BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

LOUISIANA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION INC. Alva Stuard, President 12211 Core Lane Baker, LA 70714 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Greetings Fellow Beekeepers and Friends, Late August and early September have brought some surprisingly cool temperatures. I am certain everyone in Louisiana is enjoying this short respite from the summer heat. I know it has been a lot more comfortable working the bees in the mornings. The bees are mostly in the hives during the day as well, rather than massed in great numbers on the front of their hives.

As I talk to Beekeepers around the State I feel that most of us were happy with this years honey crop and a few were elated about their production. It seems that some of us may have had good moisture in June while others did not. The southeastern part of the state was extremely dry and, although, we had good production in April and through much of May, it ended abruptly by June.

Several members have approached the LBA for support in getting some new treatments to control the small hive beetle. I am aware of the serious problems that some beekeepers are having with the potentially destructive honey bee hive pest but getting new chemical treatments approved for use on our hives is a lengthy process. Until a solution can be found I urge each of you to monitor the activity in your hives, storing only as much equipment on hives as the bee population is able to protect.

Our annual field day is set for October 3rd at the USDA Bee Lab in Baton Rouge. I urge all of you to attend. Dr. Tom Renderer and his staff of scientists and support personnel always provide beekeepers with a great educational/social event for beekeepers. Dr. Lanie Bourgeois has been designated the event coordinator for the 2009 field day so I extend a special thanks to her for all the extra work associated with the event. Please show your appreciation by completing and submitting your registration and meal fees as soon as possible. The information is needed by September 21st if you are planning to attend.

The year is quickly coming to an end and we only have a few months left before our annual convention. If you have never attended a state beekeeping convention you owe it to yourself to join us this year. Your Board of Directors met on August 28th and worked on finalizing arrangements and speakers for our December gathering. The convention will be held in Bossier City so please look over the hotel information provided in this newsletter and make your reservations soon.

Plus, put the finishing touches on that unique auction item or items you are planning to donate to the LBA. We were blessed with great auction donations last year and raised a lot of money for our treasury. The auctions have not only been profitable but are uniquely entertaining.

Best of luck with the fall honey crop and I hope to see you in Bossier City in December. Do not hesitate to contact me or any of our board members if you need assistance.

God Bless You, Alva Stuard LBA President

Honey bees and beekeeping, a legacy of service to Louisiana agriculture

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 THIRTEENTH ANNUAL FIELD DAY AT THE BATON ROUGE BEE LAB

The USDA Honey Bee Breeding Laboratory and the Louisiana Beekeepers Association will hold the thirteenth annual field day on Saturday, October 3, 2009. The event will be held at the laboratory building and grounds near the intersection of Nicholson Drive (Hwy 30) and Ben Hur Road (1157 Ben Hur Rd.). This is about two miles south of the LSU football Stadium. Gates will open at 9:30 AM; activities are scheduled from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM. A registration fee ($12 for adults, $5 for children) covers expenses including a catered lunch. Menu: Shrimp Fettuccini or Pork Roast with Rice and Gravy, Snap Beans, Salad, Roll, Strawberry-Peach Crunch.

The field day will include activities for both beginners and experienced beekeepers. A program is enclosed. The morning program is for beginners and experienced beekeepers together, but in the afternoon the two groups will have separate activities. Please select your afternoon group (beginner or a person with some beekeeping experience) on the registration form below. Presentations in the morning will focus on a retrospective of the past ten years of research at the laboratory. In the afternoon, the group of beginners will be introduced to some aspects of beekeeping. The other group (experienced beekeepers) will have access to a number of activities concerning the use of resistant bees, management of pests and diseases, beekeeping management, honey extraction and marketing of bee products (see enclosed program).

