Beekeeping – Xoven Agricultor

How to get started in Apico

Sherri Flowers — Wed, 08 Jun 2022 20:58:00 +0000

When it comes to relaxing simulation games, few come close to the warm and soothing atmosphere of Apico, the first beekeeper and beekeeping simulator. Inspired by the Forestry Minecraft mod, Apico lets you live out your bee-related dreams.

RELATED: Apico Is A Sweet Farming Simulator Full Of Bees

Although the job teaches you the basics well, the multitude of bee puns and the amount of stuff you need to learn can seem a bit overwhelming for newbie beekeepers. Although there are no time pressure elements on Apico, it can be reassuring to go there with some practical advice in your pocket and some strategies to use.

GAME VIDEO OF THE DAY

Seriously, read the guides

Apico does an amazing job of teaching you everything you need to know about the game, and it does that through the guides you’ll acquire in the first hour or so of play. The Grandfather’s Guide is the most important – it will teach you how to become a beekeeper through a series of short quests. You learn by Do in Apico.

And there is a plot learn.

Always remember to claim your rewards each time you complete a quest!

The other three guides consist of manuals and a map. Almanac of Beelia will teach you everything you need to know about the different bee species – but only once you’ve acquired one at least once. You will have information on their temperament, their products, their conservation status and even the hybrid species they can create.

Folio of the Abbot is your flower guide. In Apico, flowers can affect the bees that visit them, sometimes modifying their behavior. The Folio will tell you how to crossbreed flowers to create new hybrids with new effects.

The final guide is Captain’s card. Unfortunately, you’ll have to fill it in yourself as you explore the world, but it’s a handy reference book that also shows you in-game NPC locations.

Apiaries Vs. Hives

An easy mistake to make in the first hour of play is finding out that you can keep bees in hives, then assuming that you can start filling your almanac with hybrids made inside hives. It’s not true.

Only bees that breed inside apiaries will have a chance of producing a hybrid. To create a basic apiary, you will need to use ten honeycombs, ten wooden planks, and ten logs on your workbench.

If you use infused wood planks instead, you will create an advanced apiary. This has more slots than a regular apiary – three slots versus seven slots.

To get infused wooden planks, combine wooden planks and resin in an infuser.

You can also keep bees inside a shotter. Swarmers have more bee slots – nine exit slots in total – but they don’t have frame slots and don’t drop items. In apiaries, bees will also produce items when they reproduce.

Although you cannot produce hybrid bees in a hive, bees that breed here will gradually produce honeycombs – which is needed to craft frames for you to use in your apiaries. Having both apiaries and a few Beehvies active at all times is a great way to manage your beekeeping setup.

Skip time and teleport

There are two pieces of furniture you can use in Apico to To fastforward time – the bench and the bed. You can build a bench quite early in the game, but beds will come later.

When you’re sitting on a bench, time speeds up a bit. It speeds up a lot more when you’re in bed.

You can also use benches to move quickly. You have a very generous range to interact with items and tools, and that includes benches. When you use a bench, you’ll be instantly transported to its location – you can take advantage of this by building chains of benches around your farm and using them to move around in a snap.

Use Beeboxes to store unwanted bees

You will very quickly find yourself with too many bees. It only takes a few bee-keeping sessions before your pockets are overflowing with critters, and hives are the solution to this problem.

You can create bee boxes at the workbench by combining a basic apiary, a large crate, and honeycomb. When you place a bee in an empty beebox, you configure the beebox to only accept bees of that variety – and that includes hybrids.

The rule for putting hybrids in a beebox depends on the dominant half of the hybrid. Let’s say you have a Forest Beebox and a Verdant Beebox and have created hybrids in your apiary. You will be able to place Forest-Verdant Bees inside the Forest Beebox and Verdant-Forest Bees inside the Verdant Beebox.

Use flowers early and often

Flowers are used in Apico to affect your bees. Higher level flowers will provide buffs to any bees they are planted near and can be used strategically to improve your production and the quality of life of your bees.

You can check which flowers will be within range of your apiaries by checking the white circle around them when you open the interface.

To get new flowers, you’ll need to do some crossbreeding – luckily it’s a simpler process than with bees:

First, find out which flowers you will have to come across. In this example, we’ll be using the Honeyrose and the Beekeeper’s Delight, two flowers you can find early in the game. When mated, these flowers can produce Goldenrod seeds.
Plant these two flowers near an apiary – note that it must be an apiary for this to work, not a beehive.
Raise bees in this apiary and place a frame inside. The frame will eventually fill with products.
Use a uncap to uncap the frame, then process the unmasked frame in a centrifuge as per usual.
Frame products must contain goldenrod seeds.

Certain flowers are necessary to calm some grumpy bees, as they only react to certain smells. Fill out your Folio as soon as possible so you have access to everything.

Remember to pick the flowers you harvest to register them in your Folio! Planting the seeds is only half the job.

How to earn enough money to buy the boat

Eventually, you’ll complete enough tasks for Skipper to allow you to buy him a boat. This will cost you 200 rubies, which is a lot when most things you get early in the game sell for a single ruby or sometimes less.

