail.

It seems to me that it would only make sense to encourage beekeeping if there are not enough beekeepers in our country. I believe that now more than ever before the survival of the honey bee is important to all. If other boys are not encouraged to learn how to become beekeepers, then there will be even fewer beekeepers in the future.  The reinstatement of the merit badge will lend validity to the art of beekeeping.
I have started a campaign to persuade the Boy Scouts of America to reinstate the Beekeeping Merit Badge.  I have a goal set to send in my proposal to the Council by July 15, 2010. At that time, I would like your endorsement of my proposal, as well as your help in getting as many beekeepers and people who believe in the importance of youth learning how to keep bees as possible involved in this effort.

This is what I need from you:
1. Please go to the Haagen Dazs web site and sign the petition and write a few words to the Boy Scout Council telling them why YOU believe that teaching the youth about honey bees is important. Click on THE BUZZ and you will find a picture of me there. Haagen Daz has offered to help by making an online petition so everyone can help.  Here are the site links for the Haagen Daz Petition: http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/#buzzlove http://www.experienceproject.com/beepetition
 
2. If you are a beekeeper, please go to www.beesource.com and look under the "Resources." There will be a link to resources for the Beekeeping Merit Badge Project. One of the documents listed there is a form resolution that your local beekeeping club or association could pass in support of this effort. Also, there are form letters and sample petitions that you could sign or take to your friends who keep bees. If you have a beekeeping club, you could pass out copies of those documents to the members.  Boy Scouts of America is concerned that there are not enough beekeepers to support the merit badge.  We need to prove that there are plenty of beekeepers who would help.
  
3. Please tell all the other beekeepers or other persons you know about this project and my requests for help.  For example, you could copy this letter and send it to your friends and to other beekeepers, gardeners, or business members in your community.  If you have friends who you send emails to, please send all of your friends an email asking them to go to the Haagen Daz website and sign my Petition.  Also, please tell them that this is not a Boy Scout project. I am doing this on my own. All expenses are paid for by my parents. So, please help get the word out.

If you have any other ideas on how you could help, please feel free to contact me. I would appreciate anything you can do to help. I look forward to hearing from you.  There is also a forum devoted to this project on Beesource.com, which you can look at by going to Beesource.com forums
  
Christopher Stowell
BSA Troop 250, Skiatook, OK
e-mail kstowell6@aol.com

Letters to the Editor - May 2010

Full Version

Reviving the Boy Scout Beekeeping Merit Badge

 Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream announced it is joining forces with 13 year-old Boy Scout Christopher Stowell of Troop 250, Skiatook, OK. Christopher is a beekeeper and is petitioning the Boy Scout Council for reinstatement of the Boy Scout Beekeeping merit badge that was discontinued in 1995. To sign the letter and petition, visit "The Buzz" page at http://www.helpthehoneybees.com/#buzz .
 "Christopher is an amazing advocate for honey bees and serves as a great example of learning about a problem and working to find a solution," said Mara Lowry, Häagen-Dazs brand manager. "It's because of people like him that we continue to be encouraged and inspired to work to help both bees and beekeepers, and we urge everyone to do their part. Signing this letter and petition is one small but impactful thing people can do."
 "Christopher says, "I believe that now more than ever before, the survival of the honey bee is important to all. If other boys are not encouraged to learn how to become beekeepers, the honey bee will surely die out. Not only do I feel this way, but beekeepers all across America believe in the importance of teaching the younger generations the importance of the honey bee."
 He enlisted our help and that of beekeeping organizations across the country for their endorsement and pledge that they will help train the Boy Scouts interested in beekeeping.
 We encourage you to send the letter for Christopher. Feel free to add your own thoughts in the designated area.  Häagen-Dazs will print and send all of the letters to Christopher at the end of June to support his proposal.
 You can also sign a petition at The Experience Project website (www.experienceproject.com/helpthehoneybees) to show your support.
 Good luck Christopher! We appreciate your hard work! (From March 2010 The Minnesota Hobby Beekeeper Newsletter)

Bob Sitko
Minnesota

National Honey Bee Day

 August 21, 2010 has been designated as National Honey Bee Day. We are asking for state and county bee associations to participate, promote, and take advantage of this special occasion. The national honey bee day allows individual bee groups to benefit from a national approach by making our voices heard by the combined efforts of all participating.
 National honey bee day 2009 consisted of 42 programs, across 16 states, all focused on educating the public and expanding the beekeeping industry. Some of the programs last year consisted of open houses at bee yards, educational programs at environmental centers, booths at county and state fairs, association membership drives, and honey-tasting events.
 This past year beekeepers all across the country voted through the national honey bee day website for a national theme. The selected theme for 2010 is "Local Honey - Good for Bees, You, and the Environment!" This year we have a goal to double the number of groups participating. Please consider contacting your local association if they are not participating in this worthwhile program.
 National Honey Bee Day is administered through "Pennsylvania Apiculture, Inc." a non-profit 501 (c ) filed with the state of Pennsylvania.
 For additional information please visit the website: www.nationalhoneybeeday.org

Mike Thomas

First World Organic Beekeeping Conference Scheduled for Bulgaria

 The First World Conference on Organic Beekeeping is going to take place in Sunny Beach, Black Sea Coast, Bulgaria, from 27 to 29 August 2010.
 This unique beekeeping event is organized by the Bulgarian Apimondia member association NBPS (Bulgarian Beekeeping Union) and the Bulgarian Organic Beekeeping Association.
 We are pleased to inform you that the conference website is now ready for abstract submission (www.bee-hexagon.net/en/abstract.htm) and registration (www.bee-hexagon.net/en/registration.htm ).
 For any further information or assistance in organizing your participation in the congress, please feel free to contact the  conference coordinator Dr. Stefan Bogdanov at info@bee-hexagon.net or the Apimondia  headquarters in Rome at apimondia@mclink.it.
 Looking forward to welcoming you this summer in Bulgaria!

