Check out these articles that just ran in the Napa Valley Register.
It's always interesting to me the process of how an article in the newspaper comes together. Here is my account of how the current article "Bee keeper trying to save local bees" came about...
I believe Jim Verhey started the whole ball rolling. About two months ago he asked if I would be interested in doing an article with the Register about how I am looking at genetics to potentially strengthen our local honeybees. In the last week it kind of unfolded like this:
The other day I met a reporter named Mike at my wife’s studio downtown, it’s conveniently located kitty-corner to the Register building. From the start Mike had a pretty good understanding about the agricultural dilemma we all are in if all the European honeybees disappear. He is an avid gardener and notices fewer bees on his crops than usual, more native bumble bees and carpenter bees but fewer Apis mellifera. But overall that’s what I am hearing from all gardeners. His understanding made for a more informed discussion and I think a better article. I guess during the interview I was being a little overly confident, which could have been my typical no nonsense approach. I can be slightly assertive when it comes to delivering information. My wife, who was working in the other room, said I was bossing the poor guy around. She said I had a " Go to this website, contact this guy, look up this- look up that" attitude. She even had the nerve to refer to me as a "beegomaniac". Me...???
Despite my behavior Mike never once brought up the classic Einstein quote...
"If the bee disappears from the surface of the earth, man would have no more than four years to live."
At first the quote was compelling, I even got a little spooked, but now it’s just tired. Plus, nobody knows for sure how many years exactly Einstein was talking about. Some sources say four years, I’ve heard three, I even saw one quote on Google say 6 years. I’ll be about a hundred and six so I can’t get too wound up about it now.
A few days later a photographer named Jorgen contacted me to take some pictures for the article. Luckily after talking through a convenient time to meet we figured he could shadow a beekeeping class I was teaching at Nimbus two nights later. We met at the College Ave. apiary where we first did a quick look into one of the hives I had there – I believe that is where the photographs that ran with the article were taken. Jorgen also followed us to Ralph Myers place across town to do a hive inspection on his colony that needed major reconfiguring. After being deep in the hive for about 30-45 minutes the bees started getting a little annoyed -- well, a lot annoyed. I think I got stung about a half dozen times, with me, the ring leader i guess, they were getting their sting on. I was smoking my leg like a roof on fire to mask the alarm pheromone. Thank the photo-journalist-god-above those photos didn’t run. The main photograph in the article I like a lot, I’m particularly drawn to the negative space between my fingers, the hive tool ,and the frame of bees.
One of the best things about the article is a comment a reader left about me...
SouthNapa wrote on Jul 24, 2009 7:01 AM:
" I'm glad to see Tom Green has landed on his feet as a beekeeper. "
Laugh it up.
Here's the article:
Bee keeper trying to save local bees
Local beekeeper Rob Keller leads a class on hive check-ups through Nimbus Arts at an upvalley hive. Keller believes one way to strengthen bee colonies in Napa county includes vineyard managers planting vegetation bees like around their vineyards. Jorgen Gulliksen/Register photos
Instead of using a chemical, Keller hopes raising native and non-native bee species more resistant to the destructive Varroa mite will naturally lead to stronger colonies
Friday, July 24, 2009
By MIKE TRELEVEN
Register Staff Writer
Napa Valley beekeeper Rob Keller is out to build a better honey bee — so to speak. And he wants to make sure it is working in a healthy, happy place.
Bee colonies are experiencing dramatic declines in populations, but a local beekeeper is talking about holistic solutions to the problem.
Applying a chemical to control the deadly Varroa mite that is killing honey bee colonies is not a long-term soultion, Keller said, saying beekeepers need to change some of their practices.
The biggest enemy of indigenous and European honey bees has been the Varroa mite, a nearly microscopic parasite that kills bees. The bug, which lives on the back of honey bees, has crippled populations in the valley, United States and around the world.
Keller is breeding native and non-native honey bees that are showing resistance to the deadly Varroa parasite.
“I want the bees to be resistant (to the mite) on their own. Not by being medicated,” Keller said. “Medicating bees is counter productive. I like to think of myself as the ‘new school’ beekeeper. I try to lead by example.”
Keller keeps only the bees that show the best genetic resistance to Varroa mites. Those are the ones he watches for up to two years and then breeds those to further bolster a stronger population. He then spreads those stronger colonies up and down the valley.
This Carneros beekeeper makes his money from selling his bees and is not so much concerned about harvesting the sweet honey, which is the direction of many beekeepers.
Another of his solutions includes asking vineyard managers and landowners to plant more bee friendly plants that would be accessible on a year-round basis.
Keller admits bees are not necessary for winegrape growing. However, he believes the presence of the pollinators helps create a “wholeness” for the valley’s environment.
Bees are the heart of the food chain, pollinating the majority of fruits, vegetables and flowers — everything from apples and zucchini to cosmos and zinnias.
Keller is also attempting to breed feral bee populations that show resistance to the Varroa mite. The feral bees typically reside inside everything from homes to trees — in the city limits and the country.
