Ralph Johnson, long time member of the East Texas Beekeepers Association, passed away peacefully in his sleep, September 15, 2009 at the age of 90. He was very active and productive, doing the things that made him the happiest - tending his bees, his green house and his garden throughout his retirement years. He never stopped working and doing. Indeed, a mere two weeks before his death, he was on his tractor helping his “adopted” son and fellow beekeeper, Ray Knaeble, get his tractor out of a ditch.
Mr. Johnson kept bees as a boy with his father in the nineteen twenties and early thirties. He was the second oldest sibling of a large family, totaling 13 brothers and sisters. He often talked of the days when he and his father would “track” worker bees from a water source to their hive in some distant tree using talcum powder as a marker. Where possible, they would cut down the tree and take the portion of the trunk containing the hive back to their farm – bees and all, where they would cut it open to get the honey. He said, at first, he was too little to handle the saw, so his dad set him on the log to keep it stable while his dad and older brother did the sawing. They did not know what a “bee suit” was and rarely had any protective clothing other than a gunny sack and gloves. Ralph’s sons were very happy that things had improved by the time Ralph drafted them into service nearly 60 years later!
As a young man, he served in the National Guard and in the Army (1937-1946), training many thousands of recruits to use the 50 caliber machine gun. Afterwards, he continued to serve in the Civil Air Patrol for many years. He attained the rank of Captain during his service. He was proud to have served his country and his service years were among his most favorite memories. He especially loved talking with other vets who had also served during WWII.
By trade he was a cabinet builder and later built homes in the Tyler area. Upon retirement he again became a beekeeper, joining the East Texas Beekeepers Association in June of 1989. It was there he met Mr. R.T.
(Rat) Hutchins and they quickly became good friends. Mr. Hutchins taught Ralph all about the “modern” way of keeping bees (thank goodness) and soon, he had more hives than he could take care of – apparently enthralled with the otion of splitting hives”. He enlisted the help of his sons, Jim and Don in 1991, and together they not only continued the family beekeeping tradition, but have created a growing business from it, which will insure his son’s livelihood for the rest of their lives.
Ralph loved beekeeping and he loved getting together with fellow beekeepers at the monthly meetings, which he rarely missed. He wholeheartedly supported the projects the Club undertook, especially the A&M Lab. In recent days, he had mentioned how happy he was to see the Lab under construction. The ETBA Honey Queen Program was another project he enthusiastically supported. He had always been a big supporter for a Queen Program whenever it was discussed. Of all the programs and projects the Club has sponsored, he was most proud of the two excellent queens who have served the ETBA since the program was initiated. He never turned down an opportunity to have his picture taken with the Honey Queen.
He attended his last “bee meeting” September 3, where he was honored with a 90th birthday song and cake. The meeting was lively, the program was on flowering plants for bee forage – a subject he dearly loved, and he enjoyed talking with all his old friends. According to Jim, his son who lived with him, Ralph was still beaming over the meeting several days later, talking of the fun he had and the new things he learned about flowers.
A man of strong faith, Ralph looked forward to the day he would be with his Lord and his beloved wife, Louise. But he never wasted a moment of the time he was given on this earth. 90 years of living and he lived every last day of it to the fullest.
Mr. Johnson is survived by two sons, five grandchildren and several brothers and sisters. His ever-smiling face boosted the spirits of all who knew him. He was loved and he will be missed.
The newly formed National Honey Bee Advisory Board (NHBAB) represents jointly the ABF and the AHPA. We had the pleasure of touring the White House Beehive as guests of Charlie Brandts (White House staff carpenter and beekeeper) on our trip to Washington on June 2, 2009.
During our week of June, the NHBAB met with: Bayer Crop Science, lead pesticide policy officials at both EPA and USDA, and the key pesticide staffers at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
During our short time on the job, we have made useful contacts in the key organizations. The wheels and levers, which control the machinery in Washington, are a complex aparatus. In all these seemingly faceless organizations are real people, hard working people who want to make a difference. We have had the opportunity to get to know some of these faces behind these large organizations, businesses and bureaucracies.
Pesticide policy in the United States needs to better protect pollinators. In an effort to make this happen, the NHBAB has been engaged in making contacts, establishing a dialogue in an effort to define the issues most in need of change. Already, EPA has agreed to improve incident reporting for honey bees,
developing a special direct portal on the Internet for beekeepers.
Reporting bee kills is a crucial first step for understanding why, when and how problems are occurring. By reporting pesticide kills, you will be helping to assemble a data base which will help to better indentify recurring misuses of chemicals. We would like to strongly encourage all beekeepers to help out by reporting all suspected pesticide kills. EPA’s lead person may be contacted at
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.
 Progress is being made by keeping the issue of pollinator protection public. Through proper pesticide use and improved toxicity research, we believe we can improve the ‘climate” for the essential pollinators of our country.
Location, location, location...Finally honey bees have arrived.
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by Shirley Acevedo Nicole Pettibon as Texas Honey Queen is gearing up for Fall 2009! Having just graduated from high school this past May, Nicole will now be going away to college at the end of August to Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa. At Emmaus Bible College she will be in the tri-state area of Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin_right there on the Mississippi River. She will definitely be in Queen Territory! Our present 2009 American Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen, is from Iowa. Our 2009 American Honey Princess, Allison Hull, is from Minnesota (just to the north of where Nicole will be going to college). We wish Nicole all the best as she steps into this new era of her life! She continues to be a star Texas Honey Queen!
