Kids Learning About Bees By Violet Bourns Tyler was the host city for the Texas Beekeepers Association Annual Convention on November 12-15, 2009 at the Holiday Inn Select on South Broadway. Our special guests were the Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon from McKinney, American Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen from Iowa and other Queens and Princess from all over Texas. They included Collin County Honey Queen, Allison Adams from Plano and Honey Princess, Kaylynn Mansker from Nevada; Williamson County Honey Queen, Rebekah Jones from Spicewood, and ETBA Honey Queen, Kellie Lenamond from Wills Point.
Thursday the 12th focused on Kids Learning about Bees; renamed by Jimmie Oakley and in the future, will be called “KLAB.” Our goal was to reach 500 school-age children in the East Texas area who were home-schooled, in private schools and 4-H clubs who could attend on a weekday. We had a grand total of 440 children, excluding accompanying adults and children in strollers.
Thanks to the hard work and commitment of Tammy Lenamond, mother of ETBA Honey Queen, Kellie Lenamond, and her committee, consisting of Judy Giles, Brenda Claire and Darlene Rappazzo, many of the small communities were reached, which helped make it a success. These ladies also worked the registration table.
 As the teachers and children arrived, they were greeted outside the hotel by Brandon and Susan Pollard of Collin County Beekeepers dressed as honey bees with yellow and black balloons, and had time to meet and have their picture taken with Buzzy Bear played by members of the Seida, Kilpatrick and Mansker families. Once inside, they were escorted to the registration table by Patsy McCall, Gloria Harmon, Karen Anderson and Joe Mekalip. From there, each group was escorted to the different tables by a Honey Queen or Princess. The teenage beekeepers of ETBA, with an experienced ETBA adult at the table, volunteered to teach the children different aspects of beekeeping.
The first display was an observation hive that contained four frames of bees with a marked queen displayed by ETBA student, Mike Rappazzo. Mike had made an observation hive with a swivel base and safety glass with the help of his instructor, Dick Counts. This allowed the children to safely see the bees at work as Mike explained the three kinds of bees and their role in the hive. Mike Lenamond worked with him.
Next the children were educated about the importance of the honey bee as the most valuable pollinator of the world’s food supply by ETBA student, Hayden Wolf and her father, Gus Hayden had many pictures of bees collecting pollen and nectar from flowers. She explained the different parts of the flower and the difference between pollen and nectar; and also how the bees store pollen in their pollen baskets and nectar in their stomachs. They then fly back to the hive, deposit the pollen into the cells to feed the young larvae and the queen and transfer the nectar to the other worker bees, so they can make honey. 
The third table demonstrated the beekeepers protective clothing such as the suit, veil, gloves and boots worn by Joshua and Joseph Bradley, while working with their bees; and when they experienced first-hand bee removal from a building with instructor, Dick Counts. The Bradley boys brought a honey and deep super, top & bottom, inner & top cover with frames & foundation to show the children how bees live and are taken care of in boxes called hives. Joe Moench worked with them.
Around the room to the extracting table where a child could see first-hand how pure natural honey was cut off the comb with a hot knife, frames put in a stainless container that spun around to remove the honey; which was strained, then bottled by ETBA student, Travis Freeze and adult, John McCall. Each child received a brochure about making honey and the teacher was given a honey stick for each child.
Next the children got to see a collection of old skeps that are no longer used from different areas of the world brought by Mr. Jan Aerts. ETBA student, Roland Crossman did many hours of research to learn about the skeps so he could participate with Mr. Aerts in explaining how they were made and used in the past. The next table, Bee Swarms and Stings from bees are always an area of interest. ETBA President, Andrew Bellefeuille and his twins, Katie (who shares her father’s enthusiasm) and Will who was just happy to hand out neon pencils to everyone. Kerrie Lenamond, who had helped her father, Mike collect swarms helped educate about swarms, remedies that can be used if a person gets stung by a bee, and how to remove the stinger.  The last table and perhaps the most popular for the children was the candle making table where the children got the experience of hands on rolling a beeswax candle to take home. Linda Pelham and Gayle Mekalip worked with students Erin Lenamond, Abby Giles and others who volunteered to help when it got crowded.
