| Beginner Beekeeping Course presented by: Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Assoc. For announcement & registration form go HERE. To view CLASS SCHEDULE. Space is limited! Register early!
Deadly Fly Parasite spotted for first time in Honey Bees! The Parasitic Phorid Fly (Apocephalus borealis) was spotted in San Francisco....read the story published on PLoS one website HERE.
View the 'Dan Rather' video - "Bee Aware" HERE!
French Beekeepers hold mass demonstrations in the street to say: NO! to Syngenta's neonicotinoid insecticide 'Cruiser'. Read the story HERE.
Millions of bees die in Florida! Beekeeper looses 400 hives in Bravard County Forida.... Bees are gone within one day! Read story HERE
EPA Hides Data on Pesticide Link to Bee Die-Off
2011 NASS Honey report
Read the latest report of the 2011 honey production statistics from the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) here.
Hive Equipment Sterilization! If you have equipment left from dead or possibly deseased colonies why take a chance filling it with new bees. Consider sterilization. This is a safe way to cleanse any old equipment you may have from deadouts. Mark Antunes is organizing a run for irradation sterilization. Go HERE for all of the info on how to get your equipment sterilized, and click HERE for directions to the site.
USDA Releases 2010 Honey Bee CCD Progress Report
Bees in Crisis -- A Comprehensive Situation Report (November 29th, 2010) Over the last decade, beekeepers, scientists, environmentalists and politicians have been lamenting the alarming unexplained decline in honey bee populations in Europe and North America. Jeremy Garwood reports on the scientific battle to save the bees ... if only we could finally agree on what's actually killing them! (Read the report HERE)
Beekeeping Merit Badge is NOT reinstated says BSA! As you may be aware, Christopher Stowell, a Boy Scout and 14 year old beekeeper from Oklahoma, recently led a campaign to reinstate the Beekeeping Merit Badge.
BSA recently announced its response to Christopher's request, and the news is mostly good. While BSA is not agreeing to reinstate the Beekeeping Merit Badge, it is agreeing to incorporate beekeeping activities into several different existing merit badges.
Emphasis of the importance of bees and beekeeping will be added to or enhanced in eight existing merit badge pamphlets: Bird Study, Forestry, Gardening, Nature, Plant Science, Pulp and Paper, Environmental Science, and Insect Study. All of this will be accomplished by the end of 2015. One of those badges, Environmental Science, is needed for a scout to attain Eagle rank. Although the BSA is not reinstating a merit badge specific to beekeeping, it is making changes that provide opportunities to expose over 100,000 boys a year to the joys of beekeeping.
Beekeeping projects, such as working with a colony or harvesting honey, will be considered for addition to one or more of those merit badges so that interested scouts can earn advancement recognition for their beekeeping activities. The BSA believes this will increase the awareness of honeybees and their critical impact on our environment, and training America's young people about caring for this important natural resource.
Austrailan Bees Banned By APHIS Maybe A Virus, Maybe Not By Alan Harman With little public fanfare, the United States has banned the importation of honey bee queens and package bees from Australia. Minister Counselor (Agriculture) Simon Smalley at the Australian Embassy in Washington and a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (ASPHIS) both confirm the move made towards the end of last month. Both say there is a “temporary suspension” of the imports, but the APHIS website has a one sentence reference that reads: “Importation of honey bee queens and package bees from Australia is prohibited.” But the halt is not because of the Asian bee incursion in northern Queensland as many expected but because of something called slow paralysis virus. In a letter sent to AHIS official Wayne. F. Wehling and seen by Bee Culture, Australian world bee authority Dennis Anderson of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization questions the decision, saying the virus has never been found in Australia. “I wish to inform you that Slow Paralysis Virus has not been detected in or reported from Australia,” Anderson says. “This is despite a number of surveys for it.” Anderson says this is borne out by the following: “In the latest publication on SPV by Miranda et al 2010 … it states on page 2525 that quote ‘SBPV appears to be extremely rare, having been identified positively only in Britain, Fiji and Western Samoa (Allen & Ball, 1996; Anderson, 1990; Carreck et al., 2010; Martin et al., 1998), despite being included in surveys of Australia (Hornitzky, 1987), New Zealand (Todd et al., 2007), Scandinavia (Nordstrom et al., 1999) and Poland (Topolska et al., 1995). Only in Britain has it ever been associated with colony mortality (Carreck et al., 2010)’.” Anderson, principal research scientist at the CSIRO, says he is confident Australia knows what viruses are present in its honeybees. “This is also borne out be the fact that since imports of Australian bees into the U.S. started in 2005 (?), no viruses have been detected