The drought breaking season of 2017 has meant good California honey this year, said Gene Brandi, president of the American Beekeeping Federation (ABF). But that’s not unexpected in an El Nino year.
Experts in bee sustainability gave a pair of talks at Cal Poly in an truncated mini-series titled “Successful Beekeeping in Today’s Environment” on Nov. 1 and 8.
Students and community members with an interest got a tour of the hives kept at the University Nov. 8 before Brandi gave a presentation about his own apiary practices and those that stayed after the talk got samples of high quality Central Coast sage honey provided by the Farmer Experiential Education and Development (FEED) program.
As virtually everyone reading these words depends on the pollination provided by these strange social insects with larger than average brains and intricate “waggle dances,” it’s a good idea to know the humans who make a life among the hives.
Regular readers may remember an Science After Dark presentation given by local beekeeper John Chestnut in 2015 as the terms “Colony Collapse Disorder” and “neonicotinoid” were becoming more widely known. Where Chestnut gave an overview of the science and history of bees and mankind’s struggle together, Brandi’s talk aimed to give a snapshot of surviving the industry as it is now.
Founding Gene Brandi Apiaries in 1978, after graduating Cal Poly and working in the field for a decade, he now shares management of 2000 hives a year with his son Mike Brandi, also a Cal Poly grad.
He’s also been on the board of directors of the California State Beekeepers Association for 37 years, but notes he’s soon to step down from administrative duties as president of the ABF.
While the Brandi’s don’t take their bees outside of State lines, they are very much a part of the migrant pollination industry, taking hives to almond and cherry orchards, and collecting from melons, citrus, alfalfa and cotton in turn. Somewhere in the mix the region’s natural forage makes for excellent honey as well, with long ago imported eucalyptus and the native “Black Button Sage.”
The biggest issue keepers face, he said, in the midst of fungicide and mites attacking their broods are over-forage by the hives brought in from across the nation to service the California Almond crop, every year.
“The almond boom is both the best and the worst thing to happen impact us in California,” Brandi said, noting that with 1.8 million hives needed every year, farmers are willing to pay up to $200 each.
“It’s like overgrazing land with cattle,” he said, bees are brought in and kept in concentrated holding areas until the crops they’re meant to pollinate are ready.
Despite less honey being produced in the U.S. every year since 2000, he sad there’s been progress in getting ahead of die off caused by pesticides and other poor farming practices. Communication between industries and between farmers being key.
Coordinating the timing of pesticide and fungicide applications so as not to impact the bees’ schedule and avoiding combinations that negatively interact has gone a long way.
Apps too, allowing keepers to be alerted to pesticide applications within a given range of their apiary sites gives a measure of control.
Cal Poly’s Center for Sustainability co-hosted the talks with the FEED program which provides continuing education to veterans and others entering agriculture. The center can be reached via email at [email protected] and more information about developments in the beekeeping world can be found online at abfnet.org.