From afar the best way to make money in the early game is to make Apicola and sell it. Each bottle of Apicola sells for 15 rubies, so you only need to make 14 bottles of them to buy the ship – and you can also sell the special products obtained from frames filled in the centrifuge to increase this income.

Apicola is made by fermenting honey with water. Here’s how:

Make a rain tank and place it outside. It will collect water when it rains.
Obtain juicer honey each time you process an uncapped image.
Make a fermenter and some wooden cans.
Use cartridges to transfer the water and honey to the fermenter. This will create Apicola!
Buy bottles at Skipper – they only cost one Rubee each. Also, buy a bottlerit costs 100 rupees.
- That’s a lot of money to collect – though, you should be able to make it with the goods crafted by higher level bees! Keep raising and crafting frames.
Transfer the Apicola to the bottler with the filled canisters and place your bottles there as well. They will gradually fill up and become salable bottles of Apicola.

Remember that you fill the frames by placing them inside an apiary while the bees are breeding and uncorking them with a bottle opener.

Consider forced mutations

Tucked away in the Accessibility menu of the Settings menu is the option to force mutations. There “Hybrid offspring always mutate” The option will do exactly what it says – when breeding bees, hybrids will always have some kind of mutation, and you can use it to reduce the time it takes to get the mutations you’re looking for.

Without it, mutations and new hybrids will sometimes (and probably) take a while to occur.

This will make it particularly fast elevate unwanted traitslike the growl.

Experiment with the other options available to you in this menu: being able to walk in trees saves you a lot of time when you have more than enough wood for your needs, and there are even options for visual accessibility and to skip the mini-game that some tools require. .

NEXT: Stardew Valley: Bee Houses Guide

British Columbia bees face growing threat from deadly virus carried by mite

Sherri Flowers — Tue, 07 Jun 2022 03:53:57 +0000

A variant of a virus that attacks the shape of bees’ wings is spreading rapidly across Canada, causing beekeepers in British Columbia to lose entire colonies.

All over the world, colonies of bees are being devastated by a mite, smaller than your little fingernail, carrying a deadly virus.

The deformed wing virus (DWV), first detected in 1982 and transmitted by varroa mites, deforms the wings of a bee so that it cannot leave its colony to feed. The virus can spread rapidly through colonies, often leading to mass starvation as fewer bees are able to leave and return with food.

A recent study on the spread of the highly transmissible variant of DWV-B suggests that the growth of infections worldwide has led to increased colony loss rates in temperate regions.

Professor Leonard Foster, senior academic bee researcher at the University of British Columbia’s BeeHIVE research group, said the virus has been prevalent in Canada since bee mortality nearly tripled in 2007.

“Since DWV-B spread across the country, we’ve seen higher than historical bee losses in all provinces, including British Columbia,” Foster said.

Although DWV is not the only virus transmitted by varroa mites, Foster said DWV variants A and B are certainly the most common.

“The two main variants of deformed wing virus are probably the biggest bee health problem that is also linked to varroa mites,” he said.

According to Foster, the most dangerous type of transmission from a mite to a bee occurs when the mite attaches itself to an egg or larva.

“If an adult is infected, basically there’s no effect on the bee,” Foster said. “But if an egg or a larva is infected, then the virus causes a malfunction in the development of the wings.”

Symptoms can range from a slightly deformed wing, to a residual or non-functional wing, to no wing at all, Foster explained.

Beekeepers lose bees and money

The ever-increasing spread of the virus in British Columbia is not only killing bees, but also collapsing beekeepers’ livelihoods. Foster said while beekeepers have been able to stay afloat in recent years, the continued spread of DWV and other viruses is making it increasingly difficult to earn a living.

“As more and more beekeepers decide to retire from the business because there are too many of these threats to bee health for them to maintain a viable business, that will mean less and less ‘bees,’ he said.

Professor Robert Paxton, co-author of the recent study into the spread of the DWV-B variant, said in an emailed statement that beekeepers are likely to experience greater colony losses this year than in the past.

Paxton wrote that beekeepers need to become increasingly vigilant to control the spread of Varroa, especially during the winter months.

Preventive measures

So how do beekeepers fight to keep DWV out of their colonies? It depends on time, resources and ethics, Foster said.

“There is no equivalent of a vaccine in bees against viruses,” he said. “The only mechanism beekeepers have is to control varroa mites, the vector that moves the virus between colonies.”

While the most effective preventative measures include constant monitoring and the use of chemicals, Foster said some beekeepers prefer not to use chemicals and will use alternative measures.

These alternative measures may include freezing male bee larvae, which are considered more palatable to mites than female larvae, to kill the mites, and dousing the bees in icing sugar, which forces the mites to detach. bees.

Despite growing concern about DWV and the global spread of its B variant, Foster said it’s important to remember that bee health is much more complex than just this virus.

“This DWV-B is certainly not the only problem bees face.”

7 Times Angelina Jolie Was The Ultimate Humanitarian!

Sherri Flowers — Sun, 05 Jun 2022 04:58:14 +0000

Angelina Jolie turns 47 today! To celebrate the feminist’s generous work, we’ve compiled a list of seven times she used her platform to make a positive difference in this chaotic world.

