Dear friends,
      Summer has finally made it to Texas. After a somewhat cool and mild spring and early summer we are now hitting the triple digits. Moisture conditions here have been adequate, but are beginning to show signs of summer as well. The early brush honey crop was rather small and consisted of mainly wild flower nectar. As we moved into mid May and June, the horsemint was very prolific and produced a real nice crop for us. Demand of colonies for melon and cucumber pollination was as strong this spring as I have seen in some time. There are even some farmers in this area who are trying to grow watermelons in the middle of the summer. We have been able to rent them some hives as well recently. The price for colony rental for melon crops is in the $50 - 60 dollar range in the winter garden area. The price of honey is still rather healthy as well, with white honey bringing in the $1.50 - $1.60 range with amber grades 20 to 30 cents a pound lower.
     With the talk of budget cuts at the state level, I am concerned about the opening at the Honey Bee Facility at Texas A&M. They have been told to cut the  current university budget by 5% and the next fiscal year budget by an additional 10%. We have not been told anything on the open lab position, but we will continue to monitor the situation going forward. The Entomology Department has named the successor for Dr. Kevin Heinz as head of that Department, Dr. David W. Ragsdale. Several of us who work closely with A&M are looking forward to meeting him when he officially starts his job on November 01. We also wish Dr. Heinz all the best in his future plans.
     I hope you are making plans to be at the TBA Annual Convention in Kerrville this November. Ed Priest has secured Randy Oliver as the lead presenter at this year’s Convention. We have worked hard to get Randy here the last few years, but always had a scheduling conflict. I am sure it will be one of the best conventions we have had and I look forward to seeing you there. Hope you have had a great year so far and we will see you in Kerrville. 

Todd Youngblood