Riccardo Jannoni-Sebastianini
 Apimondia Secretary-General
Tel.: +39-06-6852286
Fax: +39-06-6852287
E-mail: apimondia@mclink.it
Internet: www.apimondia.org

Visit with a Beekeeper in Shendi, Northern Sudan

 Shendi is a town about three hours north of Khartoum in Sudan. Although Sudan gets a lot of bad press for its wars and conflicts in Darfur and the South, as Africa's largest country, most of its vast territory is free of conflict. My husband and I were in Shendi for several weeks in December 2009 for his archaeological excavation at Abu Erteila, about 40 minutes from Shendi town. As beekeepers and Arabic speakers, we naturally began to ask around town if there were any beekeepers in this mid-sized agricultural town next to the Nile river. I had brought some honey from our Rhode Island hives that was highly prized by our hosts in upper Shendi, the family of Abu Talib Osman and his energetic and engaging wife, Maha. Through this tightly knit society, we easily found a local beekeeper, Abdel Karim Sayed, who is a third-generation beekeeper. He has a large area of fertile lands just next to the Nile river where he has kept up to 10 hives over the years, learning the trade from his father and grandfather.
 Beekeeping is not easy in this hot, dry climate where summer temperatures can climb to 120-130 degrees Fahrenheit.  The foraging season is short and occurs in the winter months of January and February when the only flowering of natural and cultivated plants and trees occurs resulting in relatively low yields of honey at about 20-30 pounds per hive. He reported that he averages a total of about 200 pounds of honey from his 10 hives. This surprised us as we thought foraging months would be greater than in our temperate climate, but intense heat is a deterrent to natural flowering plants and honey flows.  Abdel Karim uses Langstroth hives, although some traditional beekeepers in the Egyptian Nile Valley still use the long, tubular ceramic hives dating from Pharaonic times.  He prefers Carniolan queens that he purchases from neighboring Egypt to the north. Beekeeping is no less expensive in Sudan than in the US. A package of bees purchased from Egypt is about 400 Sudanese Pounds (= $200 ), and a single queen sells for 40 Pounds, about $20 US dollars. Mr. Abdel Karim is a local businessman who owns a soap factory, so farming and beekeeping combine to make a diverse economic livelihood for him and his family.
 Mr. Abdel Karim has suffered his share of losses like beekeepers around the world. However, his recent loss is unique. In 2007 the Nile River flooded and his 10 hives were destroyed (see picture) by the swirling river in his bee yard near to his farming fields. He reported that all of the bees fled the hives in advance of the rising waters, so they were not drowned. The bees are now are tantalizing him by living in the trees in his fields, he says, but he has failed to capture and regain a single colony or swarm. "I can hear them and they are active in the fields still pollinating my crops, but I have not attracted them back to the hives." He has Mango and Lime trees and grows fodder (birseem) for his livestock.
 In January 2010 Abdel Karim plans to start again and slowly rebuild his bee yard. In our pleasant late afternoon conversation we discussed the challenges and rewards of beekeeping. He had not heard of colony collapse disorder and nothing like this has affected beekeeping in the region. He did describe the death of a man in his childhood from multiple bee stings, perhaps from the spread of African bees to the area that historically has more in common with Mediterranean patterns of beekeeping, rather than those of sub-Saharan areas where bees are "kept" in logs and trees, or a variation of the Langstroth box with slats, but without foundation.
 The local family with whom we stayed were well aware of the health-promoting properties of honey and welcomed the jar of Rhode Island honey I brought as a gift. Sajda, the youngest daughter, was bitten in her sleep by an insect that caused her eye to swell. Maha, her mother, put the RI honey on her eye and the swelling disappeared overnight. Honey is highly valued, but native honey is scarce, so the Sudanese import honey from Saudi Arabia and China. Maha expressed interest in keeping bees, and indeed a local honey supply could be generated by small entrepreneurs placing their hives in the lush fields that line the river Nile.

Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban
cfluehr@ric.edu

Letters to the Editor - April 2010

EXCERPT

WHAT ARE BEEKEEPERS LOOKING FOR IN A QUEEN?

For the last three years, we have been producing queens and we have been overwhelmed with orders. We, like all queen producers, work hard to provide a queen that beekeepers rave over. We have found that talking to beekeepers and listening to their positive or negative feedback helps us in providing the type of queen they want.
As beekeepers, we have high expectations for our queens. Even when we have neglected or mismanaged our hives, we blame the problem on the queen. If the hive fails to make a large honey crop, we blame it on a poor queen, even though the weather was the worst in 30 years. If the bees die in the winter, we blame the queen and the queen producer who sold us the queen. We are hoping for a new breed of queens to save the day, but is this false hope?
In my home state of Illinois, we have started the Illinois Queen Initiative with a goal of producing local Midwest queens that are more accustomed to our climate, possess hygienic behavior, are winter hardy and are good honey producers. More and more states have such programs, turning to the queen to conquer all pests and diseases in the hive. This is placing a huge demand on breeders to present a queen that will bring a new sense of hope to beekeeping. But just what are beekeepers looking for in a queen?
I recently placed a survey on our website to find out what beekeepers want in a queen. I was very surprised at the results of this simple survey. Again, this is a simple survey I placed on my blog, but 673 people responded to the question: "When buying a queen, what is the most important queen characteristic you want to see?" Each participant had to pick one of the following six characteristics:

