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Collin County Beekeepers Crown New Royalty

Friday, 06 February 2009 21:31 |

2009 CCHBA Honey Queen

Allison Adams was crowned Collin County Honey Queen at the CCHBA Christmas Dinner on Monday, December 8! Allison had served as Collin County Honey Princess since September 2007. She is the 17-year-old daughter of Ned and Caryl Adams of Plano, TX, and has kept bees since 2004, when she became a scholarship recipient.

The Queen was crowned by Nicole Pettibon, the previous Collin County Honey Queen who is now our State Honey Queen. Rachael Seida, American Honey Queen, was also in attendance. Allison received a sash that reads "2009 Collin County Honey Queen" and a gorgeous bouquet of a dozen yellow roses.

We wish Allison a very successful year as Honey Queen. We are honored to have her represent our local honey industry.

Congratulations Allison!

2009 CCHBA Honey Princess

Collin County Hobby Beekeepers Association has a new Honey Princess to represent the group and to talk to school children and other groups about honey bees! On December 8, 2008, at the CCHBA Christmas Dinner, Kaylynn Mansker was crowned!

Kaylynn is the 17-year-old daughter of Gary and Wanda Mansker of Nevada, TX. Kaylynn became interested in honey bees during 2008 while her brother kept bees as a CCHBA scholarship recipient.

The Princess received a lovely crown and a bouquet of pink roses. She was attended by Allison Adams (former CCHBA Honey Princess); Nicole Pettibon (Texas Honey Queen) and Rachael Seida (American Honey Queen). We wish Kaylynn all the best during her year as CCHBA Honey Princess!

Thank you, Kaylynn! We are proud of you!!

You are Invited to be a Part of Texas Beekeeping History

Friday, 06 February 2009 21:24 |

I’d like to add a new section in The Journal for the enjoyment of our membership: Texas Beekeeping History. If you have a story or an event that you would like to write about, I’d love to publish it. It can be just about anything you want to tell…maybe about an extra good crop or an extra bad crop; how you got started in beekeeping or how you used to do things without some of our more modern equipment. Did you grow up in a beekeeping family? Do you have stories from when you were working with your father or grandfather?

I was thinking that for now, I would just concentrate on stories/tales from the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s or earlier. And maybe at a later date, adding some more recent stories. It can be handwritten or typed: mailed, faxed or emailed…whatever is easiest for you.

Please contact me if you would like to contribute: 409/925-5415 or by email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Or if you know of a source who could help contribute to preserving some of our Texas Beekeeping History, provide me with names and contact information and I will do the rest.

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Joan Coplin

Editor, TBA Journal

State Fair Report

Friday, 06 February 2009 21:20 |

We had another great year at the State Fair of Texas sharing the story of honey and the honey bee with so many people. The Fair started off with a big reception on Thursday night for the media and dignitaries involved with the Fair. The Commissioner of the Texas Department of Agriculture, Todd Staples, opened the event with a rousing welcome and challenge to tell the story of agriculture during the next 24 days. And we did!

With the help of over 100 volunteers, thousands of questions were answered, many of which started off with, "I have heard that if you ………". Many of the other questions were precipitated by the new large posters sharing some of the story of honey production in Texas, pollination facts and CCD.

This year, honey was the focus of presentations on the Gazebo Stage for four days. No other agricultural commodity had that much exposure on the stage. Burleson’s Honey in Waxahachie gave cooking with honey demonstrations on Friday and Saturday, October 10 and 11. Your Honey Queens were on stage, Saturday and Sunday, October 18 and 19. Since the American Honey Queen, Rachael Seida, is from Texas, it was an all Texas Show. She was assisted by Collin County Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon and Collin County Honey Princess, Allison Adams. They enthralled the audiences with their tasty honey concoctions and their polished deliveries. It was a pleasure to watch them cast their spell.

The Honey Booth at the State Fair of Texas is the biggest showcase for TBA to tell the story of honey to the consumer. If you have not had the opportunity to contribute to the support of the honey booth, do it now. We are already preparing for the next Fair September 25 to October 18, 2009. It takes about $3500 per year to sustain the presence at the Fair.

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

Harris County Beekeepers Association Celebrates 100th Anniversary

Saturday, 25 October 2008 00:00 |

View photos of HCBA's 100th Anniversary

Everyone arrived in the banquet room of Juanito's Mexican Restaurant in Pearland, Texas, with a smile and a light heart, ready for a celebratory evening. It is the 100th Anniversary of the Harris County Beekeepers Association (HCBA) and as President, Don Angle, often said in the days leading up to the event, "a 100th Anniversary only happens once in a lifetime!"; everyone was ready to celebrate in high style.

Some members arrived as early as 5 p.m., eager to get started visiting with old friends. As I walked in prepared to put the finishing touches on the evening's decorations, I saw Bill and Pat Whittington and several others sitting around a table swapping stories, and Harry Reichart was alphabetizing and laying out the association name tags for everyone to pick up.