Interview tomorrow (Friday)

[Andrew Dewey]

A reporter from one of our weekly newspapers is coming round in the morning to interview me about my bees. At home here I have 5 hives - two overwintered and 3 from nucs purchased earlier this month. The weather is supposed to be good and we're in the tail end of our spring flow. I've got a veil for him and gloves too if he can wear them and work his camera at the same time.

I've run our bee school open hives before so I'm confident I will do ok explaining what we're looking at without talking over his head.

I'd appreciate the Board's collective wisdom regarding topics I ought to mention. CCD is an obvious one. Any others?

I believe the reporter hopes to have the story published next Thursday.

TIA!

[sqkcrk]

I'd appreciate the Board's collective wisdom regarding topics I ought to mention. CCD is an obvious one. Any others?

TIA!

I hope you enjoy the experience. It can be fun. Think about what you want the reporter to know. Emphisise the positive aspects of beekeeping and minimize the negative. I wouldn't bring up CCD and if pressed I'd say that many beekeepers disagree about it's cause. And then move on to something else.

This is your chance to promote yourself and your vocation. The recent "interest"/facination", dare I say hysteria, about the potential loss of bees and how that will effect our food supply is giving you the opportunity to speak to a wider audience. Take advantage of this opportunity. That's what the reporter is doing.

Make sure they spell your name correctly.

[iddee]

The local paper just ran a two page write-up with photos on me Sunday. The photographer took photos up close, including a queen on a frame from 3 inches or less. Neither of us wore a veil. A little smoke to open the hive with him 30 feet away, in order to see what mood they were in. Then I had him come closer when I was sure they were going to be calm.

The reporter got there as we were finishing the photo shoot, so I closed the hive and began talking to him. Once inside, he asked questions and took notes for 3.5 hours. I only brought up the local and state associations and meetings. Everything else, I let him ask about and I would expand on it.

PS. I """accidentally""" put my finger on one and got stung. Then held it up so he could watch her pull away and see the venom bag pulsate after she was gone.. :rolleyes: :D

[Ravenseye]

Boy iddee, you sure need to be more careful with those accidents!!! :D

[drobbins]

>>I "accidentally" put my finger on one and got stung.

ahh, arthritis actin up again?
hope it gets better soon:)
I can't figure out how you work your bees iddee
mine are boomin and have no pest problems but when I open them up they ain't happy, the want to kill me:rolleyes:
you got the "touch" bud

Dave

[Matt Guyrd]

Maybe some quick bulleted items...

Queens will lay up to 2000 eggs/day.

Queen, worker, and drone castes. One queen, thousands of workers, hundreds of drones. Most people get a kick out of the fact that drones don't typically do anything but eat and mate. Woman seem to find this particularly interesting. :D

Briefly point out the difference between brood boxes and honey supers.

If you smoke the hives, explain why.

Health benefits of raw honey...make a clear distinction between raw honey and retail (filtered/pastuerized) honey on most grocery shelves...heating honey kills good enzymes, etc. Honey has a wide variety of colors and unique flavors.

Pollinations stats...the common one heard is "1/3 of the food supply is the direct result of pollination services"...or something to that effect.

Many folks don't like bees in general because of the fear factor, "killer bees", yellow jackets and wasp. You might mention that honey bees are docile and are defensive, not offensive (particularly in ME where I doubt AHB live).

Briefly describe the roles of honey bees throughout their life...nurse bees, house cleaning, queen's attendants, guards, foragers, scouts, etc.

Maybe talk about the abundance of swarms this year and what folks should do if they see a swarm (or any honey bee nest). Stress not to kill the bees, but contact a local club. Maybe promote the local and state associations.

Maybe even consider creating a document with a bunch of items listed for the reporter to take with him/her.

Provide contact info for clubs so that prospective readers/viewers interested have an easy way to get started?

In addition to honey and pollination, maybe mention other products of the hive...pollen, propolis, candles, etc.

Matt

[hummingberd]

Andrew, do you know who your audience is? If you have a chance to ask the reporter, that might be helpful. In general, you could focus on how easy and how much fun it is to get involved in the beekeeping community. Mention how beneficial bees are to the food chain and to the environment. And throw in some interesting but unusual facts about bees. (we know there is no shortage of those!)

Good luck. I hope you have fun! :)

[naturebee]

I would certainly emphasize the importance of calling a beekeeper when honeybees need removed, and not to use pesticides on them.

Joe
feralbeeproject.com

[tecumseh]

I have been informed (by photographers) that the practice of keeping your hand over the lense of the camera when you are not taking pictures is important (ie if you perhaps wear glasses? you probably already know that the suns reflection will act to alert the girls).

good luck, just bee yourself and you will do fine....

[Oldbee]

Andrew, do you know who your audience is? If you have a chance to ask the reporter, that might be helpful. In general, you could focus on how easy and how much fun it is to get involved in the beekeeping community. Mention how beneficial bees are to the food chain and to the environment. And throw in some interesting but unusual facts about bees. (we know there is no shortage of those!)

Good luck. I hope you have fun! :)

And...."Health benifits of raw honey..make a clear distinction between raw honey and....."--Matt Guyrd.

Because of a recent cartoon on Tailgater, [Making Honey] this may be a good opportunity to explain/re-emphasize how the bees make honey and that it doesn't come from a 'bees bee-hind'. It may not be clearly understood by everybody. Hope I'm not too late, lol.

[Andrew Dewey]

The reporter should arrive in about half an hour. As a parting gift for him I've liquefied my last jar of autumn 2007 honey!

[iddee]

At the ripe old age of 63, maybe I finally did something right. I spoke to the reporter's wife on the phone last night. She wants to get a hive of bees and learn to keep them. :D

[cozybldr]

Another satisfied customer! Keep up the good work iddee. They might bring you some sales with this article. I still have to get over there. It doesn't look like I will be adding anymore hives this year. Too short a flow for them to build up their winter stores. I am hoping my Russians will be up to their second box before mid July.