Smoker Signals Coming this month… COBA Board Meeting
Volume 2, Issue 3
April 9, at 7:00 pm
Upcoming Member’s Meeting April 18, 2012: Presentation by Joe Kowaleski, Master Beekeeper
Rothenbuhler Bee Lab, OSU Waterman Farms, 2501 Carmack Rd Columbus, OH 43210 All members are invited to attend. COBA All members Meeting, Wednesday April 18, 6:15 p.m, Franklin Park Conservatory . Presentation at 7:00 by Joe Kowaleski, EAS Certified Master
Inside this issue:
March/April 2012
The COBA Members meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 18 2012 at 6:15 p.m. at the Franklin Park Conservatory. The roundtable discussion, led by Dwight Wells, begins at 6:15, and will discuss spring swarms. At 7:00, we are excited that Joe Kowaleski, EAS Certified Master Beekeeper, will be presenting on spring packages and overwintering nucs. He is a nationally known speaker and we are fortunate that he has agreed to speak to our club. Prior to formal the meeting, at 5:15, Dwight Wells will be present and available at Franklin Park Conservatory to individually answer questions from new beekeepers. This is a great opportunity for new beekeepers to get information pertinent to their individual concerns. Also at the meeting, our new scholarship winners (Scott Trask, Jason Clark, and Noah Oas) will make their first presentations to our club. We look forward to hearing from them.
President’s Message: March tasks Contributed by Terry Eddy
Volunteer Opportunity
2
Honey Standards
3-5
COBA Board
6
EAS Honey Show
6
Now that we are into March we begin to think about the many things that the beekeeper needs to do. Are you up to date with your memberships? It’s time to pay your COBA (Central Ohio Beekeepers Association) and OSBA (Ohio State Beekeepers Association) dues. If you’re not an OSBA member, please consider joining. OSBA is the voice of beekeepers in Ohio . OSBA provides you with informative newsletters, promotes the Ohio Queen Initiative, supports the Ohio Master Beekeeper program, conducts Summer and Fall meetings, and works with OSU on many programs. You can do you part to help OSBA by joining to increase the membership and helping with dues. Here we are in March, after enduring weeks of frigid temperatures and feet of snow. We wonder if our bees have been able to withstand the harsh winter in Ohio. We envision them clustered together to keep warm, perhaps clustered so tightly that most of the honey that we left for them is still available. Wait, is that really the winter of 2011-2012? Not really. What few cold days we’ve had has been overshadowed by the warm, above average temperatures with more rain than snow. Since the weather has been warmer this winter, your bees have been more active inside the hive. And active bees eat honey, lots of it. When the opportunity arises, take time to look inside your hive(s) or lift a corner to determine how much honey your bees have left.
Page 2
Smoker Signals
President’s message (continued) I’ve received reports that bees are near hive tops and hives are lighter than normal for this time of the year. Usually the queen doesn’t start laying eggs until later in February but with warmer temperatures she may have started earlier. Worker bees emerge 21 days after the queen lays the eggs and then there will be more mouths to feed. More bees to feed and less honey available means that there could be disappointing hive losses. Monitor your available honey stores. If they are light, feeding your bees may be necessary to keep them alive. Fondant, sugar boards, and sugar patties are ways to feed them in cooler temperatures. If the temperatures stay warm sugar/water will work well. Fondant can be made or purchased locally. Slice into 1 inch pieces, and put on the top bars. Sugar boards are heated to 132-140 degrees and poured onto plywood with sides. Let cool and put over the top bars. For an ‘emergency only’ feed, raw sugar can be poured around the hole of the inner cover. There is still time to get bees if you need them this spring but don’t delay. Packages from the South may still be available and there are several COBA members that still might have Ohio queen nucs. I’d like to wish everyone a successful beekeeping year. As always COBA is here to support all beekeepers. Don’t forget about Fun in the Beeyard, a weekly hands-on class for new beekeepers and anyone that can use a little more information. The classes begin Wednesday, April 4th and will meet throughout the summer on Wednesday evenings at 6:00 pm. The Bee Yard is located on the OSU Watterman Farm Property, just behind the Rothenbuhler Bee Lab. We hope to see all novice beekeepers at Fun in the Bee Yard. COBA meeting dates are the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:00 pm (roundtable at 6:15), no meeting in March. Dwight Wells will have a question and answer session for new beekeepers beginning at 5:00. There are no Fun in the Beeyard meetings on the night of the COBA meetings.
