Images from Winter Meeting
Scott Sanderson, Conservation Law Foundation (at left), and State Rep. Robin Chestnut-Tangerman (D) spoke about the newly introduced H-0706, a proposed bill relating to banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in Vermont.
If you missed it...
Tuesday evening's workshop, New and Prospective Beekeeper Orientation Plus First Year Winter Hive Inspections, was recorded and is now available for members by logging in to the VBA website and choosing Past Workshops & Events Recordings under the Calendar menu.
The first part of this presentation provides an overview of what it takes to get started in beekeeping. For new beekeepers who are overwintering hives for the first time, the second part describes how to inspect hives during the winter and what to look for. Presented by Robin Foldesy, Colin Whitehouse & Fred Putnam.
The Tuesday morning panel discussion with Quebec farmers on Transitioning Away From Neonic Treated Seeds was recorded and can be - no login required. (Presented by the University of Vermont Extension and the Vermont Bee Lab.)
New Honey Bee Nutrition Guide
The Honey Bee Health Coalition has released the latest comprehensive Honey Bee Nutrition Guide.
The guide, free to distribute, is a "manual for supplemental feeding in bee hives, giving beekeepers a simple approach to the complex and nuanced world of honey bee nutrition."
You can download the guide here, by clicking on the image or by visiting the Honey Bee Health Coalition.
"Vermont has not, in fact, saved the bees..."
VBA's statement calling the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) to task for misleading the public received quite a bit of attention. In addition to coverage by a number of local papers throughout the state and WCAX, Bee Culture featured our statement in their daily news summary -- Catch the Buzz.
VBA Past-president Ross Conrad penned a Letter to the Editor in the Addison Independent that succinctly describes the issue.
From VT Digger: "Vermont has not, in fact, saved the bees, according to Jeff Battaglini, president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association. Rather, he said the industry is struggling with significant losses that are becoming harder and harder to recover from."
This issue will be discussed at the Winter Meeting and will be the focus of much of VBA's work during this legislative session. We encourage you to discuss this with your legislators, especially if they are in the Senate or House Ag Committees.
VBA Webinar Series for Vermont's New Beekeepers
In keeping with its strong commitment to educating Vermont beekeepers, the Vermont Beekeepers Association (VBA) announces a new series of Zoom webinars designed specifically for people considering becoming beekeepers as well as those who are just starting out on their beekeeping journey. These webinars will be hosted by experienced VBA members who faced the same questions and challenges that all beekeepers have in their first two years. All presenters will be Vermont beekeepers who have their own apiaries and stay informed of the latest beekeeping best practices. With years of knowledge and experience under their belts, they are eager to share the lessons learned and make the new Vermont beekeeper’s journey a smoother one.
Vermont Beekeepers Refute State Claims of Honey Bee Health
The Vermont Beekeepers Association Board of Directors today released the following:
With decades of effort toward raising public awareness on the plight of pollinators, we the beekeepers of Vermont are deeply concerned about recent communications from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and Markets (VAAFM), and we would like to set the record straight.
The VAAFM’s claim of
. Contrary to VAAFM’s recent communications, the beekeeping and scientific community agree that the total number of honey bee colonies cannot be used to measure bee health (a honey bee colony is a single family of bees housed in a hive.)A more accurate estimate of our state honey bee health is annual colony loss. According to VAAFM’s own statistics, Vermont beekeepers have lost at least 25% of their bees during the winter months for the last three years. The Bee Informed Partnership, a national organization that tracks U.S. honey bee colony losses, reports combined summer and winter colony losses for Vermonters much higher at 35-85% each year for the last four years. Vermont beekeepers have maintained colony numbers by becoming bee-replacers instead of beekeepers. When VAAFM takes their tally of Vermont hives each July, beekeepers have already created new colonies to replace their losses. However, this is a very costly and laborious process – one that is not indicative of a “healthy and robust” beekeeping industry.
VBA 2024 Recognition Program
Submit Your Nomination Today
It’s about you!
Nominations are due by January 10, 2024
The VBA Recognition Program recognizes the efforts of individuals and entities who provide significant support to honeybees, Vermont beekeepers, and the VBA mission. Read about the program and submit your nomination today! Winners will be announced at the VBA Winter Meeting on January 27, 2024.
Section 5.04 Protection of Bees Notification
Dear Vermont Honey Beekeepers,
Please note that on February 24th, 2023, an updated ruling on the control of pesticides by the State of Vermont was put into effect. The rule includes ‘Section 5.04 Protection of Bees’. Enforcement of the rule is by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM). The Protection of Bees rule is relevant to honey beekeepers who have active apiaries on properties where pesticides are applied. Compliance with the rule applies to any pesticide applicator, individual using a pesticide, or person hiring an applicator. An applicator may be certified as a commercial, non-commercial, or private applicator or may be a non-certified applicator. Please familiarize yourself with the rule below, which can also be found on the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets (VAAFM) Pesticide Program page by following the link to the document “Vermont Rule for the Control of Pesticides”.
Vermont Honey Promotion
The latest issue of Seven Days, Vermont's independent weekly newspaper, includes a look at Vermont Honey as part of the VBA's new marketing campaign. Read the marketing piece in Seven Days today!
VBA Takes the Blue at the Tunbridge Fair
Each year, the Vermont Beekeepers Association's Tunbridge Fair Committee, led by Mary and Bob Stoddard, organizes a comprehensive and wide-ranging display about apiculture at the Tunbridge World’s Fair. It’s a very popular display at the fair.
VBA booth volunteers posing with the blue ribbon. Pictured left to right: Bob Stoddard, Mary Stoddard, Bill Mares, and Bob GrimItems in the display include an observation hive, honey sticks, pollinator garden seeds, a mannequin in a bee suit, beekeeping information, and much more. They also sell honey from a number of Vermont honey producers large and small who provided their honey to be sold at the VBA booth. This gives fair goers a unique chance to see the range of honey being produced in Vermont.
The Tunbridge World’s Fair is a popular and well attended event drawing many thousands of fair goers each year. The VBA display is colorful and eye-catching. It draws the attention of many visitors who stop by the booth, maybe buy a honey stick or some honey, and learn a bit about apiculture in Vermont.
The booth is staffed by a group of knowledgeable VBA volunteers whose efforts are organized by the Stoddards. Mary Stoddard is a talented and efficient principal organizer behind the scenes.
Mary Stoddard putting the finishing touches on the blue ribbon VBA booth at the Tunbridge World’s Fair
Thanks to Mary and Bob’s leadership and the efforts of the crew of volunteers, this year’s VBA booth was awarded a blue ribbon for first place concession!
Congratulations and special thanks to the Tunbridge World’s Fair Committee and all of the VBA volunteers who helped organize the booth and who worked shifts during the fair!
2023 Recognition Awards
The following were recognized for their support of beekeeping in Vermont at the August 12 Summer Meeting:
Jacob Esch - Friend of the Bees
Jacob Esh has been the past president and a mainstay of beekeeping support in southwestern VT for more than 40 years.
He started keeping bees in the early 1970's. His first colonies were swarms and he learned by successes and failures. In the early 1980's Jacob expanded his hive count by about 4 hives each year and became an A.I. Root dealer in Bennington.
In 2006 he wrote/published his book Beekeeping: Profitable Enterprise. He was named VT Beekeeper of the Month in 2005 by the VBA. Later he also sold Brushy Mountain woodenware.
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