Central Beekeepers will get together at the McKinneys’ place, #769 on Rte 105 in Maugerville, New Brunswick for our regular summer potluck supper and corn boil:
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Date: Saturday, 23 August 2008

As always, visitors and new beekeepers are welcome. Corn will be provided — but do bring your favourite potluck supper dish and a good appetite!

Also :
Central Beekeepers is looking for donations of honey-related items or bee theme collectibles to put together in a gift basket for our booth at the upcoming Fredericton Exhibition. Beeswax candles, honey soap or cosmetics, tea towels or other decorative items with a bee theme, honey serving pots or honey dippers, etc., etc. — if you’ve got an appropriate item to donate, please bring it along with you to the corn boil.

Scientists at the Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology in India have been using cow urine to save bees from contacting microbial diseases. It seems that spraying the eggs with cow urine encourages hygienic behaviour in the worker bees.

A researcher at the institute, Ruchira Tiwari, said: “Using cow urine we have seen that within 7-8 days the breed becomes healthy. The workers work as cleaners and the queen bee lays the eggs. After the urine is sprayed on them, the workers start working more efficiently and then take out unhealthy larva from the eggshells.”

“Sometimes the most bizarre treatments can be used to get great results,” says Independent Television News reporter Lynsey Hooper, who brings this story to video:

The Ontario Beekeepers Association will hold its Summer Meeting on Saturday, 12 July 2008, at the Ramara Centre in Orillia, Ontario. Some top speakers are on the agenda, and it would be interesting to hear feedback from the Ontario beekeepers about these presentations:

• “Advancements on the Cryopreservation of Honeybee Spermatozoa” — Ernesto Guzman, Professor, University of Guelph
• “Honey Bee Viruses and Viral Diseases” — Judy Chen PhD, Research Entomologist, Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
• “Status of Nosema in Ontario, Spring 2008″ — Alison Skinner, Tech Transfer Team Specialist, Ontario Beekeepers’ Association
• “Nosema Ceranae, A New Threat of European Honey Bees” — Judy Chen PhD, Research Entomologist, Bee Research Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
• “Honey Plants of Ontario” — Tibor I Szabo, Ontario Beekeepers’ Association Member

For more information, contact the Ontario Beekeepers Association at www.OntarioBee.com.

A transport truck carrying honeybees overturned near St. Leonard, New Brunswick, when its load shifted on an off-ramp of the Trans-Canada Highway shortly after 6:00 a.m. today. The driver was not hurt.

The situation is under control and a detour has been set up on the highway to route traffic around the overturned truck. Beekeepers were quickly on the scene to smoke the bees to calm them, while fightfighters stood by with hoses to wet the hives down in case the morning rain (which kept the bees close to the truck) should happen to ease up. Fortunately, only a handful of the 330 four-hive crates of transported bees were opened in the accident.

The original plan was to try to flip the truck back onto its wheels, but officials from Agriculture Canada decided to move the crated hives one at a time to a second flatbed truck. The truck will wait until dark to move out, to give the bees a chance to return to their hives.

The bees had been pollinating blueberries near Tracadie-Sheila and were returning to their home in Ontario.

See:
• Beekeepers help recover 12 million ‘nasty’ honey bees from N.B. truck crash
  Canadian Press / Google News
  30 June 2008
• Emergency officials dealing with stinging issue in N.B.
  CBC News
  30 June 2008
• 12 million bees swarm highway Twelve million bees are released on a Canadian highway after a transport truck overturns.
  CNN Breaking News Videos
  video source: CBC | time 1:05

Do you want to:

• ask a question about bees or beekeeping?
• make a comment?
• share something that you’ve read online?
• float an idea?
• look for a second opinion?
• or just talk about strange doings in the beeyard?

If it’s about bees and beekeeping, this is the space to have your say! Please feel free to use the comment area (below) — Try it out!