Those planning to attend must register by September 21 so the catered lunch can be arranged. For more information contact Lanie Bourgeois (225/767-9288), Sandra Hineman (225/767-9280), Alva Stuard (225/261-2032), or the website for the Louisiana Beekeepers Association www.labeekeepers.org . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please mail your 2009 Field Day Registration Form by September 21 (registration money is used to pay for a catered lunch). Please choose which afternoon session you prefer by checking either beginner or experienced (space for beginners is limited to 25 persons)

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Name:______________________________________ [ ] beginner [ ] experienced

Total amount enclosed _____________ ($12 per adult; $ 5 per child)

Please mail this registration form and a check (payable to the Louisiana State Beekeepers Assn.) to Sandra Hineman, Honey Bee Breeding Lab, 1157 Ben Hur Road, Baton Rouge, LA. 70820. Confirmation will be in the form of a postcard or if you prefer an email (please provide e-mail address).

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

Thirteenth Annual Field Day Saturday, October 3, 2009

Louisiana Beekeepers Association USDA, ARS, Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics & Physiology Lab

1157 Ben Hur Road Baton Rouge, LA 70820

9:30 Gates open 9:30 – 10:00 Registration, coffee and snacks / Displays of pests and diseases 10:00 – 10:10 Welcome and introduction Tom Rinderer

10:10 – 10:30 The Russian bee program Tom Rinderer

10:30 – 10:45 The VSH program Bob Danka

10:45 – 11:00 Molecular Genetics Lanie Bourgeois

11:00 – 11:15 Break

11:15 – 11:30 Queen Rearing Crystal Card

11:30 – 11:45 Small Hive Beetles Lilia De Guzman

11:45 – 12:00 Nosema José Villa

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch

1:30 – 3:30 Participants divide into two groups for afternoon workshops:

1) Beginners: The basics of beekeeping Bob Danka/ Allen Sylvester ONLY for beginners – space limited to 25 2) Experienced: Demonstration/discussion/questions and answers -Honey extraction Gary Delatte/Josh Wales -Monitoring and treating for diseases and pests José Villa -Marketing bee products Alva Stuard -Management of Russian bees Tony Stelzer/Charlie Harper -Small hive beetles Lilia De Guzman -LA Bee Regulations Allen Fabre -Artificial Insemination Garrett Dodds -Queen rearing (grafting/cell builders) Gary Delatte -Nosema identification Lanie Bourgeois

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 MAP TO THE BEE LAB & A FEW PICTURES FROM THE 2008 FIELD DAY

LOUISIANA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONVENTION

The 48th Louisiana Beekeepers Association Convention will be held Friday, December 4th and Saturday, December 5th at the Holiday Inn Bossier, 21015 Old Minden Road, Bossier City, Louisiana 71111. All those interested in beekeeping are invited to join us for the latest on beekeeping basics, honey bee research, pest management, etc. There will be something for everyone from beginner to lifetime beekeeper, so join us in Bossier City.

A block of rooms will be held for our group at a rate of $85.00 plus tax. Make your reservations by calling the hotel at 318/742-9700 Monday through Friday from 8 am until 4 pm. You must mention the LBA Convention to get the special rate and, please, make your reservations early as November 13th is the cut-off date. A $10.00 registration fee is required to attend. Please contact Alva Stuard at 225/261-2032 or Jimmy Dunkley at 225/610-2628 for additional information. A tentative agenda will soon be available on our website www.labeekeepers.org and will be posted in our November LBA newsletter.

Convention Honey Baked Contest: Honey baked delicacies are enjoyed each year at our annual Convention thanks to LBA members and the members of local clubs. Your honey baked item will be part of our annual honey baked contest, so bring something to Bossier City that has been made with honey. We will have 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place ribbons for winners of the contest.

Convention Auction: Our annual after dinner auction has become a major fund raiser at our annual Convention. LBA members have been very generous with their auction donations. Several items have been hand crafted by members. Last year the Bar-B-Q Pit donated by Joel Carmichael and the Acadian Style Hive Body donated by A. J. and Billie Baham were a great donations and they brought in large bids. Regardless, all donations are encouraged and are greatly appreciated by the Officers and Board of the LBA. Please help out again this year if you are able.

