Posts Tagged: beekeepers

Buzz from the Rooftops

It was bound to happen.

As soon as New York City lifted its ban on backyard (and rooftop) beekeeping, scores of folks began making a beeline to take classes from the New York City Beekeepers' Association.

Hugh Raffles, an anthropologist and author of Insectopedia, wrote about the trend in a recent New York Times piece.

"The benefits of urban beekeeping are substantial," Raffles wrote in the July 6th edition. "Despite the conventional view of the city as a slough of pollution, urban honey is likely to have significantly less chemical residue than commercial honey made beyond the boroughs. This is partly due to the high levels of pesticides in commercial agriculture and partly because small-scale beekeepers tend to use fewer drugs in the care of their hives than commercial operators.

"Then there’s the health of the city. Take the honeybees of East New York Farms!, an organization of urban farmers and neighborhood farmers’ markets. These Brooklyn bees pollinate crops for the entire neighborhood. They aren’t just making honey: they’re building community, creating income and employment and maintaining vital urban green space."

Raffles goes on to say that "Local honey will benefit the health of the planet as well: minor transportation costs, no-fuss manufacturing (courtesy of the bees), minimal processing, simple recyclable packaging and centralized retailing provide a model of effective, low-carbon production and distribution."

Raffles points out, however, that rooftop beekeeping does have its pitfalls. "For one thing, unless you own your building, your landlord has to approve the hive’s installation, and he has to feel confident about the reactions of the tenants and the roof’s ability to support a 250-pound hive box. Then there are the costs: around $250 per hive, plus about $200 for the bees, the protective suit and other equipment. And even though the image of bees has softened in the wake of colony-collapse disorder, popular fear of bees is ever-present."

We think the new movement toward urban beekeeping also will result in a younger generation of beekeepers, including 4-H club members signing up for beekeeping projects.

Perhaps, too, there will be more ethnic and gender diversity.

According to the latest survey by the USDA National Agricultural Statistical Service, the average age of beekeepers today in the United States is 55. And the survey showed that white males comprised 90 percent of the beekeeper population.

Tending Bees

SUSAN COBEY, bee breeder-geneticist at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis, tends her bees with beekeeper-employee Tylan Selby, an entomology major at UC Davis. Selby's family members are commercial beekeepers in the Chico area. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

The Honey Bee

THE HONEY BEE is the object of much attention, as urban beekeeping takes hold. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)

No Pork Barrel Politics Here

“Honey bee insurance” buzzed into the news Feb. 1 when Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared on the CBS Show, "Face the Nation" and blasted the state of the economy and President Obama's  economic stimulus plan.

 

"I doubt if the government buying $600 million worth of automobiles would provide the kind of stimulus that we're talking about here," McConnell said. "And we certainly don't need honeybee insurance. Look, this thing needs to be targeted right at the problem, if we're going to spend this enormous amount of money.”

Honey bee insurance? I listened closely for more details, but none came.

 

What he didn’t say--or explain--is that this is a form of crop insurance, similar to what is offered to many crop producers.

 

One of the earliest to write about honey bee insurance was UC Davis apiculturist Eric Mussen, who discussed  revenue insurance in the November/December 2002 edition of his “From the UC Apiaries” publication.  At the time, beekeepers were exploring ways to protect their investments against devastating losses.  The program works like this: pay a premium to an insurance company, and if a devastating loss occurs, you’re protected up to a specific portion of your loss.

 

The program is now under way, but is not offered yet in some states, including California and Florida. These two states, Mussen says, are expected to join the crop insurance program this year.

 

So, bottom line: Beekeepers who elect to pay a premium will receive compensation if the honey crop revenue falls below the listed “trigger” value of that year. The compensation depends on the level of coverage purchased for the colonies they own.

Currently, only honey production--not pollination or queen or bulk production--can be insured through this specific honey bee insurance program, Mussen says. And this is based on weather conditions. If there’s a drought, for example, and the bees have little food, satellite images would verify the lack of plant growth.

 

Back in 2002, Mussen estimated that the insurance would cost a little over 6 cents for each dollar of coverage. The federal government’s subsidy would reduce the beekeeper’s premium to three cents per dollar.
 

Fact is, government subsidies are nothing new, but they are new to beekeepers. 

 

Beekeeping is an agricultural industry involving risks, just like those who plant almonds, strawberries or watermelons. Insurance is part of a good management plan.

 

It’s taking the good with the bad.

It's like the daphne (below) that offers scented flowers but beware those poisonous berries.   

Honey bee on daphne

HONEY BEE ON DAPHNE--The daphne is known for its scented flowers--but beware those poisonous berries. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)