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From the Director’s Chair

Thursday, 14 January 2010 12:46 |

by AP Warne, District 6

Hello Texas Beekeepers,
Well, it has been a very busy year. It seems like every year is busier than the one before and it would seem that next year has to slow down, but it never does. I just want to recap this year with everything that has been going on in my life. I guess to start things out, I’ll go back to January, not because it is the first month of the year, but that is when things really started to change for me. It was on January 7 that I asked my beautiful girlfriend, Simone, to marry me. We had a casual dinner at On the Border and after eating dessert, I leaned over and told Simone that I had one more thing to do and it just walked in. Puzzled, Simone looked at me and then turned around to look at the door. At that moment, I slid out of the booth and dropped to my knee and she gasped as I popped the question. My sister and her best friend delivered balloons and roses and were there to take pictures. Some ladies sitting nearby loudly whispered “HE’S PROPOSING!” and the whole restaurant stopped to watch the event unfold. A week later, I found myself at the ABF Convention in Reno having a good time and spending money on raffle tickets that I should have been saving for my wedding. Well, the ABF raffle is a really big deal and everyone wants to win as prizes ranged from a Montana fishing trip, free nights at the next ABF Convention, laptop computers, to queens and several other great prizes. As luck would have it, my name was drawn, not once but twice. So I made my picks which turned out to be 75 queens and some pollen substitute. What a month to start the year - one new Honey Queen to share in my life and 75 queens to help grow my business. I don’t think I could have asked for a better way to start the year.
I mentioned a year ago that I was attempting to increase my numbers and my dad was just starting his bee business. Well, we found ourselves in need of more bees in preparation of the 75 queens. We found some colonies to buy in April just before my wedding date. Since my wedding was April 17, these bees gave us a boost of excitement and relief. We spent May preparing all the hives for splitting for the 75 queens that we would be receiving.
June rolled around and despite being laid off from IBM, I still consider it a great month. You might think that being laid off would be a disaster at this time in my life, but I think it was more of a blessing in disguise because it gave me the opportunity to introduce my wife to beekeeping and provided the time I needed to prepare for the arrival of my queens. As a mentor for a scholarship student in my association, I was able to teach my student and show my wife the working beehive at the same time. She was hesitant at first, standing 20 feet away to observe. But it only took minutes for the 20 feet to become 5 feet as she peered over the box to look inside. Before the day was done, she was holding a frame covered with bees. She also likes helping out with the extraction process. I think she sampled honey from each frame during the process.

Now my other honey queens were scheduled to arrive soon and when they did, my wife would help give water to the thirsty travelers. I received 25 Hawaiian queens towards the end of June, and the first set of 25 Georgia queens was received around the middle of July. The second set of 25 Georgia queens was received in the first part of August. So the splits were made at three different times and each one went pretty well, for the most part. My dad had to do one of the splits by himself since I took an unexpected trip out of town and the queens were delivered during that time.
We also had a pretty good year with our honey. We pulled about 110 gallons of honey which is more honey than we have every pulled. I know compared to commercial beekeepers, 110 gallons isn’t very much, but we sure think that it is. We started selling at one of those farmer’s market and flea market places and we’ve just been doing great! For me, it has brought a new light of appreciation to our honey. At the start of the event, we pull up and set up the 10 x 10 tent and HONEY sign. Then we set up three tables. Mom quickly covers them with her honey bee table cloths. Dad and I start setting out the honey and then the chairs. In a matter of 15 minutes or less, we are set up and selling honey. It is just as easy and fast with the tear down. In fact, the appreciation comes at the end of the day when we see exhausted vendors trying to clean up as we pull away. As they are pushing and urging people to buy their stuff, we just let our honey sell itself. There is no need to do any pushing, as honey has a way of pulling buyers in. We usually have this much to say for each sell, “Yes it is our honey” and “Yes it is local honey”. I think we work half as hard at this event each month as those around us and I am willing say the payoff may be better as well. Of course, the beekeepers hard work comes in June and July in the 100 degree days.
I mentioned in my last Director’s Report that I wanted to get out and visit the other associations in my area. I was able to attend Metro Beekeepers on two occasions this year, but missed the Red River Valley Beekeepers meeting. I will try harder this year to get out that way for at least one of their meetings. I found that the Metro Beekeepers had a good attendance and I was encouraged to see that many of them were new to beekeeping. They are being faced with the same problems that other beekeepers are, mites and beetles. I was able to share a little bit about what I know with them and they had some good questions. Our Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon, attended one of the meetings with my wife and I. She raised an interest in a Honey Queen program there as she shared her experience.

In closing, I would like to thank all those beekeepers who made it to this year’s TBA Convention in Tyler. I feel that it was a great success and I am looking forward to the next one in Kerrville. I would like to congratulate Allison Adams as our new Texas Honey Queen and wish Nicole Pettibon good luck at the ABF Convention. I know that these two young women will represent Texas beekeepers very well.