Nicole will be cooking with honey at the State Fair of Texas on Thursday and Friday, October 1 and 2, 2009, as part of “Hello, Honey”! Nicole will be part of a group of Honey Queens and a Honey Princess. Allison Hull (American Honey Princess) will join us for the two special days of cooking, as will Harris County Honey Queen (Rebecca Hollington of Houston), East Texas Honey Queen (Kellie Lenamond of Wills Point), Collin County Honey Queen (Allison Adams of Plano), and Collin County Honey Princess (Kaylynn Mansker of Nevada). The “Royalty” will be riding in the Starlight Parade on Friday evening, October 2. Do come and volunteer at the TBA Honey Booth in the Food and Fiber Building during the State Fair of Texas. Contact John Talbert (972-843-8084,
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) to set up a time.
Nicole will also, of course, be at the TBA Convention in Tyler, TX, Thursday through Saturday, November 12 – 14, 2009! The American Honey Queen, Diane Jurchen, will be there, as will the Honey Queens and Honey Princesses from around Texas. We look forward to seeing all of you there! Come be a part of Kids Learning about Bees, the Thursday morning and early afternoon free event for the children of the Tyler area. Watch for more details in the next TBA Journal.
As you have any ideas or suggestions or requests for the Texas Honey Queen Program, please contact me. Thank you, dear Texas Beekeepers, for all of your caring and support of the Texas Honey Queen Program.
All of us working together make up a great team to foster appreciation for and knowledge of the honey bee and use of the blessed products of the honey beehive. See you soon!
by Nicole Pettibon Hello Beekeeping Friends, I hope y’all have been keeping cool in this Texas summer heat! Most of the flowers have given up around my house, much to the sorrow of my bees. However, they are still buzzing around the crape myrtle trees that continue to bloom. I am eager to see your different types of honey in the contest at the TBA Convention in Tyler this November!  I was very happy to attend the TBA Summer Clinic on June 20th, held in Webberville, TX. It was great to see, in one place, so many of the new friends I have made throughout this year as Texas Honey Queen. Your service has made the Honey Queen Program a delightful experience. We had a wonderful afternoon of fellowship, eating and learning in the Molnars’ beautiful backyard. After a delicious BBQ lunch, thanks to Jimmie Oakley for the organization, we split up into groups of about 20 people to attend small workshops packed with nuggets of beekeeping knowledge. There were lessons on how to treat for varroa mites by Randy Oakley; how to extract honey by our host Dr. Albert Molnar; introducing queens to a hive by Ed Priest; how to reuse old equipment by Blake Shook; beehive inspection by John Talbert and the bee vacuum by Brandon Fehrenkamp. There was information for all levels of experience in beekeeping. I was so happy to learn how to get those aggravating wax moth cocoons out of the plastic foundation indentations: an air compressor! (Thanks, Blake!) I would definitely encourage you all to attend the next summer clinic for a great opportunity to learn new beekeeping techniques. It was a very valuable day.
 A few days after the Clinic, Shirley Acevedo and I attended a pollinator event for children at the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. We were one of several stops the groups of children made as they walked through the gardens. Shirley and I set up tables with plenty of beekeeping equipment such as a suit, a smoker, beeswax and even a mini model hive for demonstration. I spoke to about 50 kids in small groups throughout the morning. They were all about 6-10 years old, and their little eyes lit up with excitement to see the real live bees in the observation hive at the end of the 30-minute presentation. After listening to many ‘sting’ stories with noses pressed against the hive glass, the groups walked to the next booth with honey sticks in hand and eyes searching the flowers for a glimpse of a striped fuzzy body buzzing around. I was delighted to find out later that evening that I had been on the Channel 11 news where a little girl told the reporter all about the importance of honey bee pollination. It thrills me to see the younger generation learning about this wonderful insect. On July 13, I was able to go with A. P. Warne and his sister Alicia to the Metro Beekeepers Association in Burleson for their July general meeting. They had a good group of about 50 people attending that evening. I was able to visit with the MBA President, George Stokes, who kept the meeting running beautifully. I had a great time addressing the group during the program that evening, and they had many fantastic questions about what the Honey Queen Program entails. Toward the end of the evening, we had an excellent discussion about different methods of
preventing small hive beetle from overtaking our hives. Because the beetle larvae have to grow into pupae while burrowed in the ground, A. P. recommended that you put a piece of tin under your screened bottom board hives. The larvae will then fall on the tin, unable to get into the ground to grow. We had a great time that evening and I hope to go back again someday!
I attended the groundbreaking ceremony at Texas A&M for the new Honey Bee  Research Facility that will be built there. I was privileged to be one of the ones who signed the commemorative stud. Congratulations, Texas Beekeepers!
These last few weeks, I have been preparing for college. I am going to attend Emmaus Bible College in Dubuque, Iowa, with a dual degree in Bible and Computer Science. This is a very exciting time in my life, and I am really looking forward to it! I plan to be at the State Fair in October and the TBA convention in November. I hope to see you all there! I wish you a very happy and cool rest of the summer!
With love,
Nicole Pettibon, 2009 Texas Honey Queen
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Tuesday, 13 October 2009 15:17 | 
