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| Pennsylvania - Montgomery County Beekeepers' Association (MCBA) Serving Montgomery, Bucks and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania, the MCBA is an association of hobbyist and professional beekeepers. Our mission is to provide education, hands-on training, support, and fellowship in all aspects of beekeeping. Both experienced beekeepers and novices participate in our monthly meetings, field trips, and social events.
Website Notice: Microsoft, who hosts our website is requiring a mandatory change in our hosting service. As a result, the website will be transitioned to the new service before the end of April. This may result in short periods of unavailability. The new site will have up to date content and news. Apologies in advance for any disruption that this might cause.
Upcoming Events: May 1 (Tue) New Beekeepers, 6 pm 4-H Center May 7 (Mon) General Meeting, 7 pm, 4-H Center May 8 (Tue) Executive Board Meeting, all are welcome, 7 pm Lansdale Public Library
Can You Tell Them Apart? Part of the fear that gives rise to hysteria in communities is the simple inability to tell the honeybee apart from more agressive insects like wasps and yellow jackets. The honeybee is so busy collecting pollen, this lowly vegetarian has no time to visit your picnics or bother you when you are mowing or landscaping. See the facts here.
Did You Know? Many people claim to be allergic to bees based on local swelling that occurs based upon stings that have often come from other insects and NOT from honeybees. While life threatening reactions to stings are possible and should not be taken lightly, most people who claim to be allergic are actually just experiencing their body's normal reaction to the venom from a wasp or bee sting -- local swelling and heat. Did you know that you can get tested? Your local allergist can arrange for testing to confirm not only whether you are allergic but also which species you might have allergies to. The scratch tests are administered much like environmental allergen scratch tests where the venoms of a wide variety of stinging insects can be tested to judge the reaction strength. If you are found to have a high sensitivity, you can get allergy shots that will help to boost your immune system and prevent the undesired response upon encountering a sting. More importantly the allergist will help you put in perspective what kind of insect you might be sensitive too, so that you don't blame the beneficial insects that are all around us.
Website Notice:
Microsoft, who hosts our website is requiring a mandatory change in our hosting service. As a result, the website will be transitioned to the new service before the end of April. This may result in short periods of unavailability. The new site will have up to date content and news. Apologies in advance for any disruption that this might cause. | |
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SWARM? Please call us, don't email.
As the weather gets warmer, we are at risk for swarms. The early spring may cause some bees to swarm earlier than usual as their numbers pick up ahead of their available space. See our Swarm Control page for information on reaching beekeepers, by phone, in your region.
California Beekeeper Loses 25 Million Bees worth $160,00 in Highway Crash Read the story of how one California beekeeper lost 25 Million Bees at night in a Highway accident. Sharp turn in a construction zone is the cause. First responders unprepared to cope with this kind of wreck.
Are You Bees Smart Enough to Join NASA or to Surf the Web? Check it out! NASA has set up a website for our bees called HONEY BEE NET. The goal of the program is to track honey bees and pollination patterns. They are looking for evidence of such things as how changes in land use affect forage and forage patterns, climate change and to predict the northward march of Africanized Honey Bees. There is a comprehensive chart on one of the pages that discusses the nectar sources and timing in our area.
URGENT!! 4-H Faces Budget Crisis You may have heard by now about the budget cuts for PSU proposed by the Governor. This is a true emergency as the Cooperative Extension, including 4-H, is on the chopping block. If the budget cuts go through as proposed, Extension will be one of the first things to go. Read the attached from the Dean of the College of Ag, Bruce McPheron. If you are not familiar with him - he is a former 4-H'er, leader and Extension agent and really understands the 4-H mission.
Take some time to follow the links to see the press conference. It was an eye opener to see how vital PSU and especially Ag Research and College of Ag has been / is to Pennsylvania. Follow some of the other links in Bruce's letter to see what is at stake, including this link to the talking point synopsis of the Governor's budget.
Our 4-H clubs and the other community groups that benefit from the facilities (like MCBA) should take action and write or visit, Facebook and Twitter – communicate with our legislators on the importance of 4-H and what it does for our youth. A visit to your local rep’s office will go far in influencing their vote. When it comes time for them to cast their vote we want our intelligent, confident, poised, involved 4-H members’ faces foremost in their minds! We want them to understand the selfless hours of volunteer time leaders take to mentor these young people. And we want them to contemplate what will happen when/if that disappears. It would be a true tragedy to lose what we have here. Look up your local legislator to make your voice heard. You can also donate directly to the 4-H, as follows: http://extension.psu.edu/4-h/donate Click on "Become a 4-H Keystone Society Member Today" (lower right side of page) to donate directly to 4-H.
