News

Beekeeping short course is set

By Marvin Owings Jr., Published: January 11, 2016

Honey bees are very important to North Carolina. Each year honey bees kept by N.C. beekeepers produce over $6 million worth of delicious honey and bee products. Some of the most popular honeys produced here are sourwood, black locust and tulip poplar. Even though honey is a popular food product, it is not the real reason for the importance of the honey bee.

NC beekeepers produce a wide variety of bee products from the beehive with the aid of their honey bees. These products have a variety of uses such as beeswax for candles and cosmetics, royal jelly for cosmetics, bee pollen as a protein source, and more. These products are very popular as health foods and cosmetics, but they are not the main importance of honey bees in the state.

Pollination is defined as the transfer of pollen (the male portion of a flower) to the female portion which is then followed by fertilization and the production of fruit and/or seeds. Honey bees are undoubtedly the most important pollinators of food crops for humans and probably of food for wildlife in North Carolina and the entire nation. This is the main importance of honey bees. Without adequate insect pollination, many of the crops grown could not be produced on a commercial basis, and honey bees are the most important insect in the process of pollination.

In North Carolina there are many crops that require some insect pollination and the
following crops could not be produced if we did not have honey bees available for this task: apples, cucumbers, squash, watermelons, many of the berry crops, and more.

The importance of honey bees is not limited to just the commercial production of crops. Honey bees are also important in the pollination of many fruits, vegetables and seeds in the home garden. If your vine crops have flowers but are not producing any fruit (vegetables), then the reason is probably that they are not being pollinated by insects such as honey bees.

To better understand or learn more about these important insects, a six-week Regional Beekeeping Short Course will be held at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center (455 Research Drive, Mills River) by the Cooperative Extension Service.

Classes start Tuesday, Jan. 12, and are held from 7 to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays through February. The cost is $25 per person (to cover materials). Fees are payable the first night of class. Preregistration is required and seating is limited. (Although the class started this week, people can still sign up and complete the course.)

At the completion of the Short Course, you should be able to set up and maintain your own colony of honeybees and be knowedgeable enough to bring your hives through the winter.

To register, please contact the N.C. Cooperative Extension Service at 828- 697-4891. Information is also available on our website .

Also, the Henderson County Beekeepers Association will be conducting its annual Winter Bee School. Classes will start Monday, Jan. 25, and will be held from 7 to 9 on Mondays through February. The course will also be held at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Center (455 Research Drive, Mills River).

The cost for new members is $45 each. To register and receive more information go to: https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/chapter/henderson-county-beekeepers.

Marvin Owings Jr. is Henderson County Extension Director.