Honey Production
Gentleness
Winter Hardiness
Disease Resistant
Swarm Reduction
Mite Resistant

I was certain that the beekeeper's number one characteristic would be gentleness. After all, this seems to be the first trait bekeepers talk about when referring to their hives. And who doesn't talk about how much honey their hive produced? But much to my surprise, the number one characteristic that beekeepers want to see in their queens in disease resistance; 165 beekeepers chose disease resistance to be most important.
The second most important characteristic is gentleness, with 142 beekeepers weighing in. The third most important characteristic, with 131 beekeepers voting, is mite-resistant queens. Coming in fourth was winter-hardy queens, winning the hearts of 115 beekeepers. Fifth place was honey production with 80 votes. Last place was swarm reduction at 40 votes.
In summary, this survey tells us that beekeepers are willing to forgo honey production and gentleness if it means raising queens that can fight off diseases. As much damage that mites have done, the survey shows that beekeepers must be coping with mites to a manageable degree because they would rather have gentle bees than mite resistant bees.
Maybe our expectations for our queens are too high, or are they? As we continue to look for that silver bullet to solve all our beekeeping woes, just maybe the solution to our problem is that single bee in the hive with that little dot on her back. If so, those of us raising and selling queens need to listen to what the beekeepers are saying and continue to work toward queens which are resistant toward diseases, gentle, mite resistant, winter-hardy, produce good honey and do not swarm, in that order.

David Burns
Long Lane Honey Bee Farms
Fairmount, IL

FIRST EARLY SEASON FLIGHT

After many weeks of very cold weather, punctuated by several snowy periods, a short stretch of warm weather is coaxing our bees out of their winter clusters to cleanse their constitutions and collect early season pollen from witch hazel, crocus and dandelions. One of our Cordovan Italian honey bees decided to briefly warm herself on this beekeeper's finger. I've attached a photograph of the brief encounter for the enjoyment of all.

Fred Sloop
Buzzy Bee Apiary
Oak Ridge, TN

BEEYARD SIGN

Enclosed is a photo of the posted sign I designed for my beeyard utilizing the Navy Seabee emblem. It gets alot of attention, even from law enforcement. So far, I haven't had any problem with theft or trespassing. I keep my hives on a cattle trailer enclosed with re-bar to keep the bears at bay. The trailer is moved as needed to wherever the nectar and pollen source and brought back to the bee yard in the winter.

W. I. Yerby
Brodnax, VA

DONATIONS REQUESTED FOR PROPOSED NEW MINNESOTA BEE LAB

I want to address you and call you what you are: A "Keeper of Bees" not a "beekeeper". The difference is your willingness to go far beyond what is expected. I am asking that of you today. We need to support the new Bee Research Center at the University of Minnesota. I am not a professional fundraiser, so I don't have a slick presentation for you. I can only tell you from my heart that I passionately believe in this project.
You are a part of a very special group of people. You know as well as I do that those who are most successful with bees are innovative, hard working, creative, and able to visualize results. You like the outdoors, nature, traveling and sunshine during pollination. You can handle the setbacks and put-downs. Most importantly, you are willing to help each other out-even loan equipment or help others to rebuild when disaster strikes.
Once again, it's time to step forward beyond what is expected. We NEED this lab. And, the University of Minnesota NEEDS our help.
I am talking about the Center for Bee Research and Discovery at the University of Minnesota. I've been involved with this project for some time. I believe so passionately in this that I decided to include it in my will. My gift will be in honor of the Keepers of Bees who inspired others-People like my John, Homer Park and Cliff Thomas.
The work being done by the talented scientists at the "U" of "M" has far surpassed the present facilities. It's time to upgrade, rebuild and enlarge. The days of keeping bees in hollow logs has gone. Research has pulled us out of the past and is helping with the current day's problems and I pray for more solutions in the future.
I ask you to consider giving and maybe even more than a one-shot gift. Whether or not you choose to be a part of this, please share this information with others who have the means and heart to support this goal.
Thanks so much. I have always supported Keepers and will continue as long as I am able. This is not lip service on my part, but an appeal from my heart for your help and my continued loyalty to you the Keepers and the Bee Industry.
For questions about donating money for the proposed new Minnesota Bee Laboratory contact the CFANS Development Office at (612) 624-4285 or by email at cfansdev@umn.edu With your help, we can take our solution driven science to the next level.

Liz Vaenoski
Vaenoski Honey Farms
1-262-296-1877
12026 S. State Road 140
Clinton, Wisconsin 53525
Email: luvbees@gmail.com

Letters to the Editor - March 2010

"Snow Apiary"

This is what happened when some teenage East Texas beekeepers see snow. We built a snow "apiary" while we were on vacation in Kansas. We built it the day after Christmas.

Mike
Kingfisher Apiaries
East Texas

More On the White House Hive

As regards the skeptical letter in the January issue of the ABJ "Honeygate?" I must respond.

The 130 pounds of surplus honey reported taken from The White House hive is an impressive yield for a single colony in the Chesapeake region.

However, Charlie Brandts, The White House beekeeper, is a member of our bee club. He is the most quiet and unassuming of beekeepers. If he says that 130 pounds of surplus honey were taken from The White House hive, you can take that to the bank.

I was able to take 120 pounds of honey from one of my colonies this summer, a colony I like to refer to as my "super colony". The writer of "Honeygate?" is correct in stating that in the Chesapeake region about one-quarter of that amount or about 30 pounds is the norm.