Hollywood icon Angelina Jolie is known for more than her on-screen work! She began to embrace philanthropic work in the early 2000s and continues to this day. The accomplished actress has donated to countless causes and charities, started a foundation, and spent decades traveling the world to help those in need. To celebrate her birthday this year, here are seven times Angelina Jolie became an activist.

Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

The UNHCR is an organization that Jolie has invested much of her time in as a goodwill ambassador. She was promoted to diplomat in 2010 when she traveled to Peru and Colombia toh visit venezuelan refugees and carried out nearly 60 field missions. She quickly became an influential spokesperson for refugee advocacy and even met the Colombian president Ivan Duque in 2019 to discuss his concerns about 20,000 Venezuelan children who were at risk of being left without a nationality. Also in 2019, she spent three days in Bangladesh hoping to raise $920 million for Rohingya refugees in the country for the largest refugee camp. If you would like to find out more or help raise awareness, please visit the official UNHCR website below.

Help for Afghan refugees

In 2001, Jolie donated $1 million to UN refugee relief in Afghanistan, then traveled to the country for the first time in October 2008 to better understand some of the family’s living situations and to ensure that basic human needs were being met, particularly as the crisis approached. ‘winter. Jolie also took note of the limited space in the villages due to a high population rate and lack of economic opportunities. Ten years later, in 2011, Jolie offered a large donation to build a school for girls in Qalai Gudar, a village in the Shomali plain, after more refugees began returning to Afghanistan. She used earnings from her jewelry line, Styled by Jolie, to fund the school and in 2012 the school was completed north of Kabul, the country’s capital. The girls’ school has approximately 450 students as well as nine teachers and the location was chosen specifically because it is in an area where female education has not always been a priority. Visit the UNHCR website for more ways to help.

The Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation

Jolie adopted her son, Maddox, from Cambodia in 2002 after filming her action movie, grave robber. Taking inspiration from the country, Jolie started the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation in 2003, which specifically focuses on improving poor rural villages in Cambodia, in addition to preserving wildlife and protecting the environment. By 2006, the foundation had expanded to focus on other social causes related to education, gender equality, and health care. According to Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation site, at-risk families can access basic health and education necessities with the help of the MJP. Jolie also received Cambodian citizenship in 2003, bestowed on her by King Norodom Sihamoni for her conservation work.

Council on Foreign Relations

In 2007, Jolie joined the Council on Foreign Relations as a member to give people a better understanding of the world’s foreign policies and international relations. The purpose of this independent, non-partisan organization is to discuss, research and analyze foreign policy and start conversations about these important decisions. In 2008 she spoke in New York on international law and justice, see part of her speech below.

Stand up against sexual violence in war zones

Jolie has spent years discussing warzone rape and how to stop it. In 2013, she appeared before the United Nations Security Council at UN Headquarters in New York to explain why sexual violence is a top priority around the world. Jolie was also co-chair of the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict in 2014, an event hosted in London by the UK government. She opened the four-day event with a speech which can be found below. In addition to this, Jolie spoke out against war zone sexual violence during a press conference at Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh on February 5, 2019. She addressed the intergovernmental organization, the United Nations, on why we need to protect people, especially women. and young girls against sexual violence. She mentioned how important it is to her that these perpetrators are held accountable and how there needs to be better monitoring procedures in place to prevent these happenings.

Speeches from the 2014 World Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict:

Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary

In 2017 Jolie opened the Shiloh Wildlife Sanctuary in Namibia. His daughter Shiloh, was born in Namibia, which inspired the location of the sanctuary. The sanctuary was started by the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation with the help of the Naankuse Foundation and the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Namibia. The sanctuary was designed to help and care for injured and orphaned rhinos and elephants who were victims of poaching. The sanctuary includes enclosures, crates and veterinary equipment as well as veterinarians on site at all times. The animals in this sanctuary will be seen until they are ready to return to their original place of origin. As well as helping rhinos and elephants, the sanctuary currently cares for baboons, monkeys, meerkats, lions, leopards, caracals and wild dogs. To learn more or find ways to help, check out the official Naankuse website below.

Women for bees

The Women for Bees program was developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, otherwise known as the UNESCO at promote female entrepreneurship. The organization has created a five-year program to build 2,500 hives and repopulate 125 million bees by 2025 in addition to training and support 50 women beekeepers. According to the UNESCO website, ‘50 participants from 25 biosphere reserves of the World Network of Biosphere Reserves will share their knowledge within this new network of beekeepers and learn the theoretical and practical bases of sustainable beekeeping. Participants will have the opportunity to become fully professional beekeeper-entrepreneurs and become members of an international network of women beekeepers. A key part of why UNESCO has partnered with Jolie and the French cosmetics brand, Guerlain is to improve the incomes of disadvantaged communities that cannot produce crops. In doing so, it will generate a continuous flow of income to rural areas where agricultural production is minimized and improve food security by using sustainable harvesting techniques.

Jolie has mentioned in numerous interviews that she didn’t want to be remembered for her acting, but for the philanthropic work she did instead. She has used her fame for good by positively impacting so many in need, and has consistently proven herself as a humanitarian. We hope Jolie has a fantastic birthday; she deserves it!

