Is Certified Organic Honey Really Organic?

Here's an interesting story that came out of a question by a local farmer who wanted to know how honey could be certified organic when the bees fly EVERYWHERE?

Check out this story at http://livingmaxwell.com/organic-honey-certified

Pollinator Task Force Makes Recommendations to Save Honeybees and Butterflies

From Ag and Markets:

The New York State Pollinator Task Force has come up with recommendations on how to address the decline in bees and other pollinators that has occurred in recent years.

The commissioners of the Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Department of Environmental Conservation have met with farmers, research institutions and key industry leaders to develop a roadmap to conserve and grow pollinator populations across the state. 

Pollinators – which include various types of bees and butterflies – contribute significantly to the state’s agricultural economy by adding roughly $350 million in pollination services on an annual basis.

“Pollinators are critical to our ecosystem, as well as New York's agricultural industry, and the work of this Task Force will help in our efforts to reverse the troubling decline of the bee population in New York and help to preserve and further improve this state's environmental and economic health," said gov. Andrew Cuomo.

As a result of listening sessions and stakeholder input, the Task Force focused its recommendations on four priority areas: 

** Development of Voluntary Best Management Practices for all pollinator stakeholders, including beekeepers, growers, land owners, state agencies and the general public;  

** Habitat enhancement efforts to protect and revive populations of native and managed pollinators;  

** Research and monitoring of pollinators to better understand, prevent and recover from pollinator losses; and  

** Development of an outreach and public education program on the importance of pollinators, engaging the public to be active participants to seek solutions to pollinator declines.

“We are pleased to present the NYS Pollinator Protection Plan, which includes best practices for our farmers, land owners, bee keepers and state agencies, many of which we can get to work on immediately," said Ag and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball.

“While more research needs to be done, we know that the key to reversing the trend of a declining pollinator population in New York is a comprehensive approach that looks at a variety of issues that may be impacting bee health."

Pollinators contribute substantially to the state’s economy. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, pollinators provide about $344 million worth of pollination services to New York and add $29 billion in value to crop production nationally each year. New York’s ability to produce crops such as apples, grapes, cherries, onions, pumpkins and cauliflower relies heavily on the presence of pollinators.
 
Pollinator Protection Plan Recommendations

Central to the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan is the development and implementation of Best Management Practices to guide landowners/growers, contract beekeepers, hobbyist beekeepers, pesticide users and state agencies to safeguard existing managed and native pollinator populations. 

The plan also highlights efforts already underway at various state agencies to reverse the decline in pollinators and 
restore their habitat.
 
Despite a 9 percent increase in honey production last year, New York’s beekeepers continue to experience unsustainable population declines. Over the last four years, recent research indicates managed pollinator colonies have declined over 50 percent while some migratory pollinators have declines in excess of 70 percent. 

This is compounded by the losses in the native pollinator community and the habitat that sustains them.
 
In its report, the task force emphasized the need for comprehensive, state-focused research to better understand the status of native pollinators in the sState and the factors that impact both managed and wild pollinator health and performance.
 
Future Actions and Pollinator Projects

The 2016-17 enacted Budget provides $500,000 through the Environmental Protection Fund to implement key projects central to the success of the Pollinator Protection Plan. 

As detailed in the plan, this money will be used to conduct additional research on the impacts of pesticide and pathogens/parasite interactions on native and managed pollinator health, as well as the effects of bee-husbandry practices on the performance of managed hives. 

Pollinator research funding will also support a multi-year evaluation conducted by DEC on the status and distribution of New York State’s native pollinator species.

Environmental Protection Fund money also will support implementation of voluntary best management practices and outreach and education activities, including the creation of pollinator gardens and interpretative signage at select State Park locations, and the establishment of the New York’s Tech Team for Beekeepers, which will provide participating apiaries with site-specific technical support.

All priority recommendations of the New York State Pollinator Protection Plan can be found http://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/279.html  at this link. As new research and monitoring data become available, the Task Force will reconvene with its advisors to evaluate the findings and update the Plan accordingly and to include additional and improved actions.

Couple's Plan for Farm Brewery Works Out Bee-eautifully

By JERRY MOORE
Empire Farm & Dairy
 
Emily and Evan Watson embraced the farm brewery concept at just the right time.
 