However, 2009 was no ordinary year in our region. The honey flow that began in May continued throughout June and July. My hive scale colony continued to gain weight until the fourth week of July.

In seven years of beekeeping, this 120 pound colony was a hum-dinger. This was an all-time record for me.

James Denny
Catonsville, Maryland

Caucasian Bee Sanctuary

The APISELECT Team and the breeding station Oya were founded on the island of Yeu in 1978. These partners do not only produce high quality Caucasian queens, but also aim at preserving the purity of the species. Accordingly, for the last 20 years, since 1986 to be exact, the center has been pursuing the creation of pure bee stocks of Caucasian queens whose ecotype is adapted to beekeeping countries in Europe and abroad. L'ile d'Yeu has become a unique sanctuary entirely and purely for Caucasian bees.
 
The island is located in the French high seas, 20 kilometers away from the coasts of Vendee (Atlantic coast). Furthermore, the island presents many features favorable to beekeeping. Consequently, the station benefits from a complete isolation and a natural protection against genetic pollution thanks to its insularity. Moreover, 65% of its surface is situated in a protected zone which allows the bees to gather nectar freely from the 780 different plants that grow on the island's various landscapes. As a consequence, l'ile d'Yeu is one of the most adapted reservoirs for central Europe.
 
The Caucasian bee presents many qualities, among which is the ability to be crossed successfully with other varieties. Many researchers have demonstrated an interest of such crossings. Mirza and Marcovici (1965) obtained an increase in honey production of 26.99% by crossing Italian/Caucasian bees. In France, Fresnay (1974) obtained a production increase of 40 to 50% with a third crossing with hybrids of the first generation (A. m. mellifica.X A. m. caucasica). He increased his output production by 116% with a triple combination (A. m. ligustica X A. m. caucasica) X A. m. mellifica. In Bulgaria, triple hybrids (local bees x A. m. caucasica x A. m. carnica), gave a surplus of 60 to 70% more honey.

Furthermore, Nicole Russier has supported in her recently published thesis the fundamental role of Caucasian honey bees in high quantity honey production in the Pyrenees (NRA de Montfavet Avignon, Etudes Approfondies de Génétique et Sélection Animale et Végétale). Moreover, she argues for the absolute necessity for a beekeeping center specializing in Caucasian genetic selection in an isolated area in order to maintain this variety of honey bee.
 
If you would like to correspond regarding our Caucasian bee breeding efforts, contact us at the address below.

APISELECT
Director, M. Vienne
Le marais salé
85350 Ile d'Yeu - France.
e-mail : apiselect.yeu@free.fr
Website : www.apiselect.free.fr

Egg Transfer Not So New

The December 2009 ABJ report on Apimondia includes Canadian veterinary researcher John Pollard's pioneering work on ways to ship honey bee germplasm-including the transfer of eggs with special forceps. To clarify, it is his device that is new, not the ability to transfer eggs.
To give credit where credit is due, the late Steve Taber published a paper on the subject almost 50 years ago: "Forceps for tranferring honey bee eggs". J. Econ. Entomol. 54 (2): 247-50, 1961. Alfred Dietz, professor emeritus, University of Georgia, published "The Effects of Positions on Hatching of Honey Bee Eggs in the Laboratory". J. Econ. Entomol. 57 (5): 392-395. Thanks to Dr. Dietz for the clarification.

M.E.A. McNeil

More On "A Contemporary Hive Stand"

I equipped my first hives with Screened Bottom Boards (SBB) that I purchased unassembled and modified for use with 8-frame hive bodies. They were ruggedly built of 2x4'' lumber and strong enough to serve as stands. I often thought it would be interesting to combine the features of a Slatted Rack with those of a Screened Bottom Board in one assembly. However, doing so seemed like it would require the stand to be built from even larger wood, making it impractical in both cost and weight. The only way I could see this working out would be to have the entrance incorporated in the stand itself. By cutting the entrance into the stand, there is no room to install "slats" to provide additional cluster space. The entrance is routed at an angle to shed rain and it leads the bees onto the varroa screen. My 8-frame "SBB-Slatted Rack-Stands" are cut from 2x4's.
My new stands may have an unconventional look, but they offer the following advantages:

• A smaller, more easily guarded entrance (used with upper entrances when desired)
• Slatted rack qualities are part of the SBB assembly
• Rugged construction eliminates the need for stand
• The hives can be placed in a level position

For readers who may not be familiar with Slatted Racks, Dr. Charles C. Miller is considered to be the inventor. Many years later, Carl E. Killion improved on the idea with the addition of the wide "front-board", which extends in, above the hive entrance. The purpose of the slatted rack was to increase ventilation in hives used in the production of comb honey. Air flow and cluster space were both increased with their use. With the current use of screened bottom boards, I do not believe slatted racks do much to improve ventilation. There is still the additional cluster space which they provide, and the front-board may offer an obstacle to robbers and intruders
In place of the front-boards, some of my stands have an 8 mesh screen "mezzanine" which will allow mites to drop through or be covered with propolis to the bees' liking. I will eventually bevel the top edges of the stands to shed the rain and possibly add small landing-boards. I made a few for 5-frame nucs and 8-frame hives, and I am
looking forward to testing them with bees in the spring.