HONEY ENTRIES REQUESTED FOR STATE FAIR William Hummer, Hummer & Son, 09-04-09

The year has flown by and the bees have produced another great honey crop. You can share your appreciation for your bee’s efforts by entering a sample of their honey in the Louisiana State Fair Honey Contest. There are three classes of honey in which you can enter; light, amber, and dark. Each entry class must be three (3) one pound queenline glass jars. You can participate by contacting your local beekeeping club, parish extension office, or me, William Hummer, for entry forms. The following information is provided by the State Fair and will help you in preparing your honey entries for the competition.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 To participate in the Louisiana State Fair Honey Contest I would suggest that you contact your county agent to find out if he can arrange to get your entries to the state fair. He will also need the samples in his office by a certain date in order to get them to Shreveport prior to Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Please request entry forms and follow the guidelines listed below to make sure your honey is properly entered and has a chance to compete. State Fair Honey Contest: Special Division, Department Y. Honey Contest Rules & Regulations 1 Competitions open to residents of Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas of all ages. 2 All articles must have been produced in Louisiana, Arkansas or Texas by the exhibitor during the current year. 3 Only one entry will be allowed each exhibitor for any one class. 4 Each honey entry will consist of three (3) one pound queenline glass jars. 5 Honey will be divided into three categories: light, amber and dark. 6 All entries must be at the State Fair of Louisiana on Sunday, October 18, 2009, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Monday, October 19, 2009, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Judging will begin Tuesday, October 20, 2009 and is not open to the public. Liquid honey is judged on the following point system:

Appearance of containers - 5 pts.; Uniform and accurate volume of honey – 5 pts.; Freedom from crystals – 10 pts.; Freedom from impurities, including froth – 20 pts.; Uniform honey in all containers of the entry – 5 pts.; Color – 10 pts.; Brightness – 10 pts.; Flavor and aroma – 15 pts.; Density – 20 pts.; TOTAL – 100 pts.

Classes: 1. Light honey, three (3) one pound, queenline jars of light extracted honey. 2. Amber honey, three (3) one pound, queenline jars of amber extracted honey. 3. Dark honey, three (3) one pound, queenline jars of dark extracted honey. Premium Schedule: 1st Place - $5.00; 2nd Place - $3.00; 3rd Place - $2.00

Important Note: Don’t forget to get in touch with your county agent immediately for assistance in getting your honey entry to Shreveport. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at wshummer@comcast.net .

FARM BUREAU HOSTS ADVISORY MEETING Jimmy Dunkley, LBA Newsletter Editor, August 20, 2009

The Louisiana Farm Bureau Federation hosted an advisory committee meeting for Louisiana beekeepers. The meeting consisted of 18 attendees representing commercial and sideline beekeepers, the LSU Extension Service, the Louisiana Dept. of Agriculture and Forestry, and the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. The meeting was called to order and moderated by LBA president, Alva Stuard, who opened the following beekeeping industry needs for discussion: • Registration of Fipronil for control of the small hive beetle in honey bee colonies, specifically Max Force Traps. • Registration of Amitraz for control of the varroa mite in honey bee colonies. Jack Meyer lead the discussion by stating that various commercial beekeepers had met Dr. Ed Knipling, USDA, ARS, to discuss registration of Fipronil and Amitraz to control pests in bee hives. Dr. Knipling was supportive of beekeepers seeking registration of these products and suggested the involvement of Kent L. Smith, USDA, ARS, Office of Pest Management. Smith suggested that the route to registration of any product would be through emergency exemption to determine efficacy and tolerance. With this said several expressed concern that chemical companies would need to be involved to provide the efficacy data in the pursuit of an eventual product registration. Since the use of such products may take much time and perhaps not find support by a chemical manufacturer it was suggested that a review of current knowledge of the pests mentioned could help in developing a best pest management plan for use by beekeepers. To be continued!

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 NATIONAL HONEY BEE AWARENESS DAY Jimmy Dunkley, LBA Newsletter Editor, August 22, 2009 The Capital Area Beekeepers Association participated in National Honey Bee Awareness Day by providing an information booth on honey, honey bees, and beekeeping at the Mall of Louisiana on Saturday, August 22, 2009. The Mall of Louisiana provided a great opportunity to get information to a large group of people and, for a first attempt, it was a success. We look forward to taking advantage of these educational programs again in the future. Thanks go to Steve and Jacquie Hoover for providing much of the educational information for the booth and organizing efforts for member participation. Thanks to Liz Holloway for bringing her honey display and honey straws for visitors. Without their participation the event would not have taken place. In addition, thanks go to Mi Lou Barry, Ric Bassett, Charles and Pam Caillouet, Jimmy Dunkley, Kevin Murphy, and Michael Tchoukalov for manning, helping set up, and dismantling the booth. Finally, thanks to Mr. Todd Denton, manager, Mall of Louisiana, for allowing our club to have a honey bee display in the mall and for providing tables and audio/visual equipment. I have provided a few pictures of the display and our visitors for your review. Please consider doing something similar in September at a venue of your choosing in recognition of National Honey Month.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 SEPTEMBER IS NATIONAL HONEY MONTH

