Subject: Nov. 1994 'Buzz' - Iowa Beekeepers Newsletter

From: [email-masked] (Terry Dahms)
Date: Thu, 9 Feb 1995 16:21:13

Submitted by: Terry Dahms, Pres.
       East Central Iowa Beekeepers Assoc.
       internet: [email-masked]
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                  THE BUZZ                     NOVEMBER, 1994
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       A newsletter published monthly as a cooperative effort by The Iowa
       Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and The Iowa  Honey 
       Producers  Association  (IHPA),  an affiliate member of  the  Iowa
       Horticultural Society.   Copy deadline is the 20th of each  month. 
       Your  ideas,  comments  and letters are welcomed  and  encouraged. 
       EDITOR:   Bob  Cox,  State Apiarist,  Iowa Dept.  of  Agriculture,
       Wallace Building,  Des Monies, IA.   50319 Phone:  (515) 281-5736. 
       IHPA  MEMBERSHIP:   Membership dues in the  Iowa  Honey  Producers
       Assn. are $5.00/year.  Send to Gordon Powell, IHPA Treasurer.
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       STATE APIARIST REPORT
            Don't  miss  the annual meeting of the Iowa  Honey  Producers
       Association  in Marshalltown November 11 and 12th.   Its the  best
       beekeepers  meeting all year long.   Send in the  pre-registration
       form on page 7 soon for the early bird discount.  USDA's Dr.  Bill
       Wilson,  University  of  Minnesota's  Gary  Reuter,  American  Bee
       Journal  Editor Joe Graham and other speakers will be  well  worth
       the time and expense of attending the meeting.
            Remember  that  the business meeting will be held  on  Friday
       afternoon.  Come prepared to vote for the beekeepers who will best
       represent  beekeeping  in your area and the state as  a  whole  as
       officers   and  on  the  board  of  directors.    This   is   your
       organization, so be a participant.  This is your best opportunity.
            The inspection season has pretty much come to an end for this
       year.  The big news has been a better honey crop and colony losses
       this  fall due to the Varroa mite.   Come hear the details at  the
       annual meeting.
            State  Fair was really a success this summer.   John  Johnson
       will give us all the figures at the business meeting.   If you  do
       not  help  at the State Fair honey booth you miss out on  a  great
       experience and way to promote our products and beekeeping.
            The phone calls coming into the office concerning those pesky
       "bees"  (really yellowjacket wasps) have finally slowed  down.   I
       hope  a lot of them die over the winter.   The wasps really put  a
       cramp  on people's life style this summer and fall,  plus  costing
       homeowners a great deal to exterminate.
            You  should  be  finished with feeding  colonies  this  fall. 
       Colonies  should have Apistan strips in them.   The colonies  need
       exposure  to the miticide during this broodless period  to  reduce
       the  Varroa  mite  population significantly.  The  new  label  for
       Apistan  calls  for a longer treatment period  (6-8  weeks).   All
       colonies  should  be  given Terramycin in  dust  or  grease  patty
       formulation this fall.  
            Colonies  should  be physically protected from the  wind  and
       cold.   Some beekeepers use tarpaper wraps,  corrugated  cardboard
       covers,  special  hive blankets or your own invention  to  protect
       hive from the elements.   Also important is the placement of hives
       out  of  the  wind and in the sun.   To  complete  preparing  your
       colonies for winter,  put in an entrance reducer to keep out  mice
       and put a 1-inch thick styrofoam insulation board under the cover.
       SENATOR BROWN'S OWN SUBSIDY 
            There  is no doubt a great deal of chortling under  way  this
       week  in some of the nation's rice paddies,  cow pastures,  cotton
       fields and perhaps especially its honey farms.   The laughter  can
       be summoned with one word:  Brown.  As in Senator Hank Brown,  who
       has  admitted  to accepting federal money not to  plant  crops  on
       farmland he owned in Colorado -- while simultaneously demanding an
       end to other agricultural subsidies.
            Honey producers may be in greatest danger of splitting  their
       sides as they recall some of the senator's pronouncements on their
       particular subsidy,  now deceased.   "Shall we be taxed to pay for
       honey  subsidies?"   The  senator once wondered  aloud,  in  tones
       reminiscent of colonist's blasts against King George.
            Then ...:  "Bees will retain their interest in honey  whether
       we have a federal program or not."
            Sweet sentiments,  though now the senator is in for a bit  of
       stinging.   News stories reveal Brown and his wife have accepted a
       total  of  $32,158 after agreeing not to plant crops  on  some  of
       their Colorado properties.   To make the revelations even  richer,
       it  happens  that  the program the Browns took  advantage  of  was
       supported by Brown during his days as a representative.   None  of
       this,  we should point out,  is in violation of any rule,  but  it
       does  have a barnyard odor about it.  (taken from  "The  Minnesota
       Beekeeper,  Summer 1994":  "Synopsis from the Rocky Mountain News,
       March 15 Editorials")