🌱 Concord Daily: It’s all happening June 3

Sherri Flowers — Fri, 03 Jun 2022 09:34:38 +0000

Hello again, friends. It’s Friday in Concord and I’m back in your inbox to keep you up to date on all the big stuff happening locally.

First, today’s weather forecast:

Cloudy with showers around. High: 66 Low: 50.

Here are the top stories at Concord today:

Investigators: Toyota SUV owner not a suspect in Concord homicide case (Concord Patch)
New Hampshire AG closes investigation into use of force at men’s prison (WMUR Manchester)
Vehicle wanted in connection with the Concord, New Hampshire murders (WCVB Boston)
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of the repeal of NH’s pre-Roe anti-abortion laws (InDepthNH.org)
Update on Homicide Cases; Suspicious death near Porta-Potty: PM Patch NH (Concord Patch)
John Paul Obituary (1938 – 2022) – Dover, NH – Concord Monitor (Legacy.com)
Chichester man charged with impaired driving, opens container in Concord: Police Diary (Concord Patch)
WMURs Tom Griffith Retires + Balcony Vegetables + Pappas PFAS Bill (Patch)
SUV owner and driver wanted for questioning in Concord homicide case (Concord Patch)
NH candidates flock to file on day one; Morse will run against Hassan (Eagle-Tribune)
Books, Paperbacks, Ephemera + New Pappas PFAS Bill + Open House (Patch)
See 5 new homes on the market in the Concord area (Concord Patch)
New Hampshire Attorney General Joins Fight Against Youth Suicide | News Releases (NH Department of Justice)
Concord Weather Forecast for the Weekend Ahead (Concord Patch)
This weekend’s Concord events: Book Fair; Blood collect; Music; More (Concord patch)
Child sex abuser fails to return to NH halfway house: NH DOC (Patch Concord)
Exeter Daily: sports update; Music notes; Fugitive captured; More (Patch)

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Today in Concord:

Northern New England Book Fair (4:00 p.m.)
Author Visit – Congressman Jamie Raskin (11:00 a.m.)
WMUR Statewide Community Blood Drive (12:00 PM)
High Street Coffee House with Richard D. Lewis (7:00 p.m.)

From my notebook:

Concord NH Police Department: “Attorney General John M. Formella and Concord Police Chief Bradley Osgood announce that investigators are seeking to identify and speak with the owner and/or operator of the vehicle depicted in the attached images and described further…” (Concord NH Police Department via Facebook)
Visit Concord, New Hampshire: “Concord has a brand new queer and hipster café! Welcome to Downtown, Teatotaller. =DailyNewslett…” (Visit Concord, NH via Facebook)
New Hampshire Lottery: “X marks the spot of Louis Carrier of Allenstown, who scratched a full X on the $3 Cash Line Bingo scratch ticket and won $50,000! Big shout out to Louis and Double Decker Convenience at Suncook, who sold the winning ticket!” (New Hampshire Lottery via Facebook)
Concord NH Police Department: “Come see us at the Brothers’ Cortado on Friday, June 10, 2022 from 9-11 a.m. for coffee with a cop! Hope to see you there! #brotherscortado #coffeewithacop #police #newhamp…” (Concord NH Police Dept. through facebook)
Concord Public Library: “Happy June, Concord! This week the library has transitioned to our summer hours. To celebrate, today’s #ThrowbackThursday is a photo of our Fosterville summer branch, dated 1905 #tbt #localhistory #librariesofinstagram #archivesofinstagram #hi…” (Concord Public Library via Instagram)
Concord Young Professionals Network: “Have you ever tried the boba at Teatotaller?!” (Concord Young Professionals Network via Facebook)
Concord Women’s Club: “Please consider donating to the Woman’s Club of Concord via NH Gives. NHGIVES.org June 7-8, 5:00-5:00 p.m. Thank you! improve live…” (Woman’s Club of Concord via Facebook)
City of Concord, New Hampshire: “Friends of the Merrimack River Greenway Trail (FMRGT), in cooperation with the City of Concord, will be hosting a cornfield trail cleanup on Saturday, June 4 at 1 p.m. Merrimack River Greenway Trail – MRGT” (City of Concord, New Hampshire through facebook)
New Hampshire Audubon: “We look forward to celebrating New Hampshire Gives next week. We are even more excited to share that thanks to the generosity of two long-time NH Audubon supporters, your donation can have twice the impact! All donations will be paired d…” (New Hampshire Audubon via Facebook)
Greater Concord Chamber of Commerce: “Check out our June events! Business Showcase is a local trade show and our biggest networking event of the year: https://bit.ly/AttendBusinessS… Policy Roundtable with Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire : . ..” (Grand Concord Chamber of Commerce via Facebook)
Future in sight: “We love seeing the smiles on the faces of our Silver Retreat participants as they graduate from the program! If you or a loved one are interested in participating, we are accepting applications for our FREE retreat September 13-17… (Future in sight via Facebook)
In downtown Concord: “Thank you to our AMAZING Gold Sponsors for supporting us at the 48th Annual Market Day Festival! We couldn’t accomplish so much without your commitment to the downtown community! Capitol Center for the Arts City of Concord, New Hamps …” (Intown Concord via Facebook)
Concord Young Professionals Network: “Check out some free workshops! Business Showcase tickets are just $8 and include admission to this range of professional development sessions, delicious food, door prizes and more! We’ll have a booth at the event, so come see us.” (Concord Young Professionals Network via Facebook)
NAMI New Hampshire: “If your day needs a dose of supreme sweetness, join Leah for our final story hour with NAMI NH, where you’ll meet Gizmo the Therapy Dog and enjoy an all-ages look at #mentalhealth. ” (NAMI New Hampshire via Facebook)
NH Sierra Club Chapter: “Hey!! Good news in a tough week. We hope Casella’s next app is in a more appropriate place – NOT a sandbox. #WaterProtectors NH Department of Environmental Services Jon Swan North Country Alliance for Balanced Change” ( NH Sierra Club Chapter via Facebook)
NH Capital Region Beekeepers: “Did you know that bee inspectors from New England and New York meet every two months during beekeeping season to discuss current beekeeping topics and provide updates on what’s going on in their states ? Everyone can participate !” (NH Capital Region Beekeepers via Facebook)
ConcordTV: “June means we’re in school awards season! Concord Regional Technical Center – CRTC Comp Night:

