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| Steven Bernard, owner, shows and tells about his honey bee business |
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| Participants explore bee hives |
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| Bee yard demonstration |
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| Indoor presentation |
Baton
Rouge, La. – More than 30 current and budding honey bee enthusiasts from diverse
Louisiana parishes convened at the Breaux Bridge Extension Office on October 16
to learn about the challenges and opportunities in honey bee-keeping. The goal
of the training was to mitigate against recent bee loss in the state. The
discussions centered on colony collapse disorder, mites, pesticides,
management, seed treatment and diseases. Sebe Brown, LSU area agent taught on
the topic of pollinator protection. Following the presentation, participants
traveled to Bernard’s Apiaries for bee yard live demonstration and honey facility
operation tour led by Steven Bernard, owner. This was followed by a panel
discussion by LSU entomologist/assistant professor, Kristen Healy; LSU extension
entomologist, Dennis Ring; and Allen Fabre, Louisiana Dept. of Agriculture and
Forestry.
Some
suggested solutions included seed treatment with neonicotinoids and effective communication
with all partners involved in spraying cultivated fields with chemicals that
may impact the lives of bees.
One
participants stated, “This training really opened my eyes to the relationship
between bees and farming. Bees are not just for honey production but also for crop pollination. I never thought of honey
bees in that way before.”
All
trainees received resource information on bees, wasps, and other stinging
creatures. Two potential bee keepers won starter kits as door prices and
parting gifts.
The
training was coordinated by DeLane Ross, SU Ag Center extension agent, St.
Martin and Iberia Parishes, and sponsored by LSU AgCenter and Sustainable Agriculture
Research & Education (SARE). Also from the SU Ag Center, Mila Berhane,
senior research associate coordinated the SARE funding and participated in the
training alongside Stephanie Elwood, extension associate.
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