They bought a 1-acre farm in Fishkill nearly three years ago with the idea of growing virtually everything they would need to create and market their own brands of beer. Last year, they moved to a 25-acre farm in Poughkeepsie to expand their growing business.
 
New York state has for several years offered farm brewery licenses. The program requires that a certain percentage of items used to create beer must come from farms in the state, an aspect that benefits the agricultural industry. And brewers take advantage of financial incentives, which boosts their business prospects.
 
The Watsons’ Plan A for making a living was based on Evan’s successful music career, which he launched from New York City. But the frequent traveling got in the way of other dreams they had, like starting a family.
 
So they adopted a Plan B, operating a farm brewery. And since they cultivate their yeast from their honeycomb, they’ve come to call their new lifestyle their Plan Bee.
 
As in Plan Bee Farm Brewery, They grow many of their own ingredients and import the rest from local farms. Several beer-related publications have written about their successful business.
 
During an interview with Empire Farm & Dairy, Emily Watson spoke about her farming background, how she and her husband found themselves in a growing niche industry and what they’re doing to move their enterprise forward. Some of her responses have been edited for brevity.
 
Q What is your background in farming?
A I’m originally from Ohio, and my father is a farmer. So I grew up in a farming community. Evan grew up in Indiana but not on a farm.
 
Q What is the history of your farm brewery?
A Plan Bee Farm Brewery started in Fishkill in 2013. We had a 1-acre farm there, and we had a one-barrel brew house system. In May 2015, we closed on a 25-acre farm in Poughkeepsie, and we moved into a 10-barrel brewhouse. 

On our 25-acre farm, we have more than 100 wild apple trees, which we do harvest for making a cider/ale blend out of the fruits that we’ve gotten off of the farm. But our plan this spring is to plant hops, herbs and flowers, different additives that we put into the beer to increase the amount of types of fruit trees that we have. We also hope to start our own grain production here eventually.
 
Q How did you decide to become farm brewers?
A I was working for a nonprofit, Riverkeeper. I was going up and down the Hudson Valley, working closely with the community and talking about the environment. I really fell in love with the Hudson Valley and said I really want to stay here, and I wanted to do something closely tied to the environment.

I have a degree in geology, and I really enjoy working outdoors. My husband, working at (beer brewery) Captain Lawrence, said he really enjoys brewing beer. My husband and I were home brewers, and he said maybe we can marry these two ideas. And between my background and his background, we’d be able to come up with a decent plan on how to make that economically feasible.

Number of Honeybee Colonies Hit a 20-Year High

Hey, here's some good ag news.

Go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/23/call-off-the-bee-pocalypse-u-s-honeybee-colonies-hit-a-20-year-high/ to check it out.

Cornell Study: Pesticides, Fungicides Used in Apple Orchards Threaten Wild Bees

News from Cornell University:

A new Cornell study of New York state apple orchards finds that pesticides harm wild bees, and fungicides labeled “safe for bees” also indirectly may threaten native pollinators.

The research, published June 3 in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, finds the negative effects of pesticides on wild bees lessens in proportion to the amount of natural areas near orchards.

Thirty-five percent of global food production benefits from insect pollinators, and U.S. farmers have relied exclusively on European honeybees, whose populations have been in decline for decades due to colony collapse disorder. 

“Because production of our most nutritious foods, including many fruits, vegetables and even oils, rely on animal pollination, there is an intimate tie between pollinator and human well-being,” said Mia Park, an assistant professor at the University of North Dakota and the paper’s first author, who worked on the study as a Cornell entomology graduate student. Co-authors include professor Bryan Danforth and associate professor John Losey, both in entomology.

“With honeybee numbers in decline, relying on wild pollinators and encouraging the services they provide seem very important,” Park said.

The researchers studied 19 New York state apple orchards over two years, 2011 and 2012. They determined the health of bee populations by analyzing the numbers of wild bees and honeybees and the number of species for each orchard. They also created an index of pesticide use from low to high use, then quantified the amount of natural areas that surrounded each orchard.

“We found there is a negative response of the whole bee community to increasing pesticide use,” Park said, adding that fungicides also are contributing to the problem.