Joseph Stafford
Cos Cob, CT

Some of Our Record 1951 Comb Honey Production

On this table is 55 supers (24 sections each) of comb honey. This represents only a small part of our record 1951 comb honey prodution in Illinois, which we wrote about in the February 2010 Letters to the Editor. We produced an average of 336 sections of comb honey from each of 100 colonies. At $8.00 per section for today's prices, I could have retired long ago! Unfortunately, in 1951 we sold the comb honey for $3.60 per case of 24 sections. That averages out to be only 15 cents per section of comb honey and each section weighed from 15 to 16 ounces apiece. (Eugene Killion, Killion & Sons Apiaries, Paris, IL)

Letters to the Editor - February 2010

excerpt

Beekeepers' Survey

I, along with Wendy Schweigert and a team of her students from Bradley, will be conducting research about beekeepers and their characteristics. The results of this research will be used to identify characteristics of those who chose to become beekeepers, to compare various subgroups of beekeepers with each other, and to compare other groups with beekeepers.
If you are 18 years or older and keep bees, you are invited to be a part of this research by completing a short anonymous survey about beekeepers. We are interested in new beekeepers as well as those who are experienced. Hobbyist, sideliners and commercial beekeepers are all invited to participate. The survey can be found at [URL for survey on surveymonkey.com]. The survey will be available online until February 14, 2010.
If you have any questions about this research, please feel free to contact Dr. Wendy Schweigert wendy@bumail.bradley.edu
To access the survey click on the following link, or cut and paste it into your browser. https://www.surveymonkey.com
/s/9NSWHZ5

Larry Krengel
lkrengel@mc.net

Florida Honey Standard Exemption Requested

Letters to the Editor - January 2010

A Swarm of Bees By Any Other Name. . . .Terms of Venery

We've all heard of a herd of cows, a pod of whales, a swarm of bees, a colony of bees or a hive of bees. I was researching the proper term for a group of otters ("a romp") when I ran across a couple unheard of (to me at least) terms used to describe a group of bees - a bike of bees or a grist of bees (evidently because they look like a pile of grain ready to be milled). Terms of venery (collective nouns for groups of animals) were popular among the aristocracy in Old England separating them from the yeomen; aristocrats were expected to discuss hunting in the proper terms. Many of these terms have been relegated to use in crossword puzzles or by erudite Scrabble players; some are fascinating- e.g. a parliament of owls, an ostentation of peacocks - but my all time favorite is a gallon of petrels. Can anyone come up with more bee terms? My Russian customers to whom I sell package bees are always saying "Steve, we need six families of bees." After a discussion with a Russian friend I found the term for a colony of bees is ??????? ????? which, literally translated, means "bee family".

Stephen Petersen
Fairbanks, Alaska

Beehive Cake Winning Tennessee Photo

I am sending a photo that I entered in the Tennessee State Beekeeping Convention this past week. The judge was Ann Harman, who writes articles for you from time to time. I won a blue ribbon for the photo and was told by Ann to send it in and see if you would be interested in using it. If so, you have my permission to do so. I am a new beekeeper and enjoy your articles every month; they are very helpful.

Ed Close
Tennessee

"Honeygate"?

The published production results for the White House hive seem odd - even suspicious. About 130 pounds of surplus for a colony in D.C.? Questionable, since the annual average surplus in that general area is something like one-quarter of that amount. So, were the results rigged, somehow, and, if so, why? As you know, honey production of a hive can be significantly boosted by adding bees or brood from other hives. Seems to me that the amount of surplus reported is open to question.

Bob Edney

Celebrating Honey Bee Science With L.L. Langstroth's 200th Birthday

Two hundred years after his birth in 1810, Rev. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth, known as the "Father of American Beekeeping," will behonored. Langstroth's discovery of "bee space" and his invention of the movable-frame beehive will be celebrated with a national network of exhibits, workshops and seminars and, with your help, perhaps a commemorative U.S. postage stamp as well.
Langstroth started with "two stocks of bees in common box hives" while serving as a minister in Andover, Mass. in the 1830s. Before long he was studying beekeeping in depth. He observed his bees and sought to understand their ways in order to build hive boxes which would allow him to better combat the destructive wax moths and collect surplus honey without harming the bees or damaging their wonderful honey comb.
This is the essence of the scientific method. Those who might think that Langstroth was an unlikely scientist would be misunderstanding the role of science in our lives. The scientific method involves experiencing the world in which we live, responding to the curiosity that naturally resides inside us, devising a method of observing and recording, testing and confirming our expectations, and evaluating the results we achieve. It is available and important to each and every one of us, just as it was to Langstroth.
Langstroth's efforts gave us a way to raise large quantities of bees, keep them healthy and collect their honey in a truly sustainable way, without destroying their home. We all owe him thanks and, the year 2010, his 200th birthday year is a great time for people across the country to celebrate him in ways that benefit us all.
Our effort to honor Langstroth will include the study and appreciation of his efforts and what they have yielded. Throughout the year 2010, the Down to Earth Program, which I direct for the non-profit Science Friday Initiative (SFI), will be developing and coordinating a national network of workshops, exhibits and gatherings to teach and learn about the considerable science connected with the honey bee. Please visit the Down to Earth section of
the SFI Web site for details. (www.
scifri.org/dte)
But there's something we need to do right NOW. We must convince the U.S. Postal Service that America deserves a commemorative postage stamp created in honor of this outstanding under-appreciated American. It is my hope that the beekeeping community, anyone who enjoys honey, and everyone who appreciates the foods we eat which depend on the honey bee, will write a letter encouraging the U.S. Postal Service to honor Langstroth in this way at this special time.
I believe that a flood of letters will help to convince the Postal Service how important Langstroth is to all of us. The U.S. Postal Service Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee will be considering a Langstroth stamp at their January 2010 meeting, so please send them a letter, today. Get everyone you know on board the postage stamp campaign, and have them enlist their friends.
We will also be preparing a mass petition. Please send an email to me at LLL200@scifri.org and include your Zip Code so that we may show the geographic breadth of this support. This is also a great way to coordinate celebrations in your community with ours.

