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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter March 2006 |
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Featured Beekeeper This month our featured beekeeper is Arvin Foell. He and his wife, Jeanne, live in Kelley, Iowa. Arvin started keeping bees in 1977, currently keeps from 20 to 50 colonies, and sells liquid honey and a few Ross Rounds. His business name is Ballard Creek Honey. Future plans include developing his own queens, to improving over wintering and increasing honey production. Arvin says the best part of beekeeping is getting out into nature, working and just watching the bees come and go. Arvin belongs to the Central Iowa Beekeepers Association and has served as past president as well as on several committees. It seems Arvin is the “unofficial taster” at the concession stand at the CIBA auction where they run a tab for him. They have about 50 members and meet on the third Saturday evening of the months of March, June, September, December, or January at Bonanza in Marshalltown. The groups major activity is their annual auction of used beekeeping equipment on the fourth Saturday of April. All you new beekeepers take note. The group also sponsors or co-sponsors a summer field day. As a member of IHPA, Arvin has served as vice president and on several committees. While on the board as VP under John Johnson, it was decided to split the board of directors into six districts, which brought representation from all parts of Iowa, and everyone was given an opportunity to bid on honey sold at the Iowa State Fair.
Arvin writes his story telling me, “I began my beekeeping experience when I needed three credits to fulfill my biology requirement for my Ag degree at ISU. My advisor suggested I look into this beekeeping course offered by the Entomology Dept. which would satisfy my biology credits. So I signed up for the beekeeping class taught by Richard Trump and John Jesup. During the section of the class studying diseases, I got to meet Glenn Stanley, former state apiarist, who gave a presentation on diseases and bee anatomy, we also worked with the bees. It was during this class that I came down with the beekeeping bug. I have had this condition for nearly thirty years and don’t know of a cure. I was so fascinated with honey bees that in the spring of 1977 I bought 3 colonies of bees and equipment from Glenn & Lloyd Stanley. I have been a beehaver ever since. Every year has been different with some years like 1988, a bumper crop and some times not enough honey to get the bees through the winter. Mites have been a real annoying problem and beekeeping isn’t as fun as it was when I first started.
After living in Slater for eighteen years, we built a home on an acreage and I had the opportunity to design and build a new honey house, 20x30ft. The move was a real challenge because any one who has been in beekeeping very long knows how much stuff you accumulate. I sold a whole bunch of beekeeping equipment at the CIBA auction, but still had a lot to move. And to put more pressure on me, our home in Slater sold in two days after we put it on the market and we had to move everything out in thirty days. My wife, Jeanne, did great, but I was still moving beekeeping stuff the last day of possession. We had to store all our belongings, because our new home was not available until September. So we were homeless for a couple of months. Consequently, I did not get the honey house finished until the end of October and didn’t finish extracting honey until November 25th. This year was one of my worst honey crops. Beekeepers always say that the next year will be better. May your hives be full of bees this spring and may you have a long nectar flow.” Arvin enclosed some pictures of his new home and honey house. Thanks for the story. Submitted by Ron Wehr
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