H.706 Veto Override Alert
Contact Your Legislators Today
After passing overwhelmingly in the VT house and senate, the pollinator protection bill, H706 was vetoed by the governor on World Bee Day.
He shared the same misleading information about bee populations that we have heard from the Agency of Agriculture, and declared the bill "anti-farmer".
The VT legislature is holding an override session on June 17th and 18th to consider overriding the governor's veto.
We need VBA members to reach out to their senators and representatives one last time this week to support this override effort.
Legislators have been hearing more and more from those against the bill, so it is incredibly important to express the importance of this legislation and our strong support for it. (Previously available background information is available here and here.)
Contact Your Legislators
If You Missed Them...
This week there were two online workshops presented by VBA experts. Wednesday evening's "Ask Me Anything" program presented by Jeff Battaglini, Tony Antonucci and Fred Putnam covered tasks designed to help you perform early summer management on your colonies. Then on Thursday night, Andrew Munkres and Bianca Braman hosted a program on Queen Rearing highlighting different ways to propagate queens and focusing on queen rearing for small-scale beekeepers.
VBA members can watch the recorded workshops by logging into the VBA website and looking under the Calendar menu for Past Workshop & Events Recordings.
On World Bee Day, Gov. Scott vetoes bill that would restrict bee-killing pesticide
From the Pollinatoir Working Group:
Montpelier, VT – Today, on World Bee Day, Gov. Phil Scott today vetoed legislation meant to protect bees and other pollinators from a widely-used neuorotoxic pesticide. The bill (H.706) would eliminate most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) in Vermont, which have been associated with alarming losses of managed and wild bee populations.
Neonic insecticides are used on almost all corn grown and much of the soybean grown in Vermont. They’re also sprayed on apple trees, other fruits and vegetables, and ornamental plants.
A comprehensive 2020 study from Cornell University found that neonic-treated seeds were more costly and yielded no substantial benefit to farmers in terms of crop yields for corn and soybeans. In Quebec, where neonics have been banned on field crops since 2019, farmers have adjusted well to using other alternative seed treatments, and many are using no pesticide treatment on seeds at all and finding no loss in yield.
While neonics provide little benefit to most farmers, they can cause substantial harm. Since their introduction in the mid-1990s, neonics have made U.S. agriculture48-times more harmfulto insects and been linked with massive losses of bees. Over the most recent five-year period for which data are available, Vermont beekeepers lost an average 53% of their hives every year. These losses of managed bees provide insight into the losses occurring each year in Vermont’s 300+ species of wild bees, which undergird ecosystems and are also important crop pollinators.
UBeeO Workshop with Vermont Bee Lab
Join the Vermont Bee Lab to learn about UBeeO, a novel way to measure hygienic behavior in bees! In this workshop, we will demonstrate how to perform UBeeO assays and witness high-scoring colonies in the field. We will discuss guidelines for reliable testing in the Northeast and hear from Vermont queen producers about their experience using UBeeO in their selection programs.
Two workshop dates are available, June 8 at Hundred Acre Wood Apiaries with Jack Rath and June 15 at French Hill Apiaries with Mike Palmer. Registration for either workshop is free and is required.
Just Got Your Nucs Or Bee Packages?—Now What??
Mid-spring is the time of year when many new beekeepers in Vermont pick up their first nucleus colonies or packages of bees. If you are one of those just starting out, hopefully you did your homework over the winter and have a pretty good idea of what to do next. You may have read some reference materials, attended a class, and participated in VBA webinars. Maybe you purchased a book that you can refer to from time to time. (By the way, the VBA has an excellent list of references designed specifically for new beekeepers under the “Resources” tab on this website.) But uncertainty or just a lack of confidence may arise about the next task in your bee yard. It’s not uncommon. Beekeeping may not be rocket science, but it isn’t simple either. There’s much to learn in the first few years and the VBA is here to help!