Carl Flatow
Science Friday Initiative

Winter Packing

I have been trying to come up with a way for providing winter protection for my bees in Nebraska. I thought about providing a fence, or using hay bales around the hive and other methods. All these methods cost money and I am trying to do beekeeping as more than just a hobby. So here is an idea I came up with. This provides the bees with a small hay stack protection. The bags of leaves come from others who are just throwing them away. I just pick them up and pile them around the hives, leaving the entrance for the winter sun.
I plan to put black tar paper on the front so the winter sun can warm the hive. Some grass is placed between the hive and the bags for insulation. In the spring the bags can be removed and either spread in the corn field or given to the recycle man. The people who pack the leaves in the bag are happy their efforts are helping the bees, and I am happy they are doing this so I don't have to pack the leaves. And, the bees get protection from the winter winds.

Robert C. Davis
Cedar Grove Apiary
Eagle, NE

Letters to the Editor - December 2009

(excerpt)

Exposed Colony on Tree Limb

I'm an avid and dedicated reader of the American Bee Journal, and have been keeping bees since the spring of 2007. A friend told me about an exposed hive in a tree near her home in Kittery, Maine, so I went to take a look.
I've attached the photos I took-pretty amazing (and mysterious) what bees can do.
Hope you enjoy these.

Karen Johnson
Portsmouth, N.H.

Bee Tree Saved

Loggers, Scott (left) and Joe Ehrenzeller felled and trimmed out the big white pine without ever knowing it was a "bee tree". After Joe hooked onto the tree and started dragging it, he noticed a huge swarm of honey bees trailing behind the skidder. The bees went back in the tree that night. Early the next morning we trapped the bees inside the "hive" by tacking window screening over the entrance hole, and Joe bucked the tree into a 22' log that contained the bees.
Log truck driver, Charlie Holtry strapped down the logs. Bears are common at the logging site, and would surely have destroyed the bees if the "hive" hadn't been moved. So, Charlie loaded the bee tree onto his truck and hauled it to the Holman property. There he placed it onto a forked cherry tree so it wouldn't fall over. Later that day the screen was removed and the bees were set free.

Mark E. Holman
Forestry & Wildlife Consulting
Mifflinburg, PA

Letters to the Editor  - November 2009

HISTORICAL BEEHIVE MAILBOX THROUGH THREE GENERATIONS

I was seven years old when I watched an uncle build this beehive mail box in 1930. It stood at the Sperry home near Lawrence, KS until around 1980 and now stands near Kindred, ND.

A picture of my father standing beside it appeared on the cover of a 1950 issue of the Journal. Enclosed is a shot of myself beside it and one of my sons, Mark, who now owns Sperry Apiaries.

Ken Sperry Kindred, ND

MOUNTAIN MEN AND THE HONEY BEE

 My name is Ronald N. Dolbeck and I am a small business owner in San Diego, Ca. I am also acquainted with Dr. G. Gage Skinner, anthropologist and contributor to your magazine. I cannot adequately put into words my pleasure while reading "Sweet Encounters, Mountain Men and the Honey Bee on the Fur Trade Frontier" in your August issue.

As a small child growing up in the middle of the Adirondack mountains, I became enamored with nature, and history. Since Fort Ticonderoga was a focal point during the French and Indian war and the American Revolution, the area has been the site of many historic and provocative occurrences throughout the past three centuries. Many historical accounts of battles and engagements permeate the history books surrounding those two significant periods in our nation's history and that area of the country.

I felt the need to provide some background for you so that you might fully appreciate the impact of the article I referenced in my first paragraph. Occasionally, I have the opportunity to have lunch with Dr. Skinner and share small talk about newsworthy topics (these are short conversations) and philosophical opinions. On one such occasion we were discussing a childhood experience of mine and I was sharing the impact my uncle Merrill, a New York Conservation Officer, had upon me and my siblings through the exposure he provided us to nature and the bountiful treasures provided in the deep woods of the Adirondacks. One of those unforgettable events was the summer sojourn to the fields adjacent to Lake George to "line bees" and discover their natural hives. I remarked to Dr. Skinner that we were able to accomplish our mission through the utilization of a "bee tree locator box" which we utilized to capture and release honey bees in order for them to lead us to their hive in a hollow log, a living tree, etc. We would mark this location and return in he early fall to "smoke" the bees into a relaxed state to enable us to procure the honey. The honey, once obtained would then find its way into "gunny sacks" in the basement of our home where they would be hung above glass jars strategically placed to catch the drippings. As the jars filled, mom would melt paraffin and seal each jar to ensure a ready supply of fresh honey was available throughout the year. Each time that nectar was applied to our toast, pancakes, or french toast, the memory of the days and events leading up to having this delicacy were replayed in my mind.

I wanted to make you aware of the impact that article and your magazine's efforts to keep some of "Americana" alive have not gone unnoticed. In fact, you have provided this individual a trip back through space to a time and events that filled his heart with joy, his head with knowledge, and his soul with peace. I thank you for your efforts to keep the history of our country and its rich heritage out there where future generations "may" be exposed to wonders that only few have encountered.

Dr. Skinner is a unique individual and as exhibited by this article, a man of insight and love for our wonderful country, its history, its promise, and its never ending wonders. I sincerely hope that we will be able to share additional offerings from Dr. Skinner in your publication, as well as others who dedicate themselves to keeping the history of our great nation alive.

