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Celebrating 90 Years of Promoting Knowledge and
Fellowship
Among Beekeepers in the Commonwealth
of Virginia.
2008 VSBA Spring Meeting
The Virginia State Beekeepers Association will hold their next meeting on
April 11-12, 2008, at in Loudoun,
VA. Invited speakers include
Nancy Ostiguy from Penn State
University, Phil Craft
from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Apiary Inspection, and Michael
Palmer, a commercial beekeeper and President of the Vermont Beekeepers
Association. Join us for an informative and entertaining day. Additional
information is at MEETING.
Virginia Master Beekeeper Program
Qualified Beekeeper Guidelines
A new Master Beekeeper Program is being initiated in Virginia. Beekeepers will receive training
to improve the management and productivity of their beehives. The Master
Beekeepers in turn will provide an enlarged pool of experts to recruit and
train beekeepers. Education is a key element of the Master Beekeeper program.
Improving a beekeeper’s knowledge of apiculture improves successful
management of honey bees. The Virginia
plan proposes a 3 level program, Qualified/Certified/Master Beekeeper. Guidelines to the requirements
for the Qualified Beekeeper level are provided in the link above. The
Master Level would be equivalent to the EAS Master Beekeeper with an added
emphasis on practical beekeeping experience and service.
The Master Beekeeper program will be
administered be Virginia Cooperative Extension with assistance from the
beekeeping specialist at Virginia Tech, the State Apiarist, the VSBA, and
local beekeeper groups. Updated draft copies of the proposed requirements for
the program are available in HTML and PDF format. Beekeeper input is being sought to finalize the
requirements for the Master Beekeeper program. Some comments have already
been received. Responses to these comments are also available in HTML and PDF format. Additional comments
should be sent to Dr. Rick Fell at Virginia
Tech.
Plight of Beekeeping
The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services recently
completed a report on "Study of the Plight of Virginia's
Beekeepers". In response to the recommendations in the report the
General Assembly appropriated $250,000 for developing integrated pest management
programs, queen production, Africanized honey bee response, and pollination
promotion in the Commonwealth
of Virginia. The
programs will be overseen by the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service. The
VSBA appreciates the efforts of Senator Harry Blevins (Virginia
Beach), Senator John Chichester (Fredericksburg), and
their staff for their support and diligence in successfully moving the
funding bill through the Senate and House of Delegates. VSBA is also thankful
to the many beekeepers that sent letters, made phone calls, and emailed their
representatives in the General Assembly in support of the programs. Your
efforts were instrumental in obtaining appropriation of these funds.
BeeQuiz
Test your knowledge and beekeeping skills with the BEEQUIZ. This new feature from the VSBA
will challenge both novice and expert beekeepers. There are hundreds of
questions in the quiz database. Each quiz consists of a different set of
questions. Have some fun and amaze your friends while learning more about
managing honey bees.
If your browser is
blocking active or script files the quiz will appear as a blank box in the
middle of the page. You will need to reset the Advanced Internet Options of
your browser to allow active content in order to view the questions. This may
be done temporarily through the security alert bar that should appear above
the quiz webpage.
VSBA Fall Meeting
VSBA held its Fall meeting at Blue Ridge
Community College in Weyers Cave,
VA. Those attending received
valuable information and beekeeping tips from Mary Ann Frazier, Mike Embry,
Rick Fell, Wyatt Mangum, and other speakers. State Senator Emmett Hanger,
Jr., was a welcomed visitor and participant in the meeting. Here are a few
pictures from the Fall Meeting.
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