Exciting day and a few more responsibilities

Wow, what an amazingly exciting day and the beginning of a rock n roll year. This year, I'm going to be co-chair for Abq Beeks with a woman I respect tremendously, Chantal Foster. I also was unexpectedly voted in as Secretary/ Treasurer for the NM Beekeepers Association. I can't wait to start 2012 helping out in the community the best I can!

If you missed this year's NM Beekeepers Meeting, you missed a good one. Here are some tasty tid bits I picked up at the meetings:

NM Pollinators Project- Loretta McGrath~~~ There will soon be a State-Wide internet site where Farmers, Beekeepers, Gardeners, Educators can all post education resources State wide!

Cary Hamilton with NMDA Pesticide Compliance Section~~~Did you know that there were no recorded cases of pesticides effecting or killing beehives reported in 2011? Either pesticides are not effecting our bees or we're not reporting them. Get on the phone people! Let's record what's happening to our bees!

Natural Honey Bee Survey- Greg Watson~~~ Beekeepers with more than 8 hives in a yard are letting their hives be tested in a survey. Did you know there are NO reported cases of the dreaded CCD in NM yet?! The survey is trying to find what our hives are dying from and also what might be causing CCD.

Fencing Your Hives From Bears- Les Crowder~~~ Apparently bears don't like hives for the honey, but for the protein packed brood. Also, most American bears aren't drawn to bees, but once they get a taste of honey, they will seek it out. If you are in bear country, you need to be proactive about electric fences when keeping bees.

Election of Officers for 2012 NM Beekeepers Association~~~
President- Les Crowder
Vice President- Joe Wesbrook
Secretary/ Treasurer- Jessie Brown
Board- Carl Soderberg, Craig Noorlander

Beekeeping in Albuquerque with Chantal Foster~~~ The Abq Beeks survey of 2011 is an amazing resource for finding what the average Albuquerque beekeeper's year looks like.

Overview of ABF North American Bee Conference, Jan 2012 with Jessie Brown~~~ If you ever want to get a worldwide view of beekeeping, try to attend one of these conferences.

Top Bar/ Langstroth Round Table- Les Crowder, Ken Hays, TJ Carr~~~ Every question on our minds were answered!

Plants for Pollinators with Tess Grasswitz~~~ NMSU and NRCS have 4 gardens around the state and are using the data to try and compile a list of recommended "pollinator plants" for NM.