Tuesday 25 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : 2012 Canadian Beekeeping Convention slated for Winnipeg, Manitoba

Central Beekeepers Alliance : 2012 Canadian Beekeeping Convention slated for Winnipeg, Manitoba


2012 Canadian Beekeeping Convention slated for Winnipeg, Manitoba

Posted: 24 Oct 2011 07:32 AM PDT

Held in conjunction with the annual meetings of the Canadian Honey Council and Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists, the 2012 CANADIAN BEEKEEPING ANNUAL CONVENTION will take place on January 26-28, 2012. The convention and symposium will be hosted by the Manitoba Beekeepers Association at the historic Fort Garry Hotel in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Convention Theme:
Healthy Environment – Healthy Bees – Healthy Honey

Keynote Speakers

  • Marion Ellis – Professor and Extension Apiculture Specialist, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA
  • Jerry Hayes – Apiary Inspection Assistant Chief, Florida Department of Agriculture Services, Gainesville, Florida, USA
  • Danielle Downey – Apiculture Specialist, Hawaii Department of Agriculture, Hilo, Hawaii, USA

All interested beekeepers and related industry people are invited to come out to hear what is happening in the Beekeeping Industry across Canada and USA. The 2012 Canadian Beekeeping Convention is held in conjunction with the Canadian Honey Council (CHC) and Canadian Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA) Annual Meetings, and thus should provide an action packed week for all attendees. In addition, CHC will be hosting special meetings earlier in the week for their members and guests.

Agenda details, hotel information, registration form, convention costs, and other important information can be found on the Manitoba Beekeepers Association website (http://manitobabee.org).


Sunday 16 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Christmas Dinner 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Christmas Dinner 2011


Central Beekeepers Christmas Dinner 2011

Posted: 15 Oct 2011 10:40 AM PDT

Put it on your calendar — the Central Beekeepers Alliance members and guests will gather to enjoy a festive turkey dinner on the evening of Saturday, 17 December, 2011.

Central Beekeepers Alliance – Christmas Dinner
Saturday, 17 December 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m.
Location: Frank’s Finer Diner, Two Nations Crossing, Fredericton, NB

Turkey dinner buffet, with dessert and coffee/tea included. Cost per person: $16.95 (plus tax & gratuity). Payments can be made the November meeting of the Central Beekeepers Alliance, or you can pay on the night.

A private room (the downstairs conference room) has been reserved for our event. And if last year’s dinner is anything to go by, you can expect that our President will have rounded up a lot of fun door prizes to add a little more festive cheer to the occasion!


Friday 14 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 8 November 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 8 November 2011


Central Beekeepers Meet 8 November 2011

Posted: 13 Oct 2011 10:44 AM PDT

The next regular monthly meeting of the Central Beekeepers Alliance will be held on November 8th, 2011, at the Agricultural Research Centre on the Lincoln Road in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

If you’re just getting started in beekeeping, this meeting will give you the opportunity to get together with some experienced beekeepers to ask questions. And if you’re thinking about getting into beekeeping next spring, you can find out what you’ll need to do now and over the winter months, to prepare to keep your own honey bees!

Tuesday, 8 November 2011
Central Beekeepers Alliance Meeting
Agricultural Research Centre, Fredericton, NB
7:30 p.m.

New beekeepers and anyone interested in starting to keep bees are welcome to come out and join us, to learn more about beekeeping, chat with other local beekeepers, and find out more about how to keep honeybees here in New Brunswick.


Friday 7 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : The Perfect Design of Honey Bees

Central Beekeepers Alliance : The Perfect Design of Honey Bees


The Perfect Design of Honey Bees

Posted: 06 Oct 2011 10:02 PM PDT

This video is a segment of “Silence of the Bees,” a remarkable documentary mini-series that premiered on PBS in October 2007, when the apiculture community was just beginning to suspect the devastating effects that Colony Collapse Disorder would have on honeybee populations.

As the video explains, and as beekeepers know by their own observations, bees are “just this magnificent little engineered thing, just perfect for all the things they can do”:

An architectural marvel, the honeybee’s design is an elegant fusion of form and function. A proboscis for ferreting out nectar stored deep in a flower’s folds. And powerful mandibles for eating, feeding young, and manipulating wax.

Photo: Bee on lavendar via Flickr

Two compound eyes are comprised of 6,900 lenses and covered with sensory hairs for detecting wind speed. Three additional eyes, called ocelli, receive light signals for orientation.

Four wings clasp together with tiny hooks and beat up to 230 times a second.

For defense, a double-edged, serrated sting, which she can use only once — at the cost of her own life.

Hind legs are broadened into special baskets for carrying heavy cargo of pollen to the hive. Feathery hairs coat the body and build up a static charge as the bee flies. When the bee lands on a flower, pollen literally jumps on to her body.

Nature’s award-winning Silence of the Bees was narrated by American actor F. Murray Abraham, winner of the 1985 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus. It was produced by filmmaker Doug Schultz — and if you’re interested in what went on “behind the scenes” in making the documentary, you can read an interview with Doug Schultz at the PBS program website.

Silence of the Bees is available on DVD (packaged together with an equally interesting documentary, Parrots in the Land of Oz). You can get it direct from PBS online or from Amazon.com in the United States and from Amazon.ca in Canada.


Tuesday 4 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 11 October 2011

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Central Beekeepers Meet 11 October 2011


Central Beekeepers Meet 11 October 2011

Posted: 03 Oct 2011 01:48 PM PDT

The next regular monthly meeting of the Central Beekeepers Alliance will be held on October 11th, 2011, at the Agricultural Research Centre on the Lincoln Road in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

If you’re just getting started in beekeeping, this meeting will give you the opportunity to get together with experienced beekeepers and ask your most pressing questions: how to get your hives ready to go into winter, what to feed and how much, and other seasonal beekeeping topics.

And if you’re thinking about getting into beekeeping next spring, you can learn what you’ll need to do now and over the winter months, to prepare to keep your own honey bees!

Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Central Beekeepers Alliance Meeting
Agricultural Research Centre, Fredericton, NB
7:30 p.m.

New beekeepers and anyone interested in starting to keep bees are welcome to come out and join us, to learn more about beekeeping, chat with other local beekeepers, and find out more about how to keep honeybees.