Fun in the Bee Yard begins at the COBA Bee Yard, Wednesday, April 4, OSU Waterman Farm, just behind the Rothenbuhler Bee Lab. Come at 6:00. We look forward to seeing you there.
Volunteer Opportunity: Scioto Mile Park in the Summer Contributed by Dan Wampler
COBA and EAST COBA will provide youth education about bees at the FountainSide Festival this summer. FountainSide is the name of a mini-festival presented on select Wednesdays throughout the summer from 11:30 am-1:30 pm in Bicentennial Park along the Scioto Mile, near the 10,000 square foot fully interactive fountain. Sunny 95 sponsors the series and there are many activities focused on the toddler to 10 year old age group, including: arts, crafts games and activities. Last year's events included pirate day, science exploration day, fountain friends day (included turtles, soil and water conservation activities), soccer days etc. The Sunny 95 station's ice cream truck hands out tasty snacks for all the kids during the event as well. It is truly a feelgood summertime event and last summer there were audiences from a few hundred kids to over a thousand depending on the event. This year COBA is joining with East COBA to make presentations to children about bees on the following Wednesdays: 6/6, 6/13, 6/20, 6/27, 7/11, 7/25, 8/1, 8/8 and 8/15 from 11:30 to 1:30. The co-chairpersons for this event are Mike Albaugh, maabda@yahoo.com, and Andy and Melissa Sponseller, at mel0076@yahoo.com. Thanks, Mike, Andy and Melissa.
Volume 2, Issue 3
Page 3
A Honey Standard: Proposed Legislation contributed by Sue Daly, Political Action Committee
What is a honey standard?
Honey is honey, correct? Well, I’m glad you asked!!
When there is a honey shortage, honey prices rise. Good thing, bad thing. Over the past decade a honey supply shortage has caused adulterated honey to appear on the U.S. market, including Ohio. In March, 2006 five major honey groups (Sioux Honey, American Honey Producers Association, American Beekeeping Federation, National Honey Packers and Dealers Association, and the Western Dealers and Packers Association) petitioned the FDA to adopt the 2001 Revised Codex Standard of Identification of Honey (with certain deviations). In August 2006 and again in October 2011 the FDA denied the petition. Thus, a state by state effort was initiated to develop a honey standard. What is the Codex Standard of Identification of Honey? The Codex Alimentarious Commission is an international commission within the World Trade Association. Its function is to facilitate ease in international trade. In 2000 the Commission addressed the need for an international standard of identity for honey. What is honey? What is butter? Dairy farmers lost the word “butter” to the public domain when they kept letting margarine substitute for true butter. Because the dairy people did not define “What is butter,” the general public very seldom knows the difference between spread with “buttery taste” and butter. Therefore a “buttery taste spread” might also contain cream, canola oil, salt and Vitamin A Palmitate. This is NOT a labeling issue but rather a “What is butter” issue. Honey is having the same problem. Honey is a commodity and needs to be scientifically defined to protect honey producers and the public. A honey standard defines precisely “What is honey”. A standard defines honey by means of scientific analysis to establish moisture content and sugar content, thus ensuring the contents of a honey bottle. A honey standard should not be confused with a statement of identity on a label. Honey labeling laws already exist to stop deceptive wording on a label, such as “imitation honey”. They also require that if the word “honey” appears on the “label” then it must be “pure honey manufactured by honey bees.” However, the honey in the bottle can be PURE honey, but once in the bottle it could be just another ingredient of a “honey blend”. A honey standard specifically defines the product “honey”, thus increasing the strength of the labeling law. In Ohio, honey is defined in the Revised Code as 1) a food – article used for food or drink for humans or animals and 2) as the nectar and saccharine exudation of plants that has been gathered, modified, and stored in honeycomb by honeybees. Sounds good you say? How can you prove it is honey? No one can define honey by merely saying that it comes from bees. A scientific standard would specifically state what that substance is. Ohio’s definition could be improved, because it is inadequate for the 21st century. The definition needs to be more specific, in that it needs a method for determining honey from adulterated honey. We have gotten ourselves in the position of having to tell the consumer that our honey is “pure” or “raw” because there is no scientific definition of honey. The definition needs to include a scientific analysis standard. The National Honey Board (NHB) performed a survey, and came to this conclusion: “With a variety of blended sweeteners and “honey pretenders” being introduced into the market, consumer understanding of the meaning of the term “honey” is likely to erode. THUS, the codification of the food name “honey” is timely and sorely needed.” The NHB consumer survey in 2005 found consumers are “very confused” about what “honey” means in terms of the “food’s composition.” 