Feb. 27, 2012
With the early arrival of what seemed like spring weather, things have been quite the buzz here on the farm recently. Even with today being dreary and overcast, I'm excited to be getting some much needed 'inside' work done so I can hit the ground running 'outside' with the next break in the weather. We've already made a few splits with some beautiful Hawaiian queens that came as an unexpected blessing. Beginning Beekeeper Classes start tomorrow night and we hope to have a record number of new beekeepers in the Wiregrass Area.
Let me divert on that issue for just a moment and talk about something unpleasant. Beekeepers who have kept up with the issue have known for many years that eventually Africanized Honey Bees (AHB) would make it to our region. Florida and Texas were the first states to have to deal with them, and what scientists and beekeepers have learned in those states, Florida in particular, has prepared the rest of us to better cope with them. Here in the Wiregrass we have watched in dreaded trepidation as they've moved up from central Florida to Jacksonville, and then into south central Georgia thanks to an overly eager would be apriarist who transported them into the state. All that being said, what we learned from Florida's counties banning ALL honeybees, is that the best defense is a good strong offense. The counties that ran out all the beekeepers were overrun with Africanized bees within a short time, so much so that un-named big entertainment industries in central Florida now pay beekeepers to maintain hives on their property so that the presence of the AHB bees are minimized.
This is the reason we have been involved in bee education these many years. While it is impossible for one person (with the obvious exception of Jesus Christ) to save the world from its many evils out there, if by helping new beekeepers maintain good gentle managed European bee colonies we can reduce the impact of AHB in this area, then everyone who enjoys our beautiful outdoors will benefit. It's the reason I encourage every would be beekeeper to learn all they can, because the more good bees we have in the area, the less impact the bad ones will have.
In other news, we have a couple of new faces here on the farm. Cinja, a black DDR line German Shepherd dog, (GSD), and Sabrina, a young white GSD joined us in January after we lost our beloved Mariah over the holidays. While Mariah will never be replaced, the additions have brought a lot of personality and enjoyment to our home. Cloe remains at my side and Norman has taken over training the new ladies. The three dogs get along wonderfully and watching them play is quite the sight.
We had to put the chickens back in the coop earlier than usual this year. We generally let them free range during the winter months and put them inside once the garden is planted. Well, the garden is slowly being planted, and after a coon/possum/fox/coyote (I list all because we really don't know which critter is guilty) feasted on some baby chicks we couldn't risk further losses. I still grieve about those babies. In better news however, last spring's young hens are now blessing us with beautiful aqua colored eggs!
More good news! Our family has another wedding coming up! Last week Norman and I snuck (that's past tense for 'sneaked') up to Memphis at the invitation of John Cowherd. We were met by his friend who escorted us and John's family to the bank of the Mississippi River where we discretely watched John propose to our daughter. I say "discretely" - it was discrete to Cindy, but everyone in the van was whooping it up! Afterward, we surprised her and celebrated the engagement with them and a group of friends. Good times! Good memories!
Lastly - a dream came true for me two days ago - I came home to find four boxes on my porch. They contained a total of 5800 copies of a brochure I have published (burning up a few printers in the process) for several years. If anyone would like a copy (or several copies!) of "Why are the Bees Disappearing: A Christian Perspective by a Beekeeper", please shoot me an email at roshorton@hotmail. I'm happy to share!
Thanks for visiting with us. Take care and God bless!
Ros Horton
Dale Co. Alabama