If you were planning to participate in an outdoor market, fall festival, class room presentation, etc., there is no better time than National Honey Month. This would continue efforts to educate the public about honey bees and honey following National Honey Bee Awareness Day. To assist you in this effort the National Honey Board (NHB) can provide honey industry members with a 2009 National Honey Month Press Kit to send to area newspapers, magazines, radio, and television stations.

The 2009 kit features four exciting brochures: Beauty Recipes for Every Generation, Honey Simplified – How Honey Gets from Hive to Bottle, the newly re-designed Red Carpet Ready beauty brochure, and a new fanfold brochure featuring eight Light and Fresh Honey Recipes. Also included in the kit will be a CD with several high resolution images that will be perfect for use by newspaper and magazine writers for preparing stories.

There’s a ton of new information this year and exciting materials for editors and writers to get story ideas and to talk about the great attributes of honey. The Honey Simplified brochure emphasizes that nothing is added to pure honey as it goes from bee to hive to bottle.

Request a kit by calling Andrea Brening at the NHB (800-553-7162), or by sending an email to Andrea@nhb.org .

CELEBRATE NATIONAL HONEY MONTH THROUGH YOUR LOCAL BEE ASSOCIATION

The interest in beekeeping continues to grow and honey sales are better than ever. For the first time beekeepers are experiencing good honey sales and a higher price for their product. Local beekeeping associations promote better beekeeping through activities and programs designed to educate beekeepers and the public. Most welcome any questions on beekeeping and honey and often provide assistance at venues and schools upon request. Beekeepers should use National Honey Month to further promote, educate, and sell their honey bee products. So take a little time and prepare an activity focusing on our bees and their products in September. Most of all, encourage people you meet to enjoy a good jar of local honey.

“Unlike men, honeybees have never faltered in their design for organized living. Shuffled about by men and their civilizations, bees live as they did thousands of years before Christ. They continue to build perfectly engineered six-sided cells with wax oozed from their own bodies; to convert larva from worker bee into queen if needed; to feed and caress and even die for their queen; to air-condition her nursery; to houseclean; guard her entry; and at last to graduate into nectar-gathering workers. Even as man robs her of her harvest, the bee continues to be the main source of pollination for over fifty of the vital agricultural crops without which his dinner table would indeed be poor. Even as man shifts her from field to meadow to orchard, she continues to provide him with a delectable, natural sweet that is second to none in flavor and in the variety of ways it may be used. Even as man kills her with deadly insecticides, surviving bees continue to provide a food gaining in ever-widening usage by a health-conscious nation.” Form Cooking With Honey by Hazel Berto published in 1972.

Interesting Facts About Honey 1. Honey never spoils. No need to refrigerate. Stored unopened, indefinitely, at room temperature in a dry place. 2. Honey is one of the oldest foods in existence. It was found in the tomb of King Tut and was still edible. 3. Due to the high level of fructose, honey is 25% sweeter than table sugar. 4. Honey is created when bees mix plant nectar, a sweet substance secreted by flowers, with their own bee enzymes. 5. To make honey, bees drop the collected nectar into the honeycomb and then evaporate it by fanning their wings. 6. Honey has different flavors and colors, depending on the location and kinds of flowers the bees visit. Climatic conditions of the area also influence its flavor and color.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 GENOMIC STUDY YIELDS PLAUSIBLE CAUSE OF COLONY COLLAPSE DISORDER *

Researchers report that they have found a surprising but reliable marker of colony collapse disorder, a baffling malady that in 2007-2008 killed off more than a third of commercial honey bees in the U.S.