42% believed that PURE honey contains additives and 17% believed honey contains added syrup. Even among the most frequent and dedicated honey users there is widespread confusion as to what ingredients might be found in a bottle of pure honey. Anywhere from 30-40% of frequent honey users believe that other sweeteners, water, or even oils are added to pure honey once it is extracted from the comb. continued on page 4
Page 4
Smoker Signals
A Honey Standard: Proposed Legislation (continued) Some of the beneficial consequences of a state honey standard are to: 1) increase the perception that honey is healthy and wholesome, 2) stop manufacturers from calling their product “honey something,” and 3) allow enforcement through the state. Go to bee-source.com and click on the “Wall of Shame.” We have allowed the word “honey” to go into the public domain where it is commonly used, yet many times contains little or no honey. The word is used to lure customers into believing that the product is nutritious and wholesome because when customers see “honey,” they automatically assume it is good for you and “natural.” Malcolm Sanford presented at the Ohio State Beekeeper 2008 annual meeting on actions in Florida to change their state’s honey standards and the movement to adopt standards on a state-by-state basis. In 2010 the Ohio State Beekeepers Association and the Central Ohio Beekeepers Association created a committee to draft a state honey standard for Ohio. In a Letter to the Editor in the January 2012 American Bee Journal, Nancy Gentry states that Florida, California, Wisconsin, Utah, and Nebraska now have standards of identity for honey with North Carolina recently adopting a state association standard. She continued to say that Texas, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Missouri, New York, Montana, Maryland, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Tennessee has the issue before their legislature or departments of agriculture while beekeepers in Georgia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts are working on the issue. Her statement about Ohio was a little premature. Since that article Ms. Gentry has stated that Minnesota, Nevada, Connecticut, Kansas, New Jersey and Arkansas are pursuing a standard also.
The following proposal was approved by both Ohio associations:
Standard of Identity – Honey
Ohio Draft Proposal
This standard applies to all honey produced by honey bees from nectar and covers all styles of honey presentation that are processed and ultimately intended for direct consumption and to all honey packed, processed or intended for sale in bulk containers as honey, that may be repacked for retail sale or for sale or use as an ingredient in other foods. “Honey” means the natural sweet substance produced by honeybees from the nectar of plants or from secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant sucking insects on the living parts of plants, which the bees collect, transform by combining with specific substances of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store, and leave in the honeycomb to ripen and mature. It consists essentially of different sugars, predominantly fructose and glucose as well as other substances such as organic acids, enzymes and solid particles derived from the foraging activities of the honey bee. The color of honey can vary from nearly colorless to dark brown. The consistency can be fluid, viscous, or partially to completely crystallized. The flavor and aroma vary, but are derived from the plant’s origin. Honey sold as such shall not have added to it any food additives, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey. It shall not have begun to ferment or effervesce and no pollen or constituent unique to honey may be removed except where unavoidable in the removal of foreign matter. Honey shall meet the following standards:
A Honey Standard: Proposed Legislation
Content – Honey shall not have a moisture content exceeding 20%. Continued on page 5
Volume 2, Issue 3
Page 5
A Honey Standard: Proposed Legislation (continued)
Honey shall contain
Not less than sixty percent (60%) fructose and glucose, combined.