       YOUR NEIGHBOR BEEKEEPER (excerpted from  Dallas County News 9/94)
            ADEL--Honeybees  have  fascinated  Weiser for 73  of  his  83
       years.   Stanley Weiser is a walking, talking encyclopedia when it
       comes to understanding honeybees.
            He should be.   After all,  beekeeping has been his hobby for
       73  of  his 83 years on this earth,  and his dedication  has  been
       enough  to  earn  him the top blue ribbon four  years  running  in
       beekeeping competition at the Iowa State Fair.
            He  was  a 10-year old lad in Grimes  when  his  grandfather,
       Charles Weiser,  gave him his first swarm of bees.   "As a  little
       energetic kid,  I was helping him take off some honey and  Grandad
       saw the interest I had, even though I knew nothing about bees.  He
       said,  'Would I like a swarm?'  and he gave me my first  swarm  of
       bees."
            Weiser said his grandfather warned him that "beekeeping is  a
       very  technical business."   "You don't just keep bees,  you  take
       care  of  them  or you don't get  anything,"  Weiser  recalls  his
       grandfather  saying.   He made an appointment with a  professional
       beekeeper in Grimes,  learned the technical aspects and put all of
       his energy into building up his apiary.
            Today,  Weiser has more than 40 swarms.  The nearby  Wright's
       Orchard "depends on my bees to pollinate," Weiser said.   "Country
       Gardens is also using, without realizing it, the pollination of my
       millions  of bees."   He had the best honey crop since  1988  this
       year which was welcome after last year's total disaster.  
            Weiser sells his honey at several locations throughout Dallas
       County, and starts each day with a biscuit drenched in honey. 
       BEATING BEET SUGAR IN HONEY (National Honey Board article)
            The  financial  drain of economic adulteration  in  the  food
       industry  is substantial -- adulterated products  depress  prices. 
       Detecting  inexpensive  sweeteners  in  honey  is  difficult   but
       worthwhile.
            Thanks to work conducted previously by Dr. Jonathan White and
       others,  the honey industry already had the ability to detect cane
       and corn syrups added to honey.  The honey industry was,  however,
       unable  to detect the presence of sweeteners from  other  sources,
       such as beets.
            In  1991,  the honey industry coordinated efforts and  raised
       money  to fund a research project to detect beet syrup  and  other
       commercial inexpensive sweeteners in honey.   Funds were  provided
       by members of the National Honey Packers and Dealers  Association,
       the  American Beekeeping Federation and Sioux  Honey  Association. 
       Dr.   Jill  Snowdon,  the  Honey  Board's  scientific  consultant,
       supervised  the  research  project,  which was  conducted  by  Dr.
       Nicholas Low.   As a result of Dr.  Low's work,  six out of  seven
       known inexpensive sweeteners can now be detected in honey.
            The following is a true story of how one member of the  honey
       industry used the testing method developed by Dr.  Low along  with
       other  detection  technology  to identify honey  diluted  with  an
       inexpensive sweetener.
            A honey seller and a honey buyer agreed to certain purchasing
       specifications.   Those specifications included the need  for  the
       honey  to  have  a  fructose to  glucose  ratio  greater  than  1. 
       (Fructose  to glucose ratios for pure honey are generally  greater
       than 1.)  When the buyer received the load of honey, the honey was
       tested and found to have fructose to glucose ratios of 0.94,  0.95
       and 0.96.
            Per  the agreement,  the buyer exercised his right to  reject
       this seller's honey.   Since the test results were so close to  1,
       and  because  some  pure  honey has  a  lower  ratio,  the  seller
       suggested that the honey be submitted for further testing.
            The  honey  was submitted for a SIRA test for cane  and  corn
       syrup.   SIRA for the honey was -23.9 and the SIRA on the  protein
       fraction was -24.1.   As these two numbers are less than one  unit
       apart,  the honey was judged to be free of corn syrup.  Next,  the
       honey  was  tested using Dr.  Low's capillary  gas  chromatography
       technique.   The  results indicated the presence of  invert  sugar
       (probably  from  beets) at a level of about 15  percent.   Without
       using  the  capillary gas chromatography technique,  this  diluted
       honey would have passed as pure honey.
            Since  the buyer did not want to compete against  honey  that
       was  rejected,  he obtained a guarantee from the seller  that  the
       product  not  be sold in the United States as  pure  honey.   This
       issue  was  settled without the involvement of the U.S.  Food  and
       Drug  Administration based on the buyer's opinion that the  seller
       was operating in good faith.