R. N. Dolbeck

HONEY BEE ON SUNFLOWER

Hello from two first-year beekeepers in southwest Washington. It was by good luck rather than good management that two sunflowers sprouted directly in from of our three hives last month; we wanted to share this photo of one of our Italian bees enjoying the sunflower opportunity!

Susanne Weil & Peter Glover Onalaska, Washington

BEE REMOVAL

It is August and we seem to be still getting those calls about removing bees from someone's property. Last week the call was "I have some bees in a tree by my house and I need to have them removed." Exploring some of the details resulted in the following comments: "I know they are honey bees, they have been there about a week." And then the most revealing comment: "They are going in and out of their house." "What do you mean when you say they're going in and out of their house?" I asked. The man explained, "They have this big house on the branch of the tree." I asked "is it sort of grey and perhaps looks like it is made of paper?" After talking a little more, we agreed that he had a hornet's nest in his tree and I gave him some options for dealing with the situation. This detailed discussion allowed me to avoid a drive of about 30 miles one way.

This week the phone rang. "I have some honey bees on my property. I've called various people without any success, and finally found your name at the Extension office. I put up several squirrel boxes on my pine trees and the bees moved into one of them. I know there is a shortage of honey bees, so I thought someone might want to save them."

My immediate reaction was that the caller must be mistaken about honey bees. Never having seen a squirrel box, I imagined it to be too small for a colony of bees. As seems to always be the case, the initial report of "honey bees" deserved more questioning. A lengthy discussion revealed that "they've been there since last year," "right now they're swarming all over the front of the box," and "Yes, I am positive they are honey bees." Since the caller's residence was only about six miles away, I told him I would stop by and investigate the situation. The next day I drove over to take a look at the "squirrel box full of honey bees." There in his back yard, about 40 feet from his house and up about 25 feet on the side of a large pine tree was the squirrel box.

After some discussion about the alternatives available, the owner agreed to treat this (in the words of Jim Tew) as a survivor colony. It will remain where it is with the hope that it makes it through the winter. If it does, I may transfer the colony to a larger home next spring.

David G. Smith EAS Master Beekeeper Past President, MD State Beekeepers Assoc

QUEEN BEE CELEBRATES FIRST BIRTHDAY

We are blessedly buzzed to celebrate the first birthday of our newest queen bee, Isis Rose Blossom Spitzig! She has brought much love, patience and wonder to us this past year! We hope your first birthday will be honey sweet with many more to follow! Feliz cumpleanos mijita querida! You're the best apprentice! Love, Mommy Melanie and Daddy Mark (Zia Queenbee Co.)

Melanie Kirby Zia Queenbee Co.

P. O. Box 317, Truchas, NM 87578

HOMEMADE OBSERVATION HIVE

I have been providing a honey bee and product display in the kid's tent at the Walworth County Fair here in Wisconsin for the last four years. I fabricated a three-frame observation hive from some oak scraps. For the six day run of the fair over the Labor Day weekend, I put two frames full of capped and developing brood and one full frame of honey. There is plenty of bee activity with the bees tending the young bees, and the honey provides food for the duration. The observation hive is provided with top and bottom venting on the back, and is secured together with two 1/4-20 bolts in the top.

I also built a display case in the same style, and pack it with different honey-related products. This is a hit with the kids. I usually spend time over a few days attending the display, giving out honey stix and honey recipe cards, and explaining the honey bees. The kid's tent is packed from morning to evening with a variety of displays and activities. Next year they will be giving out honey sticks instead of the chips given now. This is a good method of promoting honey bees and beekeeping, and I get a chance to answer all of the honey bee, wasp and hornet questions. I also have pamphlets for the Milwaukee Waukesha Beekeeping Association, with information and website. There are usually a few beekeepers looking for a group, and a few people interested in starting beekeeping.

Andy Hemken Big Bend, Wisconsin

SUGAR ROBBERS

Here is a picture of a coon and calf stealing an entrance feeder. I thought you might like to see this. In four nights the coon learned how to take lids off jars. The cows leave them alone after a few tries. I use top feeders now.

Glenn Gentry Paradise, TX

AFRICANIZED HONEY BEES

I would like to thank Dr. David Fletcher for his article about the Africianized bees.

I congratulate him for putting into print what needed to be said. The history he cites and some notable exceptions to what is supposed to be true to me as a person interested in the truth is truly appreciated.

I am Dr. William Eugene Connella. I live in Alexandria, Louisiana. I have been in love with bees since I was first stung by a bee in my father's beehives at the age of three. I have gotten swarms of bees out of mailboxes,wood duck nest boxes,water meters, houses,armadillo holes, bird houses and even a garbage can with the queen bee in a Budweiser beer can. I am 73 years old and I have spent 40 years teaching science and other courses. I taugh a genetics unit with all of the genetic laws of Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk, six times a year for 12 years.

I want to take exception to Dr. Fletcher's remark calling the Africianized bee crosses, the F1 generation, trash bees. The reason I want to take exception to this is because without this occurring in nature and the natural selection process, we would all perish.

In humans we have 46 chromosomes and a science book with a mistake on page 621 reads as follows; 48 chromosomes---(we have 46)--can be separated into 16,777,216 different haploid combinations so for humans that is 281,474,976,710,656 different combinations during fertilization or possible different individuals. The reason I quote the above is to show the almost infinite possibilities in the F1 cross and more in the F2 Generations due to homozygous doubled up traits.

