http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-beekeepers2407nov24,0,6119242.story?track=rss (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/lake/orl-beekeepers2407nov24,0,6119242.story?track=rss)
Florida beekeeper refers to all those beekeepers going to California for almond pollination as that great sucking sound.
Sincerely,
Brendhan
NJ has been giving away scholorships for new beekeepers. It comes w/ a three day course, equipment and a deep of bees. They value it at $300. As a result, there are many new beeks in NJ. Our little South Jersey Branch has grown to 54 paying members from 18 two years ago. Thats while a large number of oldtimers also left the club due to advanced age. It is truly growing. I can only hope this local trend continues and actually increases the total number of beekeepers. For a hobby beek, I can only say that keeping a few hives is not a lot of work. Once you expand and start to put hives off your yard, it gets to be a lot of work. I believe through the issues presented by CCD we are at a moment in time where we need to maximize our small window of notoriety and promote the heck out of beekeeping. I know, I'm talking to the choir.
That is so wonderful what they are doing in New Jersey. Wish they would do something like that here in California. Boy, when I think about how much it cost me to get this up and running.