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Can you tell me if any association has requested approval for Mite Away Quick strips in Michigan?
Brent,
I may very well be wrong, but as I understand the Section 3 registration it will apply to all states?? Does anyone out there know any different?
Steve Tilmann
I have several cases of peanut butter. I had put some out on a piece of carpet near one of my bee hives. it disappeared. I never saw the bee’s on it. Maybe birds etc ate it. ???
Is peanut butter an acceptable side dish for bee’s???
I reealize that it has peaqnut oil in it.
Just curious.
thanks for the response.
wayne Alger–flint, Michigan.
also—our winter loses were more like 80%. mush worse than the national average of 30%.
One thing about beekeepers…they are willing to try anything! I can think of a lot of critters that will readily eat peanut butter: mice, rats, squirrels, oppossums, racoons, dogs, ants and all manner of rodents. Honey bees are not on this list. I can think of nothing in peanut butter that would be attractive to a honey bee. Now, if you put out a PBJ, maybe the jelly would be to the linking of the girls.
We also thought the 30% winter loss was low…at least for our area. Mine was 90% and I know of more than a few beekeepers that had a 100% loss last winter.
Steve Tilmann, MBA Treasurer
I have a wild bee hive and when o googled how to get rid of them it said to contact a beekeeper.there has to be a thousand bees. I need some help please .
Beverly,
Thanks for contacting the Michigan Beekeepers’ Association. There are a number of members who can help. Please consult our web site (www.michiganbees.org) and click on the “Swarm Removal” tab at the top of the home page. You will see a list of beekeepers who can help. We are currently reworking this page to make it easier to find a beekeepers in your area. But for now, you will have to go through the list and find someone near you.
Steve Tilmann, Treasurer
MBA
Looking for advice north of grand rapids want to start a hive on spring. Jebkennels@gmail.com my name is Jason blain
Jason,
Contact Anne Marie Fauvel at 616-566-2576 or email at fauvela@gvsu.edu. She is the new MBA district $4 representative for your area. She should be able to help out. Number one piece of advice is to hook up with a local bee club (see http://www.michiganbees.org/about/clubs/) and consider attending the 2013 spring Michigan Beekeepers’ Association conference in East Lansing.
Steve Tilmann, Treasurer
Michigan Beekeepers’ Association
Hello, I wanted to know if you have any kind of bee keepers school so I can learn to be a beekeeper? I live in Troy and can have a few hives. Could you give me information on how I could become an apprentice? I am not allergic to bee stings and I know it goes along with the territory.
Susan,
This is an easy one. One, contact your local bee club (SEMBA). The contact info can be found on the MBA web site under the “Inside MBA” tab. SEMBA has a series of beginner’s classes that start in the early spring. Other clums (eg COMB) also have classes; many start in mid winter. Two, consider going to the MBA spring conference in East Lansing (March 8 & 9). This is “the” beekeeping event in Michigan. We have a two-day schedule packed with classes, some off which are specifically targeted toward the beginner. There is a room full of vendors from which you can look over equipment and gear that you will need. Keep an eye on the MBA web site for more info on the spring conference. Three, ask SEMBA about their mentoring program. If you hook up with a beekeeper, your beginning experience will be just that more enjoyable. Four, get all of the beekeeping catalogs you can find. Search the web. Walter T Kelly, Dadant, Brushy Mountain are just a few. These folks put lots of good information in their catalog because they don’t want you to fail. Six, read a couple of books. Larry Connor (www.wicwas.press) has a series of excellent books.
It is not too early to start planning your beekeeping journey. Getting equipment together, ordering your bees are just a few of the things that you can start right now. Beekeeping can be a life-long passion. You have already taken the first steps by contacting the MBA!
Steve Tilmann, Treasurer
Michigan Beekeepers’ Association
Hello! & Help!
I am conducting research for a masters course and I need to delve into the question of bee stings. You can call me or reply to my email: slossing@umflint.edu
Honey bees are my focus, but if there is a difference between types of bees and their stings, I need to clarify it.
Could you help share insight or point me in a good direction to find answers to the following? Please feel free to share any other insights you might have. I am very ignorant on this subject (hence my difficulties).
1. How many beekeepers do we have in Michigan (educated estimate is good) and approximately how many die from bee stings? (either yearly or in last 5-10 years).
2. If you know how I can find this information on a national level.
I have found tons of information on Honey Bees, but I am concerned of the mixed information I am coming across (fear of bees). Basically, I am looking for a more realistic view and I think Beekeepers have an inside experience with this.
My phone number: 810-735-6303/Home, Linden, MI
Thank you for all your help.
Suzanne,
I’ll give this a try. Getting stung by a honeybee while working with the hive is not unusual. For me, it is no big deal. It stings for a few minutes and then goes away. There are lots of things in life that are a lot more unpleasant than a honeybee sting. On (rare) occasions, I have been stung by a yellow jacket or bumble bee. They are a lot more annoying; the irritation can last a day or so. So, in my opinion, there are definite differences between the stings of honeybees and other wasps and hornets.
The MBA (Michigan Beekeepers Association) has around 1100 folks on its email list. My guess is that is probably a third, or maybe even less, of the beekeepers in Michigan. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are 3,000 plus beekeepers in Michigan The USDA agricultural census may have better/different numbers. The number of beekeepers seem to be increasing, for a variey of reasons.
I am not aware of any deaths among beekeepers resulting from bee stings. I have never heard of such a case. We need to separate out the reported cases from so called “killer bees” (Apis mellifera scutelatta) which are quite different than the European honey bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) which are the species that are found in managed apiaries. A. mellifera scutellata area tropical insect recently imported into the Americas. As such, they appear to be not adapted to the northern climate we have here in Michiga. Though it is quite possible that hybrids between A. scutelatta and A. mellifera may (and probably are) find their way to Michigan.
Good sources to check are the USDA agricultural census (for beekeepers, crop production, etc) and the National Institute of Health (for mortality statistics). Also, you may want to contact the state Apiarist Mike Hansen (email hansenmg@michigan.gov). You may also want to contact an Apitheripast and get their spin on things.
Many people have a (irrational) fear of bees. They tend to lump anything that flies and stings as a “bee”. That is sort of like saying anything with feathers is a “bird” and go no further. This fear probably is wired into the reptilian part of our brain. Those of us who work with honeybees know them as reasonably gentle creatures who would much rather go about their business than sting.
If you have more questions, please feel free to contact us again.
Also, if any other beekeepers out there want to join in on this discussion, please do so.
Steve Tilmann, Treasurer
Michigan Beekeepers’ Association
I am wanting to making a donation to the Fremont Foundation and can’t find on this web site where to mail it and how to do it. In Memory of a beekeeper.
Rosie,
The Fremont Area Community Foundation (FACF) address is PO Box B. Fremont, Michigan 49412. Their web site is http://www.tfacf.org/.
Their phone number is 231.924.5350.
Checks should be made out to the Fremont Area Community Foundation. If this is a memorial gift, be sure to mention this, as the FACF will match memorial donations up to $500. The MBA recently donated $500 to the FACF in memory of Dan Guthrie. Your gesture will surely be appreciated by all concerned.