On the way out the children visited with ETBA Honey Queen, Kellie Lenamond, who displayed her scrapbook and a bee quilt she had made that was later auctioned off for $500.00 to support the Texas Honey Queen Program. The most popular question was “Are you a real queen?” She assured them she was; not only as a title, but that she also worked her bees like all beekeepers and extracted her own honey to use in cooking for her family.
On the way back to their schools, students, parents and teachers stopped to purchase small glass bee trinkets made by the Lenamond children and sold by student, Becka Lenamond and Susan Holloway. Also available was ETBA’s cookbook “Cooking With My Honey”; a fund raiser to support our Queen and Princess sold by Stan and Mary Jo Brantley and our 102 year old beekeeper, Mr. John Knight and wife, Shirley. Submitted by Violet Bourns
East Texas Beekeepers Association
Honey Queen-Princess Chairperson
by Jimmie L. Oakley The Holiday Inn Select Hotel in Tyler, Texas, was the site of the Texas Beekeepers Association Convention this year. The meeting took place over the third weekend in November, starting on Thursday morning the 12th and running through Sunday morning the 15th, giving the beekeepers and visitors to the event three full days of learning and activities.
Thursday morning the Convention kicked off with another successful run of Kids-LAB (learning about bees). Coordinated and directed by Texas Honey Queen Chair, Shirley Acevedo, the East Texas Beekeepers manned their education stations as Honey Queens and Princesses escorted the various home-schooled groups through the large staging area to learn more about bees. There were over 440 youngsters in attendance, not counting teachers and parents.
Concurrently, Dr. Larry Connor of Wicwas Press from Kalamazoo, MI, conducted a well attended workshop on Honey Bee Management (Level II).
 The TBA Executive Committee also met on Thursday morning to take care of preliminary business of the Association. Chaired by TBA President, Todd Youngblood, the Committee took up important issues and considered the budget for the coming fiscal year (2009-2010).
In the afternoon, the vendors began to set up the Trade Show in the Conference Center. This year seven vendors were present: Dadant & Sons, Mann Lake, Ltd., Texas Insurance & Financial Services, American Beekeeping Federation, American Honey Producers, Jan Aerts - Bee Services and Jerry Freeman - Beetle Traps. Five other vendors participated by sending door prizes and/or catalogs: Bee Culture, National Honey Board, Bucko Gloves, Plastic Packaging Concepts and Walter T. Kelly.
The Annual “Bee Buzz Social and Honey Queen Reception” was hosted on Thursday evening by American Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen; Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon; Collin County Honey Queen, Allison Adams; East Texas Honey Queen, Kellie Lenamond; Williamson County Honey Queen, Rebekah Jones and Collin County Honey Princess, Kaylynn Mansker. There was a great turnout with good food and drink, the renewing of old friendships and several long-time beekeepers from the area getting to attend. Again, Burleson Honey Company of Waxahachie, TX, generously sponsored the food and drink with the additional help of Dadant & Sons, Inc. of Paris, Texas, and Mann Lake Ltd. of Hackensack, MN; and the Honey Queens offered (honey) sweet treats to all who visited their lovely display tables.
Friday morning was the official start of the Convention with the Representative Leo Burman of the Texas 6th District giving the Welcome, followed by the TBA President’s Address from Todd Youngblood. The Honey Queens were officially introduced by Shirley Acevedo, Texas Honey Queen Chair. Attending this year was Diane Jurchen, ABF Honey Queen from Cumberland, IA; Nicole Pettibon, Texas Honey Queen from McKinney, TX; Allison Adams, CCHBA Honey Queen from Plano, TX; ETBA Honey Queen, Kellie Lenamond, from Wills Point, TX; WCABA Honey Queen, Rebekah Jones, from Spicewood, TX, and CCHBA Honey Princess, Kaylynn Mansker from Nevada, TX. Texas Honey Queen, Nicole Pettibon gave her event filled PowerPoint slide presentation to the appreciation of the beekeepers assembled.
