WHO ARE WE?
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay, a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon, but a swarm in July ain't worth a fly..
--old New England beekeeper's saying
Our mission as a club is to promote the honey bee and its value to today's ecology; to educate people about the honey bee, its habits and not to fear them, or consider them to be a pest; to debunk myths, especially concerning the "Africanized" bee. We also encourage new beekeepers, mentor them if possible, answer questions, and if we can't, direct them to someone who can.
Pomme de Terre Beekeepers Association was started in 1996 with the assistance of University of Missouri Hickory County Extension. The first meeting was in November of that year. We have always met at the extension office. Our club has had members that have come from Collins and one family from Stockton, as far north as Oceola, Warsaw, east as far as Macks Creek, Cross Timbers, Tunas, Urbana, Buffalo,and Bolivar. The range that our club seems to draw members from is large, but beekeepers are sparse. We do work hard to gather them in. Every spring we have a spring workshop, with lots of information, hands on instruction in most, a free lunch provided by the members, just to reach new beekeepers. We do this as a free service because this is more valuable than taking a fee for the workshop. We work together to have booths in the various market fairs so that members who have harvested honey have maximum opportunity to sell their honey to the public, sort of an award for persevering so to speak. We elect two officers each year, president and Secretary-treasurer, the outgoing president if not re-elected or does not wish to hold that office again, holds the office of vice president. Since our club has remained small this has been sufficient for now.