A queen bee has 23 chromosomes, which is roughly half the human chromosomes, so the number of possible gametes would be approximately half of the human 48 (46 remember mistake they originally made in human genetics) which would be 8,388,608 possible gametes for combination with the haploid male bee, which has 13 chromosomes. This would give us half of the gametes that a queen bee has or 4,194,304 possible combinations in a single bee egg for a male gamete. The number would be very large for different combinations for a single bee. If you want to know--go figure --this staggers my mind--the supreme being we call our God is not stupid. He has this all figured out.

The reason I quote the above is to show that we cannot call the F1 generation junk bees--one of these junk bees that toughed it out in the wild-- our so-called feral bees --may be the right combination, -- especially in the F2 generation --- that will save the bee industry in the United States if not the world.

So to Dr. Fletcher - I thank you for a super article on the right subject at the right time. Setting the record straight.

Dr. William Eugene Connella Alexandria, Louisiana

DISAGREES WITH DR. FLETCHER

Thank you for the September Issue. The article on Alaska beekeeping was a highlight! However, I was disappointed by the David Fletcher article on African(ized) Bees. He seems to argue two sides of the same coin when touting the merits of Darwinian natural selection, yet then claims the surviving Africanized bees that made their way into Texas were genetic trash. It sure sounds like these bees were the survival of the fittest. It seems that Dr. Kerr and Dr. Fletcher share the same arrogance in their thinking and strategy to tame this bee.

Michael Davies El Paso, Texas

DR. FLETCHER RESPONDS

Mr. Davies has missed an important point; each time I suggested that the African(ized) bees that entered the United States are "genetic trash," I was very careful to qualify this by emphasizing that this was from a North American beekeeping point of view. Thus, while he is right to conclude that the feral bees are well enough adapted to their new environment, I am sure he would not claim that they are well adapted to the requirements of beekeepers. Perhaps I was at fault in not specifically pointing out that, with docile African stocks in apiaries, the undesirable traits of the feral African(ized) population would, over time, have every chance of being ameliorated, a benefit that history says we cannot reap from the policy of maintaining exclusively European stocks.

Dr. Daivd Fletcher Lewisburg, PA

NATIONAL HONEY BEE DAY

We would like to say thank you to all those who supported National Honey Bee Awareness Day on August 22, 2009. We were supported by many individuals, organizations, and folks at the American Bee Journal. The camaraderie and excitement generated no doubt benefited all who participated in many ways.

There were 15 states and 39 bee associations that took part in the day's events. Presentations and programs were aimed at educating the public, expanding the bee industry by signing up new members, and getting others involved. Local, regional, and national news picked up on the event and it was a day for beekeepers to shine in so many ways.

The day was formally recognized on August 11, 2009 by the United States Department of Agriculture with a proclamation, and signed by the Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas J Vilsack. Tina Bowen and her son Zeph, from Terre Haute, Indiana, were instrumental in getting this accomplished and they are to be commended for their efforts.

Plans are now underway for the next National Honey Bee Day for this coming year. We invite all beekeepers and associations to get involved, and come together in promoting the very industry we all love. A list of this year's participants, details about National Honey Bee Day, as well as other information can be found at www.

Nationalhoneybeeday.com We can not say it enough, Thank you to all who participated. This started as a simple idea and quickly grew. We look forward to many more positive returns for the bee industry as we move forward in the future.

Mike Thomas

IOWA BEEKEEPING ON THE BRINK

Iowa beekeepers witnessed the second poorest honey crop in the beekeeping history of Iowa beekeeping. In just a few days in June some colonies managed to store some honey in the surplus honey supers. That was followed by weeks of weather and days when the bees didn't bring in enough honey for their own use. The end result of that is devastating.

Under any ordinary circumstances colonies would remove and use the honey that has been stored in the surplus honey supers. NO, NOT THIS TIME! The bees used the honey that was in the brood chambers and as the cells were emptied, the queen expanded her egg laying so as of the middle of September, most colonies have ten or more combs of brood at the time of year when they should have maybe three or four. This has left the brood chambers feather light as far as honey is concerned.

I haven't weighed my colonies yet, but I expect to put at least 30 pounds of honey back into them.

One other year, it may have been in the 1950's, there was an average of 25 pounds of surplus honey on our own few hundred and that was the state's average. All during those years our colonies would produce from 125 to 150 pounds annually. However, that year recovery was much easier since even then the bees had provided themselves fairly well in the brood chambers. So, wintering the colonies was no different than usual.

Keep in mind that two standard brood chambers with empty combs weigh 37 pounds. By having no questionable amount of honey, bees and brood the total weight needs to be 115 pounds without the outer cover. Then, no need to be concerned until next April.

With doing everything possible, I may be a bit pessimistic, but I for see at least 80 percent plus loss of colonies in the months ahead. You will not have honey available to supply the need and to get adequate sugar syrup into them is next to an impossibility.

Iowa State College Bee Research told us years ago that it takes two pounds of sugar to equal one pound of honey. Then, the bees work hard to convert the sugar to invert for their use. So, if 30 pounds bring my colonies up to weight it would require 60 pounds of sugar.

We always say "maybe next year" I hope there is a next year.

Glen L. Stanley Iowa State Apiarist Emeritus Ames, IA

GUARD FROG

I put out a bait hive in July, as it looked like my bear-shaped hive would swarm. I placed a deep super with foundation and a few drawn combs on a plastic barrel nearby. In walking past one day, I noticed something blocking the entrance. Upon closer examination, I discovered a gray tree frog at the entrance. A few days later I noticed one on each side. Must be a good place to catch bugs to eat. The hive didn't swarm, and the frogs are standing guard every day. Thought it might be interesting. Hope all is well.

Andy Hemken Big Bend, Wisconsin