From The Vice President...

Hi everyone. I am Warren Miller the 1st Vice President of the PA Beekeepers.  It seems as though it was just a few years ago I became involved with the State Association and look what Glenn Crimbring has got me into.  This article is written to help you to get to know who I am and how I got started in this incredible hobby.

I am a lifelong resident of Centre County graduating from Bellefonte High in 1981 and then Mansfield University in 1985 with a degree in Criminal Justice and Psychology. I married my wife Renee in 1985 and we are still fighting. She is an incredible woman who continues to tolerate my behavior and I am still not sure why. We have three children Wayne, 20, a sophomore at PSU. Amanda, 19, a freshman at PSU and Clarissa who is in 6th grade at Bellefonte. I have been blessed. I am the Executive Director of a large water/sewer Authority near Bellefonte.

Now for my story about the honey bees. I am not sure how old I was when I first started to look at the Sears Catalog every Christmas, they had about two or three pages of beekeeping supplies every year and that was the first thing on my Christmas list. My dad didn't like having kids too much and he liked bees even less. Although when I was 12 or 13, my neighbor, the County Extension Agent, asked me one day if I wanted to go with him to check a 4-H project, two hives of honey bees. I knew that day I needed a hive of honey bees.

In 1987 I finally bought my own place and the first thing I looked for were some bees. An ole timer had some hives he had not checked for several years and the price was right. I thought that yellow sticker on the hive from the State Inspector meant it was the best. The ole boy told me how the State Inspector liked to go around and burn beehives of the people he did not like. He handed me a 1936 edition of ABC/XYZ of Bee Culture, three full colonies of mad bees and told me to hide them in a fencerow and don't tell people I have them. I did not tell anyone until about 2001 when I became a member of the State Association and EAS. I remember getting about 100 stings that first night unloading those hives, but could not help firing up the smoker about two weeks later and peeking in the boxes.

The rancid smell of American Foulbrood was my next lesson in 1988 and the book said burn them. It was a very sad experience and I have been fortunate since that time. I was hooked the first time I opened the box. Beekeeping was different before mites. I was hit in the winter of 1993/1994 and lost all of my hives, six at the time. I bought three packages and have maintained a dozen or so hives until 2002 when I decided to start raising some queens instead of buying the southern girls. It was kind of like using Apistan in my hives, some died with it and some lived without it. Half of the queens I bought did not last very long and some did very well. I do not like to part with my folding money. I figured I would raise queens from my best colonies each year and I have not used any medication in my hives since the late 1990's when Apistan was last tried. I have raised queens and bought stock from around the country since 2001 trying to keep a wide gene pool for mating purposes.

I currently have about 75 hives and raised about 100 queens last year. I would suggest everyone try one method or the other and raise a few queens. If you have a bee hive it is good management to have a supporting nucleus colony. They are great for beginners to work and are not as aggressive as a full colony on those hot July and August days. Several nucs are easy to manage and give you the chance to raise a couple of queens and pick the best one. I am warning you, I had a dozen or so hives in 2000 and I can't "squish" a big fat queen, they are beautiful.

I hope to live up to the standards that have been set by past officers of this State Association. My goals are to help promote hobby beekeeping in PA and help people get back to the basics with their bees. It takes some management if you want to keep honey bees alive in today's world without the chemicals. I am of the belief no hobby beekeeper needs to use medication to keep honey bees alive and healthy, it takes good management and you can't get that from a book. Get into those colonies and observe and learn. I also want to make sure the local groups around the State are recognized for their efforts to promote honey bees and have the State work cooperatively with all of them. If you ever have any questions, comments or concerns, feel free to contact me and I will be happy to talk to you about it. Just a final note, if Glenn starts hanging around he is up to something and he is persistent.

Warren Miller, 1st Vice President