Their study is the first to identify a single, objective molecular marker of the disorder, and to propose a data-driven hypothesis to explain the mysterious disappearance of American honey bees. The team included researchers from the University of Illinois and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

University of Illinois researchers spearheaded the honey bee genome project, which was completed in October 2006, less than a month before the first reports of colony collapse disorder (CCD) began to circulate. The new study made use of the genome and a genome-based tool, the microarray, to look for differences in gene expression in the guts of healthy honey bees and in those from hives afflicted by CCD.

Microarray analyses normally identify only active genes – those that have been transcribed into messenger RNA in the first stage of building proteins. But Reed Johnson, a University of Illinois doctoral student in entomology and first author on the study, noticed that the microarrays were turning up large quantities of fragmented ribosomal RNA (rRNA) in the bees affected by CCD. Ribosomes are the factories in which proteins are made, but Johnson observed that this rRNA contained adenosine-rich sequences not seen in normal ribosomes. Such “polyadenylation” is believed to be a sign of ribosome degradation.

“Microarrays for other organisms also contain these mysterious pieces of ribosomal RNA, for reasons that are not yet altogether clear,” said entomology and neuroscience professor Gene Robinson, a co-principal investigator on the study with entomology professor and department head May Berenbaum. But comparisons of healthy bees and bees from hives afflicted with CCD showed that the fragments were present at a much higher frequency in the CCD bees.

“They are overrepresented in the CCD bees, significantly overrepresented,” Berenbaum said. “The one consistent indicator of CCD across samples collected at multiple times and in multiple places was the overabundance of ribosomal fragments.”

When the team looked at the pathogens of healthy bees and bees from hives affected by CCD, they saw that the CCD bees suffered “more than their share” of infections with viruses that attack the ribosome, Berenbaum said. These so-called picorna-like viruses “hijack the ribosome,” she said, taking over the cellular machinery to manufacture only viral proteins. The list of picorna-like viruses that afflict honey bees is long and includes Israeli acute paralysis virus, which was once suspected of being the primary cause of CCD.

Numerous suspects have been identified in the hunt for a cause of CCD, from nutritional deficiencies to exposure to genetically modified plants or pesticides. Researchers in Spain recently pointed to a parasitic fungus, Nosema ceranae, which afflicts many CCD bees in Spain.

Loss of ribosomal function would explain many of the phenomena associated with CCD, Berenbaum said. “If your ribosome is compromised you can’t respond to pesticides, you can’t respond to fungal infections or bacteria or inadequate nutrition because the ribosome is central to the survival of any organism. You need proteins to survive.”

The varroa mite, believed to have killed significant numbers of honey bees after it was accidentally introduced to the U.S. in 1986, is a carrier of picorna-like viruses, and is likely a significant contributor to the high viral pathogen load that afflicts U.S. bees. The mite may act as a tipping factor leading to ribosome breakdown, researchers said.

All of these influences and the practice of carting bees around the country for pollination services are significant stressors on the bees, a heavy burden that would be amplified by a loss of ribosomal function, Robinson said. Note: From a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and published in an article in Science Daily, August 25, 2009.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 HONEY BEES SELECTED BY ARS TOSS MITES Alfredo Flores, Agricultural Research Service, Sept. 10, 2009

Honey bees are now fighting back aggressively against Varroa mites, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) efforts to develop bees with genetic traits that allow them to find mites and toss them out of the broodnest.

The parasitic Varroa mite attacks the honey bee, Apis mellifera L., by feeding on its hemolymph, which is the combination of blood and fluid inside a bee. Colonies can be weakened or killed, depending on the severity of the infestation. Most colonies eventually die from varroa infestation if left untreated.

Varroa-sensitive hygiene (VSH) is a genetic trait of the honey bee that allows it to remove mite-infested pupae from the capped brood—developing bees that are sealed inside cells of the comb with a protective layer of wax. The mites are sometimes difficult for the bees to locate, since they attack the bee brood while these developing bees are inside the capped cells.