Concord High School Award

(skip at 10:25 a.m.)” (Concord TV via Facebook)
NAMI New Hampshire: “Thursday, June 9, 4:00 p.m. NAMI Ask the Expert – The AAP and AFSP Plan for Youth Suicide Prevention: Opportunities to Support the Youth and Family Registry: https://nami-org.zoom.us/ webin…Suicide and…” (NAMI New Hampshire via Facebook)
New Hampshire Audubon: “The results of this year’s #BigDayInMay are in! For the third year in a row, NH Audubon hosted the Spring Birding Event. Check out what reporters found and the full species list for 2022:” ( New Hampshire Audubon via Facebook)
City of Concord, New Hampshire: “The Finance Committee will meet again tonight to continue consideration of the Fiscal Year 2023 Budget: Community Development, Recreation Services, Social Services and Capital Improvement Program. The meeting begins at 5:30 p.m. council. The meeting…” (Town of Concord, New Hampshire via Facebook)
The New Hampshire Higher Education Assistance Foundation Network: “Check out our 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗼𝗼𝗹, a new digital experience for families to prepare for the long-term costs of college via and better understand your return on investment for a specific college Foundation… Facebook)
New Futures: “UPDATE: This event has been CANCELED ” (New Futures via Facebook)
Next door neighbor, south end: “Raw local honey and wax – $12 a pound for honey $16 a pound for wax” (Nextdoor)

More from our sponsors – please support the local news!

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You’re all caught up for today! I’ll see you in your inbox tomorrow with a new update.

— Tony Schinella

About me: Award-winning journalist for Patch in NH (off and on) since May 2011. Locations: Amherst, Concord, Exeter, Hampton-North Hampton, Londonderry, Merrimack, Milford, Portsmouth, Windham. Email: [email protected] LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/an…

James W. Roessler | Obituary

Sherri Flowers — Wed, 01 Jun 2022 05:00:00 +0000

James W. Roessler, 92, died Friday, May 27, 2022, in Evansville, Ind.

Born September 30, 1929 in Fulda, Ind., he was the son of the late Vernon and Meta (Druschel) Roessler. He married JoAnn Griepenstroh on August 26, 1951.

James was a Navy veteran during the Korean conflict and a retired operations manager of the Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Company (SIGECO).

He was a member of Trinity United Church of Christ of Fulda, Ind., Reed Masonic Lodge 316 and Hadi Shrine in Evansville. He was a Kentucky colonel, ham radio operator, and enjoyed gardening, DIY, beekeeping, and storytelling.

Survivors include his wife, JoAnn (Griepenstroh) Roessler; one daughter, Patricia (Mark) Peterson of Chicago, Illinois; one son, Ron (Gerianne) Roessler of Indianapolis, Ind.; sisters, Virginia Polster of Santa Claus and Elsa Duncan of Gainsville, Florida; his grandchildren, JP Hus, Steven (Megan) Hus and Meghann Roessler; great-grandchildren, Gracen, Owen and Logan; as well as several nieces and nephews.

Besides his parents, he is predeceased by a brother, Richard.

The funeral was held Tuesday, May 31 at Trinity United Church of Christ in Fulda, Ind., with Pastor Derek Roe officiating. Interment took place at Trinity United Church of Christ Cemetery.

Visitation was on Monday, May 30 and at the funeral home on Tuesday. Reed Masonic Lodge 316 had service Monday night.

Memorial contributions may be made to Trinity United Church of Christ of Fulda, IN and the Shriner Children’s Hospital.

Condolences can be left online at zoerchergillick funerairehome.com.

The Recorder – Let it grow: Area homeowners grow lawns for pollinators as part of No Mow May initiative

Sherri Flowers — Mon, 30 May 2022 14:21:17 +0000

Published: 05/30/2022 10:07:34

GREENFIELD — Think of it as the Movember for your lawn.

But instead of growing a mustache in November to raise awareness for men’s health, it’s about growing your garden in May to provide food for pollinators when they come out of hibernation. It’s called No Mow May, and the conservation initiative popularized by UK charity Plantlife is gaining traction on this side of the pond.