The ratio of fructose to glucose shall be greater than 0.9.
Sucrose content shall not be greater than five percent (5%) (5g/100g).
Water insoluble solids content shall not be greater than 0.1g/100g.
No water may be added to honey in the course of extraction or packing for sale or resale as honey.
Name of the Food
Products conforming to the A Honey Standard: Proposed Legislation
honey.
Adulteration and Misbranding of Honey The following shall be prima facie evidence of adulteration under XXXXX or misbranding under XXXX of any product sold or offered for sale as honey:
The product has a maltose content in excess of 10%; or
The product contains oligosaccharides indicative of invert syrup; or
The absolute value of Carbon Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (CSIRA) is not more negative than -20.0 for the product; or
CSIRA Internal Standard Procedure with a protein value minus honey value is more negative than -1.0 for the product; or
The product fails to conform to the standard of identity stated in XXXX.
What can you do? Local associations need to get involved, passing resolutions in support of the Ohio Honey Standard. Another suggestion is to get as many people as you can to sign a petition to show Ohio beekeepers’ want a honey standard. Anyone who has friends in the legislature is urged to call them and see if they will sponsor a bill for an Ohio Honey Standard. Ohio needs a honey standard, and the committee believes the beekeepers of Ohio are willing to work to get it.
Comments may be sent to: ohiohoneystandard@gmail.com
COBA Officers President Terry Eddy cobapresident@hotmail.com Vice President Dan Wampler ddwampler@hotmail.com Past President Dana Stahlman stahlmanapiaries@aol.com Secretary Gail Walter gailwalter@columbus.rr.com Treasurer Barry Conrad barry@hiveandhoney.com Trustees through 2012 Nina Bagley ninabagley@me.com John George george706@gmail.com Bill Tolliver ELT1000@aol.com Trustees through 2013 Scott Taylor scott@beehavenacres.com Rod Pritchard rpritchard@coaaa.org Dwight Wells dwells85@woh.rr.com
Central Ohio Beekeepers Association: http://centralohiobeekeepers.org/
EAS Honey Show: You Can Do it Too ! Improve your Marketing Skills ; Enter a Show contributed by Anne Frey
How good are your honey, candles, mead, photos and baked goodies? Bring your efforts with you to EAS in Burlington and show them off! Have you ever had a customer tell you your honey was the best he had ever tasted? Are you proud of your candles? Join in with others this summer and strut a little. Don't worry if you're unsure of how to get ready to enter a Honey Show. The Honey Show Committee has made a new page on the EAS website. It includes everything from why not to use smoke when harvesting comb honey (tiny bits of soot end up on the comb surface) to how to transport your jars of liquid honey (not in a carryon bag on a plane). The education that is gathered together on the EAS Honey Show page has many uses. Learning to get hive products ready for a show is the same as learning how to prepare them for market. By investigating and using the material collected for you on the site, you'll develop skills that improve all your hive products. Just how are great candles made, including finishing the bottoms? How long should a bottling tank or bucket of honey be allowed to settle before you bottle? Not only will you learn to improve your products for market and for the EAS Honey Show, but it's also fun exhibiting at County Fairs, or State Beekeeping meetings. Check out the EAS website for this new Honey Show page and get answers to these and many other questions. There are contributions from former judges, as well as webinars from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, links to high quality websites, a list of the best books and more. The website could be used as part of a meeting, by connecting a laptop to a projector. If your club has someone who has judged shows, or enjoys entering shows, perhaps those people will give a presentation at a spring or summer meeting, and more members will enjoy entering the next competition. Be sure to read the rules carefully. I didn't before my first EAS show, and only brought one jar of honey for each class (three are needed). At our local County Fair, a new exhibitor was saddened to find she couldn't enter her honey because it had her own label on it. Later, I was so proud to see my entries among the others at another EAS show, and that teenage beekeeper won first place the next year at the fair. Learn more, have fun and let's bring our entries to EAS and show everyone what we've got! Remember, the EAS Short Course and Conference will be held August 13-17 in Burlington, VT.