Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
availableoutsidethecountryorbeavailableunderthesamebrandnames.Eachcountry
has its own set of rules for approving medications to treat honeybee pests and diseases.
Pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, and herbicides in your garden and neighboring
areascankillhoneybeesandaffecthumansinmanywayswestilldonotcompletelyun-
derstand. Chemicals find their way into our food through plants and farm animals and
throughtheairwebreathe. Whenapplied toplants,theyarepickedupbyforaginghon-
eybeesandcankillmanybeforethebeesevenreturntothehive.Otherworkerbeesmay
carrythechemical-lacedpollenbacktothehiveandthustaintthehoney,whichcanthen
poison those bees inside the hive. Sometimes poisoned bees crawl out and die at the
entrance of the hive. Most insecticides do not contain high levels of toxins that would
harm honeybees, however users should exercise caution when applying these chemic-
als,especiallyaroundapiaries.Nevertreatyourhoneybeesfordiseasewhileyourhoney
supers on on your hive.
These environmental issues mattered to me. I learned as much as I could about nat-
ural treatments for my garden and bees. Later this led me to developing my own line of
pure personal products for humans under my Red Bee brand.
R
EGISTERING
Y
OUR
B
EES
Some states require beekeepers to register their honeybees. Beekeepers are considered
farmers,andhoneybeesareagriculturallivestock,justlikecows,sheep,orpigs.Ifthere
is a problem with your honeybees, such as one of the diseases mentioned above, the
problem can spread to other bees and cause an epidemic. Registration allows state offi-
cials to keep track of all of the honeybees in the area. A problem can be traced back to
its source and neighboring beekeepers can be made award of the problem. Should you
experience a problem with your hives, your state bee inspector will come pay a visit to
your apiary and inspect them.
In the United States, the registration process varies with each individual state. Usu-
allyyouneedtofilloutasimpleform,statingyourname,address,howmanyhivesyou
own, and their locations. The registration for my home state of Connecticut provided
a space for me to actually draw the location of my apiary in relation to my house, the
street, and my neighbors' homes. There is usually no charge for registering honeybees,
and local bee clubs urge all beekeepers to register.
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