       NOTICE: New American Bee Journal subscription rate as of Oct. 1.
            1 year  ($16.95) Assn. member rate $12.70
            2 years ($31.40) Assn. member rate $23.55
                   HONEY-BAKED BEANS (Midwest Living recipe)
       2    16- or 21-oz cans baked beans  2 tablespoons honey
       3/4  cup barbecue sauce             3/4 teaspoon paprika
       2    tablespoons chopped onion      3/4 teaspoon dry mustard
       3    cooked bacon slices, crumbled

                                HONEY OF A VERSE

             No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,
             No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, -- November!
                             by Thomas Hood

                            CENTRAL IOWA BEEKEEPERS
                        Meeting at Royal Cafe in Huxley
                            Saturday, December 10th 
                             5:30 meal 6:30 program

       128TH STATE HORTICULTURAL MEETING
            Past-president  Paul  Goossen represented IHPA  at  the  Iowa
       State  Horticultural  Society  Annual  Awards  Meeting  in   Pella
       September  10th.   The meeting was preceeded by tours  of  Pella's
       Historical Village,  the Vermeer Apple Orchard,  and Pella Nursery
       and Greenhouse.  About 100 horticulture enthusiasts enjoyed a noon
       meal and the annual awards and business meeting at the Pella Opera
       House.   The  day  provided several oportunities  to  explain  the
       importance  of bee pollination in fruit and  vegetable  production
       with growers attending the meeting.

       HONEY DAYS AT THE DES MOINES BOTANICAL CENTER
            The  Iowa Honey Producers Association sponsored "Honey  Days"
       October 29-30 at the Des Moines Botanical Center.   Visitors  were
       treated  to  a free piece of honey candy,  honey  recipes,  and  a
       chance  to view the inside workings of a beehive  without  getting
       stung.   The loveable "Buzzy Bear"  mascot was there for the  kids
       along with the Amana Colony Honey Queen, Melinda Okerberg.   Honey
       bears,  jars  of  honey and honey  cookbooks  were  available  for
       purchase.  The Des Moines Botanical Center is open 10 - 5 daily.

