Bee Informed Partnership - Be Included, Be Involved, Bee Informed!

The Bee Informed Partnership is an extension project that endeavors to decrease the number of honey bee colonies that die over the winter. Managed honey bees are important to our agricultural security because many fruits, nuts, vegetables, and other crops require bees to pollinate them to ensure production of quality produce. The project proposes to help beekeepers keep colonies alive by initiating several levels of surveys.

This project is motivated by the conviction that beekeepers, when presented with beekeeper-derived data that objectively show which management practices worked and which did not, will adopt the more successful practices. This, in turn, will reduce colony losses and increase the availability of pollinating units overall.

Please encourage all beekeepers you know to participate! http://www.beeinformed.org/.

What's the Point of Joining a Club?

There are some, like myself, who joined BUMBA as part of the Short Course and continue to attend meetings in order to further our knowledge about this new hobby. And I was thoroughly enjoying everything I was learning as well as getting to know the good folks at BUMBA. There are a few outstanding people in that organization who not only know a lot about beekeeping but who also go out of their way to help out the newbies. They patiently answer our questions and even visit our hives to help us learn.

But all that good will has been soured by a recent comment by a club officer. There was a bit of discussion at the meeting due to something stated in the presentation that was confusing. Questions were raised but the answers only worked to make it even more confusing. I was hoping one of the more experienced beekeepers would intervene and clarify things, but instead an officer of the club reprimanded the room saying essentially, that we should be doing our own reading to learn our own answers to the questions.

Uh? What is the point of joining a club if it is not to share information? If you cannot or will not encourage participation and welcome it from everyone, any club will eventually die out. I don't think that will happen to BUMBA as it is certainly strong enough based on the size of its roster. But I cannot help but wonder what damage has been done thanks to this off-handed comment by a club officer.

BUMBA Short Course

Signed up for the Short Course offered by BUMBA - The Bowie-Upper Marlboro Beekeepers Association. A short course is a volunteer-taught introduction to beekeeping basics and bee biology held each Spring.

Membership to BUMBA is included with the class fee so attended a meeting the other night. The crowd is lively and there was standing room only! I didn't know what to expect but I didn't expence such a fun crowd. The program was interesting. I know I'll have many mentors to lend a hand should I ever need anything.

If you are interested in learning more about bees, I recommend you get to know the folks at BUMBA.

With Sincere Thanks

I cannot begin this adventure without expressing my gratitude to Karen Cooksey, President of the Association of Southern Maryland Beekeepers.

Looking to borrow a box in which to re-hive the swarm, Karen generously provided everything I would need to save the bees even though she was on her way to be with her daughter who was giving birth.

While the swarm had moved on by the time I returned, I'm sure this is the humble beginnings of a long relationship with Karen and the beekeepers of Southern Maryland.