February 2015

BeeLinesBeeLinesBeeLinesState Apiarist Dr. Tammy Horn ● Kentucky Department of Agriculture, James R. Comer, Commissioner

Hayden Wolf, 2015 American Honey Princess, will visit Kentucky from March 3-8, announces the American Beekeeping Federation.

Wolf began beekeeping through a youth beekeeping program in 2009, and now cares for more than a dozen hives with her family.

The 2014 Texas Honey Queen, Wolf was selected 2015 American Honey Princess at the North American Beekeeping Conference in Anaheim, California, in January.

Wolf plans to pursue a degree in nutritional science and become a registered dietitian. _______ Bookings: American Honey Queen Program chairperson Anna Kettlewell (414-545-5514) .

Honey Princess plans March Kentucky visits

From: Dr. Tammy Horn, State Apiarist

More Spring 2015 opportunities to learn beekeeping or sharpen your skills:

● Kelley Beekeeping Company will offer Beekeeping 101 on March 7, and Beekeeping 201 on Feb. 21 and March 21. All courses will be held at the Clarkson facility from 9 a.m. Central Time to about 3 p.m. Each class is $30 and does not include lunch.

● Northeastern Kentucky Winter Bee School will be held Feb. 28, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. EST, at Maysville Community/Technical College. $25 fee at the door includes lunch/refreshments. I [Dr. Tammy Horn] will address the morning session on spring management.

● Bluegrass Beekeepers School is set for March 7 at Kentucky State University, Frankfort. The welcoming address will be by Dr. Subba Palli, University of Kentucky, speaking on “Development of RNA Interference  as a Bee-safe Pest Control Method.”  A related article in The New York Times is available at www.nytimes.comm/2014/01/28/ business/energy-environment/genetic-weapon-against-insects-raises-hope-and-fear-in-farming.html?_r=0.

● Big South Fork Beekeepers Spring Field Day will be held April 25 at Sandhill Camp on Highway 700 in Whitley City. Hands-on sessions begin at 10 a.m. EDT. The club will provide meat and drinks for lunch; participants please bring a covered dish. After lunch an open-hive hands-on program will be presented, so bring at least a veil for this part. Email Greg Whitis (gwhitis@uky.edu) for more information.

● Woodford County Beekeeping Workshop is set for April 25, 1 p.m. EDT at 3580 Cummins Ferry Road in Versailles. There is no fee, but participants must pre-register at (859) 873-4601.  

Dr. Palli

The Kentucky State Beekeepers Association needs a director to run the 2015 Kentucky State Fair Honey Booth. This person coordinates all the associations, volunteers, and beekeepers who want to sell honey and wax, staffs the candle table, and manages the money. Interested parties please call KSBA president John Benham, (270) 678-7924, or email purebarrenriverhoney@gmail.com.

A fund-raising Web page has been established at www.gofundme.com/mjgq4w to offset the funeral costs of the beekeeping Hendrix family of Corbin.

The funding site may also be accessed through the Whitley County Beekeepers Association Facebook page.

Sixteen-year-old Jason Hendrix is believed to have murdered his mother and father, Kevin and Sarah Hendrix, and his sister, Grace.

Kevin and Sarah were beekeepers who sold honey at the local farmers’ market.

Fund set up for Hendrix family tragedyJason was fatally shot by Maryland

police in that state after he opened fire on officers following a car crash.

The shootout led police to search the teen’s Corbin home, where they found the bodies.

(l-r) Kevin, Grace, and Sarah Hendrix. Photo courtesy Kathy Hoskins, Kat’s Eye Photography, Corbin.

Hayden Wolf

Type SellingPrice

Price to Beekeeper (70% sale price)

Extracted Honey8-ounce jar 6 4.21 lb jar 9 6.3Pint jar 12 8.41.5 jar 12 8.42 lb jar 16 11.22.5 lb jar 18 12.6Quart jar 22 15.45 lb jar 30 21.08 ounce bear 6 4.212 ounce bear 8 5.62 ounce bear 3.5 2.45

Comb Honey1 lb jar 10 7.02 lb jar 18 12.6Pint jar 14 9.82.5 lb jar 20 14.0Quart jar 24 16.81 lb box 10 7.0Ross Round 9 6.3

Creamed Honey8 ounce jar 8 5.61 lb jar 11 7.7

Bulk Wax1 lb. 16 11.2

Pollen8 ounce 10 716 ounce 17 11.9

2015 Honey Booth Prices Kentucky State Beekeepers Association

Honey Booth Committee Feb. 6, 2015

Legislative Updates:State House:● House Bill 125, sponsored by Rep. John Tilley, in which KRS

252.185 is amended to include within its scope commerce in products derived from the beekeeping industry.