H.706 Update
As many of you know, the Pollinator Protection Act, H706 has passed the Vermont House 112-29. It was taken up by the Senate Agriculture committee, and UVM Bee Lab director Samantha Alger and VBA past president Andrew Munkres both testified in support of the bill among others. Last week the bill passed out of the Senate Agriculture committee 4-1 with a couple of changes from the House version. Today the bill went to Senate appropriations and passed out of that committee this afternoon 6-0.
Take Action! H.706
Dear VBA members,
The VBA Board has heard from a number of beekeepers asking about how to best hold conversations with farmer friends and neighbors about neonicotinoids. As a result, the VT Pollinator Working Group compiled this digital educational resource curated for crop producer audiences. Each resource listed has a summary and link where you can view the resource. We hope that you, VBA beekeepers, will have some conversations with your farmer neighbors in the coming weeks. Please feel free to share this resource and let it aid your discussions. This is a great opportunity to connect with your community around something that can help us all and make a better future for generations to come.
In addition, VPIRG has provided us with talking points for speaking with local farmers and neighbors (Login required.) about neonicotinoids and H.706 (a bill to phase out the use of neonicotinoids). We will include that as well if you'd like help on how to hold these conversations.
If you have any conversations with folks in your community, please keep a record of the conversations and report back to VBA Vice President Bianca Braman
Thank you for all of your effort on behalf of the bees. Your hard work will have an effect for decades to come!
Beekeepers in Sweden
Bianca and Adam of Vermont Bees traveled in February for a chilly trip to a warm-hearted country.
Breakfast included homemade bread, fresh eggs, cherry tomatoes, sautéed mushrooms, and rose-hip soup-Vit C power!When I was asked to visit Sweden and speak to their National Beekeepers Associations, I didn’t hesitate to say yes, so long as I could bring my partner and greatest friend, Adam!
We found the Swedish people to be organized and design centric. Things had a good flow, even traffic. We rented a car and found the driving easy to pick-up. Everyone speaks English and they’re very agreeable.
The beekeepers wanted to know about commercial beekeeping from the perspective of a stationary American beekeeper. More specifically, they wanted to hear from a woman. The population of women in professional beekeeping is increasing in Sweden and they wanted to bring in education for their growth.
The conference was four wonderful days full of learning, spectacular food, and delightful people. It was held in a conference center & chocolaterie called Aronsborg. We enjoyed bits of chocolate in all winter settings.
How Are The Bees Doing? – Really
"How are the bees doing?" is the question that we beekeepers are often asked when we interact with the public. The truth is, the bees are not doing well, but you wouldn’t know that if you listened only to the VT Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets (“Agency of Agriculture” or “Agency”).
In fact, the Agency claims that the beekeeping industry in Vermont is “healthy and robust” due to an apparent increase in the number of honeybee colonies registered in their database. But this measure of bee health is an illusion.
According to the Agency of Agriculture’s own statistics, Vermont beekeepers have lost at least 25% of their bees each winter over the last 3 years. But the Bee Informed Partnership places annual colony loss much higher: Vermont beekeepers report losing 38-85% of their colonies each year over the last four years.
From the Vermont Bee Lab...
The Vermont Bee Lab is asking you to participate in the 2024 National Honey Bee Survey. For more information including a link to the survey and answers to any questions you may have, please download the flyer.
VBA Launches The Beekeeper's Helpline
The VBA is pleased to announce the launch of The Beekeeper’s Helpline, a new program intended to assist beekeepers in their journey to become successful beekeepers. This virtual program provides yet another helpful source of information to VBA members by supplementing the wide range of workshops and other educational opportunities that the VBA already offers throughout the year. Through this program, a VBA member can contact directly an experienced beekeeper located in their area, referred to as an “Advisor,” and get answers to specific questions or issues within 24 hours. These volunteer Advisors are available by email or by phone to share their knowledge on a wide range of issues that arise in the apiary. Although it is targeted toward beekeepers in their early years, the Helpline is available to all VBA beekeepers with any level of experience. To read more about the Helpline and learn how to use it, click on the “Resources” tab above and then “For Beekeepers” in the drop down menu.
Not a VBA member? Click here to join and take advantage of the Helpline for a full year and all the VBA has to offer!
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