After the morning break, Dr. Bastina Drees from Texas A&M moderated a panel to present the latest on ‘our newest problem’, the Rasberry Crazy Ant.  We were privileged to have Tom Rasberry of Pearland, TX who has been fighting the ant for the last 5-6 years. Steve Coplin of Algoa, a victim of the pest was on the panel with his experience. Dr. Shashank Nilalhe, Entomologist from the Texas Department of Agriculture lent his expertise.
The Honey Queen Program hosted the Queen’s Luncheon during the noon hour to a record crowd, giving the Queens and Princess opportunity to share some personal and charming experiences The afternoon general session featured speakers from the USDA Honey Bee Lab in Weslaco as John Adamczyk opened the session with his remarks and was followed by Dr. William Meikle speaking on the research on the Small Hive Beetle. Dr. Frank Eischen brought us a report on his Overwintering and Feeding Trials. Before the afternoon break, Raul Rivera and Juan Campos addressed the subject of Fatty Acids and Proteins in Overwintered Honey Bees.
After the break John Talbert, TBA Executive Secretary and ABF Director provided a preview of the ABF and AHPA Conventions in January of 2010, and extended invitations to TBA members to both meetings.
Dr. Clint Walker of Walker Honey Co. in Rogers, TX, brought us the latest on the National Honey Bee Advisory Board, and Area 2 Director, Blake Shook enlightened all the attendees on Registration, Regulation, Licensing and Labeling issues in regard to your honey business.
 On Friday evening, the awards from the TBA Honey, Wax and Photo Contest were presented. Henry Graham hosted the award presentation this year and was assisted by the Honey Queens and Princess. As each category was announced and ribbons handed out, the Honey Queens posed so pictures could be taken to record the event. The Honey Queen Program took center stage to close out the evening in good-natured competition as the Honey Queens played the game “Jeopardy” (provided in PowerPoint by former Texas & ABF Honey Princess Sarah Paulson) to exhibit their bee knowledge. It was an enjoyable contest. Thank you ladies!
Samuel Heinz of D’Hanis, Tx, Delegates Committee Chair, hosted a Delegate’s Breakfast on Saturday morning that was well attended. Accomplishments were acknowledged and future activities were discussed. The dedication of the new Honey Bee Research Facility was selected for the site for the winter delegates meeting
Dr. Clint Walker opened the final session of the Convention on Saturday morning, speaking on the US Honey Board and the National Honey Packers & Importers Board with some insight as to what is happening.
The Convention received a visit from US Congressman Louie Gohmnrt (East Texas) District 1 as he welcomed us to East Texas and was made aware of the issues beekeepers are facing. He addressed the session.
Before the break, an aggregate of speakers from the Texas Honey Bee Research Facility and Education Center were introduced to bring us the latest on that project. Chad Wootton, V.P. for Development & Strategic Outreach; Monica Delisa, Sr. Director of Development and Paul Jackson, Texas Apiary Inspector were all present. A slide presentation was given to show the progress and completion of the lab and in conclusion, an announcement we made about the creation of the Nevin Weaver Excellence Fund at Texas A&M. It is based on an endowment by Dr. John and Janice Thomas of Bryan, TX to honor the work and life of Nevin Weaver.
After the morning break, Brad Metz, graduate student in honey bee research at Texas A&M, gave a presentation on Variation in and Response to Honey Bee Brood Pheromones and Trent Kuckerka reported on Some Effects of Rasberry Crazy Ants on Honey Bee Colonies. Paul Jackson, Apiary Inspector at Texas A&M gave his update on the Apiary Inspection Service to conclude the morning session.
The Texas Beekeepers Association held its Annual Business Meeting on Saturday afternoon to hear committee reports, pass resolutions and elect officers for the coming year. The meeting was called to order when a quorum was determined by President Todd Youngblood. After the reports were received and the passage of all presented resolutions, the membership elected a slate of officers that had Todd Youngblood from Pearsall retained as President and Ed Priest from San Antonio as V.P. The only new Director’s position was in Area 3 and it went to Clint Weaver from Navasota, TX. The meeting adjourned in order.
