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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter August 2006 |
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Greetings from the President of the IHPA Dear Honey Producers: August is always busy even if we didn’t participate at the Iowa State Fair. Last minute vacations before the kids go back to school, end of summer activities, getting new school supplies and new clothes for those growing children, honey extraction and then add the state fair and you have one busy, usually warm month. The Iowa State Fair promises to be a great time. Honey lemonade is always a hit and the people sampling and purchasing honey products seem endless. Just imagine all of the questions that are answered and some of the myths dispelled while we are working in the IHPA sales booth. It is an interesting time. Good luck to all of the Iowa Honey Producers that enter the fruits of their labors in the Apiary competition. Another added pressure of August! As you noticed, the July BUZZ had a glitch in the printing process. We have taken steps to add some checks and balances to the process to ensure that we shouldn’t experience another issue with only even pages printed. Maybe it is a wake up call to see if you all were reading your BUZZ. Hope you enjoyed the correct version that was mailed to you. If you did not attend the Field Day, you missed a “bee-utiful” day. The setting was wonderful, the weather was great, the food was fabulous, and the company of other beekeepers was very enlightening. There are several things that we as beekeepers need to explore and evaluate with the different treatments now available for mites. One of those options was addressed at the Field Day. These types of workshops are a useful tool to keep abreast of the changing methods and necessary steps we need to take to ensure that we have healthy colonies capable of producing the honey that we need or able to get the pollination done that is required of them. Pat and Peggy Ennis did a fantastic job organizing the Field Day. Thanks!! The IHPA has t-shirts available to the membership. They are the same design and color as the previous shirts. There is more paint on them because the owner of the screen printing business had noticed some of us wearing “faded” shirts at the fair and realized more paint was needed. We must be a bunch of messy people and have to wash our shirts more than the average t-shirt wearer. I wonder if it has anything to do with the sticky product that we work with? We have youth sizes this time. The prices for the shirts are very reasonable. Youth sizes small, medium and large are $8.50. Adult small, medium and large sizes are $9.00. Extra large shirts and double X shirts are $10.00. These shirts are priced at these prices for IHPA members. Non-member prices will be posted at the Iowa State Fair in our booth. We had several requests to purchase them from fair goers. If you need a shirt, they will be available at the fair or contact me, mbrahms@netins.net or (712)774-5878. It is time for a political advertisement. Regardless of party affiliation, the Iowa Honey Producers Association could be in a good position to get some help from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. As you know, we are going to elect a new Secretary of Agriculture in November. I urge you to visit the websites for both candidates. For your convenience they are: Denise O’Brien.com or Bill Northey.com. I did contact both candidates to ask them to relate their position on the beekeeping industry in Iowa. I received a reply from Denise O’Brien. This is what she sent me: “I believe that you asked me my position on having a state apiarist. I fully support having a state apiarist. I believe that bees have an economic impact on the crops in Iowa.” I don’t know if Bill Northey sent anything directly to the BUZZ. I had indicated that information was available on our website for them to investigate. We need to actively campaign to get the best person into the position of Secretary of Agriculture. Enjoy what is left of the summer season and don’t get overheated working on those honey crops. Sincerely,
The Buzz Newsletter Submissions Please send submissions, classified ads, and photos
to Alex W. Ebert by email to TheBuzz@ABuzzAboutBees.com The Buzz is a monthly newsletter published by the Iowa Honey Producers Association which is an affiliate of the Iowa State Horticultural Society. IHPA Membership is only $10 annually. To join IHPA and receive your complimentary member subscription to The Buzz Newsletter, please contact:
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