He’s also had success by removing the wood slates from the bottoms of his hives and replacing them with a wire mesh. Why? Because when the deadly Varroa mites fall off the backs of the bees, they land on the soil and can’t as easily get back into the hive.
Keller would like to see city gardeners able to keep bees in their backyards. There are more sources of pollen and nectar within the city limits for bees to take advantage of in the Napa Valley, he said, but acknowledges there is a segment of the population that is worried about being stung.
“As long as you follow the guidelines and provide a water source, you should be able to have bees,” he said. “There is even a local bee club.”
For more information go to Keller’s blog at www.napavalleybeecompany.com.
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/07/24/wine/doc4a6933fd522ca042252999.txt
What's the buzz?
Vintners embrace bee colonies
Friday, July 24, 2009
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By LOUISA HUFSTADER
Register Correspondent
Grapes and honeybees don’t need each other. “The vines could care less” whether bees are present or not, said Jim Verhey, managing director of Silverado WineGrowers LLC.
But Verhey and other Napa Valley growers believe that bees, while they don’t play a role in viticulture, nonetheless are an essential part of a healthy agricultural environment.
“Even though they’re not pollenating the grapes, it’s important to me to have a diverse ecology and get as many species in there, and thriving and connecting with each other, as possible,” said Jon Ruel, director of viticulture at Trefethen Family Vineyards. “It builds resiliency.”
Trefethen already offers shelters for bats and owls, and Ruel is planning to install up to 20 beehives on the property next spring.
“Honeybees are actually very sensitive to pesticide use, and so if you can have thriving bee colonies adjacent to your vineyards it’s a nice indicator that things are pretty safe,” he said.
Other vintners, including Conn Ranch and Araujo Estate, are also providing homes for honeybees, while hives can be found at Meadowood and numerous private residences up and down the Napa Valley, according to Verhey.
“It’s amazing how many hives there are in Napa,” he said.
Verhey has been actively cultivating bees on his Oak Knoll acreage since one cold and rainy day last spring, when a swarm of European honeybees departed a crowded makeshift hive in a bird box and took refuge on one of Verhey’s vines.
“It was this huge issue of ‘How do I save the bees?’” he recalled.
A call to the Napa County Resource Conservation District put Verhey in touch with beekeeper Robb Keller, a champion of bees who’s so experienced he needs no protective gear to handle a swarm.
Keller moved the bees from Verhey’s grapevine to a hive of their own, and later helped relocate the rest of the bees that had colonized the bird box.
“It was a fascinating process,” said Verhey, estimating that there were some 10,000 bees still inside. “This was like a refugee camp — it was bulging at the seams.”
Keller used a knife to cut apart the five layers of perfectly-formed honeycomb in the box, and shook the bees off into their new hive.
“We had to add a queen — she must have left with the swarm,” Verhey recalled, adding that the new hive had to be kept a few miles away from the bird box for a few weeks to keep the bees from homing back on their original location.
“The bees were incredibly docile,” he continued. “We even ended up with a couple of jars of honey.”
A former hobbyist-beekeeper, Ruel said humans shouldn’t fear swarming honeybees.
“When they outgrow their house because they’re doing so well, they split up; one group departs, looking for a new home,” he explained.
“When they’re doing that, they’re not aggressive at all because they’re not defending their home.”
Verhey said his bird-box bees migrated onto his property from a neighbor’s old oak tree, which has held a hive for some 20 years. He’s happy to have them: Not only do the honeybees pollenate his stone-fruit orchard, but “it’s kind of nice having them around,” he said.
“They’re so docile and so friendly, you can literally put your hand toward the flowers as they’re buzzing around, and they can care less.”
And for those who aren’t so thrilled to share space with honeybees, Ruel has a word of advice:
“When you have bees, call a beekeeper; don’t call an exterminator,” he said. For one thing, a beekeeper won’t cost more than an exterminator and may charge less. For another, “That way you’re going to preserve that colony and get a little bit of honey. It’s better than killing them.”
Here is the picture I got just as I was being stung...
This is the picture I meant to take, Ralph Myer's two colonies.
Check out some of these comments left at the register's web site:
amelia wrote on Jul 24, 2009 8:17 PM:
" He did a job at Napa state with my husband and was the nicest guy possible. Instead of killing the colonies, they were able to get most of it out intact and keep the bee's alive to preserve them. Awesome!! "
--> Im guessing her husband's name is Carl. I think Carl is REALLY the nicest guy possible, I'm just a nice guy. Carl is WAY into saving the bees. He drove the J-lift that allowed us to extract and relocate 5 massive colonies from the Manor Houses at Napa State Hospital.
Due to the strict confidentiality regulations at the State Hospital I can only show a shadow of Carl. That's him driving the lift ion the right.
Baraki wrote on Jul 24, 2009 1:19 PM:
-> I told this guy via e-mail "technically" were not allowed to keep bees in the city limits but we do anyway - just quietly. Hope he gets bees after all too.
--> This person is part of the problem because:
A) Bees aren't monkeys, they are stinging social insects that can fly.
B) Anyone happy with the bee population going down is misinformed.
tangent wrote on Jul 24, 2009 12:23 AM:
--> I don't know this person but would like to meet them someday.