See you in the beeyard,
AP Warne, AP’s Apiaries - Anna, Texas

09 May June Director’s Report

Tuesday, 14 July 2009 11:46 |

From the Director’s Chair – by Dick Counts - Area 3

Hello from East Texas, good things are happening in our part of Texas. We have a new 16 year-old HONEY QUEEN. Her name is Kellie Lenamond. She hails from Wills Point and is home-schooled, as a junior. She is also taking two junior college courses and plays several string instruments. She is also a graduate of the Collin County Beginners Beekeeping Class. After three years, she has five hives, does all of the bee work and the family uses the honey for cooking. Her homemade bread with honey is mighty good! Taking bees from a barrel got her in the Tyler Morning Telegraph, Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Morning News. Vi Bourns is our Honey Queen Chairperson and has done a beautiful job.
On the bees side, the kind that stings, we have had plenty of rain, but way too much cold to cool weather, on May 17th it was 54 degrees here in Tyler. We need some warm weather before the moisture dries up. Normally we have at least extracted once by now and some years twice. With only two weeks to go it will be mid June before I extract.
The East Texas Beekeepers Association is doing great, we just elected Andrew Bellefeuille as our 2009-2010 President. His first meeting we had 96 in attendance. Our Beginner Class had a total of 18 newbees in attendance, with three of those being scholarship students. Eighteen very excited new beekeepers got their bees on April 25th. Most of the hives already needed supers. With the shortages we experienced with the supply companies, our bees are making a great comeback. Swarm calls and bees in buildings are way up. But so are the beetles.
Our outdoor observation hives are up and running. Last year, I put nucs with 3 to 4 frames on two of them and they made it until a 27 degree day in late March. This year, I have put a 5 frame nucs on 6 of them in an effort to try to overwinter them.
Our meetings are the first Thursday of the month. Come see us!

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!

From the Director's Chair, Area 5, September/October 2008

Saturday, 18 October 2008 18:01 |

As I write this letter, all eyes have been on the weather. With two hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast already this year, my thoughts are with anyone in their path. I have heard from beekeepers in Louisiana and Texas who have been greatly impacted from these storms. Anyone who hasn’t experienced a weather event such as this might not realize it’s usually not the wind that does the most damage to the bees, but the water. Flooding of a beehive can do several things. The most obvious is the hive will drown or be washed away possibly to never be seen again. However, even a lesser degree of flooding can turn devastating. Commonly, a beehive will go partly under water and the cluster will survive initially only to be killed out later by small hive beetles.

This year was a mixed bag for Texas beekeepers starting out with almond pollination. Overall the price paid for rent was higher and the bees may have graded a little better than last year. Currently, I believe pollination prices will be strong in the 2009 season. Honey production in our state was up and down as usual with the overall crop a little better than last year. The good news is that retail demand for homegrown honey is stronger than ever and wholesale prices are up substantially.

One other thing of note—everyone is probably aware of the increasing demand for bees and queens. It is time to start planning for your 2009 season, so get your orders in as soon as possible.

I hope I will see all of you in Plano!

Ray Latner, Manager: Dadant & Sons Inc. – Paris, TX

From the Director's Chair, Area 3, July 2008

Tuesday, 01 July 2008 00:00 |

One of the nice things about having to write a report this late in the year is that you have had a lot happen. Now the problem is trying to remember it all. To begin with, Mr. Stanford Brantley and I went to Sacramento to attend the first joint meeting of the two national beekeeping organizations. Expected attendance was around 800, but over 1200 was the last count that I heard. Of course numbers mean something, but more important was all of the information that was presented. I also have to mention the over 30 vendors that presented anything you could want in beekeeping. For those of us who are picky, I know my numbers aren’t correct and this is old news.

More recently, beekeeping in East Texas is for, well, I don’t really know who would thrive here. We have had too much rain/too little rain—too cold/too hot. Of course, we are a hard lot to please. One of the good things is that we have been able to increase the price of local honey, if nothing more than because of the price of fuel. And of course, the supply of pure local honey is in short supply. And how about the bees? More swarming, bees in trees and buildings than I can ever remember. Some hives built up great, to some it didn’t matter how much you fed.

Now for the too late GOOD NEWS. If you missed the TBA Summer Clinic, you really missed a good one—lots and lots of good useful information. It was hosted by Randy & Arlene Johnson, owner of Johnson Honey Company of Paris. You missed seeing a well run outfit. Co–hosting this year was Ray Latner, Manager of Dadant & Sons Beekeeping Supply, also in Paris. My hats off to Eddie Priest and Jimmie Oakley for a job well done. Also thanks to Dadant for being open on Saturday.

For you guys who pollinate, I believe the blueberry growers are about to realize the benefit of honey bee pollination. If interested for next year, give me a call.

More Articles...

From the Director’s Chair, Area 2, March 2008