Or send a check directly to "4-H Development Fund" and mail it to: Montgomery County Cooperative Extension 1015 Bridge Road, Suite H Collegeville, PA 19426
Young Beekeeper Needs Votes for Grant Nicole, has been beekeeping with a mentor since she was 9 years old. She is a Sophomore at Aurora High School, in Aurora Ohio, and has had a booth at the Hudson Farmer’s Market for the last three years. She recently heard about a grant project that the Pepsi Corporation has put together, and submitted an idea for a grant. Nicole is currently in the running for a $25K grant!
Nicole would like to help the local farmers by putting beehives on their farms and orchards. She currently is working with several farms in the area. Nicole’s idea is to do more. She has been asked by quite a few of the farmers at the Market to provide hives for their crops and would like to be able to help, but as you know, this is costly. We are hoping Pepsi can help.
Pepsi only gives the grants to those who have received enough votes from their peers to reach the top ten in the voting. We need votes from people who realize the need for increasing the honeybee population and the need to get young people involved in beekeeping.
Can you please check out Nicole’s idea at www.refresheverything.com/savehoneybees. You will see that she is dedicated to this project.
Nicole is working with a team of others so we have the voting power of 10 groups, not one. The link to vote for them is http://dld.bz/GDTEAM.
It can seem lot a lot of work to log on everyday and vote, but we are on our computers everyday, and this takes less than a minute each day after you are registered with the site.
Please help. Nicole needs you and all beekeepers to vote for her in order to see this idea become a reality. You can find her at www.auroraspringshoney.com
Host-A-Hive Program 2010 Beekeeper Hosts are Over-Subscribed - Put Your Name on Wait List & Check Back 2011 MCBA Beekeepers we are still looking for partners
Nature Editorial on CCD -- Dennis VanEngelsdorp Responds (May 2009) A brief Nature magazine editorial posits that CCD may be primarily caused by bacterial infections. Editorial is brief but states that studies on two Spanish apiaries 750 kilometers apart have shown that Nosema ceranae was the only likely suspect in collapse and that treatment and elimination of the bacterial infections has demonstrated reduction in CCD incidence. Read the brief editorial. However in a recent interview of Dennis Van Engelsdorp (USDA) by Nature Online, he was asked to respond to the editorial, and stated that he felt the N. ceranae was a red herring. A stressor for sure, but not the primary cause of CCD. Read more of Dennis' interview, and his other comments on CCD causes.
Looking for Info on How Bees Work? You might want to check out this website that contains some educational material on how bees work. Check it out.
Roadside Habitat for Bees A better option than the vast monoculture that we subject bees to with our suburban lawns, check out this idea on the Discovery Channel for creating roadside habitat with native plant species.
Surfing the Web? Watch These YouTube Videos and "Bee" Conscious of Bee Issues Surfing? Have a few minutes? Then watch these entertaining videos by Dennis vanEngelsdorp at the Taste3 conferences this year and last year. Dennis is the Acting State Apiarist for the PA Department of Agriculture and a great speaker! Do you have Nature Deficit Disorder (NDD)? Dennis thinks that we might.... and that it may be contributing to CCD.... "Make Meadows Not Lawns" is one of his quotes, and it would make a great bumper sticker. He remarks that 11% of all pesticide use in the US goes to maintaining our lawns, which are sterile fields as far as the bees are concerned -- no pollen sources in evidence! See the entire 2008 video here. If you like the 2008 video, check out his 2007 talk at Taste3, where he talks about bee anatomy and his love of bees shines through.... well with some reservations, anyway. He says he won't give a cell phone to a bee because they are social insects and the phone bill could bankrupt you. See the entire 2007 video here. Still not tired of honeybee videos? Try these:
More Honey Laundering In an in-depth investigative report, Seattle P-I reports on 973 drums of imported honey worth more than $500,000 seized at Seattle Tacoma port, and describes the tangled route that the honey and other honey shipments have taken to get to the US. The report includes illegal changes in country of origin, illegal antibiotics in the honey and honey that is not pure honey, at all! The shocking schemes are all to get this lucrative product onto the US market. Read more.