                 1994 MINNESOTA STATE FAIR AWARD-WINNING RECIPE
                                   Jan Olson

                             Honey Glazed Snack Mix

       4     cups Rice or Corn Chex cereal (or Crispix)
       1 1/2 cups miniature Pretzels (mini-bites)
       1     cup pecan halves
       1/3   cup butter or margarine
       1/4   cup honey

       In large mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients.  Melt the butter in
       small  saucepan,  stir  in honey and boil  well.   Pour  over  the
       mixture and stir to coat evenly.  Spread in a jelly roll pan (or 2
       9x13  pans).   Bake  at 350 degrees for  12-15  minutes  or  until
       lightly glazed, stirring occasionally.  Cool slightly.   Spread on
       wax paper to cool completely.  Break into chunks.

       PUSH "Promote United States Honey"
            At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Honey  Producers
       Association  (AHPA) January 1994 in Tuscon a new slogan was  born: 
       "Promote United States Honey"  (PUSH) according to the April  AHPA
       magazine.   "It  is  time to push for  PUSH,"  according  to  AHPA
       president Richard Adee.  "We U.S. beekeepers are the best,  and we
       produce our honey under the worst working conditions in the world"
       Adee went on to say.
            The  AHPA executive committee voted to  increase  beekeepers'
       awareness  of  the  PUSH  program  at  their  July  meeting.   The
       committee  seeks the attention of every beekeeping association  in
       the country,  so that beekeepers may be made aware of the need for
       promotion  of  honey  from the United States.   Dick  Blake,  AHPA
       executive  committee member from Iowa,  said "Many beekeepers  are
       unaware  of  the  PUSH  program and  need  to  promote  their  own
       products."   The program is designed ultimately to increase  sales
       of American honey.

       FOR  SALE:   350 pounds of '94 crop honey in 5 gallon  containers. 
       Contact Rick Boyer, Rt. 1, Stanton, IA 51573 (712) 829-2144.
                                        
                                 HONEY GRANOLA

       4    cups old-fashioned rolled oats
       2    cups coarsely chopped nuts
       1    cup golden raisins
       3/4  cup honey
       1/2  cup butter or margarine
       2    teaspoons ground cinnamon
       1    teaspoon vanilla
            Dash salt

       Combine oats,  nuts and raisins in large mixing bowl; mix well and
       set aside.  Combine honey,  butter, cinnamon,  vanilla and salt in
       saucepan;  bring to boil and cook one minute.  Pour honey  mixture
       over  oat mixture and toss until well blended.  Spread in  lightly
       greased  cookie  sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees 20 minutes  or  until
       lightly browned;  stir every 5 minutes. Cool. Crumble and store in
       airtight container up to 2 weeks. Makes 8 cups. (NHB recipe)
                                        
                                  PUMPKIN PIE

       3/4  cup honey                  1 1/2  cup water
       3/4  cup powdered milk          1 1/2  cup cooked pumpkin
       1/2  teaspoon salt              2      eggs, beaten
       1/2  teaspoon cinnamon          2      tablespoons melted butter
       1/2  teaspoon mace              1/2    teaspoon ginger
       1/4  teaspoon cloves            1      9" unbaked pie shell

       Mix  dry  ingredients  well to prevent  streaking.  Add  remaining
       ingredients.  Blend  thoroughly.  Pour into  pie  shell.  Bake  15
       minutes  at 425 degrees in preheated oven.  Reduce to 350  degrees
       and bake 40 minutes longer. (from Honey Recipes by Gordon Rudloff,
       State Apiculturist, Reynoldsburg, Ohio)

       DARK CHOCOLATE FUDGE

       1    14 oz. can sweetened and condensed milk
       2    12 oz. bags semisweet chocolate chips
       1/3  cup Sue Bee Honey
       1    teaspoon vanilla
       1/2  cup chopped walnuts

       Spray  9x9x2 inch baking dish with no-stick coating.  Melt  chips,
       sweetened  and condensed milk and Sue Bee Honey over medium  heat.
       Remove from stove and stir in vanilla and nuts.  Cool and cut into
       squares. Store in a cool place. (from The Sue Bee Honey Cook Book)
                      IOWA HONEY PRODUCERS ANNUAL MEETING
                            NOVEMBER 11 AND 12, 1994
                                  Regency Inn
                             U.S. 30 & Iowa Hwy. 14
                               Marshalltown, Iowa
                           Motel Phone (515) 752-6321

