Originally published in The Speedy Bee, Vol. 28, Nos. 4 (pp. 8-10)
and 5 (pp. 6-7), April and May. Reprinted in BEE
BIZ, Issue 10, August 1999, pp. 8-11.
A Feast of Firsts: Fifty Sixth
Federation Convention Meets in Music City, Nashville,
TN
By
Malcolm
T. Sanford
http://apis.shorturl.com
Introduction: A Feast of Firsts
President Hackenberg's Report:
Panel on Honey Board Changes:
Federal Bee Research Update:
Industry Funded Queen Research Results:
Tennessee Beekeeping:
Small Hive Beetle: Problems and Solutions
World Honey Marketing Issues:
Fluvalinate Resistant Varroa: New Treatment Issues
State of Bee Inspection Programs:
Other Firsts: Invitation to Fort Worth
The fifty-sixth annual convention of the American Beekeeping Federation met
in Nashville, TN
hard by Vanderbilt
University at the Loews
Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel. This meeting was marked by many firsts, revealing that
with Federation doings, like many things in modern life, change is everywhere.
The first ABF President’s Award was given jointly to two of the organization’s
giants, Robert Banker and Hood Littlefield. Both of these men led the
Federation through the turbulent 1960s and 1970s. Mr. Littlefield was president
for three consecutive terms (1970, 1971 and 1972). Mr. Banker served as
president for two terms (1964-65) and also as secretary-treasurer from
1954-1963 (nine years) and 1969-1977 (eight years). The first meeting of the
Foundation for the Conservation of Honey Bees met to hammer out a mission
statement and begin the work of establishing an organization for fund raising
in the larger, global community. This was the first time in this reporter’s
memory that only two candidates were running for American honey queen, ensuring
that both would be selected as spokeswomen for the honey industry in the role
of either queen or princess. A new discussion format was introduced around the
Sunday morning breakfast table (eggs and issues), as part of a changed agenda,
beginning on Friday ending Tuesday. Finally, the meeting was a first to focus
on a Section 18 control material, Bayer Bee Strips (comaphos),
for a brand new bee hive threat, the small hive beetle (Aethina
tumida), and the first to promote radical changes
to the Honey Research, Promotion and Consumer Information Order, which would
provide for money for bee research and honey quality assurance..
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President Hackenberg's Report:
David Hackenberg, current president of the
Federation, in his address focused on the current state of the honey market. He
said that beekeepers should stop complaining about current trade realities and
get on board with current trends in selling honey. He also said that
"value added," should be a part of every beekeeper’s vocabulary. In a
review of last recent Federation accomplishments, he listed 1) bringing the
industry together to get new Honey Board legislation passed, 2) achieving
Section 18 labeling for coumaphos, 3) ongoing review
of the bee research laboratories at Beltsville, Tucson, Weslaco and Baton
Rouge, and 4) signing on a new health care insurance program. In closing,
president Hackenberg said a big challenge continued
to be bringing all beekeeping interests for the future prosperity of the
industry.
President Hackenberg continued the program by
discussing how projected changes in the Honey Board legislation came about.
Beginning with a beekeeping summit meeting in Reno, Nevada,
over the last two years all organizations representing beekeepers, producers,
packers and importers have met and finally agreed on changes to the order. They
include: 1) addition of a $0.075 per pound assessment on handlers, 2) increase
in assessment on imported honey from $.01 to $.015 per pound, 3) decrease in
assessment on producers from $.01 to $.0075 per pound, 4) a specific
reservation of funds for beekeeper-level projects, and 5) authority to create a
quality assurance regulatory program and develop purity standards for honey.
These alterations have now made it past Congress, Mr. Hackenberg
Said, and best guesses are that there will be a referendum in October or
November 1999.
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A panel of supporters for the above changes followed. Bonnie Woodworth set
the tone with a discussion of how rural communities have survived the great
changes of the last third of the twentieth century. Qualities investigators
have found that are held in common are trust, ability to work together and
capability of effectively communicating with one another. The same things will
be necessary for the beekeeping industry, she concluded, if it wanted to
prosper into the next millennium. David Ellingson
followed this presentation concluding that the most important change was the
quality assurance program. This was emphasized as well by Jim Doan. He said
perhaps the most important market share was in the industrial use area as a
great number of products were being introduced and a limiting factor would be
lack of uniform standards. George Hansen and Charlotte Randall both thought the
research dollars were also important. This is especially true because other sources of sustainable money for research was not available.
