Beekeepers in Atlantic Canada may be interested in this up-coming direct farm marketing workshop presented by the PEI Federation of Agriculture in partnership with the PEI Department of Agriculture and Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada.

INNOVATIVE MARKETING MADE EASY

Friday, 16 November 2007
9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Best Western MacLaughlin Hotel, 238 Grafton Street, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
Cost: $30/person (lunch included)

This workshop is presented by LORI COLBORNE, LSL MARKETING.

Lori Colborne is billed as a dynamic speaker who will offer practical marketing advice to farmers involved with marketing — from how to “get the biggest bang out of your business cards & brochures” to “creative celebrations that attract a crowd,” and from “the mysteries of websites” to “trade show strategies that sell,” it sounds like there may be something for everyone.

Deadline for registration is 13 November.
Seating is limited.

Send $30 registration fee and registration form (PDF file) to:
PEI Federation of Agriculture,
420 University Ave.,
Charlottetown, PE
C1A 7Z5
Fax #: (902) 368-7204
For additional information, contact the Agriculture Information Desk at (902) 368-4145.

The National Honey Board (USA) published its first recipe nearly 18 years ago in an attempt to encourage people to use more honey.

Since that time, they’ve collected more than 1,500 delicious honey recipes, including beverages, salad dressings, appetizers, main courses, side dishes and desserts.

Now they’re offering a free recipe newsletter, The Honey Feast, to deliver those recipes by email.

Once every three weeks, the National Honey Board will be pleased to send you an entire recipe meal planner, featuring outstanding recipes from our collection, all containing honey as an ingredient.

The entrée course will always try to give you a selection so that a meat or seafood dish might have a vegetarian alternative.

From time to time, we may add bonus selections such as tips on cooking with honey; all-natural honey based cosmetic recipes and a tidbit or two on the very latest honey research.

To sign up to receive The Honey Feast newsletter, visit the NHB at www.honey.com.

The following is a brief article on monitoring and treatment for Nosema.

Beekeepers should apply a preventative treatment for Nosema each fall. In the spring, Nosema levels should be monitored. If high levels of Nosema are found, another treatment should also be applied in the spring.

Treatment in the fall:

This is a preventative treatment which should be applied each fall. Feed bees with a mixture of Fumagilin-B with sugar syrup, according to label directions. The fall treatment is very important to protect the bees during the winter season and reduce bee stress. It should be noted that Nosema has proven to be more of a problem when bees are associated with Varroa mites.

Treatment in the Spring:

Feed bees a mixture of Fumagilin-B with sugar syrup in the spring if there is a high level of infection (more than one 1 million spores per bee).

Treatment in the late spring and summer:

Requeen colonies when queens are available.

Comments on the use of Fumagilin-B:

1. Fumagilin-B medicated sugar syrup should be protected from direct sunlight when feeding bees since direct sunlight will decrease the efficacy of Fumagilin-B.
2. Beekeepers should be wary about using medicated syrup that is more than few weeks old since it may have lost a significant amount of its potency.

The CBC Radio program As It Happens posted a story on 22 October 2007 about the value to a colony of queen bees mating with multiple drones — it’s all about genetic diversity.

This story gives new meaning to the expression “busy as a bee.” New research shows that queen bees ensure they remain in charge of the hive by sleeping with as many male bees as possible. Well, it worked for Catherine the Great!

2007-10-22 As It Happens (MP3 audio fle)

In this entertaining audio podcast, Christina Grozinger, Assistant Professor of Entomology at North Carolina State University, tells of studying the differences in pheremones of queens who mated with many males, as opposed to those who mated with only one. (There seems to be a higher quality of pheremones in the multiple-mated queens, so the worker bees are more attracted to a multiple-mated queen and may be less likely to try to replace her.) Along the way, she gives a basic “birds and bees” chat explaining how honeybees mate and the role of the queen bee within the colony.

Research shows that when worker bees are half-sisters, rather than sisters, the colony is healthier. If the bees are challenged with a disease, for example, they’re more likely to be able to fight off that disease if the queen bee has mated with many different males and therefore there is more genetic diversity in the colony.

See also:

CBC Podcasts - Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.)
Alternate sources: 2007-10-22 As It Happens CBC media feed / direct mp3 file

Christina M. Grozinger: Research Interests

David Hatt, a small beekeeper in Beechwood, New Brunswick, is selling all of his beekeeping equipment and supplies.

Please call 506-278-5406 if interested,
or for more information.

Buy & Sell

Do you have beekeeping equipment for sale, too?

Or maybe you’re looking to buy something in particular?

Feel free to post your ad in the comments section, below…