in Australian bees in the U.S. that Australia didn't already know about and publish,” the letter says. He says the only exception is Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus (IAPV). However, Anderson says, prior to this virus being named IAPV by a researcher in Israel, that virus had been regarded in Australia as a strain of Kashmir Bee Virus. “If SPV was the primary reason for APHIS suspending imports of Australian honeybees into the U.S. (and this is the reason given in the official response), then the process that led to the decision to suspend has been a travesty and it should be reconsidered,” Anderson’s letter states. In another letter, also seen by Bee Culture, Tim Ryan of Biosecurity Australia tells Daniel Weaver, president of the American Beekeeping Federation, hisorganization was in the process to writing to APHIS to start to detail the lack of evidence for SPV being in Australia. “Your request for a copy of the letter from APHIS has come back to Biosecurity Australia, but the decision is that we cannot release government to government correspondence without the permission of the originating party,” Ryan states. “However, I can tell you that the letter states that suspension is ‘primarily due to slow paralysis virus’ but then goes on to mention other viruses- TSBV and BVX. “It quotes the findings of the APHIS Pest Risk Assessment from earlier in the year as support for the suspension ‘until Australia can control or eradicate the Asian honey bee and provide data about the distribution of bee viruses and pests, particularly SPV.’ “To me this leaves them a pretty wide operating scope outside SPV. In my interpretation the letter also precludes an increase in the export exclusion zone around the Asian bee area again quoting the ‘unknown’ distribution of SPV.” Australian bee exporter Warren Taylor, one of the pioneers of the U.S. trade through his Australian Queen Bee Exporters Pty. Ltd. company, says SRV does not exist in Australia. “Somehow, somewhere it was reported that we had Slow Paralysis Virus which was incorrect,” he says in an email to Bee Culture. “I guess the ban is all political so USDA is now trying to find something else to hang their hat on. “Our bees have been tested so frequently as they entered U.S. I am sure that they would have found something if it actually existed. “I guess U.S. beekeepers will be very short of queens January to March as I visited Hawaii in June and saw problems they are having with Varroa and SHB.”
Need an extractor? Is this your first year harvesting a honey crop? If you are a member of L.V.B.A. you can rent the club extractor for a nominal fee and extract your honey harvest without the expense of buying one. To reserve a time slot contact our Vice President, Bob Milot at: 610-285-6217
Bear spotted on LCCC campus! At 3:15 pm this afternoon (June 14th) I received a call from the assistant supervisor of grounds security at L.C.C.C. notifying me a bear was spotted on the campus. He told me that he drove back to our apiary and checked on the hives and they were all still standing and there were bees flying. It is believed this is the same bear that was in the news, being spotted from Fogelsville to Schnecksville. The supervisor went on to tell me he spoke to the game commission about the sighting. When I asked him if they (game commission) planned on trapping and relocating the bear he explained to me the statement from the game commission was they will not trap the bear until he proves to be a problem. He (game commission) went on to say the bear has as much right to roam the area as the deer and the turkey that are in the nearby wooded areas.
First Beehives from Biblical Israel discovered! Archaeologists find remains of Honey Bees from 3,000 years ago! Read the complete story here
Microbial Team May Be Culprit in Colony Collapse Disorder SAN DIEGO, CA – May 25, 2010 -- New research from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has identified a new potential cause for "Colony Collapse Disorder" in honey bees. A group of pathogens including a fungus and family of viruses may be working together to cause the decline. Scientists reported their results yesterday at the 110th General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in San Diego.
"There might be a synergism between two very different pathogens," says Jay Evans of the USDA Agricultural Research Service, a researcher on the study. "When they show up together there is a significant correlation with colony decline."
Beginning in October 2006, some beekeepers began reporting losses of 30-90 percent of their hives. Although colony losses are not unexpected during winter weather, the magnitude of loss suffered by some beekeepers was highly unusual.
"Domesticated honey bees face numerous pests and pathogens, tempting hypotheses that colony collapses arise from exposure to new or resurgent pathogens," says Evans.
To better understand the cause of these collapses, in early 2007 Evans and his colleagues collected bees from both healthy and declining colonies across the country, but primarily from California and Florida where most of the commercial pollination activity takes place. They have screened these samples and similar samples from each year since then for both known and novel pathogens.
