« An Herb Spiral | Main | The intriguing Cactus »

February 25, 2008

A hive of industry

If the plight of bees didn’t capture your attention before this, consider this bit of news:
Hagen Daaz recently awarded $250,000 in grant money to fund research into honeybees and pollination at Pennsylvania State University and The University of California at Davis.

The trouble is that a series of calamitous diseases have wiped out bee populations nationwide, threatening the crops that go into 40 percent of its flavors of ice cream.

Man. Don’t mess with nature, and DON’T mess with my ice cream!

It’s not just strawberries and blueberries and buttery pecans. Vanilla is a flower. Chocolate grows on trees.

(I was almost going to be a smartypants and say “Grass is a flower! All ice cream is dependent on bees!” But I’m not as smart as I think I am. True, grass is an angiosperm, but it is pollinated by the wind. And, in fact, bees aren’t the only pollinators. Moths, beetles, bats, flies and even lizards and mammals can bash pollen from one place to another.)

Farmers have long brought in bees to assist the locals at the crucial time for pollination, when their particular crop is in flower. You might have shared the highway with a humming truck packed high with boxes of hives, covered with a net. They follow the blooming season, south to north in the spring.

As more hives die, more bees have to be trucked in, and beekeepers charge more per hive to provide this vital service. Many crops require each flower to be pollinated more than once: for example, I’m told, if an apple isn’t pollinated several times, on all sides, the fruit won’t be nicely rounded.

It’s important work, becoming more important every day.

Which in where the Rhode Island Beekeepers Association comes in.

For years, they have taught a yearly beekeeping school at Davies Career and Technical High School every spring. This year it starts on March 5, meeting for five consecutive Wednesday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m..

The school teaches backyard beekeepers how to keep a tidy hive, take care of their bees and harvest honey through lectures, videos and equipment demonstrations.

This year, for those who live in the southern part of the state, good news!
RIBA will hold bee school at URI’s East Farm for five Wednesdays starting February 27, starting at 6:30.

The class costs $45 per person, plus $5 per person for additional family members in the same household. The fee includes the textbook, membership in the association and the association’s newsletter.

Visit RIBA’s Web site for more information.

Posted by Paula Constantine  at 5:35 PM | Permalink

Comments

Tina | February 26, 2008 8:07 AM link

Post a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)