View Full Version : relocating to Maine
tarheel bee
02-05-2007, 05:22 PM
I was wondering if anyone knows the law regarding moving bees into the state of Maine. I have been told it is illegal now, but I just wanted know if anyone else out there has any knowledge on the subject. Thank you in advance for any reply.
You might want to contact the State Apiarist, he could tell you. I've got his name and phone number if you want it, PM me. He's a very nice, helpful guy.
Wayne Miles
02-06-2007, 07:31 AM
Good Bye, Tarheel Bee.
Now, where am I going to get my 'russian queens'?
Hope all goes well for you in the cold climate.
db_land
02-06-2007, 09:21 AM
Hey tarheel, what's up with moving to the cold north?
If you need any help getting your bees ready to go or loading stuff, give me a shout. :cool:
tarheel bee
02-06-2007, 03:32 PM
Hey guys, May of 08 we are moving to Bar Harbor. Wifey is finishing up Phd and got herself a high falutin job in a genetics lab and I have an invite to work as a joiner at Hinckly Yachts. Db ... thank you and I will take you up on the offer. Sure would like to see that gizmo we were talking about.
Wayne-why dont we get together and you start providing Russian queens for the area. If I can do it you most certainly can. Besides I promised you some poppleton hives. slide me an e-mail. I get off work around noon and fridays and work very close to you. fricksgi@bellsouth.net
Maine_Beekeeper
02-06-2007, 03:34 PM
Welcome Tarheel -
Contact the State Apiarist anthony.m.jadczak@maine.gov
He will be able to tell you everything you need to know. I don't believe you'll have any problems at all - you might need to get your colonies inspected before you come.
Welcome to "the way life should be" state.
George Fergusson
02-06-2007, 04:57 PM
Well Tarheel! Welcome to the Worst beekeeping state in the country! As honey production goes, Maine ranks 50th smile.gif
That said, Maine truly is God's Country and the Bar Harbor area is particularly blessed with natural beauty- I've spent a good amount of time bumming around and hiking in Acadia. Kinda of a zoo in the summer time with all the tourists.
You'll want to touch base with Andrew Dewey (member here, Beesource) as he lives near Bar Harbor. I'm about 2 hours south of Bar Harbor. Perhaps we can catch up sometime. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
How many hives you planning on bringing up?
George, I heard in the spring you guys had mosquito's as big as Volkswagons, black fly clouds so thick they show up on weather radar and more people killed being impaled by bull moose falling through the windshield than die of old age!
[ February 06, 2007, 06:13 PM: Message edited by: Joel ]
drobbins
02-06-2007, 05:28 PM
Tarheel
ditto all the above
let me know if you need help getting loaded up, would be glad to give you a hand
Dave
[edit] Joel, kinda sounds like "variety vacation land" up there, don't it smile.gif
[ February 06, 2007, 06:31 PM: Message edited by: drobbins ]
Ravenseye
02-08-2007, 04:51 AM
I used to live in Presque Isle. Two seasons there. Winter and the Fourth of July!
Andrew Dewey
02-09-2007, 05:24 PM
An early welcome to vacation land! And Bar Harbor is the capitol. I live and work on MDI so give me a shout (or a PM) when you get here. I'd be pleased as punch to introduce you around - and even help get your hives moved in! Bee warned that George is spot on - a full super is cause for celebration!
Andrew Dewey
02-09-2007, 05:30 PM
Well Joel, I can't speak to tourists getting themselves impaled by our friendly moose population, but I know for sure about the black flies. A bit north of here is the Black Fly Breeders Association - their moto: We'll breed 'em, You feed 'em.
I made the mistake as a young greenhorn of doing a canoe trip in the Adirondacks before the end of black fly season despite being warned. Back then we used an oil insect repellent called 6-12.(any you old timers remember that). It had no effect. I'm not certain how many fed off me, I looked like I had chicken pox by the end of the 4 day trip. Even more impacting were the numbers that managed to get lodged in my ears, nose and throat.
[ February 09, 2007, 07:32 PM: Message edited by: Joel ]
George Fergusson
02-09-2007, 06:41 PM
>It had no effect.
6-12 was like putting on salad dressing. Old Woodsman wasn't much better smile.gif
Andrew Dewey
02-09-2007, 10:13 PM
Oh come on George, my 16 year old just loves Ol' Time Woodsmans Fly Dope. Someone up in Bangor is making it again. Smells the same. And it helps keep lots of things away!
George Fergusson
02-10-2007, 04:31 AM
Sure Andrew, it repels women, dogs and cats, and children- Nothing wrong with that! If it only worked on mosquitoes and black flies too smile.gif Maybe it's not as bad as I remember.. I should get me some and give it another try. I doubt the bees would appreciate it any. I've been using OFF! recently. It's not as effective as Ben's 100 (pure DEET) but at least it doesn't melt plastic and remove paint. I need something during bug season when working bees because black flies can go right through the screen of my veil, nothing more annoying than having a cloud of the suckers flying around INSIDE the veil.
