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A President's Potherings |
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May 5th, 2008Happy Cinco de Mayo! Many think that May 5 is Mexican Independence Day—but Mexico declared independence from Spain on September 16. On May 5, 1862 the rural Mexicans, armed with machetes and primitive weapons, confronted a larger, well-trained, and well-equipped French army under the leadership of Napoleon III and won the battle. Napoleon III eventually won the war and became emperor of Mexico. It often seems that the beekeeping community is fighting increasingly sophisticated and complicated pests, diseases, disorders, and other problems; and, like the rural Mexicans in 1862, we do not have many new weapons in our arsenal. History is full of underdogs winning battles—so there is hope. Swarm Season In southeast Pennsylvania, the swarm season started earlier than normal this year. Over the last few years, several of my apiaries have become pollen bound in the late summer, filling as much as ten frames full of pollen per hive. This limits the space for winter stores. It also limits the space for the queen to lay eggs in the spring. I must watch these hives carefully because some have tried to swarm as early as the first week in April. The first swarm that I caught this year was April 12. Inspection Program The PA Department of Agriculture Inspection Program is now underway for the 2008 season. If you are a new beekeeper, have had AFB in the past, or have not been recently inspected, you should expect a visit from a bee inspector. As of this date, there has been no inspector hired for the southeast region. The Commonwealth law requires that you register your apiaries with PDA. A registration form and the contact information for the inspector for each county can be found on www.pastatebeekeepers.org. PSBA supports the inspection program and participates in the orientation program for the inspectors each year. The inspectors will attempt to meet with you at the hives, answer questions, and offer suggestions. Sterilization Process Mark Antunes and Brian Marcy have spearheaded the effort to provide a sterilization option for PSBA members. Irradiation provides an alternative to burning hives infected with American Foul Brood. Irradiation also has been shown to improve the health of packages installed on deadout equipment from Colony Collapse Disorder. The first load of equipment will be irradiated this week and, once the kinks have been worked out of the system, the cost and details will be available. PSBA Web Site Alan Coble, Deb Morse, and Sharon MacDonald have helped work out the kinks on the material on the web site and are keeping the information current. All local organization events are published on www.pastatebeekeepers.org as soon as they are ready for the newsletter. Senator Specter Cosponsors S. 1694 Josh Stull, Legislative Assistant to Senator Specter, just e-mailed me to let me know that the Senator decided to cosponsor Senate 1694, a bill that would authorize resources for sustained research and analysis to address Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) and the decline of North American pollinators. The Senator’s staff has been monitoring the PSBA web site and said that our public request was instrumental in the Senator’s agreeing to cosponsor the bill. Please call or send a thank you note to the Senator’s Office in care of: Josh Stull Summer Picnic Mark your calendar for Friday and Saturday, July 18th and 19th, and join us for the PSBA Summer Meeting and Picnic in Centre County. This year’s event will include many educational events as well as fellowship. There are tours to the PSU labs and David Hackenberg’s extraction facilities, practical beekeeping talks, research updates, and sessions that highlight ways to raise your own queens. Bring your family for the hay rides and homemade ice cream. Look for more information in the next newsletter and on www.pastatebeekeepers.org in the near future. Queen Breeding and Raising Local Queens Speaking of raising northern queens, there has been some concern about the quality of queens coming into Pennsylvania. I have received complaints about packages containing drone laying queens or queens that supersede. Local lines might be a way to create bees that are varroa and virus resistant/tolerant. It might also be a way to provide queens that are guaranteed to be European with no Africanized Honey Bee genetics. One recommendation is a breeding and selection process that would provide breeder queens for PSBA members. Ideally we could start with up to 25 lines of queens. Commercial beekeepers, sideliners, or local organizations could maintain specific lines. For example, the Chester County Beekeepers could maintain one line. Starting with twenty hives, CCBA would evaluate those queens based on agreed-upon traits, such as honey production, overwintering ability, gentleness, etc. The inspectors would analyze the hives for hygienic traits. The top queen from each line would be sent to a central breeding team. That team would establish an apiary in an isolated area in northern PA with hives containing the top queens from each line. At least twenty new queens from each line would be grafted and mated with drones from the top queens of all the PA lines. CCBA would then receive 20 new daughters from their top queen to evaluate for the next year. Beekeepers interested in raising queens in PA could request specially mated queens from specific lines as the mother for their queens. This process as described above could be quite an undertaking. In order for it to work, we would need help from beekeepers across the Commonwealth. Please let me know if you are interested in such a scheme. I am sure there are other schemes that we can also consider. I would just like to get a dialog started and perhaps setup a group that would be interested in improving the queen stock in PA. Summer Library Program This year many Commonwealth libraries are holding a Catch the Reading Bug program. I have already been contacted by over a dozen libraries to present a bee talk for youngsters in the reading program. This is a great way to educate kids about the value of bees. Why not prepare some materials or ask your local organization to loan out posters, model hives, or observation hives for membership use? If you are concerned about the liability of taking an observation hive into a building, why not try filling some queen cages with drones before leaving for the talk? After an hour, you can pass out the drones which will walk around the kids arms and floor. One caveat, once you hand out drones, you will lose control of the group—so save it for the end of the talk. New Beekeepers This year we have had a record number of new beekeepers. Most of the courses have been sold out. Our MCBA new beekeeping classes have been standing room only. If your local organization needs a boost in membership, this is the time to offer some courses and perhaps you can recruit some new members. Appreciation for Local Treasurers PSBA relies on the support of local members and local clubs to provide the recruiting and membership drives for PSBA. I know that much of this work falls on the local treasurers. I would like to thank all of the volunteers at the local level that makes this state association function—and a special thank you to all of the local treasurers. Please let us know at the state meeting if you have suggestions on ways to simplify the dues process. Appreciation for Maryann Frazier This winter, Maryann Frazier spent much of the colder months in Florida. Although she was working there doing both research and extension work, her presence was sorely missed here in Pennsylvania. When you see Maryann, remember to thank her for the work that she does on behalf of the beekeepers of Pennsylvania. Kim Flottum & Kathy Summers Wedding Springtime isn’t just for beekeepers, it is also a time for love to blossom. Last month, Kim Flottum, editor of Bee Culture, and Kathy Summer, Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) Vice Chairperson, were wed in Ohio. Over the years of attending EAS, I have become good friends with both. As EAS Chairman, I rely on Kathy to keep convention details on track. The wedding was a well-attended, unpretentious event. The reception was at A. I. Root Company. I am not very good at recognizing brand name apparel but I did recognize the Hawaiian shirt that Kim wore at the altar. EAS in Kentucky Speaking of EAS, mark your calendar for the first week of August to visit Kentucky. It is a great place to take the family for a summer vacation. There are plenty of activities nearby for your family. The convention is full of educational talks and workshops. The registration form is just being completed. Look for it soon on www.easternapiculture.org. Keep your bees in your hives and remember to super up. See you at the summer meeting and picnic.
Email: president@pastatebeekeepers.orgPhone: (610) 584-6778 |
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