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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter April 2006 |
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Featured Beekeeper of the Month This month our featured beekeeper is Gale Urquhart. He and his wife Connie live in Des Moines, Iowa. His business name is tentatively Spring Creek Honey. Gale writes to explain his beekeeping business and says, “I started beekeeping because I had a nervous breakdown and while in therapy it was recommended that I take up a hobby. My wife and I went to the State Fair and visited the IHPA booth and I became so interested in the insect that I took a beginning beekeeping class given by Phil Meyer. This has proved to be a wonderful hobby for me, as there is something that needs to be done in spring, summer, fall and winter. It keeps me busy all the time. Maybe that is because I’m not the best beekeeper in town, never the less it has not seemed to stress me or add to the stress level. I sure don’t kneed another one of those breakdown things!” Gale says he started with one hive in 2004, over wintered it and expanded to 9 hives in 2005. The bees produced about 50 gallons of honey to share with friends and family and some to market. He only produces liquid honey. Even though he has already lost one hive Gale says his biggest satisfaction in beekeeping is that it takes his mind off the daily stress of work. The bees amaze him, the fact that they recover after he robs their honey. I think he has experienced their retaliation on parts of his body not covered. If all goes well Gale plans to expand to 50 hives. He belongs to the Central Iowa Beekeepers Association and is vice president. Membership is about 65. They meet every quarter with Pat Randol as President. The club has question and answer periods to help members learn the art. Gale says, “I’m also a member of the IHPA and at the moment I’m on the committee trying to increase the membership through beginning beekeeping classes at DMACC, this has not become a reality yet but my hopes are high. I’m also working on a new membership list, so if you have not sent me your membership, please do. cgchkeeye@ail.com”. Asked the question what beekeeping experiences have you had that would interest others and Gale says, “I’m sure my experiences in beekeeping would not be of much interest to most members. My experiences are so mindless.” Advice: “Wear protective gear or you will get stung and that does hurt and if you’re like me you swell up real bad. Keep you r dog out of your bee yard! He will just stir up the bees and then when you try to beat the bees away from the dog, the dog things you are beating the tar out of him and it takes you forever to get his trust back. Make sure you keep enough room to maneuver around and between your hives with ease. Don’t have hives around your honey extraction house or area, they will find you. Do know what a mite looks like and check your hives. Treat if needed. The biggest experience I’d like to share is if you’re going to start from scratch as a beekeeper, you must be patient and let the bees draw comb. Don’t expect anything until that happens and some bees are better at it than others. Become a member of a local club and the Iowa Honey Producers and listen and learn and listen and learn and listen and learn. Become involved within your limits an d have fun. Thanks for your story Gale. You’re learning fast. Submitted by Ron Wehr
Video Sales The video “A Year with Honeybees” is doing well. We have sold about 100 of them. Lee Heine has taken 50. That gave sales quite a boost. Draper’s took 15. The rest have gone one at a time. We have approached Mid Con, Dadants and Mann Lake as possible distributors. I also placed ads in newsletters in Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas. Several copies have been donated to schools. It works great if you have to put on a program somewhere. I usually show some equipment and tell about our operation. Then I show the video and take questions. It’s easy to fill a 60 to 90 minute slot. Submitted by Phil Ebert
Education Update The beekeeping education classes will finish up in mid March. We had 66 total students in five classes. I think this has been a successful venture. Thanks to all the instructors who donated their time. Ron Wehr, Vern Ramsey, Pat Randal, Gale Urquhart, John Johnson, Margaret Hala, Pat and Peggy Ennis and Phil Ebert. Submitted by Phil Ebert
Both bee magazines are available to IHP members at a reduced rate. To qualify for the discount, you need to get a coupon from Gordon Powell. He can e-mail it to you or send a copy in the mail. You can contact Gordon at iabekeepr@earthlink.com or at 4012 54th St, Des Moines, Ia 50310
Annual Meeting Date Speakers have been lined up for the fall annual meeting. Dates for this years meeting will be Nov 17& 18. Jamie Ellis of the University of Georgia and Zachary Huang of Michigan State University will be the headliners. The business meeting will be Saturday morning. Workshops will be in the afternoon.
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