By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent LOVELAND, Ohio — The thought of colony collapse disorder, or CCD, worries first-time beekeeper Dean Rindlisbach.
Rindlisbach, from Loveland, spent $500 in bees, books and equipment to enter the hobby and he’s concerned about the survival of his first colony.
Chester Fordyce has been a beekeeper for more than 60 years and a little problem called CCD doesn’t faze this Washington Court House, Ohio, apiarist one bit. According to Fordyce, CCD is a concern but so too are trachea mites, varroa mites and inclement weather.
“I think nowadays people don’t know how to take care of their hives properly,” Fordyce said. “Management is the key and it starts with the queens. You need good queens in every hive, and a lot of people ignore that need. Last season I had 84 colonies and had just a two percent loss in my hives. I believe the trouble to be getting the plants that the bees need.”
Fordyce grew up with bees. He tended to 50 colonies when he was just 14. His father tended to 500 colonies and produced 4,400 pounds of honey annually. To this day, his 84 colonies dot Fayette County.
Rindlisbach, on the other hand, is hoping to turn his one hive into four by the end of the season.
“My best friend was a beekeeper, but he left for Colorado and left me with one of his hives. I’m just hoping that all the hours of watching him and talking to people pays off,” he said.
The two were among more than 300 men and women who attended the Southwestern Ohio Beekeeping School in Loveland two weeks ago. Keynote speaker was Dr. James Tew, The Ohio State University entomologist and bee expert.
“Beekeeping is always changing,” Tew said, “but overall, it is just a matter of finding new ways of doing old things. Of course, there (are) always problems with CCD, mites and the weather, and those things certainly affect keepers. No one said it would be easy. Today’s beekeepers are learning that there are an abundance of new techniques when it comes to beekeeping.”
And new methods of tending bees are just as exciting to Fordyce.
“I’m just as enthusiastic about beekeeping today like it was my first day,” he said. “You learn something new every time out, even if you’ve been in it more than 60 years like I have.”
This farm news was published in the April 9, 2008 issue of the Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee. |
