Philadelphia, PA

[Kofu]

Starting this year, and have found a lot of help from the Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild which formed just a couple of years ago. There are other groups in counties outside the city.

I've spent all morning looking through the BeeSource forum -- great resource! -- and I'm thinking of starting a group/forum here for beekeepers in the area.

Modern beekeeping began in Philadelphia -- Langstroth was here, though I guess he moved out to Ohio later -- and it seems odd that there's no old-time guild or association still kicking around. We were wondering about that at the last guild meeting. Any ideas how we might find out what there was here in past decades? Old directories? journals? Anyone know, off the cuff?

[Specialkayme]

Welcome to the site!

I grew up a little north of you, in Bucks County, Pa. No offense, but I'm glad I got out, lol.

I don't know how to answer your question though, but my guess would be to contact Penn State University. They have a good apiculture program, which usually stays in touch with local guilds, and might know more about the history of your state. Either that your your State Beekeeper's association.

[dragonfly]

Welcome to Beesource, Kofu

[scdw43]

Welcome to beesource. Maybe the local library or newspaper as a place to start looking for the history of beekeeping in your area.

[naturebee]

Hello Kofo,

You ask about history of beekeeping in your area,,,
If you wish to learn about the history of beekeeping, the book:
The world history of beekeeping and honey hunting By Eva Crane
would be a great investment, although a bit pricey, its a great book,
containing a vast amount of information.

A more affordable book, which contains much information gleaned
from Eva Cranes World History of Beekeeping and Honey Hunting is:
Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation By Tammy Horn.

If you enjoy historical bee articles:
Here is a discussion list that I moderate which is dedicated to all
genres of Historic Honeybee Literature, including; Bee Management,
Persons of Beekeeping, Bee Hunting, Bee Predators, Disputes and
Lawsuits, Archeology, Tall Tales, Folklore, Superstitions, Bee Stories
and Humor, Bee Poetry and Fables, Remedies, Medicine, Science,
Bees in Warfare and various Bee Articles from old newspapers,
magazines and books. I post about one article every few days or so.
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/H...eybeeArticles/

I did a quick search of the archives for Philadelphia and came
up with a story from the Summer of 1780 when General George
Washington and his "ragged, half starved soldiers" were camped
just outside Philadelphia.

Lore has it that a twelve-year-old Quaker girl -along with
several hives full of honeybees -"saved America" during
the Revolutionary War. Tammy Horn, senior researcher
apiculturist at Eastern Kentucky University and the author
of Bees in America: How the Honey Bee Shaped a Nation,
originally unearthed the story from a 1917 issue of American
Bee Journal, but scholars haven't yet been able to verify
whether or not the event actually took place. Even if it is
just a tall tale, it's certainly a remarkable one.

As far as I know the article is only available on the
Historical Honeybee Articles site. Mike Griggs, obtained
the rare article for me, which I was having great difficulty
acquiring. Mike is an Entomologist at Cornell University,
Department of Entomology and helps run the historical
online hive and honeybee book collection at Cornell.
http://bees.library.cornell.edu/b/bees/index.html

The story can be found on the Historical Honeybee
Articles archives titled:
How the Bees Saved America - message #831

You mention Langstroth in your letter.
I have more about Langstroth on the Historical Honeybee
Articles Site. I pulled up:
Langstroth - Historical Markers Message #985 for
you to see more about where Langstroth lived during his life.

Hmdb.org
The Historical Marker Database

Lorenzo Langstroth
Historical Markers
http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=24009

=====

L. L. Langstroth was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Historical Marker
http://www.phillybeekeepers.org/2010...hplace-marker/

=====

Bee Culture - October 1, 2010
Home Again – Dedicating Langstroth's Birthplace
By: Kim Flottum
http://www.beeculture.com/storycms/i...y&recordID=726

Best Wishes
Joe Waggle
Historical Honeybee Articles
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/H...eybeeArticles/
=====
January 15, 1896 Orange City, Iowa
Oh, "busy bee," exalted so.
We'd work like you, we vow.
If we could loaf six months or so
As you are loafing now.
-Washington Post

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Welcome!

[Kofu]

Thanks, everyone. I installed a nuc yesterday, so now I'm not just a wannabee! A 10-frame medium, just put it down on the base and added a second medium super, foundationless, and I'll open it up in a few days and see how they're doing.

The job for this year is to help them regress to a smaller size, keep the varroa mites under control (powdered sugar?), and hope they can survive the winter.

I've been reading what I can find about regressing bees, and have found some helpful info in this forum and at M. Bush's site. I'm not going to rush them, but hopefully I'll be able to move the first frames of brood comb outward and upward until I can take them out completely, without stressing the bees too much. And then another round of the same, to get the intermediate-size brood comb out as well. All in one year? We'll see.

My nuc was all standard foundation, so the priority this year is to move it out and replace it.