Penn State Study Finds Honey more Effective than OTCs for Nighttime Coughing The 2007 study showed that Honey worked best for reducing the frequency and severity of nighttime coughing as compared to over the counter medicines for the same purpose in children older than 12 months of age. 300 Year-Old Beeswax Found Washed up on an Oregon State Beach earlier this year, scientists dated the 10-lb block of beeswax to a Spanish Galleon that sunk more than 300 years ago. Even more fascinating? They believe the wax was from the far east based upon the bees wings they found in the wax and the lack of native bee species in North America at the time. Read more. Don't forget to bring honey-baked goods to upcoming meetings and events!
TUESDAY May 1, 2012, 6pm Beginner's Beekeepers #4 Class, 4-H Center ( see Agenda) MONDAY May 7, 2012, 7pm General Club Meeting, "The History of Beekeeping", 4-H Center May 8, 2012, 7pm Executive Board Meeting (all are welcome), Lansdale Public Library, 301 Vine Street, Lansdale, PA For a printable version of the calendar, see our newsletter or this file. | | 2012 MCBA and PSBA Registrations Now Being Accepted!
MCBA Wins 2nd Place in 2012 Farm Show with "From the Hive to the Table"
Web Page Launched for Area Events A new page has been launched for area beekeeping events, including several courses in beekeeping. If you were looking for a New Beekeepers Course and were disappointed that we sold out, check out the new page. We are offering these postings for other non-profit clubs, and for MCBA members in good standing that are offering educational programs. If you are looking for local programs, check it out! Posted Mar 19, 2010
Help Wanted Marc Hoffman, who spoke about Langstroth history on January 21, 2010 at the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild, would like assistance in locating a copy of Langstroth's birth certificate. Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth was born in Philadelphia on 25 Dec 1810. If you think you can help, contact him at lorenzolangstroth@gmail.com Posted Mar 19, 2010
Honey Houses & Honey Home Processing
Thinking of selling your honey? Review these important guidances on honey houses and honey home processing before you bottle! Honey Houses Honey Home Processing
Your Hive Not Registered? Think You Have Foul Brood? Registering your hive is not just good beekeeping practice, it is the law. Our region has a very high incidence of foul brood, which is a very communicable bacterial infection in hives. Our regional inspector Rob can be reached at 717-798-4136. You can register with him, schedule an inspection or discuss what you are seeing. The apiary registration form is available here.
Short Haired Bumblebee to be Reintroduced to UK from New Zealand First introduced to New Zealand from the UK by accident, they are now in a position to repopulate the extinct population of short haired bumble bees in the UK, many years later. With the reduction in honeybees, maintaining native pollinators is more crucial than ever. Read more.
MCBA Marketplace Looking for a venue to advertise the sale of your products? Or are you a consumer looking to find a place to buy local honey, pollen, propolis or beeswax? Then look no further. MCBA is starting up a Marketplace, which will be free for MCBA members. Look in the newsletters for additional details on how to sign up.
Slight Decline in Colony Loss in US in 2008-2009 Season New report shows that 2008-2009 season losses appear to be about 25%, down from a high of 36% last season. This is good news for beekeepers, but underscores the importance of staying on top of hive management and continuing research into CCD. Read more from the PBS synopsis under their "Silence of the Bees" web page.
Apimondia Predicts European Beekeeping May Die Out in 8 to 10 Years At current rate of decline, Apimondia, a European beekeeping body predicts the loss of beekeeping on the continent in the next 8 to 10 years. With the rates of loss about 30% in much Europe, but up to 80% in Germany, some areas are reaching a critical stage. Read more.
Hive Equipment Irradiation for American Foulbrood (AFB) Do you have, or do you suspect AFB? If so, you should review our irradiation page for details, and make sure you sign up for the next irradiation date. Previous methods of control for AFB spores have called for the costly destruction of hives and equipment. Review the details on our Irradiation Update page and contact MCBA if you would like to have your hives irradiated this fall. The dates have not yet been announced for the fall registration. Help yourself and your fellow beekeepers by spreading the word about hive equipment sterilization!