On the final evening of the Convention in Tyler, the Annual Awards Banquet took place in the Broadway South Restaurant. It was well attended by beekeepers and many family members - 103 - a new record. After a delicious formal dinner, the presentation of awards took place.  The John G. Thomas Meritorious Service Award for 2009 went to Janice Thomas of Bryan, Texas.  The President’s Award presented by Todd Youngblood went to Chad Wootton of Texas A&M and Beekeeper or the Year went to Joan Coplin of Algoa.
The TBA Honey Queen Coronation is always the “crowning” event of the evening. This year Nicole Pettibon, the 2009 Texas Honey Queen crowned the Collin County Honey Queen, Allison Adams, of Plano, Texas, to reign as 2010 Texas Honey Queen. She was assisted by ABF Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen, and she was presented with flowers by WCABA Honey Queen, Rebekah Jones.
The evening wrapped up with the Honey Queen Auction that always follows the Banquet and Honey Queen Coronation. Larry Lough from Whitehouse, TX, conducted the auction. With the Honey Queens and Princess presenting the items and the TBA members holding up their hands, over $7,600.00 was raised to support the Honey Queen program.
By the numbers, one hundred ninety people were “badged” for the Convention, many of them young people. Seventy two people attended the Queens’ Luncheon and there were 103 at the annual Banquet. There were eighty-six beekeepers that renewed their membership (paid dues) at the Convention and there was twenty-eight new members joining TBA at the Convention. Thanks to all who help to make it so.
The Executive Committee held a final meeting on Sunday morning to approve the 2010 TBA Budget. Jimmie Oakley
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by Curtis Meier
While reading John Talbert’s report on the Texas State Fair in the July/August issue of the TBA Journal, I couldn’t help but think back about how all of this got started. It brought back, many memories.
I went to work for Dadant and Sons as manager of their branch in Paris, TX in November of 1958. I replaced Erwin Glew who moved to the new branch in Sioux City, Iowa. In the summer of 1959, I received a visit from G.O. Stroope and Leslie Atkins, commercial beekeepers of Waxahachie, TX. They informed me that Erwin Glew was head of the Fair Committee which was set up last year and since I took over his place at Dadant, I also got his job with the Fair Committee. The Fair Committee at that time was Erwin Glew, G.O. Stroope and Leslie Atkins of Waxahachie, W. M. “Marvin” Allen of Duncanville and Jim Petty of San Angelo. I believe Jim Petty was President of TBA at that time. In the summer of 1958, they met with Mr. Wilson (who was in charge of the Agriculture Building at the State Fair) to see about displaying bees and honey. Mr. Wilson liked the idea and agreed to giving them a space in the Agriculture Building. Erwin Glew (as told to me by G.O. Stroope) then explained to him that the Committee was short on funds and could the Fair Association help us out. Mr. Wilson wrote them a check for $50. The money was used to build a display rack. It was a stair-step design with about 5 or 6 levels and about 8 ft. long. Each year it was stored in Dadant’s warehouse. It was used for many years.
In the summer of 1959 (after meeting with G.O. and Leslie), I set up a meeting with Mr. Wilson to discuss again participating at the Fair. G.O., Leslie, Marvin and myself attended. G.O. had told me earlier that I had to
ask Mr. Wilson for $100 instead of $50. We found him in a good mood. He liked what was done in the previous year and gave us 8 X 10 pictures of the exhibit. I explained that we were planning to do more this year, but needed help. We appreciated the $50 last year, but could really use $100 this year. He wrote us a check for $100. We continued to get the $100 for 4 or 5 years, then Mr. Wilson retired and the payments stopped.
My first experience in helping set up the exhibit (1959) is well remembered. We had a big time that day getting it all set up and decorated with crepe paper. It was finished and Mr. Wilson stopped by to check out our booth. We all were admiring our work when Mr. Wilson asked “Is the crepe paper fireproof”? It wasn’t. We had to run all over Dallas looking for fireproof crepe paper. We then had to
completely redo the exhibit. I can laugh about it now, but it wasn’t funny then!