They found a slightly higher incidence of a fungal pathogen known as Nosema ceranae in sick colonies, but it was not statistically significant until they began pairing it with other pathogens.
"Levels of the fungus were slightly higher in sick colonies, but the presence of that fungus and 2 or 3 RNA viruses from the family Dicistroviridae is a pretty strong predictor of collapse," says Evans.
Nosema is transferred between bees via the fecal-oral route. When a bee initially ingests the microbes and they get to the mid-gut, they harpoon themselves into the gut wall and live inside the epithelial cells there. Evans believes that the slightly higher numbers of the fungus somehow compromise the gut wall and allow the viruses to overwhelm the bees. In colonies with higher Nosema numbers they found virus levels to be 2-3 times greater than healthy colonies.
While this is a working theory and they are still in the discovery phase looking for new pathogens, Evans and his colleagues are also actively looking for a way to boost bee defenses against Nosema.
"A way to protect against Nosema might be the key for now," says Evans.
A live interview with Jay Evans was webcast May 25, 2010, over the ASM Live uStream channel HERE
Help Re-instate the Boy Scout Beekeeping Merit Badge! Show your support by signing a proposal. Christopher Stowell, a Boy Scout in Troop 250, Skiatook, OK, needs our help! He's submitting a proposal to the National Boy Scout Council to reinstate the Beekeeping merit badge (discontinued in 1995) encouraging more young people to become beekeepers. Go to the site and learn more HERE.
PA. Dept. of Ag. to hire Six Apiary Inspectors! In a letter released April 5th, Sec. Russell C. Redding announced: "By combining state funds from the department's budget with federal grant dollars we will be able to keep the inspeciton program viable". They go on to say: "With the addition of these inspectors we will work to visit each colony in PA. throughout the active bee season".
Feds raid Beehive Botanicals Last week, federal agents have raided Beehive Botanicals Inc., a Hayward, Wisconsin manufacturer of various consumer health products. U.S. Marshals confiscated throat spray, creams, tablets, gun, etc. from the company. The U.S. attorney's office for western Wisconsin filed a complaint March 25th alleging the products are misbranded & unapproved, and violating the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. To read the whole story log onto the StarTribune.com website HERE.
Worst U.S. Honey Crop Ever, According to Bee Culture! 2009 was a terrible year to be in the honey business. Bee Culture’s unofficial poll last fall came up with a crop estimate of 119 million pounds, produced by 2,223,000 colonies. Honey stocks left over from 2008 plus imports during 2009 totaled 248,571,251 pounds, and when you subtract the honey that beekeepers exported – 28,924,255 pounds, the final figure gives a nice picture of how much honey was used in the U.S. overall during 2009. That total figure is 363,754,996 pounds. If you divide that total figure by the average U.S. population for 2009, you get per capita consumption, which is, for 2009 - .903 pounds, or right about 14.5 ounces. Did you eat your pound of honey last year?
U.S. Honey Production down 12% A new report released February 26, 2010, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, U.S. Department of Agriculture, shows that honey production in 2009 from producers with five or more colonies totaled 144 million pounds, down 12 percent from 2008. There were 2.46 million colonies producing honey in 2009, up 5 percent from 2008. Read the full report HERE.
Big Win for Bees: Judge Pulls Pesticide Bee-Toxic Movento Pulled from Market for Proper Evaluation. A pesticide that could be dangerously toxic to America’s honey bees must be pulled from store shelves as a result of a suit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Xerces Society. In an order issued last week, a federal court in New York invalidated EPA’s approval of the pesticide spirotetramat (manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the trade names Movento and Ultor) and ordered the agency to reevaluate the chemical in compliance with the law. The court’s order goes into effect on January 15, 2010, and makes future sales of Movento illegal in the United States. Reed full story HERE For more information on threats to honey bees at www.BeeSafe.org.
Observation Bee Hive 
The Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Assoc. maintains an observation bee hive at the Wildlands Conservancy, 3701 Orchid Place, Emmaus, PA. In the photo at right, L.V.B.A. 2010 V. Pres., Bob Milot, explains the inner workings of the ob-hive. The photo at right was taken at the Wildlands Conservancy during our Honey Bee Awareness day. For more photos of the event go to: N.H.B.A.D. To go directly to the National Honey Bee Awareness Day site click on the photo below. 
| | Pkg. Bees for sale! We expect to arrive at our club apiary on Sunday, April 15th (weather permitting) If you need bees to start-up this spring place your order HERE!