ARS scientists at the agency’s Honey Bee Breeding, Genetics and Physiology Research Unit in Baton Rouge, La., have developed honey bees with high expression of the VSH trait. Honey bees are naturally hygienic, and they often remove diseased brood from their nests. VSH is a specific form of nest cleaning focused on removing varroa-infested pupae. The VSH honey bees are quite aggressive in their pursuit of the mites. The bees gang up, chew and cut through the cap, lift out the infected brood and their mites, and discard them from the broodnest.

This hygiene kills the frail mite offspring, which greatly reduces the lifetime reproductive output of the mother mite. The mother mite may survive the ordeal and try to reproduce in brood again, only to undergo similar treatment by the bees.

To test the varroa resistance of VSH bees, the Baton Rouge team conducted field trials using 40 colonies with varying levels of VSH. Mite population growth was significantly lower in VSH and hybrid colonies than in bee colonies without VSH. Hybrid colonies had half the VSH genes normally found in pure VSH bees, but they still retained significant varroa resistance. Simpler ways for bee breeders to measure VSH behavior in colonies were also developed in this study.

GARON BEE COMPANY: A LOUISIANA ODYSSEY Part 1 of 2 In seeking information on Garon Bee Company, I had the opportunity to meet Valery “Val” Garon, the last owner/operator of a family business started by his father, Emile, in 1926. In my inquiry on the origin of the company, Val produced a book written by one of his older brothers, Henry, in 1978. The family history, “A Louisiana Odyssey,” should have been all I needed to accurately relate the story of a Louisiana beekeeping pioneer but I found it to be much more. You see, Henry had written the book as a gift to his aging mother and father. From the time I opened the pages I lost sight of the beekeeping aspect of the story, paying more attention to the origins of his mother and father, their family backgrounds, introduction to each other, and love affair.

Jeanne Catherine Rodriguez was born on April 29, 1889, the eighth of fourteen children of Prosper and Odalie Rodriguez. Jeanne’s father was a friendly man who loved the outdoors. He operated the Bayou Lafourche toll bridge between Donalsonville and the village of Port Barrow. Jeanne attended St.Vincent’s Institute, graduating in 1907 in a class of three. After remaining home for two years, she enrolled in a summer session at Louisiana State Normal School in Natchitoches where she obtained a teaching certificate. She taught at several elementary schools in Ascension and Iberville parishes for the next couple of years, resigning in 1912. By 1913 she started as a clerk with Western Union in Donaldsonville at a salary of $10.00 a month.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009 Emile Louis Garon was born on March 14, 1890 near New Roads, the fifth of twelve children of Louis and Eliska Garon. Emile’s father was a carpenter and farmer, a hard working man, the son of a blacksmith. The large family lived in the country and suffered through hard times, living hand-to-mouth off the land. While his father did carpentry work, the children worked the farm. From an early age, Emile chopped wood, cut grass, hoed the fields, picked cotton and corn, and, in the fall, picked pecans from their trees on the farm. By the age of ten he had learned the alphabet but was unable to read or write. At eleven he entered the first grade. His small stature and speech difficulties placed him under further disadvantages but after four years in a one room schoolhouse, he entered Poydras Academy in New Roads and completed grade six at age 17. This was the extent of his formal education as he went to work as a messenger boy for Western Union at 18. During the next three years he learned telegraphy on his own initiative. He left Western Union and pursued several opportunities with the railroad, in farming, and as a sawmill hand but by 1914, at age 24, he again joined Western Union and was assigned to Donaldsonville. On his first day of work at Donaldsonville’s Western Union office, Emile Garon was introduced to Jeanne Rodriguez as her new boss. Emile was overburdened with work in his new job and Jeanne helped by phoning in the messages to their recipients. Emile soon provided Jeanne with instruction in the Morse Code. They worked well together and became good friends. A year later, in 1915, Western Union transferred Emile to Plaquemine and the twenty miles of Western Union lines hummed with messages between Emile and Jeanne. They devised a secret code between themselves consisting of the letters “TI”; that is, T, the letter following S which stood for sweet and I, the letter following H which stood for heart. There came a day, however, when the code was cracked and Emile was known for the rest of his life by family and friends by the nickname ‘Ti”. Emile left Western Union and took several jobs over the next few years. He even returned to his family home in New Roads for a time. He and Jeanne kept in touch, however, and one day she alerted him to a one month opening for a Texas and Pacific agent position at a small railroad office at Belle Alliance Plantation, three miles down Bayou Lafourche from Donaldsonville. No telephones were available in this remote area and communications with the outside were made entirely by telegraphy, which Emile new well. The one month assignment developed into a seven year tour of duty in Belle Alliance for Emile and permanent employment with Texas and Pacific Railroad. Emile and Jeanne loved and appreciated each other and, on June 27, 1919, the bells of Ascension Catholic Church announced their wedding. They honeymooned in Colorado for two weeks where they stayed for a time with family and visited the local Rocky Mountain attractions. Upon returning to Donaldsonville they moved in with Jeanne’s aging father at his home in Faubourg la Pipe. They both resumed their jobs but Jeanne was unable to continue once their family started to grow. For the next two years Emile rode his bicycle daily from Faubourg la Pipe into town where he swapped over to a one man railroad handcar for the remaining three mile journey to Belle Alliance. It was not until 1922 that he purchased his first automobile. In all they stayed with Jeanne’s father Prosper for six years. It was Prosper who introduced Emile to honey bees. He had been given a dozen or so hives in the 1890’s by Father Ceuppens upon his recall to New Orleans. Prosper kept the bees with more or less success but was unable to take care of them by the time Emile and Jeanne were married. Emile helped Prosper with the bees until he gave them up entirely, and it was left to Emile to care for them. In 1925, Emile was transferred to McCall, a community four miles upriver from Donaldsonville. There the Texas and Pacific maintained a small railroad office for the purpose of handling shipments of farm produce. Prosper joined them a month later. Emile removed the trunk from his Model T, converting the vehicle into a truck, and helped Prosper move the 50 colonies of bees to McCall. In 1926, Emile acquired the bees from Prosper and started Garon Bee Company. He increased his hive numbers to 100 at that time. No sooner had he accomplished this when more bees became available. A 500 colony outfit went on the rocks giving him the opportunity to buy them cheap. The company purchased was called, “Sherburne Industries” and the bees were managed by Mr. Etienne C. Bessonet. This was the start of a 40+ year family business.