Burleson Honey Co. furnished all of the honey we needed for the display. They would deliver, as well as, pick it up after the Fair was over. There were years that Burleson Honey Company donated $500 to TBA for exhibiting their honey.
I remember one year we met with Mr. Wilson regarding changing the exhibit. We weren’t sure just what to do. He set up a meeting for us with a commercial interior decorator. He had several good ideas and helped with the one we decided on. That year we had jars hanging in the air. We used thin wire attached to the jar lid and tied to overhead 2 X 4’s. A very thin black netting was stretched across the front which made the honey jars appear to be suspended in mid air. The decorator furnished the material and the Fair Association picked up the bill. I’m mentioning all of this so you can see the change in 50 years. Now we have to pay the State Fair Association $1800 to do the same thing when they used to pay TBA.
We had permission to cut a hole in the brick wall of the Agriculture Building to make an escape route for the bees in the observation hive. This was used for a number of years until a lemonade stand (about a block away) got sloppy with their lemonade or syrup and the bees took over. They had to close down the stand. The next year it happened again, so the Fair Association informed us we had to close up the bees. We pleaded our case stating there were lots of other bees in the area and the lemonade stand was the problem…didn’t help.
W.M. Allen and his wife, furnished the bees and observation hive for those first few years. They also opened the booth each morning and stayed until relief arrived. Sometimes relief didn’t come, so they stayed until closing time. After Marvin became ill and passed away,
Luther Maserang and his wife of Fort Worth took his place. Luther and Moina became a big asset to the Fair Booth. They opened it up each morning and sometimes, closed it at night. They were very dedicated until the time he became ill and passed away.
Sometime in the late 80’s, Bob Stroope started furnishing the bees and taking care of the observation hive. He passed away in 1991, so that job has been handed down to others.
Some of the early key beekeepers who should be remembered for their dedication and service in keeping the State Fair Honey Booth going are: W.M. Allen
G.O. Stroope
Leslie Atkins
Erwin Glew
Jim and Mary Petty
Bob Stroope
Luther Maserang
Moina Maserang
All of these guys have passed away, but I remember them very well. They were customers of mine and more than that, personal friends. They were great beekeepers and loved promoting their favorite product…HONEY.
by Harry Reichart  The Harris County Beekeepers Association held their Second Annual Honey Harvest Event at the home of Bill and Pat Whittington in Dickinson, Texas on Aug. 1, 2009.
This event is designed as a teaching tool to help new members, as well as, older members hone their skills in the art of beekeeping. It was a hot one this day, but it didn’t stop the event from going forward. There were 40 members, plus one of the local news media, Mr. Tom Jacobs, Editor of the Pearland/Friendswood Journal. Also in attendance, a bee lady Tamao Ito, from Tokyo, Japan. She was there to learn first hand how beekeeping is done in our country. Tamao has some beekeeping knowledge in her raptor - helping me extract and bottle the honey for the past two years and loving every minute of it. She is a very good worker and really fits into the bee industry so she can take her knowledge with her when she goes back to Japan.
The event started at 9:00am and lasted until 1:30pm. We had a social hour in which beekeepers could get together and swap tales of their beekeeping experiences. We divided into two groups. Bill and his son, Curtis then gave us a tour of the uncapping and bottling - many questions of how the processing takes place. Then our hostess, Mrs. Pat Whittington served us her famous homemade ice cream and goodies that were consumed very quickly by the group.
President Don Angle then had the door prize drawings - two Queen drawings for the ladies and two Drone drawings for the guys where held. After things settled down, the fun really began. Everyone suited up in their bee suits to make the journey to Bill’s beeyard. With the help from David Patterson, Bill then opened a few of the beehives for the members to observe and to look for the queen, workers and drones. Bill explained what each one does for the survival of the colony, and the proper way to open the hive and what the purpose of the smoke does.
I know that I had just as much fun interviewing everyone with my video camera, so they could share their beekeeping experience and knowledge. You can visit us on our website @ www.harriscountybeekeepers.org.
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Saturday, 13 February 2010 17:07 | 
