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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter March 2006 |
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APIARY REGISTRATION UPDATE The new registration process is targeted to be on line by March 15, 2006. The instructions will be user friendly and available with the new application process. You can always contact me if you have any problems or questions with the registration process. Your registration is only as good as the information you provide. You will need to have the complete and correct: County, Township, Range, Section and Quarter section information. You can get this at your local USDA-FSA county office. The Apiary Inspection Program (in the Iowa Dept. of Ag & Land Stewardship – Ag Diversification & Market Development Bureau) is developing a web-enabled database and ArcIMS technology for beekeeper registration. The advantage of using a web-based data entry and retrieval system is that it ensures that the initial data collection and synthesis activities can be maintained for future years. For chemical applicators, this is the tool desired to query/search data that will tell them where not to spray. For apiaries, this will provide added protection and enable better communication. This technology will be helpful to update registrations at anytime during the year, making information retrieval in “real time” and therefore aid in preventing accidental pesticide application/drift throughout the year. If you registered last year (2005), you should be receiving a PIN in the mail from IDALS in mid-March 2006. If you did not registered in 2005, you will need to contact me to receive your PIN. If you contact me by e-mail, I can send the PIN to you via e-mail. The web-enabled registration will decrease erroneous data from being entered. The data will be exactly as the producer entered, therefore the degree of error will be less than that of someone transcribing from a hard copy, and from there to another database to the web person who will enter it on the IDALS website. This is a new process, so please be patient while the program is in this transition. And as always, if you have questions, feel free to contact me at any time. I know, some may be asking “what if I do not have internet access?” For those of you who do not have Internet capabilities, you can go to your local Farm Service Agency (USDA-FSA) office. Our Apiary Inspection Program has partnered with FSA over the past years to assist with the apiary registration. There is an FSA office in every county. In addition to accessing the registration on line, FSA can assist you in the legal description of your apiary site (county, township, range, section, and quarter section). The correct legal description will be necessary for registering your bee hives. In the past I have received several registrations with incorrect location descriptions, this inhibits the usefulness of the program. In addition, if you take your information to the FSA office, they will assist you in logging onto the IDALS website to register at their office. If neither of these options are conducive to your situation, or you do not have a PIN, you may contact me at the Iowa Department of Ag & Land Stewardship – Diversified Agriculture & Market Development Bureau: (515-281-7657). Registration is not due until April, so there is no rush! Your local beekeeping club may be able to assist its members with accessing and registration at the web site. Another good reason to join a Honey Producers Association ! Submitted by:
Who is the bees’ favorite singer? Answer: Sting. How about this one, what do you call a bee born in May? Answer: A maybe. Okay, so maybe these weren’t the best jokes but I am sure that we have all heard a few bee jokes. Or perhaps you even have a clever nickname that your friends gave you. If I hear someone going “Lizzzzzz” then I know they are trying to get my attention and I can’t help but stop and laugh. After tossing around a chuckle or two, they usually end up wondering what in the world got me interested in bee keeping. After telling them a little bit of the basic information, most keep the questions coming. Some of the questions asked seem so obvious but to the everyday person, the world of bee keeping is miles away. The bees’ social society is a complex system like no other organism. Where else is a female the top dog with thousands of workers at her feet tending to her every need? Not only that, but the workers are actually underdeveloped females while those big drones are docile and can’t even sting. Since their only purpose is to service the queen, they get the boot when winter comes. Have problems finding your way through a big city even with the help of a map, well bees also have their own mapping system. Field bees dance in various formations telling other exactly where and how far a food source is. They travel miles to and from the hive just to collect a small portion of the nectar and pollen needed to survive. These are just some of the things I inform people
of. By doing this, I hope to spark an interest among not only
the old but the young. The only way to keep this passion alive
is by sharing it with those of the future generation. So next
time you hear a bee joke or something of that nature, show them
there is more to bee keeping then just the sweet reward of honey.
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