In addition, this would provide a benefit from the Honey Board that many could
contribute to and see concrete results from the use of the funds. A video
presentation has also been developed by supporters revealing why they support
these changes.
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By almost any measure, the Nashville
convention was a watershed in beekeeper/researcher relations. Dr. Floyd Horn,
Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Administrator gave the keynote address and
was hosted at an open lunch where he pledged better cooperation between his
organization and the industry. Many were indeed surprised and delighted at the
candor of Dr. Horn as he discussed the trials and tribulations of ARS in
attempting the meet the beekeeping community’s needs in the next millennium.
One of the challenges is the continuing rise in costs to support a single
scientist in the system, which includes both salary and operating expenses, now
estimated to be in excess of $300,000 per year. Among other things, Dr. Horn
pledged in excess of $100,000 in emergency funding for small hive beetle
research at the Gainesville,
FL ARS laboratory. Finally, he
offered to look into the possibility of finding an ARS scientist who might be
recruited to look at honey adulteration issues.
This mutual respect seemed to also trickled down.
For the first time in this reporter’s experience beekeepers seemed genuinely to
understand and support the work of Dr. Karl Narang,
the ARS National Program staff and the four honey bee laboratories he oversees.
This was in no small part helped by the demeanor and content of the
laboratory’s chief administrators, as well as appointment of Dr. H. Shimanuki as Technical Liaison to the Industry. After 32
years as Director of the Beltsville, MD Laboratory, Dr. Shimanuki,
who won this years Apicultural Award of Excellence
from the American Association of Professional Apiculturists (AAPA), has taken
this role to better facilitate information flow from the National Program Staff
to the four laboratories and their beekeeper constituency. As part of this, Dr.
Shimanuki will also be actively working with other
agencies (EPA, FDA, APHIS) on apicultural matters. He
has another mailing address, telephone number and e-mail address in this
capacity. One of his projects will be to coordinate research leading to a
package of tools beekeepers can use in mite control as part of an integrated
pest management (IPM) approach.
Taking Dr. Shimanuki’s place as director of the
Beltsville Laboratory is Dr. Mark Feldlaufer, who
described himself as a new kid on the block. The laboratory has several major
thrusts, according to Dr. Feldlaufer. It will be
looking at long-range sperm and egg storage using super cold (cyro-preservation). It will also ontinue
to be a center for viral and bacterial disease study, specifically looking at
the effectiveness of Terramycin® control of American
foulbrood and identification of bee viruses. The lab will also study wax moth
biology (fungal and viral control) as well as materials designed to repel
moths. Other research will be on basic biology of the small hive beetle and
resistance by Varroa mites to pesticides. As part of
the latter is research on both a field and lab assay to determine resistance
and molecular analysis of mite DNA. Finally, the lab will also be looking at
analytical capabilities in determing chemical
(pesticide) residues in bee products.
Dr. Tom Rinderer discussed the Baton Rouge, Louisiana
lab’s program. One initiative is to look at stress on bee colonies. According
to Dr. Rinderer, this is becoming a critical problem
as beekeepers are pushing bees to the limit by extensive movement. This adds to
all other stresses (Varroa, small hive beetle,
tracheal mite, nosema) on colonies, decreasing
productivity. One of the labs goals is to reduce pesticide use by beekeepers to
half of present levels through introduction of resistant or tolerant bees. A
large reason fo this is the
significant effect pesticides appear to be having on drones in terms of sperm
count and longevity. Varroa tolerant bees imported
from Russia will soon be out
of quarantine for trials in Louisiana
and elsewhere. The most promising mechanism at present is non-reproduction of
mites in bee colonies. Research on Varroa DNA has
also produced results, correlating with observations that mites introduced from
Japan into South America do
not appear to be as virulent as those originating in other parts of Asia.(Russia),
which were introduced into the U.S. Tracheal mites are also on the Baton Rouge research
agenda according to Dr. Rinderer. It has been
discovered that a specific grooming behavior using the middle pair of legs is
one mechanism for resistance to these mites. This appears to be a heritable
trait that can be exploited in the breeding process.