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

JOIN THE LOUISIANA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION TODAY! SEE OUR “MEMBER GET A MEMBER CAMPAIGN”

INFORMATION AND MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION ON THE LAST PAGE OF THIS NEWSLETTER.

WE NEED YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS!

REGISTER ALL HONEY BEE COLONIES WITH THE LOUISIANA DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE & FORESTRY!

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

LOUISIANA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION INC. OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 2009

PRESIDENT Alva Stuard 12211 Core Lane Central, LA 70714 Ph. 225/261-2032 - Home E-Mail Address: honeyworks@bellsouth.net

VICE PRESIDENT Joe Sanroma 1062 Hwy. 1176 Bunkie, LA 71322 Ph. 318/346-2805 - Office E-Mail Address: lajoeehc@aol.com

SECRETARY Margaret Prell 104 Charwood Drive Pearl River, LA 70452 Ph. 985/863-3641 - Home E-Mail Address: martp@bellsouth.net

TREASURER David Ferguson P.O. Box 716 Brusly, LA 70719 Ph. 225/413-6627 - Cell E-Mail Address: dwferguson315@cox.net

LBA BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 2009

Joel Carmichael 635 Hwy. 726 Carencro, LA 70520 Ph. 337/886-0664 - Home E-Mail Address: joel@ueiworks.com

Randy Fair 611 Evans Loop Mansfield, LA 71052 Ph. 318/872-2682 - Home E-Mail Address: randy@beebumbler.com

Bobby Frierson 9246 Arnold Road Denham Springs, LA 70726 Ph. 225/241-6132 - Cell E-Mail Address: beefrierson53@hotmail.com

Timothy J. Haley 212 Charles Preuett Rd. Dry Prong, LA 71423 Ph. 318/640-4856 - Home E-Mail Address: thaley@fs.fed.us

Charlie Harper 421 Louveteau Road Carencro, LA 70520 Ph. 337/896-5247 - Home E-Mail Address: labeeman@labeekeepers.org.

