Dear Editor,

The motto for the Pomme De Terre Beekeepers on the new web site we created last year is, “all for the love of a honey bee.” A fit motto for a beekeeper, for you have to at least like them to keep a hive. A person who likes horses might keep them to look at in a pasture, but someone who loves horses will see that they are well kept ,doctored when needed, and have the best pasture and water to keep them. The same goes for a bee keeper. Bees unlike other livestock, are not domesticated or tamed, they can neither learn a new behavior, or forget their original programming. Bees do what bees do from the beginning of Creation, we are the ones who have to learn, and adjust to their requirements. Most people are aware from the media recently that the large segment of the professional beekeepers have been plagued with large losses of colonies, due to a disorder called CCD, (colony collapse disorder) this has not been much of a problem to hobby beekeepers, we do not haul our colonies confined thousands of miles back and forth, feed, split, and re-queen frequently. Our bees are affected, like other species, to loss of habitat, parasites, genetic diversity, and forage. The picture of a bee flitting from one kind of flower to another is what most people imagine, but not the honeybee, She is an opportunistic gatherer, like us, she wants the most for her energy output. She will gather from the source that has the highest sugar output until it is exhausted, be it a clover pasture or your humming bird feeder with no bee guards on the feeder hole. The Pomme De Terre Beekeepers offer spring workshops to those who wish to become a beekeeper, but some are disappointed to find that there is a lot of preparations that have to be in place before you get bees, and even April can be a little late in getting started. This February 14th 2008 meeting will be devoted to all who want to become a beekeeper this year, we will answer questions, offer catalogues, and advice on costs, minimum equipment needs, and sources for bees. No question will be too trivial to answer, this will be an informal sit around the table and talk bees, and a jumpstart for "I want to be a beekeeper."

Bessie Shryer, Secretary RR 2 Box 2585 Hermitage, MO