Dr. Eric Erickson reported on activity at the Tucson, Arizona
laboratory. Part of that research is to link Varroa
tolerance with cell size. Smaller size appears to be less stressful on bee
colonies in general. Tucson
has an advantage in that most feral colonies in the area are Africanized. Thus,
the laboratory is able to find and study colonies that support Varroa mites without treatment,
much like has been described for colonies in South and Central
America. One discovery is that white nodules can be seen on
workers when they are fed on by Varroa. These have
been found to be almost pure tyrosine, a characteristic chemical of immune
response in other insects. These nodules also appear to contain viruses.
Essential oil screening and delivery to control varroa
is also being examined at Tucson.
Tucson is one
of the few places doing pollination research, according to Dr. Erickson, and
the only one where honey bees are emphasized. One line of study is sunflower
seed production. How transgenic Roundup Ready Soybeans affects honey bees is
also being examined. This is but one example of transgenic crops that are being
increasingly exploited in modern agriculrture.
Dr. Bill Wilson reiterated that since he joined ARS in 1966, he had not seen
a better time than the present for communications between the beekeeping
constituency and researchers. In the past, it seemed that most administrators
and scientists did not speak the beekeeper’s language and vice versa. At the
same time scientific accountability had waned. Both beekeepers and researchers,
he concluded, have come a long way.
The Weslaco, Texas research facility, Dr. Wilson said, was fortunate enough to receive about a half a million
dollars in extra funding last fiscal year. This fact was important because it
provided the necessary wherewithal to send lab personnel to Florida and elsewhere to look at Varroa resistance. It was also serendipitous that while
looking at Varroa resistance, the Weslaco facility was able to piggy back small
hive beetle studies onto that effort. It was largely due to Weslaco personnel
(James Baxter, Patti Elzen and Frank Eischen) cooperating with Florida beekeepers and regulators
(Charlotte Randal, David Westervelt) that data was
there for efficacy of coumaphos, which right before
the meeting was approved as a non-food use for Varroa
and small hive beetle control by the EPA. The lab will continue its efforts in
this arena, Dr, Wilson
concluded, especially those having to do with small hive beetle biology. The
basic biology of the Africanized honey bee (AHB) will also continue to be a
focus of the Weslaco
facility. Studies in this area include the spread of AHB, and like at the Tucson lab, the
mechanisms by which AHB supports Varroa populations
without chemical treatment.
Dr. Karl Narang wrapped up the topic by making a
list of things that ARS will be actively engaged in:developing:
1 Mite-resistant or tolerant honey bees
2. New pesticide formulations
3. Natural products to control pests
4. Methods to produce more populous colonies.
5. Better ways to detect and find queens.
6. Improved management methods for AHB
7. Wax moth and ant control.
8. Bactrial and viral disease control.
9. Improving pollination of specific crops.
10. Better methods to detect honey adulteration.
11. Protecting honey bees from pesticides.
12. Continuing control of the small hive beetle.
In conclusion, Dr. Narang urged beekeepers to
continue communicating with him, Dr. Shimanuki and
the four laboratories. Only by taking an active role in advisory boards and bee
research committees, will beekeepers be able to have their needs addressed in
the 21st century.
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Preliminary results of research on queens and package bees were presented by
scientists from Virginia Tech. This was an outgrowth of discussion at the Colorado meeting last
year <http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/papers/colorado.htm#16>,
when a group of committed producers raised enough money to fund two studies.
One by Keith Tignor is looking at effects of sublethal dosages of chemicals on queens and drones. The other
was a shipping survey carried on during the spring. Of 165 queens shipped,
seven were dead on arrival. As part of this study, temperature was measured
during shipment by small instruments which were able to take measurements
during the course of the journey. A wide variance was observed from a maximum
of 1090F to 200F for 4.8 hours! These studies will be
continuing and are thought to represent a good model for other
industry-supported research.