Greenfield resident Jeff Sautter is up to the challenge, letting his lawn on Ferrante Avenue grow wild for bees and other pollinating species. A middle school science teacher in Athol, he came across information about No Mow May on the Bee City USA website, an initiative of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

“I would love a lawn but, on the other hand, I think it’s a small sacrifice to make…for the pollinators that we rely on,” he said.

Sautter said three-quarters of flowering plants need pollinators to reproduce, and about 35% of the food Americans eat depends on pollination.

“I’m a science teacher, so I know we’re in this great mass extinction with what humans are doing to the planet,” he said. “And insects are in peril.”

Sautter said he plans to eventually mow and plant pollinator-friendly shrubs. He lives on avenue Ferrante with his children Vivienne, 11, and Esmé, 9.

Kay Lyons and her husband Rick Roy, who live on Chapman Street, mowed their lawn for the first time this season on May 26. She said the grass and flowers grew 14 inches.

“We were glad we did. We saw more rabbits and a few garden snakes and such,” Lyons said. “I felt a little guilty when we mowed.”

Lyons said he had heard of No Mow May, but learned more about its benefits to pollinators while serving drinks and handing out literature at the Greenfield Bee Fest on May 22. Bee Fest celebrates the legacy of Lorenzo Langstroth, the “Father of American Beekeeping” and a pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield.

Nancy Hazard, a member of Greening Greenfield, a group of citizens concerned with building a more resilient and sustainable Greenfield, lives in Spring Terrace and participates in No Mow May.

“Once you mow your lawn, your lawn is like a food desert for pollinators,” she said. “The tricky part is you want to be sure you can still mow it, that your mower can handle it.”

Hazard said she decided to mow part of her lawn which was getting too thick, although the other part “looks pretty amazing”.

“It has been fascinating. The beauty of my lawn and what has come out over the past month has been quite mesmerizing,” she said. “I will definitely do it again.”

More information is available online at bit.ly/3lUgPNj and bit.ly/3tpcmXd.

Contact Domenic Poli at: [email protected] or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.

Lou Ann welcomes 30,000 visitors | Columnists

Sherri Flowers — Sat, 28 May 2022 04:00:00 +0000

I had a few visitors this week. Oh sure, lots of Airbnb and cyclists and friends come to see us. However, these visitors were different! They all came at the same time and decided to spend the night in one of my trees. Yes, 30,000 bees came to call. Of course, it didn’t look like 30,000 bees, because they were grouped together in a nice swarming oval shape in my crabapple tree! Aaron said, “Don’t worry mom, they’re going to send scouts to find their real new home.” They only hang around for a few days. »

I am definitely not opposed to bees! My shelves are full of local honey, and I know how important they are to all of us! According to the FDA, bees give us all these products: honey, pollen, royal jelly, beeswax, propolis and venom. The term “busy as a bee” takes on new meaning when we do a little research. Bees pollinate crops, driving up the agricultural market by around $15 million! Think about that…all that from that little bee.

I know all of this. I know they don’t mean to sting me…or anyone. Yet there are about 30,000 hanging over my garden. I tried tiptoeing, but that still didn’t convince me to go to the garden!

A quick phone call to Carolyn (who, along with her son, Mark, is an excellent beekeeper), and she knew exactly what to do. It wasn’t until a few minutes later that she called to say that Dick Lash, a beekeeper, was coming to take a look. By the time I hung up the phone, Dick was already looking forward to checking out my bees. We strolled (on tiptoe?) around the garden to have a look. The look on his face is the same one I get at Monument Pizza when Jonny pulls out a coconut pie. Seriously. He thought the swarm was beautiful, and it really was. He asked me if I had a ladder. I should have one, but I don’t have so many that he went home to get his ladder.

Dick was back in a flash, and I followed him into the garden. He set up the ladder and began to climb. I stopped him, “Don’t you need your veil or beekeeping clothes?” I asked him. He just shook his head for me to keep my phone in my hand ready to dial 911 anytime. He came back down, got a box of bees from his truck and carried it up the ladder. Yet, without his beekeeping clothes, he shook off the swarm with the hope that they would fall into the box taking their queen with them. Still, my phone was jammed in my hand, ready to call for help. However, none were needed. He came back down and we both stood watching the miracle of 30,000 bees as they slowly descended into their new home. Bees were flying everywhere. After a while Dick came back up and, with a soft brush, swept some of the bees from the box into the hive.

After an hour, the bees had settled into their new home. They had to persuade their queen that it would be a nice place to live. Dick went up and down the hive and put it in my garden to wait for nightfall to bring them home. He was delighted to have a new hive. I was thrilled they had a new home! We were there under the apple tree chatting about bees and honey. I so admired Dick’s stories, knowledge and bravery with bees. Of course, I curiously wondered why they chose my yard, but again, it’s kinda cute. I loved listening to his beekeeping stories and his kindness in answering all my questions.

Finally, it was time to say “goodbye” to my personal bee rescuer. After Dick left, I kept a close eye on the hive hoping they would live a happy and productive life. As night fell, Dick returned to take them home. He will feed them sugar water and move them into their permanent home in a few weeks.

