Professor Advises Wear White While Working With Bees

Small farmers depend upon nature for pollination, but sometimes nature needs a little help. That’s where Dr. Yong Park, assistant professor and entomologist at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), comes in.

Dr. Park works with honeybees and the focus of his work is community outreach. UAPB has bee hives, 12 in Pine Bluff at the Agricultural Research Station, two in Marianna and four in Lonoke. But UAPB will not be lending out its bees. Instead Dr. Park will teach farmers how to take care of their own bees and he will serve as a resource and provide information.

The “good” bees are the European honeybees and the “killer” bees are the Africanized honeybees, saysDr. Park, which are smaller than the European bees.

“Many people think aggressive European bees are the killer bees because the European bees may become aggressive for various reasons, such as bad weather or a queenless condition,” says Dr. Park. By bad weather Dr. Park means several days of rain with cool nights.

A single honeybee can visit more than a million flowers during its lifetime, which is less than two months. The usual number of honeybees in a hive is 50,000. Farmers with crops requiring pollination should have one healthy hive every three miles because honeybees cover a three-mile diameter.

“A good beekeeper should check the hive every two tothree weeks,” advises Dr. Park. “This takes about 30 minutes if the hive is healthy and pollination is the goal. If something is wrong, then you’ll have to spend more time on the hive.” Swarming is generally a seasonal factor. If honeybees are not provided enough space to expand after overwintering, they start producing new queens more often. Swarming in the spring in a simple split mechanism in honeybees. The honeybees follow an old queen and a new queen occupies the hive.

The remedy for swarming may be easy. For example, when space is scarce in early spring, honeybees are preparing to swarm. Just place another “super” on top of the hive. It helpsreduce the number of swarmings.

Dr. Park advises farmers working with honeybees to be sure to wear the white traditional beekeepers’ uniform.

“There’s a reason for wearing white from head to toe including the bee veil, made with wire netting to protect the head and neck from stings,” says Dr. Park. “Honeybees can become agitated by dark colors. And that includes hair, skin or clothing color.” For more information on keeping bees for pollination or honey, farmers can contact Dr. Park at 870-575-7245 (office) or e-mail him at [email protected].

-Column provided by University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture Extension Service

News, Pages 6 on 05/26/2010