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Tennessee Beekeeping:
Dr. John Skinner provided a fine overview of Tennessee beekeeping. Immediately apparent
was the diversity of the state. Few could answer the question, for example, how
many states bordered Tennessee
and what were their names. East, middle and west Tennessee all have different terrain and
soil conditions, making standard recommendations about beekeeping difficult to
say the least. Dr. Skinner’s talk was a blend of geography and anecdotes about
the apicultural history and contemporary scene in the Volunteer state.
As part of the host activities, Tennessee
beekeepers were delighted to honor the state’s most prominent beekeeper who has passed on. Few have been as influential in their
field as Mr. Leslie Little, who began working with bees in 1925. A Friday night
reception honoring him and his family revealed the depth to which the Little’s have been involved in both beekeeping and
Federation activities. Few, this reporter included, had not met Mr. Little over
the years at conventions. He was active in the American Bee Breeders
Association, The Honey Industry Council of America, and the Royal Jelly
Research Foundation. He was an American Beekeeping Federation director
(1949-1973), Tennessee’s
State Apiarist (1949-1972) and authored nine editions of "A Bee Book for
Beginners." He and his family were deeply involved in the Tennessee Honey
Queen program, supporting numerous candidates, several of whom became American
Honey Queens. It was obvious from the tenor of the reception celebrating his
beekeeping life that Mr. Leslie Little will be sorely missed by Tennesseeans.
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The small hive beetle problem and possible solutions was the subject of a
panel on this recently introduced insect from South Africa..
Given that this insect was first detected only six months ago, there are bound
to be differences of opinion by those closest to the situation. Dr. Frank Eischen of the Bee Research Unit, Westlaco, Texas
Beneficial Insects Laboratory moderated the discussion. He said that at first
he was skeptical about the beetle’s depredations, but seeing the effects
firsthand have convinced him otherwise.
Dr. H. Shimanuki, recently back from a collecting
tour in South Africa,
was the first speaker. He said that reports that he had stated the beetle was
not a problem in United
States were too rash. During his visit to South Africa,
Dr. Shimanuki said that practically every bee colony
he saw had adult beetles. In spite of this, however, the beekeepers reported
that these insects were not causing great damage. Of more consequence was the
invasion of the African bee’s (Apis mellifera scutellata) range by
the Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis). One
beekeeper, Dr. Shimanuki visited indicated a thirty
percent loss each year from this phenomenon. Relatively speaking, therefore,
the few colonies lost from small hive beetle are not as serious.
According to Dr. Shimanuki, colonies that are lost
in South Africa
from any cause are easily replaced by those trapped in bait hives. There is no
organized queen or package bee enterprise in that country. Conditions in South Africa, therefore, are not easily
reconciled with those present in the United States. Varroa,
tracheal mites and wax moth, for example, are problems that have yet to be
fully felt there. Dr. Shimanuki suggested that
beekeepers not panic, but keep a close eye on the beetle and consider carefully
a variety of practices that might mitigate the extent of its effects,
particularly sanitation around the honey house.
James Baxter of the Weslaco lab, who has been in the forefront of small hive
beetle research in Florida began his presentation by awarding a plaque to his
coworker, Ms. Charlotte Randall for her diligent efforts in helping complete
the research that led to a real bright spot reported at the convention,
approval of a Section 18 label for coumaphos-based
treatment inside the hive. Mr. Baxter gave a history of the beetle and its
detection in Florida, South
Carolina and Georgia.
It has also been reported in North
Carolina. So far, the biology of the pest is not
totally known, he said. It is now been shown, however, that beetles will
preferentially hide under cardboard inserts on the bottom board and small units
seem to attract more beetles than larger colonies. However, the beetles may
also move quickly to other reaches of the colony, making predicting their
presence in a colony more problematic. Limiting factors involved in beetle
population buildup are thought to be soil type and condition, moisture, and
temperature. He concluded by showing the results of experiments using eight
insecticides. The best control was by the material that has just been approved,
coumaphos, as well as permethrin,
soon to be approved for use outside the colony as a soil treatment.