The effects of pesticides on wild bees were strongest in the generation that followed pesticide exposure, Park said, possibly suggesting pesticides affect reproduction or offspring. Park said her research only looked at one generation to the next, and more study is needed. 

The study found no effect of pesticides on honeybees, but European honeybee hives are brought in to an orchard for short periods during blossoming then removed. In addition, growers are careful not to spray while honeybees are in the area. “Honeybees may have shown a response if they were allowed to stay,” Park said.

“Our studies of wild bees in apple orchards are showing how important wild bees are for apple pollination in the eastern U.S.,” said Danforth. With more than 20,000 known bee species, native bees are abundant and diverse in many agricultural habitats, and likely pollinate watermelons, squashes, blueberries and other orchard crops, he said.

USDA Announces Money for Honeybee Populations

From the USDA:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday June 20 announced $8 million in Conservation Reserve Program incentives for Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin farmers and ranchers who establish new habitats for declining honeybee populations. 

More than half of the commercially managed honey bees are in these five states during the summer. This announcement comes in addition to $3 million USDA designated to the Midwest states to support bee populations earlier this year through the Natural Resources Conservation Service Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

"American agricultural production relies on having a healthy honeybee population," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "In recent years, factors such as diseases, parasites, pesticides or habitat loss have contributed to a significant decline in the honey bee population. This $8 million is part of the Administration's ongoing strategy to reverse these trends and establish more plant habitat on Conservation Reserve Program lands to restore the bee population."

The new Conservation Reserve Program pollinator initiative is designed to further enhance current Conservation Reserve Program land, allowing it to provide better access to nutritious pollinator forage. The program allows for managing or replacing existing vegetation, known as 'covers', with lower cost, high nutrition seed mixes that can support distinct blooming cycles of plants that benefit pollinators. 

Honeybees, the pollinator workhorse of U.S. fruit and vegetable agriculture, will have more blooms from which to collect nectar and pollen to sustain and promote colony growth and honey production throughout the growing season. 

By assisting honeybees, the pollinator initiative helps USDA continue to secure the food supply. More than $15 billion worth of agricultural production, including over 130 fruits and vegetables, depend on the health and well-being of honeybees.

Now is a critical time for efforts to support honeybee populations. The honey bee population in the United States has been declining for decades. The number of managed U.S. honeybee colonies dropped from 6 million in 1947, to just 2.5 million today.

Watch the Bees Do Their Thing

Want to see what the honeybees are up to?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched BeeWatch. Now anyone, anywhere who wantss to learn about honey bee activity can simply go to the blog: http://blogs.usda.gov/2014/05/15/see-honeybees-at-work-usda-launches-beewatch/

Have Scientists Finally Cracked the Colony Collapse Issue?

Chck out this story -- http://www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/05/smoking-gun-bee-collapse

What Body Part Hurts the Most When Stung by a Bee?

Now here's a different take on the honeybee story.

Read it at http://www.fromquarkstoquasars.com/worst-places-to-get-stung-by-a-be-self-experimentation/ this link.

Survey: Fewer Bee Colonies Died This Past Winter

From the USDA:

A yearly survey of beekeepers, released today, shows fewer colony losses occurred in the United States over the winter of 2013-2014 than in recent years, but beekeepers say losses remain higher than the level that they consider to be sustainable. 

According to survey results, total losses of managed honey bee colonies from all causes were 23.2 percent nationwide. That number is above the 18.9 percent level of loss that beekeepers say is acceptable for their economic sustainability, but is a marked improvement over the 30.5 percent loss reported for the winter of 2012-2013, and over the eight-year average loss of 29.6 percent.

More than three-fourths of the world's flowering plants rely on pollinators, such as bees, to reproduce, meaning pollinators help produce one out of every three bites of food Americans eat.

"Pollinators, such as bees, birds and other insects are essential partners for farmers and ranchers and help produce much of our food supply. Healthy pollinator populations are critical to the continued economic well-being of agricultural producers," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "While we're glad to see improvement this year, losses are still too high and there is still much more work to be done to stabilize bee populations."