BBC Reports on CCD The report didn't cover much new territory and stated that there is still no definitive cause. The article highlights experts who believe that there will never be an isolated single cause, but blame good old fashioned stress: varroa mite, monoculture agriculture, nomadic lifestyle, pesticides and more are all blamed for causing that stress. Read more.
Bees Buzzing on Cocaine Scientists in Australia load up free-base cocaine to study the effects on learning. As you might expect, their skills were drastically affected by the drugs. Read more about their study and the results that were published in the Journal of Experimental Biology.
Co-Op in UK Bans Use of Neonicotinoids The Co-Op is not only the largest agricultural grower in the UK (with 70,000 acres under cultivation) but also a UK supermarket chain. It is the first supermarket chain to ban the use of neonicotinoids in the production of products that it sells. Read more.
Tangerine Growers Tell Beekeepers to Buzz Off In a disagreement that looks like it is headed to the courts, California growers object to the pollination of their tangerines by bees as they accidentally introduce pollen from other species and cause the growth of pits in the fruit. State Agriculture is being asked to mediate the problem, but can you sue a bee for trespass? Read more. Update! Tangerine Growers Lose in Court - Bees May Stay Tangerine growers are told they must negotiate with beekeepers, but that bees will not be forced to move from nearby fields. Read more.
Medi-HoneyTM Proven to Help Heal Wounds Honey has long been recognized for its antiseptic properties, as it was originally used and documented by the Egyptians. New products are being explored today that show honey is equally effective in overcoming drug resistant microorganisms and in helping wounds to heal. There are many articles on this discovery, but read just a few, here. Press Release. Article.
EAS to Make Pre-1925 Beekeeping Texts Available On-Line In case you hadn't heard, from the Eastern Apiculture Society website: "An exciting opportunity exists for beekeepers to help make spectacular volumes from the E.F. Phillips Beekeeping Collection at Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library available to the public via the World Wide Web. EAS has donated seed money to the effort to digitize rare books in the E.F. Phillips Beekeeping Collection at Cornell University's Albert R. Mann Library. The Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association has offered a challenge grant where TBBA will match the next $1,000 in new public donations to this effort. This PDF file provides additonal details, as well as a form for submitting your donation. As these volumes are digitized, they will be made available at The Hive and the Honeybee: Selections from the E.F. Phillips Beekeeping Collection. As of the summer of 2004, the first ten volumes are available on-line."
Carbon-Free Honey Labeling Honey received "carbon-free" seal due to offsetting all of its carbon emissions in the production and distribution of the honey with environmental projects like reforestation. Read more.
Bear Found Guilty in Court of Law for Stealing Honey Bear found guilty (in absentia) and state had to pay beekeeper, since the bear was broke. See the full story at Sky News.
Fun Facts Honey bees may start to concentrate nectar in flight on the return to the hive! Why wait to start the evaporation of moisture when you are zipping through the air? Read more.
Bee Venom Helps Fight Hypertension -- Latest in Penn State Research Penn reasearchers have created a way to use bee venom to help study hypertension. Read it here.
 Haagen-Dazs Supports the Cause for CCD ResearchIf you haven't been to their website, it is full of activities (send your friends bee-mail), curricula for teachers and t-shirts to support the cause. Also watch the video of their Ads for awareness. Check out their site at Haagen Dazs Loves Honey Bees.
Looking for an Old News Article? Check out Bees in the News to find the older posts that were originally on the home page. Both fun and scientific, they are posted on our new page.
Getting Ready for 2012 Season By snail mail, please send your $10 Annual Dues (check payable to "M.C.B.A.") with any updates in contact information (name, address, email, phone) to:
MCBA
P.O. Box 203 Hatfield, PA 19440
PS) You may also send your PSBA State Beekeeper dues of $20 Indiv / $25 Household (total of $30 or $35 for both MCBA and PSBA) to receive 10 state newsletters each year, encourage research on bee health, and promote efforts to dissuade local township and boroughs from restricting beekeeping.
Help Support 4-H Center by Recycling!
We Are Under Continuous Construction!  Our web page is ALWAYS under construction, so check back frequently for additions and new information.
MCBA Meeting Location: Montgomery County 4-H Center 1015 Bridge Road (Route 113) Skippack, PA 19426 Contact MCBA At: Inquiries@MontCoBeekeepers.org | |
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