As bad as the mosquitoes and black flies are, they're really just a minor annoyance though, wouldn't you agree Andrew? I mean, mosquitoes are only a problem in the early morning and evening usually, and black flies are only around in force for 3-4 weeks really... you deal with them, one way or the other. Mosquitoes bites are a bit like bee stings in that after a while, you sorta get used to them. Then again, you have those salt-water "coastal" mosquitoes, they're brutal. Smaller than our inland variety but pound for pound every bit as nasty.
What I've really come to hate are Deer flies and ticks. We've always had Deer flies but ticks have only become a problem in the past few years. I hate ticks.
Every part of the country has some variety of nasty biting insect. I wouldn't trade our mosquitoes and black flies for some of the critters I've heard about wandering around loose in other places.
drobbins
02-10-2007, 05:49 AM
>I hate ticks.
got chickens?? ;)
Dave
George Fergusson
02-10-2007, 06:10 AM
>got chickens?? [Wink]
I think we've had this conversation before Dave smile.gif
I don't have chickens but there are a lot of wild turkeys around and they don't make a dent in the tick population. Not sure how many chickens it would take to make a noticeable dent in the tick population around here... thousands I'd guess..
Andrew Dewey
02-10-2007, 06:54 AM
You know how it is when you get focused on the bees - you're oblivious to the cloud of blackflies that takes a typical veil as an invitation to lunch. There have been times when I've taken my veil off only to discover my ears were dripping with blood. Thankfully they're only really bad for a couple of weeks a year - and that for those non bee-working times there are repellants that work decently.
Andrew Dewey
02-10-2007, 06:57 AM
Anybody else like to move to Maine? :D
Aspera
02-11-2007, 03:12 PM
I would love to, but I will probably be living in PA for at least another 3 years. I DO consider Maine's coast to be God's country, bugs and honey production not withstanding.
Sport
02-11-2007, 04:28 PM
I don't have them myself, but I've been told that guinea hens will eat down a tick population. Problem with guinea hens is the noise they make.
SandyC
02-12-2007, 04:45 PM
I'll be moving to Midcoast in about 6 more years...when my dh says goodbye to the military. I already have family there.
SandyC
02-12-2007, 04:47 PM
By the way, Tar Heel...if that genetics lab is the one I am thinking of, my dh was going to get a job there in the late 80's and it burned down!!!! So we stayed where we were and he became an MD instead. He still loves genetics though!
[ February 12, 2007, 05:47 PM: Message edited by: SandyC ]
George Fergusson
02-12-2007, 05:02 PM
>I DO consider Maine's coast to be God's country, bugs and honey production not withstanding.
Agreed. And when folks around here talk about "bugs" they usually mean lobsters smile.gif
>if that genetics lab is the one I am thinking of, my dh was going to get a job there in the late 80's and it burned down!!!!
Yup. Jackson Labs. That's what I was thinking.
>I'll be moving to Midcoast in about 6 more years...
Whereabouts?
{Anybody else like to move to Maine?}
Look Andrew, you and Ferguson are not fooling (or scaring) us a bit! We know how you Maine-ards are, keep the lower 47 scared and then you have all that wilderness peace and quiet all to yourselves (not to mention the lobsters, I love lobsters!). I love the Finger Lakes region but you can't walk 5 miles without running into someone and our lobsters are much smaller. (we call them crayfish) I bet you'd say there are still wild Penebscots living in the wilds that only come out of the bogs to rob and kill the green weenies that move in from out of state! I did have a moose chase my brother and I once in Yellowstone sans backbacks and that was pretty un-nerving I will admit.
kawayanan
02-12-2007, 05:40 PM
You've had a couple of offers to help already, but I figured I would add mine. I am probably the closest (right there with you in Chapel Hill). I'd definitely be willing to help you out if you need it.
On another note, pass along my congratulations to you wife. What department is she in (I assume she's at UNC)? I am in the Biochemistry Dept but started in an interdisciplinary program. Who knows, I might even know her. smile.gif
Best of luck in Maine
SandyC
02-12-2007, 05:52 PM
Damariscotta area, George. I don't think that's too terribly far from where you are.
George Fergusson
02-12-2007, 06:41 PM
Oh Ayuh, Damariscotta. Real quaint smile.gif I work there- actually in Newcastle, just across the river. I live about 15 miles north of Damariscotta.
>We know how you Maine-ards are
Hehe... Maine-ards... ehehe...
Andrew Dewey
02-13-2007, 03:52 PM
Hey George,
Do you think the Governor will give us a commendation for promoting up our lovely state?
Andrew Dewey
02-13-2007, 03:54 PM
Joel - how much snow ya guys got in the Finger Lakes? I went to school in Geneva, back in the last century.
George Fergusson
02-13-2007, 05:07 PM
>Do you think the Governor will give us a commendation for promoting up our lovely state?
Eh? John? You kidding?
Right now, maybe 5 or 6 inches.-I know it's hard to beleive because when you lived here It snowed from 2 weeks before Thanksgiving right through until Easter. I remember one easter in the Late 60's we got 6 feet. Having said that we are looking at 12" tonight and 4"-8" tomorrow. Of course I'm at the South End of Seneca Lake which is much closer to Florida than the north end where you were! ;)