Purdue News
Purdue NewsMarch 6, 1998
"Beekeepers have a real interest in bee biology and behavior," said Greg Hunt, Purdue Cooperative Extension Service honey bee specialist. "They mainly keep hives for pollination purposes or as a hobby."
The workshop is designed for both the beginning and advanced beekeeper. The biology session will start at 9:30 a.m. in Room 202 of Stewart Center. Other morning topics are how to treat diseases and mites, an update on mite research across the country, and an introduction to queen rearing. In the afternoon, the workshop will move to the Purdue bee lab for hands-on demonstrations of opening hives, grafting larva into queen cups, construction of equipment and honey extraction. The workshop fee is $10 at the door, with proceeds going to the Indiana State Beekeepers Association. Free beekeeping books will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Assisting Hunt with the demonstrations at the Purdue bee lab will be Dave Russell, Purdue agricultural scientist and beekeeper; Kathleen Prough, Indiana state bee inspector; and Randy Richards and J.P. Jones from the Indiana State Beekeepers Association.
The parasitic varroa mites, discovered in the United States in 1987, have virtually eliminated wild bees and bees kept in untreated hives, according to Hunt. "Since the mites were discovered, the number of managed bee hives in the state has declined by half," Hunt said. "This is mainly due to the mites."
Previously, bee hives pretty much took care of themselves, Hunt said. Now, treating for mites is a necessity. With only one licensed product to treat varroa mites, experimental work is being done with natural products such as peppermint and rosemary oils and breeding for mite-resistant bees.
The workshop also will discuss how to recognize signs that a hive is preparing to swarm and ways to prevent swarming.
CONTACT: Hunt, (765) 494-4605;e-mail, ghunt@purdue.edu
Compiled by Chris Sigurdson, (765) 494-8415; E-mail, sig@ecn.purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
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