John Miller
I have previously written about why we attend bee meetings. I missed bee meetings.
Last week I attended the Minnesota Honey Producers Summer meeting in St. Cloud, MN.
The meeting has usually been well attended. This year, the crowd was lighter, and older.
The thought again occurred to me: meetings have changed; and meetings have not changed.
I always leave meetings with more questions than answers. This meeting was no different.
Here are my questions upon reflection.
How do we leverage the expanding body of work young researchers are discovering?
These researchers are tech savvy – and firmly connected with the bee environment.
North Dakota & Minnesota BIP Tech Team Leader Nelson Williams sees thousands of hives operated by many beekeepers in a single season. He sees what works – and does not work. Tech teams are valuable. I want to know more about what Nelson Williams sees, hears, smells, scans and samples in bee yards. We know COVID virus has multiple variants. Nelson knows about Deformed Wing Virus – A… and DWV – B. Is there a C variant? Probably.
I want to know what motivates young beekeepers to attend (or avoid) bee meetings.
Why do bee associations, especially now, represent only about 5% of beekeepers?
The 5% do the heavy lifting in these groups, populating the non-profit boards, writing the letters, donating the money. What about the beekeepers who do not associate with bee groups. The 95% represents a lot of talent. Are the clubs and associations offering enough value to attract some of the 95%? It’s a big opportunity!
When will we see more of Johnathon Snow’s Nosema Protease Inhibitor work? For those of us who spend the price of a very good truck on Nosema control – to attend an Inhibitor presentation is worth more than the price of a very good truck.
Why do flat-petal flowers harbor more diseases than (for example) clover shaped blossoms?
How do we best move towards State & Local Pollination Ambassadors to tell the very relevant story of Bees & Habitat & Forage & Carbon Capture & Wildlife & Soil Health & Erosion Control & Well Being?
Does Grace Kunkel’s work on a bee repellent have enormous commercial potential to reduce pesticide bee kills?
Tree resins collected by bees becomes propolis. What is the anti-microbial shelf life of propolis? Does it last forever? Does it come in a pill? Should I be eating propolis?
What is ankle-biting bee behavior as a defense against Varroa destructor? Where can I get some of these ankle-biter bees?
Andy Card and Ryan/Mike Lamb are doing some remarkable Darwinian beekeeping.
Their work covers hundreds of hives, repeatedly testing the hive’s performance, scientifically. Backyard/Hobbyist beekeepers are dis-served by trying treatment free beekeeping.
The sample(s) are too small, a single season too short, the queen lines too murky.
Where can I learn more about Andy Card & Ryan Lamb selection process & results?
Marla Spivak conducts some remarkable work with six different queen lines on a 7,500 acre tract of land in Minnesota. The Queen lines are POL; Saskatraz; Washington State University; Caucasian, Russian, Hilo. I want to know more about this important work.
Kim Flottum once famously called California almond pollination a 400 mile-long bee yard.
North Dakota is now a 350 mile-wide bee yard overrun by nearly 1,000,000 beehives. There are more beehives than grasshoppers in North Dakota. Many of these imported hives are dumped on resident ND beekeeper operations. ND beekeepers consider an anti-dumping measure.
How will that be agreed on? In a bee meeting. Probably in the halls. Beekeepers are clique-ish. We are territorial. As newcomers attend their first bee meeting – us old duffers should assign ourselves the job of welcoming first timers. We were once new-bees too, right?
Q3 & Q4 are the season for State Beekeeper Meetings. The programs for 2022 meetings are now pretty well locked up. Six months ago leadership was fretting over the Fall meetings. Competition for the best presentations, the best data, the tools to help our business thrive is back. Most state and club leaders seek the membership’s program priorities. Will beekeepers in 2022, who haven’t been to a meeting in two years, return to changed meetings & presentations? Will the food get worse? Can it?
Beekeeping is not what it was 10 years ago. 40% annual losses are in the past for many outfits. 40% losses are not acceptable if you’re in this for real – and your kids – or the buyers of your life’s work won’t accept – or pay for – 40% annual losses. How do you get to 10% losses? Go to a few good meetings this Fall. It will become clear: Thriving outfits have Varroa numbers under control in August.
It’s September. What are we doing this week to get ready for five months from now – because it’s no longer six months from February 15, 2023. That’s the date, in North America when the national bee supply bottoms out, annually. It is also the date when demand for bees in North America peaks, annually. It’s been that way for decades. Can we do better? Hope to see you in a meeting (like Bee Culture’s own meeting this September / October: Beeing Diverse: Inspiring Leaders in Beekeeping. Find out more on page 14 of this issue or online at https://www.beeculture.com/beeing-diverse-inspiring-leaders-in-beekeeping/). Let’s Connect.
JRM
