South Deerfield, MA (PRWEB) June 10, 2013
The Massachusetts Beekeepers Association 2013 Field Day will take place Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 9:30 to 3:30 p.m. at The University of Massachusetts Agronomy Farm, River Rd. South Deerfield, Massachusetts. Registration starts at 9:00 a.m. and is free to all beekeepers; this is a rain or shine event.
The University of Massachusetts Agronomy Farm is a beautiful location and the site of many agricultural experiments. Special thanks to Stephen Herbert PhD for arranging the use of this historic research facility.
Field Day is an opportunity to learn from experienced beekeepers the practical tasks of hive management. Expert beekeepers volunteer their time to share techniques on pest & disease management, Queen rearing, swarm prevention, and a variety of practical skills. It is an opportunity to learn and ask questions from some of the best state and New England beekeepers.
Most Massachusetts counties have beekeeping organizations and I encourage anybody in Massachusetts who has an interest in beekeeping to join a local beekeepers association and attend this event, said Mary Ross of the Mohawk Valley Trading Company where they specialize in raw varietal honey. Varietal honey is made primarily from the nectar of a particular type of blossom or flower. To capture the unique character and flavor of the blossom or flower, beekeepers must study botanical bloom and flowering patterns when planning hive placement.
Lunch will be catered by Bubs BBQ of Sunderland for $ 10.00 per person and it includes pulled pork sandwich, beans, cole slaw or potato salad, corn bread and bottled water. Lunch reservations must be reserved in advance by Saturday, June 16. Plan to bring a lunch if not ordering BBQ. If possible bring a chair.
Program: Demonstrations will focus on practical techniques for new and experienced beekeepers. Sessions will be approximately one hour in length, using live bees. Most will be scheduled twice during the day. Based on past Field Day experience, it is now an MBA rule that all attendees must wear a veil; presenters as well as observers. All those attendees not complying do so at their own risk, and the MBA and Franklin County Bee Association are not to be held liable for injuries incurred.
Presenters & Topics: Schedule will be listed in the "Field Day Program" available at the registration table. Additional topics may be added on day of the event.
For additional information, please contact Dan Conlon at 413-665-4513 or president(at)massbee(dot)org.
About Honey Bees
Bees are insects that are related to wasps and ants and there are approximately 20,000 known species of bees found on every continent except Antarctica. Honeybees (Apis mellifera) are not native to the United States as they were introduced by Europeans to produce honey and beeswax. Honeybees are responsible for pollinating 80% of flowering crops, and without them the worlds food supply would be dramatically reduced.
As people become more conscious of the important role that honeybees play in their daily lives, beekeeping is becoming more mainstream and is now allowed in many urban and suburban municipalities. Since 2006, beekeepers in the North America and Europe have noticed a mystifying occurrence called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) in which worker bees from a beehive or European honey bee colony abruptly disappear, leaving the queen and insect larvae behind, unable to fend for themselves. While such disappearances have occurred throughout the history of apiculture, the term colony collapse disorder was first applied to a drastic rise in the number of disappearances of Western honey bee colonies in North America in late 2006.
In 2013, a formal review by the European Food Safety Authority stated that recent studies show that neonicotinoid pesticides, some of the most widely used pesticides in the world, pose an unacceptably high risk to bees, and that the industry-sponsored science upon which regulatory agencies' claims of safety have relied is flawed and possibly deliberately deceptive.
Honey has been used by humans since ancient times for its health benefits and as a sweetener and flavoring for many foods and beverages, with tea being the most popular. Next to maple syrup, it is the most commonly used natural sweetener in North America.
Honey bees make honey by collecting nectar from flowers and regurgitating it into beeswax honeycombs inside their hive. Beeswax is a natural wax produced in the hive of honey bees of the genus Apis and its most popular uses are beeswax candles and as an ingredient in natural skin care products.
The flavor and color of honey is determined by the type of flower the bees gather the nectar from; therefore, when cooking or baking with honey it is a good idea to taste the honey before using it in a recipe. For example: a dark honey like tulip poplar-black locust honey will result in a strong, heavy, pungent flavor, whereas orange blossom honey will result in a delicate orange flavor. Dark-colored honey is considered to be higher in minerals and antioxidants than light-colored honey, and one of the most well-known dark-colored honeys is buckwheat honey. Raw buckwheat honey contains a higher amount of minerals and an antioxidant called polyphenol, which gives it its dark color. The health benefits of buckwheat honey are many and well known.
The rawest honey available is comb honey which is made of sections of the hexagonal-shaped beeswax cells of the honeycomb that contain raw honey that have been cut from the wooden frames of a beehive.
Using raw honey is a long-term investment strategy for optimal health and personal care; the dividends are overall mental, physical and spiritual well-being. Like a blue chip stock, raw honey should be included in any health-conscious consumers immune system boosting portfolio and the return on investment of substituting honey for refined sugar in the human diet is incalculable.
Another product made by honey bees and used by humans is bee propolis; a resinous substance that honey bees collect from tree buds and bark or other botanical sources and mix with beeswax, nectar and pollen. This mixture is used by bees to seal gaps in the hive and by humans for its health benefits and as a traditional, natural or homeopathic medicine.
The Mohawk Valley Trading Company offers the highest quality unprocessed natural products they can produce namely; maple syrup, honey, handmade natural soap, personal care products and beeswax candles. In addition, they offer natural stone, tea and spices from around the world.
Hours of operations are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. EST, seven days a week. Reach them at (315)-519-2640 to learn more.
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