Thank you, Dick, for getting my bees back! We are all grateful!

“To make a meadow, you need a clover and a bee,

A clover and a bee.

And reverie.

Daydreaming alone will do,

If the bees are few.

Emily Dickinson

Lou Ann Homan Saylor lives in Angola in the White Picket Gardens where you can find her gardening or writing late at night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, teacher, writer, actress, and porch story collector. She can be reached at [email protected].

Bee charity wins silver at Chelsea Flower Show

Sherri Flowers — Thu, 26 May 2022 06:02:05 +0000

Bees for Development, the Monmouth-based beekeeping charity, won a silver medal at this year’s RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, for its ‘Hives for Lives’ display sponsored by Rowse Honey.

Winning silver at the event which opened to the public yesterday adds to their medal chest after securing a silver in 2019 and a bronze in 2021.

In line with the show’s overall theme of drawing attention to sustainable approaches to key issues, the ‘Hives for Lives’ exhibition aims to raise awareness of the life-changing power of bees to address poverty and biodiversity issues.

Designed in collaboration with garden designer Sarah Mihalop and built by EH Thorne (Beehives), the exhibit is beautiful and theatrical, incorporating plantings, materials and an overall feel that resonates with the tropical landscape inhabited by many people supported by Bees for Development and the “Hives for Lives” partnership with Rowse Honey.

“We are delighted to have received this prestigious silver award,” said Dr Nicola Bradbear, director and founder of the charity Bees for Development.

“Our exhibition this year allows us to show in an engaging way how central nature-based beekeeping plays a central role in giving people and the planet a better future.

“Our partnership with Rowse Honey and the Hives for Lives program has had wonderful results in Ethiopia,” explained Dr Bradbear, “and this stand is a celebration of the results we can achieve when we work together. We look forward to continuing our partnership in the future.

“We are very proud to sponsor the Bees for Development Hives For Lives garden and are delighted that the team has won a well-deserved silver medal,” said Kirstie Jamieson, Director of Marketing at Rowse Honey.

“Our partnership with Bees for Development has helped hundreds of local community members escape extreme poverty through beekeeping and reforest almost 100 hectares of land.

“We are excited to see what the future holds for this inspiring charity.”

Visitors to the stand this year are also invited to enter a free raffle to win a year’s supply of Rowse honey and a UK-based course of their choice from Bees for Development.

Column: Local beekeeper is part of a global mission to save bees

Sherri Flowers — Tue, 24 May 2022 12:30:24 +0000

Normally, it would never cross my mind to write about World Bee Day. But that was before I spoke to Hilary Kearney, a beekeeper from National City.

To clarify, she’s not an accountant, as some mistakenly thought at first mention. She is a beekeeper, and she gives the profession a certain panache.

After creating her Instagram page using her business name – @girlnextdoorhoney – Kearney became an Insta hit and her popularity soared to over 100,000 followers in a fairly short time. You see, in addition to beekeeper education, she shares fun facts about bees.

Did you know that: bees fly up to five kilometers from their hive to collect pollen; prefer flowering trees to garden flowers; devote each trip to a single type of bloom and are able to recognize patterns and colors. Scientists have taught bees to choose a Picasso work from among Monet’s paintings, Kearney explains.

Amazingly, a worker bee only lives six weeks and produces seven drops of honey in its lifetime.

She is about to publish her third book – strictly about bees, not birds. She blogs. She teaches (before the pandemic shutdown, she taught beekeeping, and more, through the UC San Diego extension).

It supervises beginner beekeepers. She removes unwanted hives from the properties of distressed residents. She manages people’s backyard hives and larger colonies at corporate sites and public institutions, including the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Museum of Natural History.

Kearney compares himself to a traveling pool cleaner. But instead of checking pools, she drives around the county checking more than 60 bee colonies and visiting them at least once a month.

Don’t expect to see her always in the traditional white beekeeper’s astronaut-like costume. She’s a bit of a bee fashionista.

She changes it up, wearing beekeeper clothes created with colorful fabrics and whimsical patterns of flowers and bees, just as medical workers brightened up their drab hospital scrubs.

To keep up with demand, she recently had to build a shipping shed in her backyard where she could handle orders for books, clothing and other beekeeping accessories that she sells online.

But I digress. May 20 was officially World Bee Day. This may not resonate with everyone, but it’s sacred to Comvita, a company that bottles New Zealand’s highly prized Manuka honey. Bees make honey from the pollen of manuka trees, known for their medicinal properties.

Comvita has set a goal of saving 10 million bees worldwide this year, double the number it pledged to save in 2021 when the campaign launched. He again enlisted Kearney this year, along with seven other professional beekeepers, to help him in his rescue mission.

“Climate problems have been killing bees at a staggering rate for several years. A 50% decline in bee colonies in the United States has negatively impacted our ecosystem and the global food supply,” according to a statement from Comvita’s North American base in Santa Barbara.

This decline is fueled by several factors: climate change, loss of food due to weather and habitat changes, viruses, parasites, pesticides and forest fires. Comvita therefore targets wild hives at risk and relocates them to places where they can thrive.