Mr. David Westervelt of the Florida Department of
Agriculture and Consumer Services discussed his observations in the field as
part of the team doing experiments on the hive beetle (See January 1999 Bee
Culture). He said the beetle hides with great alacrity within the colony
based on temperature and other factors, using it almost like a
"hotel." He reiterated that smaller units seem to attract more
beetles and reported that nucs are especially
vulnerable. He has also observed that beetles appear to lay eggs on cues, which
appear to correlate with hive manipulation. Moving colonies, for example, or
annoying them in other ways, accelerated egg-laying. Those disturbed in an
observation hive were seen immediately to begin mating and laying eggs; this
small colony quickly succumbed.
Dr. Eischen finished the panel’s presentations
with a description of an experiment to determine alternate hosts for the
beetle. A wide variety of fruits were shown to be not very attractive to the
small hive beetle with the exception of cantaloupes and pineapples. Cutting
fruits made them more attractive, although in one case, beetles bored through
the rind of an uncut cantaloupe and by the time this was noticed, the fruit
contained hundreds of adults. These results appear to indicate that fruits will
attract beetles, but they appear to be a resource of last resort.
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As usual, the world honey market was on the minds of those attending the Nasville meeting. A savy panel of
producers and packers was assembled to look at this vital area. Darrel Rufer of Minnesota
urged beekeepers to keep informed about honey prices and issues, even if its not what they wanted to hear. An example of this, he
said, was the fall off in calls to the honey marketing hotline correlated to
the fall in the price. This should be the opposite, he said. There ought to be
more calls, which would show that beekeepers are taking charge of their own
marketing, something absolutely necessary for beekeepers who want to survive
the marketing shifts that no doubt will continue to happen into the next
millennium.
Hans Boedeker of the Impex
Group, Tustin, California provided an outline of the
history of the honey market over the last three years. It shows, he concluded, that it is still a world commodity and
almost totally price driven. In 1995, Mr. Boedeker
said, the honey market began to rise in price so that by 1996, it was at close
to one dollar a pound. Unfortunately, this was followed by a precipitous
decline of over fifty percent of value over the next two years. One reason for
this was the Chinese situation. Besides the anti-dumping suit brought by U.S. beekeepers
along with an increased 15 percent tariff, the government also instituted a
quota system. Both of these events caused massive dislocations and
bankruptcies. With the Chinese situation in flux, honey buyers turned to Argentina in
1996-98. During the 1995 Apimondia meeting
substantial quantities were contracted for 1996 at $.61/pound. By January 1996,
the U.S.
crop was delayed by three weeks, forcing buyers to increase the price by 4-5
cents per pound per week, until it topped out at $.93/pound. However, suppliers
of Argentinian honey soon caught up with the demand
and prices leveled off or declined. Things driving future honey demand include
an Argentinian crop of 165 million pounds, the new U.S. loan program and the National Honey Board’s
goal 400, by the year 2000 increasing U.S.
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Fluvalinate Resistant Varroa: New Treatment Issues
The spread of fluvalinate resistant Varroa was addressed by Dr. Bill Wilson of the Weslaco, Texas
Beneficial Insects Unit. This is a moving target, Dr. Wilson said. There
continue to be questions about where the phenomenon is and how it developed. It
is no one’s fault, he said, and is the result of using a single control
material. Mites are notorious for becoming resistant to insecticides and Varroa is no exception. The only way to tell if it’s in
your bees is to pay attention and see if the controls work as they historically
have done. Dr. Jeff Pettis at the Beltsville Bee Laboratory has developed a
field test that can be used to determine resistance. It was published in
several industry journals, including APIS-Apicultural Information and Issues,
Cooperative Extension Service, University
of Florida , April 1998 <
http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/~mts/apishtm/apis98/apapr98.htm#1>.
A presentation by Mann Lake Supply revealed the newest treatment for both fluvalinate-resistant Varroa and
small hive beetle. This is based on the active ingredient called coumaphos, formulated in a plastic strip, similar to Apistan®. This material will only be available through Mann Lake
and will be manufactured by Bayer. It is available only under a Section 18
label, which carries strict reporting requirements and limits the amount sold
in each state. Only beekeepers in states granting the label will be allowed to
use the materail. The Section 18 is available only
for one year. Bayer and others are in the process of applying for a
less-restrictive Secion 3 or general use label.