               PRE-REGISTRATION FORM (must be mailed by Nov. 5th)

       Name: ______________________________________________________________

       Company Name: ______________________________________________________

       Address:______________________________City: ________________________

       State: ___________ Zip: ________-_______ Phone: (    ) _____________

       No. of Colonies:_____ Years Beekeeping:______ Year joined IHPA:_____

       Individual Member ($10 at the door)      $ 8.00        $____________
       Family Rate ($20 at the door)            $15.00        $____________
       Non-member                               $15.00        $____________

       Membership dues                            5.00        $____________
       (Membership required to vote at business meeting.)

       Banquet Friday night 7:00 p.m.           $12.00 each   $____________
                                                              =============
                                                TOTAL          ____________
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       Make check payable to:  Iowa Honey Producers Association.
       Send form and check to: J. Gordon Powell, IHPA Treasurer
                               4012 54th St.  Des Moines, IA 50310

                                TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

       FRIDAY, November 11
        8:00 a.m. Short Board of Directors Meeting

        8:15 a.m. Registration - $10 for members and $20 family rate

        8:45 a.m. President's Welcome                         Leroy Kellogg
                  Honey Cooking Contest

        9:00 a.m. Beekeeping in Agriculture                    Dale Cochran
                                              Iowa Secretary of Agriculture

        9:30 a.m. State Apiarist Report                             Bob Cox

       10:15 a.m. BREAK (Door prizes following)

       10:45 a.m. What's new in mite control          Dr. William T. Wilson

       11:45 a.m. LUNCH (on your own)

        1:00 p.m. Comb Honey Production                        John Johnson

        1:45 p.m. BUSINESS MEETING (Election of Officers)

        3:00 p.m. Bee Research at the Univ. of Minnesota        Gary Reuter

        4:00 p.m. Local Assn. & Area Crop Reports        Local Associations

        5:00 p.m. Adjourn --visit vendors

        7:00 p.m. BANQUET $12.00

                1. Blessing on Food: Paul Goossen

                2. Introduction of new officers - Leroy Kellogg

                3. State Fair Awards - Bob Cox

                4. Cooking Contest Results - Leroy Kellogg

                5.  Guest Speaker:   Bill Wilson - "30 years of day dreaming
                and other  happenings"

       Banquet Menu (served to you at your table):
                      Tossed Salad with Honey House Dressing 
        Honey-Glazed Ham Steak with Pineapple ring, raisin sauce and cherry
                             AuGratin Cheese Potatoes
                             Broccoli and Cauliflower
                               Hot Roll with Butter
                    Dutch Apple Pie topped with Honey Ice Cream
                                Coffee, Tea or Milk

       SATURDAY, November 12

        8:00 a.m. Visit Vendors

        9:00 a.m. Niche Marketing of Honey                  Sherry Jennings
                                                       National Honey Board
       10:00 a.m. BREAK

       10:15 a.m. American Bee Journal                           Joe Graham

       11:00 a.m. Beekeeping Gadgets & Gizmos                   Gary Reuter

       12:00 noon LUNCH (on your own)
        
        1:00 p.m. Beeswax Art                            Laverne Greenfield

        2:00 p.m. Pollination of Iowa Crops                    Paul Goossen

        3:00 p.m. Adjourn

                    DARK CHOCOLATE FUDGE

       1    14 oz. can sweetened and condensed milk
       2    12 oz. bags semisweet chocolate chips
       1/3  cup Sue Bee Honey
       1    teaspoon vanilla
       1/2  cup chopped walnuts

       Spray  9x9x2 inch baking dish with  no-stick  coating.
       Melt chips,  sweetened and condensed milk and Sue  Bee
       Honey over medium heat.  Remove from stove and stir in
       vanilla and nuts. Cool and cut into squares.  Store in
       a cool place. (from The Sue Bee Honey Cook Book)