Phila. Beekeepers Guild to present: 2nd Annual "Natural Beekeeping" Symposium in Philadelphia Feb. 5, 2012 For more info go HERE
See some Photos of our annual banquet on the 'Photos' page.
Nature's Corner Oct. 28th Update! Check out Ron's update on his Nature's Corner page.
National Honey Bee Day! Celebrated by the Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Association. N.H.B.D. was a Successful event! To see some photos of the event go to our 'Photos' page.
Looking for some documentory films on bees? Check out this link on Discovery News
Are you new to beekeeping? Check out our 'Library' page for a list of suggested reading material & our video library. Beekeeping Basics - (Formerly Fundamentals of Beekeeping) - Text covers the basics of beginning beekeeping. $7.50. Information on managing parasites, pests and diseases; honey production and processing; pollination; handling beeswax; pollen trapping; and a guide to important floral sources. (on-line pdf version)* Available from Penn State Publication Distribution Center, 112 Ag. Admin. Bldg., University Park, PA 16802 Phone 814-865-6713 *(The on-line pdf version is free)
Membership in L.V.B.A. runs a typical calendar year.... Jan. - Dec. We do NOT send out renewal notices! Please consider renewing your membership in L.V.B.A. as soon as it is convienent to do so. If you joined during the month of October or later your membership will extend through 2011.
Read Vince Aloyo's inspection summary report HERE
Hive Equipment Sterilization A Regional Gamma Irradiation Program for PA Beekeepers A notice from Mark Antunes... If you plan to irradiate your American Foul Brood (AFB) infected or potentially infected equipment in the future please contact me at: honeyhillfarm@verizon.net or call me at: Hm. Ph: 215-257-7121, Cell: 484-955-0768 to make arrangements. Please see document HERE to learn all of the details about Gamma Irradiation, preparation of equipment and costs.
Are you thinking of selling your Honey? See our REGISTRATIONS page.
Africanized Honey Bees Found in Georgia! October 21, 2010 Courtesy of the Georgia Department of Agriculture
Tommy Irvin, Commissioner
Entomological tests have confirmed that Africanized honeybees were responsible for the death of an elderly man in Dougherty County last week. News reports say the man accidentally disturbed a feral colony of bees with his bulldozer and that he received more than 100 stings. “This is the first record of Africanized honeybees in Georgia,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin. Because Africanized honeybees look almost identical to European honeybees, the bees from the Dougherty County incident had to be tested to accurately ascertain they were the Africanized strain. The Georgia Department of Agriculture sent samples of the bees to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services which has the capability to do FABIS (fast African bee identification system) testing and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture identification test (the complete morphometrics test) to confirm the bees’ identity. “Georgia beekeepers are our first and best line of defense against these invaders. They are the ones who will be able to monitor and detect any changes in bee activity,” said Commissioner Irvin. “The Georgia Department of Agriculture is going to continue its trapping and monitoring of bee swarms to try to find where any Africanized honeybees are,” said Commissioner Irvin. “We also want to educate people about what to do in case they encounter a colony of Africanized honeybees. Georgians can visit our website for more information. The University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service has a publication on Africanized honeybees that is available online (http://pubsadmin.caes.uga.edu/files/pdf/B%201290_2.PDF) or at Extension offices.”
New Demons Found. The CCD Trail Gets Much Warmer. In 2007 a team* was formed to search for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder. Using mass spectrometry-based proteomics, a technique modified by the military for screening samples for pathogens, they found a fungus and an unusual virus associated with samples from colonies with CCD symptoms. An insect iridescent virus (IIV) in bees from CCD colonies is new to the U.S. It shows similarities to an IIV first reported in India 20 years ago, as well as to an IIV found in moths. The method of its introduction to bees in North America remains a mystery but it probably arrived in infected bees, or it crossed over to bees from another insect. The entire paper is published in the online Journal Plos One. Find it at: http://www.plosone.org/home.action
Is Honey Kosher? Click here to read the complete story.
WEST VIRGINIA PASSES BEEKEEPER IMMUNITY LAW West Virginia has become the first state in the nation to pass a law giving beekeepers immunity from liability for ordinary negligence. This law came about as a result of strong support by the leadership of both the House and Senate. We are fortunate to have a State Senate President, Earl Ray Tomblin, whose father is a beekeeper. Additionally, House Speaker Richard Thompson was raised by a grandfather who was a beekeeper. Finally, it helped that the honey bee is the state insect! The law requires that beekeepers register their hives. It also mandates the WV Department of Agriculture to promulgate Best Management Practices for beekeepers. All beekeepers who abide by these two provisions will have absolute civil immunity from ordinary negligence. The Department is working on a set of emergency rules they hope will be in effect soon. Governor Joe Manchin signed the bill into law the first of April making this the first state to protect its beekeeping industry. (Courtesy of Russ Dean, Dean's Apiary) A BILL to amend and reenact §19-13-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating to limiting the liability of apiary owners and operators.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §19-13-4 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 13. INSPECTION AND PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURE.
