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Iowa Honey Producers Association |
The Buzz Newsletter May 2004 |
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Featured Beekeeper of the Month This month’s featured beekeeper is Dr. Mary Ebert. She resides in Iowa City, Iowa and operates M&M Apiary. She tells me her real job is veterinarian at Gentle Heart Pet Clinic. We might assume Mary is a part time hobby beekeeper when she’s not at her real job or camping, canoeing, kayaking, showing her collies, raising horses or gardening. Since Mary likes to garden, she tells me she had a passing interest in bees as honey producers and pollinators but after enrolling in the beginning beekeeping class at Indian Creek Nature Center in 1999, she started her beekeeping business and keeps 2 to 6 hives, marketing liquid and creamed honey. Mary says, “I enjoy the challenge of day-to-day hive management. I like to try new ideas out on my hives-like using screened bottom boards, and different cell sizes on foundation with different kinds of bees. Mary is a member of East-Central Iowa Beekeepers. They meet the 2nd Monday of March, June, September, and December at the Johnson County Fair Grounds in Iowa City. The group operates an educational and retail booth at the Johnson County Fair. Mary says she has been attending Iowa Honey Producer meetings for the past 5 years and is currently secretary. To learn more about the art of beekeeping, Mary attended a 3-day workshop at the University of Nebraska for Master Beekeeping 2001. She said it was, “very educational and lots of hands on. I would highly recommend it!” She also attended the 2002 Tri-State Conference sponsored by Dadant. “What an opportunity to meet other beekeepers and hear new and different ideas.” Thanks for your interesting story and getting involved, Mary, and don’t get too busy. Submitted by Ron Wehr
Beginning Beekeeping in On March 19th and 20th John Johnson, Bill Eickholt, and Jim Strachan in cooperation with the Clay County Extension office held a beginning beekeeping class in Spencer Iowa. There were about twenty new people and three people who had taken the class before in attendance. There was also a reporter for Farmer publications [a bimonthly newspaper for Northwest Iowa] who attended the Friday night session. We will follow with a field day the 5th of June for hands on identifying eggs, larva, queen, drones, and any questions that they have at that time. We will also have a field in the fall to help them prepare for winter. More than half of this years class is getting bees this year. One man is starting with ten colonies with the intention of making it a sideline business as soon as he can get enough colonies going. This is the third class in four years we have given. There are at least twenty-five new beekeepers in Northwest Iowa who have benefited from these classes. One of this years class members is making an effort to start a beekeepers club in Northwest Iowa. Submitted by Jim Strachan
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