News
News
Honey Queen Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:16 |   
Hi Everyone! Today is a beautiful day! My bees are busy and I just came in the house from checking on them... So far, they have all successfully survived the winter and they are getting ready to rock and roll! Even though we have several more weeks to go, I'm eager to put the supers on right now. After the TBA Convention in Plano this past November, I had the opportunity to go to the East Texas Beekeepers Christmas Banquet with John & Lavada Talbert and Blake Shook on December 4th. We met at a restaurant called Traditions in Tyler, TX, and had such a good time meeting fellow beekeepers and making new friends. I hope to make it back to visit with the East Texas Beekeepers again soon. On December 8th, I attended the annual Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association Christmas Banquet. The new Collin County Honey Queen, Allison Adams, was crowned, and she crowned the new Collin County Honey Princess, Kaylynn Mansker. We had great food and fellowship, as well as, a fun-filled Quiz Bowl with the nineteen 2008 CCHBA scholarship recipients. The 2009 scholarship recipients were announced as well, making seven new recipients this year. I could tell that they were excited! The evening concluded with the ever-popular fund-raising auction. On January 7th, I went with Allison Adams and Kaylynn Mansker to a media training session. We met at Sarah Kornfield's (2005 American Honey Queen) home where she taught us how to communicate with people about honey bees in any given situation - whether on TV, radio, at a school or at a convention. What a great opportunity it was to work on speaking skills with an expert! Every year, Texas beekeepers donate about 300 lbs of honey to the TBA State Fair Booth which is then given to the Happy Hills Children's Academy located in Granbury, Texas. Rachael Seida (2008 American Honey Queen), Kaylynn Mansker (2009 CCHBA Honey Princess) and I joined the Seida and Mansker families on January 9th to deliver the honey. We had the opportunity of meeting the founder of the Academy, Mr. Shipman. He gave us an excellent tour of the Farm to see first-hand how they help kids in need. The children live in family units at the Academy, are able to go to school on campus, play sports and have some experience of farm life. We even talked about the possibility of their keeping honey bees. Happy Hills Farm is definitely an impressive place, and I had a memorable experience. I hope some of you can join us when we return in the fall with your 2009 donated honey. The ABF Convention in Reno, Nevada, from January 13-17, was an absolute blast! I was able to go with Shirley Acevedo, the Texas Honey Queen Chairperson, and we had so much fun attending many, many sessions on all sorts of topics about honey bees. These included the latest updates on CCD, how to make your own beeswax candles, bee sting therapy, queen rearing, building an effective honey house and so much more. There were all kinds of activities going on, and all kinds of opportunities to meet beekeepers from around the U.S and a few foreign countries. The 2009 American Honey Queen is Diane Jurchen from Iowa, and the 2009 American Honey Princess is Allison Hull from Minnesota. Congratulations Girls! Thank you all so much for giving me the opportunity to go! I look forward to seeing you here in Texas during 2009! And I hope to see you all in Orlando, Florida, for the next ABF Convention January 12-16, 2010! Have a wonderful month! Nicole Pettibon, 2009 Texas Honey Queen Last Updated (Monday, 08 June 2009 19:34) |
Director's Report - Area 1 Friday, 06 February 2009 21:14 |
Hello Fellow Beekeepers, For those of you who do not know me and since this is my first report as a "new re-run" TBA Director, let me introduce myself. I am a commercial beekeeper operating sort of midway between Santa Fe and Alvin, Texas which is half-way between Houston and Galveston. Our main honey crop is from the Chinese tallow trees. The tallow tree produces a stronger tasting, amber honey. We make most of our honey right here at home, but in past years, I have sent bees to out of state locations to make a little light honey. And we sometimes send bees out of state for pollination fees. I am a fourth generation beekeeper and even though we are presented with a daily dose of obstacles, I cannot imagine doing anything else. TBA has done a great job of producing new members and filling our lives with new ideas and information about the bee industry. We still have much to do about the predators that attack our pride and joys; our little friends "the honey bees" that consume our lives, money and sanity...time after time...and your wives’ and family’s time, also. Mites and Beetles: Do not let these pests feed on your bees! Monitor them closely! This is January...mite counts are mostly low this month. Hive beetle adults are in the center of the cluster, warm and cozy, feeding on bee larvae of every stage. Sometimes you have to break the cluster to see them. Sandy soil is a likely spot for them to breed. Nutrition is another big issue: We have fed four or five pounds of pollen patties and three to five gallons of sugar syrup with Fumagilin and essential oils (consisting of lemon grass, spearmint, etc.). I am not sure what turned them around, but they all look much better now. Hurricane Ike had them looking bad. Honey Prices: Prices for honey have gone down some this month, but still it has been unreal on sales. We cannot keep enough on the shelves at local outlets. There is a big demand for local stuff! It is dry here just like it is everywhere else in Texas. The last rain real rain we had was two inches from Hurricane Ike which was back in September. We have not had much over a sprinkle since. I hope February will be wet…moisture in the ground makes a big difference in the honey flows.
Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a profitable 2009! Last Updated (Friday, 13 February 2009 20:02) President's Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:11 |
Dear Friends,
I have recently returned from a somewhat productive trip to College Station. Many times after past visits, I have left there asking myself if we would ever see this Honey Bee Lab facility built. At our most recent meeting, I actually saw a detailed set of plans for the facility. Those plans are the fruits of many months of work between Dr. Pankiw and the engineers. Dr. Pankiw indicated that she is very pleased with what they have developed and is looking forward to seeing this facility built. It has been ten years since the TBA went to the legislature to ask for funding for her position and program at TAMU. I think it is about time she gets the facility we have been talking about. I was told that the plans would be released to potential contractors on or around February 1, 2009 for bids. The bidding process will last a minimum of four to six weeks. After this, it would take another four to six weeks to accept a bid and get contracts signed. So this should give us a potential ground breaking date sometime around the first of May. I was also pleased to hear that because of the recent down turn in lumber and metal prices that we should be able to complete the facility in one phase. Many of us have worried that construction costs were outpacing our fund raising efforts, but it appears our timing has worked out well. Do not hold your breath just yet, but I do believe we will actually see construction begin this year, with a possible completion of the facility in early 2010. While I was in College Station, I also had a meeting with Dr. Dan Upchurch. He is the area director for the USDA Agriculture Research Service. Mark Brady, John Talbert, Dr. John Thomas and Dr. Frank Eischen accompanied me. We were updated on the possible move of the Weslaco Bee Lab to College Station. Dr. Upchurch said he would have a better understanding of what the USDA's position about the move is on April 1, 2009. We were able to share some of the industry’s concerns with him at this time. We told him we thought it was very important to fill the research leader position, as well as, the two open scientist positions. It was then that he informed us that they had (USDA) just filled one of the scientist positions. Dr. Upchurch shared our concern about the open research leader position and thought that the potential move would be helpful in filling this position. After our meeting with Dr. Upchurch, the five of us were led on a very extensive tour of the ARS facility in College Station by Dr. Wayne Ivie, who is the director of the facility, and John Westbrook, who is a potential research leader for the Honey Bee Program. We were shown possible facilities that would be offered to the Honey Bee Lab scientists should the move occur. I was impressed by the facility and the openness of Dr. Ivie and Mr. Westbrook. I will stay on the top of these changes and try to keep you updated as they occur. I hope your beekeeping operation is going well. We continue to be in a severe drought here in South Texas and the prospects for a brush honey crop do not appear to be very good. I hope you are experiencing better conditions than us. Good Luck!
Sincerely, Todd Youngblood, TBA President Last Updated (Friday, 13 February 2009 20:01) |
Vice President's Report Friday, 06 February 2009 21:06 |
WE are in a serious drought here in south Texas. Many "experienced" beekeepers are warning of little to no nectar flows if we do not receive rain soon and in abundance. I talked with a rancher who told me he did not think we could buy an inch of rain if we knew who to pay. That's dry! California is reporting the possibility of a third dry year. They are telling the almond industry that a water shortage in prime almond growing country is here. Many almond producers have cancelled pollination contracts because of the water shortage. This will likely affect us here in south Texas. Many beekeepers here and those planning to migrate here for the spring nectar flows are busy. Many plans were made last year and bees and equipment need to be prepared. While we do not know the future, only God does, we still need to carry on and pray for rain. Many of you have heard the talk going around about chemicals. Some say chemicals are good and necessary, others say the chemical manufactures and their products are evil. I received an email from a beekeeper with a good chemical background. He has had some good conversation with me about chemicals. I pasted the good content of the email here for you to read and respond to the EPA. “If you think that imidacloprid has or, may be causing a problem, here is a heads up. EPA is accepting public comments. Spread the word far and wide and let’s let EPA find out that beekeepers aren't always sleeping... Greetings, This email is to inform you that the comment period for the registration review of imidacloprid has recently opened. Below you will find a link to the imidacloprid docket. Through this link, you can view the Agency's preliminary work plan and supporting documents for imidacloprid. You are also invited to submit comments regarding these documents and the Agency's plan to review imidacloprid. All comments must be received on or before March 17, 09. http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=DocketDetail&d=EPA-HQ-OPP-2008-0844
Please contact me if you have any questions.
Regards, Rusty Wasem Chemical Review Manager Reregistration Branch I Special Review & Reregistration Division 703/305-6979”
Don’t Forget! To be at the Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant in Round Rock, TX Saturday, February 21st at 11am for the TBA Winter Delegate’s Meeting. For all of the details, see page 4 of the 08 Nov/Dec Issue of the TBA Journal.
Last Updated (Friday, 13 February 2009 20:01) November / December 2008 Honey Queen Report Monday, 24 November 2008 00:00 |
Hello, Everyone! My name is Nicole Pettibon and last month I had the honor of being crowned the Texas Honey Queen for 2009. This article will tell a little bit about who I am. I am the 17-year-old daughter of Patrick and Christie Pettibon. I have lived in Texas all my life, and I think it is one of the best places on the whole planet! When I turned 1 year old, we moved into the house my mom grew up in, which we like to call the mini ranch, and we have lived here ever since. I have a brother, Caleb, who is 14 months older than I, and I have 9 younger siblings. There are eleven kids total. Here are the names from the top: Caleb (18), Nicole (17), Joshua (15), Jacob (13), Hope (12), Megan (10), Abby (9), Anna (6), Luke (5), and Lilly (3), and Emma (4 months). Wow... When I was 4 years old, I started piano lessons and music has been one of the delights of my life. In addition to piano, I now play the violin and some guitar. I have been home schooled from the beginning, and I absolutely love it! I also enjoy "roughin' it" outdoors, taking a dare, reading, competing with speech and debate, and, of course, beekeeping. Bees aren't the only, what some might consider, unusual pets we have out here on the ranch. My brother, Joshua, always has some sort of new pets in the house whether it's hedgehogs, racing pigeons, raccoons, squirrels, a scorpion, some kind of parrot(s), turtles, or something else. There is never a dull moment in the Pettibon family. I really enjoyed the TBA convention, and I want to thank you all for supporting the Honey Queen program. I'll be keeping you all updated on the events going on in the program this year. It's going to be fantastic! I look forward to meeting all of you! Until next time, Last Updated (Monday, 08 June 2009 19:35) |