Sharon Hebert 2720 W. Aladin Road Erath, LA 70533 Ph. 337/937-6722 - Home E-Mail Address: vwh@bellsouth.net

Tommy Kemp 3144 Lantz Road Jennings, LA 70546 Ph. 337/824-1984 - Home E-Mail Address: tlkemp@wildblue.net

Ralph Miller 2318 Ridge Road Duson, LA 70529 Ph. 337/873-8452 - Home E-Mail Address: bayoucountryaparies@cox.net

Jeff Smith 2663 Mayflower Road Haughton, LA 71037 Ph. 318/742-5985 - Home E-Mail Address: jsmithfarms@aol.com

Robert Taylor, Sr. 38233 Lee’s Landing Road Ponchatoula, LA 70454 Ph. 985/386-4647 - Home E-Mail Address: rt@honeybeeremoval.com

PLEASE CONTACT THE CLOSEST LBA OFFICER OR BOARD MEMBER FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR STATE BEEKEEPING ASSOCIATION

LOCAL BEEKEEPING CLUBS AND CURRENT PRESIDENTS

ACADIANA Joel Carmichael 635 Hwy. 726 Carencro, La 70520 Ph. 337/886-0664

ARK-LA-TEX Robert B. Griffin 2595 Mayflower Road Haughton, La 71037 Ph. 318/746-0235

CAPITAL AREA Jack Lithgoe 8225 Oakbrook Drive Baton Rouge, La 70810 Ph. 225/769-2331

HILL COUNTRY Al Whitman P.O. Box 40 Eros, La 71238 Ph. 318/249-2730

TANGI-TAMMINGTON Julian Laine, Jr. P. O. Box 174 Talisheek, La 70464 Ph. 504/858-3525

Let the LBA be of assistance. Contact us for information in starting a beekeeper’s club.

LOCAL BEEKEEPING CLUBS PROVIDE A VALUABLE RESOURCE TO AREA BEEKEEPERS PLEASE CONTACT ONE OF THE INDIVIDUALS LISTED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

BAYOU BEE BULLETIN SEPTEMBER 2009

“MEMBER GET A MEMBER CAMPAIGN” Membership in the Louisiana Beekeepers Association (LBA) is a privilege, but more importantly, an obligation. Louisiana beekeepers can only help themselves and their industry by participating in dialogue that sets our state’s beekeeping policies. Anchored in a rich tradition of service, the LBA has always promoted a healthy, productive beekeeping industry. This can only be done through a strong state beekeeping organization. To accomplish this we need the help of more beekeepers. Our current membership consists of less than 30% of the state’s registered beekeepers. That has got to change if we are to remain a voice for Louisiana beekeepers.

You can help us and help yourself by joining the LBA today. More importantly you can recruit other beekeepers into joining the LBA. To help increase our membership we have launched a “Member get a Member Campaign.” Simply talk to fellow beekeepers about their participation in their state beekeeping association through membership. In turn, ask their assistance and support in recruiting other LBA members.

Our membership application below contains a referral blank to be used to list the member that inspired a new member to join the LBA. An award awaits the individual that brings in the most new members in 2009. The award will be presented at our annual convention which will be held in Shreveport in December. Contact any officer or board member listed in this newsletter if you need more information on promoting membership in the LBA.

Thank you for your support,

Robert Taylor LBA Membership Chairman

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LOUISIANA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION, INC. MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION

Name: Parish: __________________________

Street Address: _________________________________________________________________

City: State: Zip: ______________________

Phone: _________________________ E-mail address: _________________________________

Annual Membership Dues: _______ New _______ Renewal

Individual (Class - hobbyist, intermediate, commercial) - $10.00 Affiliate Club- $25.00

Class _______________________________ Fee Paid $__________________________

Make your check or money order (no cash) payable to the Louisiana Beekeepers Association, Inc. Please mail to: Mr. David Ferguson, P.O. Box 716, Brusly, LA 70719 – Ph. 225/413-6627.

LBA MEMBERSHIPS EXPIRE EACH YEAR ON THE LAST DAY OF DECEMBER!

Membership Referred By: _________________________________________________

2009 2009