There is no way to tell why the bees did better this year, according to both Pettis and Dennis vanEngelsdorp, a University of Maryland assistant professor who is the leader of the survey and director of the Bee Informed Partnership. Although the survey, conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the University of Maryland Bee Informed Partnership shows improvement, losses remain above the level that beekeepers consider to be economically sustainable. 

This year, almost two-thirds of the beekeepers responding reported losses greater than the 18.9 percent threshold.

New York State Fair 'One Thing' Series -- Today's Feature, Honey

Some of the different honey flavors at the New York State Fair.

When you venture inside the Horticulture Building at the New York State Fair, there are two sweet booths you just have to visit.

I already talked about one of them -- the Maple Producers Booth -- earlier in the week.

The other is right across from the maple folks. The Empire State Honey Producers have a wonderful booth filled with many different flavors of honey that visitors can sample and then buy.

Honey, of course, is that sweet nectar made by bees. Beekeepers across New York state tend to their hives religiously to keep the bees happy, working and making honey.

A hive of bees hard at work at the New York State Fair

 I went to the honey display and found Matt Mallory, who is a beekeeper in Syracuse. I asked him what "one thing" he would like to tell the public about honey:

"It's a natural sweetener, it's great tasting, and there are no preservatives or additives in it," he said. He also said the different flavors come from the different pollen the bees pick up during their travels.

Honey production in New York state from beekeepers with five or more hives was 2.65 million pounds in 2012. The number of bee colonies was 52,000, up from 49,000 the year before.

Beekeepers in New York on average got 51 pounds of honey per colony. The value of all the honey produced in the state in 2012 was $6.05 million.

USDA Takes to Twitter to Talk Honeybees

The USDA took to Twitter to talk about the recent Time Magazine cover story on honeybees.

Check out what USDA officials said at http://blogs.usda.gov/2013/08/19/usda-talks-honeybees-on-twitter/ this blog link.

Here is a link http://science.time.com/2013/08/09/the-trouble-with-beekeeping-in-the-anthropocene/ to a brief introduction to the Time Magazine story by the author. You have to subscribe to Time on line to read the entire article or go to a newsstand or store and buy a copy.

Many Factors Interacting Can Stress Honeybee Populations

Another honeybee story.

Find it http://www.thecropsite.com/articles/1594/many-factors-interacting-can-stress-honey-bee-populations

Time Magazine Cover Story This Week on Disappearance of Honeybees

I can't give you the whole story or even a link to the Time Magazine cover story this week on bees because you have to be a subscriber.

But I've read it and it's good -- should be read by anyone who raises food or who eats. Well, hey, that's pretty much all of us, huh.

So get out there and get a copy. Here is a link http://science.time.com/2013/08/09/the-trouble-with-beekeeping-in-the-anthropocene/ to a brief introduction to the story by the author.

Bee Swarm Kills Horses

Did you folks see this story?

Really scary.

Go to http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0729/Killer-bees-kill-horses-attack-Texas-couple to check it out.

New Study on What's Killing Honeybees in U.S.

Colony Collapse Disorder has been plaguing the bee population for a few years and all sorts of people have been coming up with ideas on why the bees are dying. 

Go to http://qz.com/107970/scientists-discover-whats-killing-the-bees-and-its-worse-than-you-thought/ to see a story about a new study done on Colony Collapse Disorder.

Remember, bees not only make honey for us all. Without them, we wouldn't have fruit or vegetables, as the bees are needed to pollinate the flowers of these foods so they will develop and grow.

Student Study Shows Insecticide's Effect on Honeybees

Even though this is from Canada, it could have some ramifications here.

Check out http://www.agweek.com/event/article/id/21203/ this story from AgWeek.

Ag Officials On Watch for Aggressive Bees

This story is frightening.

Read it http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/jun/17/agriculture-officials-on-watch-for-aggressive/ here.

EPA Accused of Killing Honeybees

Take a look http://www.collective-evolution.com/2013/03/26/us-government-sued-for-pesticides-killing-millions-of-bees/ at this story. Let me know what you think?

Report States EPA OKed Pesticide Responsible for Killing Bees

OK, folks. What do you think of this?

Go to http://www.collective-evolution.com/2012/04/09/epa-approved-gmo-insecticide-responsible-for-killing-off-bees-puts-entire-food-chain-at-risk/ to read a story from Collective Evolution.