● House Bill 155, sponsored by Reps. Michael Meredith, Ken Upchurch, Richard Heath, Kim King, Tim Moore, Ryan Quarles, Jonathan Shell, James Tipton, Tommy Turner, Russell Webber, and Susan Westrom, in which KRS 139.480 is amended to exempt bees used in commercial enterprise for the production of honey and wax and certain items used in that pursuit.Follow bills in the 2015 General Assembly at www.lrc.ky.gov.

Federal Issues:● Oxalic Acid Registration Comments Needed. The EPA is

fast-tracking approval for oxalic acid, using research provided by Canada. To register comments on oxalic acid as a mite treatment, this is the process I [Dr. Tammy Horn] followed: At www.regulations.gov, enter regulation code EPA-hq-opp-2015-0043, which pulls up the comments for oxalic acid.  Click the “comment” button, make your comment, attach any files needed, review your posting, and click “submit.” The system sends a code showing the comment has been logged.

● Mislabeled Chinese honey continues to flow across our borders. See this article from Modern Farmer magazine for more information about a recent bust: http://modernfarmer.com/2015/02/feds-seize-2-million-worth-illegal-chinese-honey/

● Toward a national-standard definition of honey: The President’s draft federal budget for fiscal year 2016 (beginning Oct. 1, 2015) proposes consolidating the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Admini-stration (FDA). The FSIS has a huge army of inspectors since it oversees meat quality. The FDA is supposed to oversee everything else; yet years can go by without FDA inspections. If the two agencies are merged into one, it would work closely with state agencies.

The 2010 Food Safety Modernization Act gives the FDA the authority to inspect honey processing plants, order recalls, and impose strict standards on imported food. Imported honey will fall under its purview, and perhaps if it does, the nation will adopt a national honey standard.

The Kentucky State Apiarist’s opinion: The nation needs one definition of honey, not 50 for 50 different states. The new agency may have much more oversight of individual honey houses, but in the interests of consumers, this may be a good thing. Every year, contaminated food sickens 48 million people.

● Pollinator declines would threaten human nutritional health, new research quantifies, especially regarding vitamin A. In four developing countries and across five nutrients, researchers find that up to 56 percent of populations would be newly at risk if pollinators were removed. http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0114805

Green Palace Meadery sells mead, honey and creamed

honey. It is located at 244 Old Edmonton

Road, Glasgow.Hours are

from 5 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays

through Fridaysand 1 to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.

By Justin Story The Daily News

John and Debbie Pace of Glasgow operate Green Palace Meadery, where honey from the bees in John’s hives is mixed with water and fermented with yeast to make mead – honey wine with a rich history dating back to ancient Greece.

The mead-making operation is the latest wrinkle in a labor of love for John, who has been a beekeeper for about 25 years. “I was just amazed at the knowledge it took to keep bees,” said Pace, who acquired his first hive while working as a technician for Houchens Industries.

After going through some growing pains his first cou-ple of years, Pace now keeps track of about 70 hives on different farms scattered near his own Green Palace Farm on Old Edmonton Loop 1 Road.

John had been selling honey for years, but Debbie hit on the idea for making mead after she attended a seminar on the topic at a beekeepers’ conference.

The decor of the tasting room carries a honey-colored sheen, no doubt helped by the visible beehive affixed to the wall near the front door. Much of the bee colony clusters there for warmth, feeding on a sugar- water-honey mixture from a jar atop the hive.

In the back of the meadery, several batches of mead ferment in 27-gallon vats.

As a batch gets closer to being ready for bottling, the liquid turns a clearer shade of gold, John said.

The result is a sweet-tasting concoction that leaves the

Large bottles and 27-gallon vats store the Paces’ mead.

drinker with a better impression of why mead is often referred to as the “nectar of the gods.”

When made with yeast, mead is a considered a distilled product. Some meads are honey-wines, fermented with grape products. Meads can be have any flavor, dry to sweet.

Mead in its many forms is surging in popularity in Europe and the U.S. Websites dedicated to the drink place the number of operating meaderies in the U.S. at 200 to 250, and the American Mead Makers Association was incorporated in Washington state in 2012 to support the growing industry.

Debbie and John Pace inside Green Palace Meadery in Barren County.

Daily News reporter Jus-tin Story can be reached via email at jstory@bgdailynews.com, by phone at (270) 783-3256, or on Twitter at twitter.com/jstorydailynews. Photos by Austin Anthony, The Daily News.

‘Nectar ofthe gods’producedin Glasgow

GETTING READY FOR SPRING: a. Reverse supers during last week of February/first of March when temps

are above 55 degrees, to prevent swarms.b. Provide emergency feed for the hives that seem really “light.” c. If you check your colonies the last week of February/first week of March

and do not see brood, you need to get a new queen immediately. d. Order packages for hives that survive the spring but seem weak, and

requeen.e. Some people treat for Varroa mites before they put honey supers on.

Do a sticky-board test or alcohol wash to get a sense of the mite-loads, and take appropriate actions.