As I travel around South Texas looking at my beehives that have survived the winter, I am getting more optimistic about the prospects for a decent Brush honey crop. Although we are extremely dry (even drier than last year), the Guajillo is looking better everyday. As many of you know, the Guajillo starts blooming the first week of April and will usually bloom for about three weeks. In this three week period, strong colonies can produce up to 70 pounds of the finest honey produced in the country. With the limited amount of rain we have received, there are not any wild flowers for the bees to work while the Guajillo is blooming, so we should have a very high quality honey when the bees are finished.

In early February, the Texas Beekeepers Association Board of Directors learned that there is an effort by the Bush Administration to close the USDA Honey Bee Lab in Weslaco. During our board meeting at the Winter Delegates Meeting in Dripping Springs, we all agreed as a Board, to work on trying to keep that from happening. With the many challenges facing our industry, it would be a tragedy to lose such a facility. Although they are proposing to relocate all the work that is now taking place in Weslaco to another lab, we would never be in the same position that we are today. If you have an opportunity to talk to someone in a government position who can help us with this issue, be sure to encourage them to support the USDA Weslaco Lab.

We have had some major changes with our director at the TAMU Foundation. Mr. Chad Wootton has been promoted to a Vice President position of development for Texas A&M University. He will continue to serve as our contact for fund raising and will still be a major player in our effort to bring our campaign to a close. I remain as optimistic as ever about the Lab at College Station. We are not that far away from seeing this Lab become a reality. Please continue to keep this fund raising effort in mind. We still need your support.

Thanks,
Todd Youngblood
Vice President TBA Chair
TAMU Honey Bee Lab Capital Campaign