bee

 Thanks to Nancy Adamson for pointing this out.  Here's the latest word on Colony Collapse Disorder:

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=saving-the-honeybee

The mysterious ailment called colony collapse disorder has wiped out large numbers of the bees that pollinate a third of our crops. The causes turn out to be surprisingly complex, but solutions are emerging

By Diana Cox-Foster and Dennis vanEngelsdorp

Our president, Jerry Borger,  dispenses knowledge to our new beekeepers!This Spring we have the largest class ever!  Fifty!  Our association with VA tech and their graduate students bring a great deal of talent and knowledge to the classes. The classes this year extend to two days, the first in a classroom, the second in Virginia Tech's bee yard with the chance to fire up a bee smoker, get inside a real bee hive, find a queen, and see if you can survive a bee sting!  <G>   

 

 Our close association with Virginia Tech has been immensely helpful in our growth, providing a ready resource for speakers, technical information, and access to their apiaries. Our members, in turn, have helped Tech expand their apiaries with woodware assembly sessions.  It is a fine relationship that we appreciate, and hope will continue!