§19-13-4. Registration of bees; identification of apiaries.
(a) All persons keeping bees in this state shall apply for a certificate of registration for beekeeping from the commissioner, within ten days of the date that bees are acquired, by notifying the commissioner, in writing, of the number and location of colonies they own or rent, or which they keep for someone else, whether the bees are located on their own property or someone else's property. All apiary certificates of registration expire on December 31, of each year and must be renewed annually.
(b) All persons owning or operating an apiary which is not located on their own property must post the name and address of the owner or operator in a conspicuous place in the apiary.
(c) A person who:
(1) owns and operates an apiary;
(2) is registered with the Commissioner; and
(3)operates the apiary in good faith, in a reasonable manner and in conformance with best management practices, is not liable for any personal injury or property damage that occurs in connection with the keeping and maintaining of bees, bee equipment, queen breeding equipment, apiaries and appliances.
"1.3 Million Honey Bees arrive at L.V.B.A. Apiary site" On the morning of April 30th, 2010 Steve and Bill left for Georgia to pick up a load of packaged bees. After we did our trial layout with empty packages to see exactly how many we could fit in the van we both felt better about the trip. The advantage of using the mini-van was it had air-conditioning throughout the length of the interior, a plus to help keep the bees cool. As you know each package contains 3 lbs. of bees (10,500) and there are always some"extras" hanging on the outside of each package. We figure with the "extras" hanging on each package we had about another 1,375 bees flying around the interior of the van which we let out our windows along I-95 long before we entered PA. With all of these extra bees flying around in the van with us during our 13.5 hour trip, we arrived home on May 2nd and only received one sting! To view the photos of our trip to pickup the packages click here.
Judge Upholds Ban of Spirotetramat This JUST IN From The Pittsburgh Tirbune-Review, Sat., March 13, 2010 A federal appeals court refused to delay a ban on the sale of a pesticide that some environmental groups claim is killing honeybees. The decision prevents Bayer CropScience, from selling its pesticide, Spirotetramat, while the company appeals a lower court ruling that halted sales. "Bayer has demonstrated neither that it will suffer irreparable injury absent a stay, nor that it has a substantial possibility of success on the merits of its appeal," U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood and U.S. Circuit Judge Joseph McLaughlin said in the ruling this week. Reed the whole story HERE
Honorary Life Membership Award At our January 2010 meeting outgoing President Jeff Barndt presented Bill and Carol Mondjack with an Honorary Life Membership Award. Bill & Carol have been members of the Lehigh Valley Beekeepers Association for 30 yrs. Bill has served numorous terms as President of L.V.B.A. and Vice President, he has created and written it's newsletter for the past 17 yrs., Carol has served as Corresponding Secretary. In 1998 Bill received his Master Beekeeper certification from the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America, at which time was also listed as a Life Member.
 
Honey Labeling Regulations, Info & Tips Are you thinking of selling your honey? Do you have a label? Does it have all of the information that is requred? You can find the information you need to know about labeling Honey HERE
National Honey Board The National Honey Board has much to offer beekeepers. Do you market your own Honey by selling at farmers markets or craft shows where you actually meet the customers face to face? If this is the case you can purchase some great marketing items from the NHB. You can download their catalog HERE
60 Minutes Why are the Honey Bees Disappearing? This 60 Minutes production is a few years old but not too old to watch again. To view Part 1 of the 60 minutes video on YouTube click HERE continue to view Part 2 HERE
Silence of the Bees If you haven't viewed this production that was aired in the winter of 2006 or if you would like to view it again you can watch it on your computer now by clicking HERE
If you are a grower of Bee pollinated Crops If you are a grower of Bee pollinated crops and rent Honey Bees for their service PLEASE click HERE to read "Protecting Honey Bees from Chemical Pesticides" published by: Maryann Frazier, Senior Extension Associate, Penn State.
Ear Candles: Risk of Serious Injuries I know some beekeepers and Homeopathic practitioners will object to this posting BUT it is worth your time to read the PDF HERE
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