Kearney is a pro at removing and moving hives. She averages 60 to 90 colony relocations a year, but plans 20 more this year for the Comvita rescue project.

She doesn’t just move the hives to a more hospitable location. She transfers them to the properties of her colleagues, friends and students, and monitors them for at least a year to ensure that each hive and its queen bee thrives.

Over the years, Kearney has been called upon to move beehives under sheds and roofs. She has also been tasked with removing them from hollow garden statues, the inside of a boat hull, a jet ski, outdoor furniture and compost bins. In October, she pulled one out of a ceramic Halloween pumpkin. She also removed bees about to colonize in the tower of the Museum of Man in Balboa Park.

Was she bitten? Hundreds of times. In fact, she says her body is now nearly immune to bee stings. She wears protective gear but opts for less protective latex gloves that allow her greater dexterity in opening hives in search of the elusive queen bee – the key to relocation.

If the queen is dead or dying, Kearney replaces her with a healthy queen of the same species purchased from a queen breeding specialist. The displaced queen is then immortalized in resin and transformed into a pendant or a pin by a jeweler friend.

In honor of World Bee Day, Comvita, the suppliers of Manuka honey, is offering 25% off all of its products throughout May at www.comvita.com.

Kearney doesn’t have a special celebration, though: “To me, every day is bee day.”

Spirit of the hive: Tunisian beekeepers protest against the early warning system

Sherri Flowers — Sun, 22 May 2022 11:57:07 +0000

Tunisian beekeeper Elias Chebbi, holds a honeycomb in one hand and a locally-made SmartBee device in the other that remotely monitors internal factors in real time and accesses key performance indicators inside his beekeepers. beehives, in the northern Tunisian region of Testour, in the Beja province, on April 8, 2022. – AFP pic

Sunday, May 22, 2022 7:40 p.m. GMT

TUNIS, May 22 — Elias Chebbi inspected a beehive in a field in Tunisia, minutes after a buzz on his phone alerted him to a potential problem.

The 39-year-old beekeeper opened a flap of the hive to reveal a low-cost, locally-made sensor dedicated to measuring key environmental variables. An app on his phone then alerts him if action needs to be taken.

“Thanks to this, I can relax,” he said. “He tells me everything that’s going on from a distance.” Chebbi owns two of the sensors, produced entirely in Tunisia by the only company of its kind in North Africa.

He periodically places one in each of the approximately 100 hives he keeps, on a grassy hill an hour’s drive from the capital Tunis.

The devices, each costing less than 300 Tunisian dinars (RM427), send live updates on the hive’s temperature, humidity and weight to a central computer.

He then analyzes the data and helps her react quickly to potential problems, as well as select the most resilient and productive queens for breeding.

This is a major plus as bee colonies face multiple threats, including climate change and the increasingly frequent collapses of entire hives.

Key role of bees

Chebbi remembers being bitten by a sudden heat wave in 2013, before he started using the system, when he lost about a quarter of his hives.

“I had big losses, 26 hives, because of the humidity and the sudden temperature change,” he said.

But since he started using the SmartBee system – developed in 2020 by a group of young Tunisian engineering graduates – his losses have dropped dramatically, to less than 10% of his hives in any given year.

He also increased his honey production by 30-40%.

Today, Khaled Bouchoucha, CEO of manufacturer Beekeeper Tech, 34, says the sensors collect “an enormous amount of information about the performance of bees and the threats they face”.

The gadgets “gather reliable data in real time, so beekeepers can make good decisions and prevent their hives from collapsing,” he said.

This data is then transmitted wirelessly to the company’s cloud computing system, which analyzes it to identify potential issues.

If so, it sends a warning to the beekeeper to intervene – by cooling overheated hives, isolating those that are dangerously cold, or providing a sugar solution to those whose weight shows they are. did not produce enough honey to survive the winter.

Beekeeper Tech has sold over 1,000 systems, mainly in Tunisia and neighboring countries.

Bouchoucha says customers are flocking to the app and company employees are preparing another 1,500 orders for customers in Libya, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and even New Zealand.

Strengthen food security

Bee populations around the world are facing a catastrophe from overuse of pesticides, mites and extreme temperatures due to climate change.

It also spells disaster for humans, as we depend on pollination by bees for more than a quarter of all the food we consume.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, three quarters of the world’s major crops depend on pollinators – but insects are in decline around the world, mainly due to human activities.

Beekeeping itself is also a vital livelihood for many.

In Tunisia, with its 11 million inhabitants, the sector employs some 13,000 people and produces some 2,800 tonnes of honey each year, according to its agricultural union.

The FAO celebrates World Bee Day on May 20 every year to raise awareness of the “essential role that bees and other pollinators play in keeping people and the planet healthy”. The SmartBee app offers more than an early warning system.

The data it collects also informs beekeepers about the health and productivity of each hive, its resistance to climate change.

Mnaouer Djemali, scientific director at Tunisia’s National Agronomic Institute and co-founder of Beekeeper Tech, said hive data “allows us to measure the profitability of each queen” and select the best one for breeding.

“It can help us strengthen our food security and food sovereignty,” he said. “We need it badly in a world full of diseases and wars.” — Studio ETX