Although there is a new material to control Varroa,
Apistan® continues to work in many areas, according
to Oscar Coindreau of Wellmark
International. Taking a page out of Benjamin Franklin’s book, Mr. Coindreau said that the only things in life that are
certain are life, death, taxes and resistance to pesticides. He called on
beekeepers to be good stewards of products like Apistan®,
for they continue to be important in beekeeping. He also said some other
products are on the horizon, including one called Apitol®,
a systemic which shows good promise.
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State of Bee Inspection Programs:
"The State of Apiary Inspection
Programs" was the title on a panel, consisting
of several chief apiarists. It also acknowledged the fact that The Apiary
Inspectors of America (AIA) were also meeting in conjunction with the
Federation in Nashville.
The panel members were introduced by Ms. Kathleen Prough,
AIA president from Indiana.
Her state, she said was composed predominantly of hobbyists and there was no resistration system in place. Robert Reiner of South Dakota described
bee inspection in his state as changing with the migratory beekeekpers
that mainly are located on a temporary basis there. There is mandatory
registration, a minimum distance law in effect, and like elsewhere the
challenge is more and more mobile bee colonies. Whereas beekeepers used to go
primarily to and from Texas, they are more and
more likely to be headed for California
and the almond orchards. Bee inspection has become much more service oriented
in South Dakota,
with inspectors advising beekeepers to treat for Varroa
when eleven mites show up in a roll jar. A major issue that is now looming in
the state is Terramycin®-resistant foulbrood. This is
not considered a epidemic yet, Mr. Reiner said, but
would bear watching.
Mr. Laurence Cutts of Florida discussed that program. This is the
most organized and best funded in the nation, Mr. Cutts
said, with a foulbrood level of only .5 of one percent. The program consists of
mandatory registration, registration fee as well as charges for special
inspections. It is a migratory state, but also has a population of resident
beekeepers. Seventeen full-time inspectors in Florida examine about 260,000 hives per year
owned by 1200 beekeepers. These numbers are substantially reduced over those of
previous years. Florida
bee inspection is also helped by an advisory body, which assists the
agriculture commissioner. The Honey Bee Technical Council has members of the
beekeeping, extension and regulatory community, which debate and vote on issues
to be acted on by the commissioner. In recent years, the body has been
responsible for ensuring that Florida
received adequate labeling on materials to protect bee colonies against Varroa and now the small hive beetle. As in other programs,
the focus of Florida
inspection has changed from strictly regulatory to be more service oriented. In
this vein, it has distributed printed materials and helped in research projects
that directly help beekeepers maintain their competitiveness.
Mr. Gordon Rudloff described bee inspection in Ohio as gradually
getting out of the burning business to control American foulbrood. As elsewhere
inspection has become more service and education oriented, which has been
responsible for dissolving conflicts. This has happened partly because the
physical number of beekeepers has been reduced from 9,000 to 3,000. In
addition, many of these are hobbyists and the one-on-one focus encouraged by
the inspection service, along with distribution of educational materials has
created a much better relationship between regulators and those being regulated.
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Besides the formal program, the usual educational and special interest
workshops were held during the Nashville
convention. The immensely successful Kids ‘n’ Bees Explo
under the able leadership of Kim Lehman also brought in many local children for
everything from a microscopic view of bees to face painting.
A small, but enthusiastic audience was attracted by the Eggs ‘n Issues
Breakfast, which brought experts together to talk one on one with participants
about a number of current topics. Another first was an inspirational service
Sunday morning, featuring a sing along with "Dim Reflections," an
adult contemporary Christian duo. Finally, there were several slide shows
billed as "Beekeeping Around the World."
These featured the always-interesting Brian Sherriff with his unique
dual-screen images about African beekeeping and Gus Rouse, describing his queen
rearing facility in Hawaii.
These were an excellent prelude to promotion for the seminal beekeeping event
of the decade. The 1999 Apimondia meeting to be held
in Vancouver, Canada
promises to be the best-organized and largest ever in North
America. Hard on the heels of that event will be the fifty-seventh
American Beekeeping Federation meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, the first of new
millennium. Y’all come hear!
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