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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter August 2007 |
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Greetings from the President of the IHPA Dear Honey Producers, The weather is another topic of concern in our area. We have friends in southern Missouri that have been getting rain accompanied with flooding everyday for two weeks and wish it would stop. My Dad lives in Oklahoma and they are getting floods. We had excess moisture in May, but now have only had small amounts very sporadically. We really need a good soaking rain. The rest of the country is experiencing drought, wildfires, floods and severe storms. No wonder there is a problem with honey bees. I am NOT saying this is causing the problem, I am saying there are a lot of stress factors for honey bees, just as there are for our human race. There have been many published articles concerning Colony Collapse Disorder. I just read an editorial in Bee Culture wondering about honey bees developing diabetes due to the use of corn syrup and stress on them. The Pollination Symposium was held in Ames at Iowa State in June. We are fortunate to have a speaker lined up for the Annual Meeting to speak to us on CCD and the results that were discussed at the Symposium. Make plans to attend the Annual Meeting of the IHPA in Marshalltown at the Regency Inn Best Western motel on November 16th and 17th. . Maybe we will have some answers. I get several phone calls a week asking about why a beekeeper has no bees in their colonies. I can only guess and give suggestions. Maury Wills has informed me that the job description for a State Apiarist has been publicized and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the position will be filled soon. I just hope we don’t overwhelm our new State Apiarist with all of the dilemmas facing our industry. A great big Thank You goes out to all who contacted state representatives and senators to accomplish the task of re-instating a State Apiarist and the Apiary bureau with the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. If you are working at the IHPA sales booth or entered items for the Apiary contest at the State Fair, you probably noticed the change in appearance of our area in the Agricultural building at the State Fair. A grant provided the funds to renovate the IHPA area, for both the exhibits and the sales area. There was a short time frame to get things done so a few ongoing projects might be in place by the 2008 Iowa State Fair. Thank you also for entering items in the contest and for working in the booth. This is a major undertaking each year. It seems harder to obtain workers to fill all the shifts each year. Thank you to all who take the time to work and to help the IHPA continue to provide the programs that we have been sponsoring for the beekeepers in the state. The Iowa Honey Producers Association sponsored the Mead contest for home brewers at the Iowa State Fair this year. We are getting the list of competitors to invite them to submit their Mead for a contest at the Annual meeting this fall. The IHPA also sponsored the Cooking with Honey contest during the Iowa State Fair. We have always had a great response and we get the recipes from the contestants to use as we want to. The Queen committee is gathering the past recipes to possibly create a new honey cookbook using state fair winning recipes. We have sponsored the Cooking with Honey contest at the Clay County Fair in September for several years. The contest there is growing and the exposure to the use of honey is continuing to be expanded. If you know of a youth that would like to keep
bees, but is not from a beekeeping family, please have them get
the information from Mike Brahms concerning the Youth Scholarship
Program started by the IHPA. For information access the IHPA website: I better get to work, the gardening, beekeeping and housecleaning never seems to end. Travel safely and enjoy the rest of the summer. Sincerely,
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