Modern Beekeeping 1-26-2012
Modern commercial beekeeping has changed from primarily honey production to crop pollination. With this change has come extraordinary stress as colonies are moved multiple times a year, increasing their exposure to disease, parasites, and other hive pests. Antibiotics and acaricides are being applied more frequently, resulting in resistance and comb contamination. The future use of bee colonies as mobile pollinator populations requires modern management methods with fresh perspectives on nutrition, breeding practices, and the role of microbes in sustaining colony health.
Honeybee colonies are in greater demand and are renting for higher fees than ever before. Crops such as almonds and apples are completely dependent on honeybees for proper pollination. Finding ways to prevent outbreaks of disease and to control parasites is essential for reducing colony losses. Commercial beekeepers can only arrange to send bees to pollinate selected large farms with many acres of crops, however the majority of fresh fruits and vegetables that we need are grown on small farms all across the country. Millions of small beekeepers and hobbyists are widely distributed but do provide the essential pollination for the smaller farms. There is a shortage of these beekeepers especially in our "North Country" where harsh winter weather makes it more difficult for colonies to survive. Unfortunately, keeping bees alive isn't that easy but with proper training and mentoring it becomes one of the most relaxing, fascinating and rewording hobbies.
Last November the Honeybee Corner announced a $59,000 USDA grant awarded to the Empire State Honey Producers Assoc. Matched with funds from the ESHPA this program is targeted to help NY beekeepers to stop the loss of honeybee colonies in the State. The problems of loss of honeybees have been in the spotlight recently but this has caused renewed interest and has increased enrollment of newbees for the beekeeping classes. This ESHPA program will not only provide help to recruit new beekeepers but also to encourage retention of them through technical assistance. Special encouragement will be extended to small-scale beekeepers who keep bees in our area year round.
The next meeting of the Catskill Mtn Beekeepers Club will be held at 7:00 PM on Tuesday Feb 14th (bring your valentines) at the Agroforestry Resource Center on Rt 23 in Acra.
2012 Honeybee Corner 2011 Honebybee Corner 2010 Honeybee Corner
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