Here's the latest buzz: Bee club forming in county

Sunday, December 28, 2014
With bees swarming around him, Cloverdale beekeeper Brad Roberson collects some of the 20,000 bees that invaded the wall of a home north of Greencastle. (Photo by ERIC BERNSEE)

It's a honey of an idea Bob Gruener has come up with.

Gruener is the driving force behind creation of a Putnam County beekeepers association, and already there is a swarm of interest.

Promoting the idea by word of mouth thus far, Gruener said he already has more than two dozen people interested in forming the group.

To that end, an organizational meeting is scheduled for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 13 at the Dixie Chopper Convention and Business Center at the Putnam County Airport in Greencastle.

The meeting is open to anyone, Gruener said, with plans to meet the second Tuesday of each month (the location, however, is likely to change after the initial meeting or two).

The idea is to introduce everyone to each other, decide on a name for the association and examine topics for future discussions. The goal is to educate people about the hobby of beekeeping and the importance of bees to the community.

"Some members are members of the Indiana Bee Keepers Association, myself included," Gruener explained. "I have been raising bees since about 1999 and have seen a growing amount of people getting interested in this hobby."

Gruener, who grew up in New Jersey, said he got into beekeeping when he was in the sixth grade. Later on in life, he helped his father-in-law get into beekeeping at Eminence and caught the bug anew.

Currently he has seven live hives and has had as many as 15.

He fears this winter will be a "big killer" for bees due to their starvation in the aftermath of such a cool summer and the presence of moisture in the hives.

Bees are now so weak, he said, "it doesn't take much to kill them."

"The one big item that has been noticed over the years is that bees have become much weaker than in years past, making raising bees harder and harder to do with success," Gruener said. "With this in mind, I always say if you get 10 different beekeepers together you will hear 10 different ways to do something."

That's why he hopes veteran beekeepers can pass along their knowledge and expertise to the newcomers.

"By getting this club going with some members having many years of experience and others with only a year or two," Gruener said,"we will have a vast amount of experiences all in one room, and each person can take in all the information and decide which process to use with their own bees."

One area of focus will be on determining what pesticides are being used in the area, when, where and how, Gruener said, so the bee group can keep track of developments.

He said the colony collapse that has put the bee population in jeopardy began occurring about 10 years ago when there was a shift in the chemicals being used on crops.

"France went through the same thing," Gruener said, before the French looked into the issue and banned certain pesticides.

"Their bees are doing much better now," he added.

The new organization's goals will be to promote, educate and learn techniques to raise the healthiest colonies possible in the local community.

"With this frame of mind," Gruener noted, "we can all reap the benefits from healthy bees -- from the sweet local raw honey to the mass amounts of pollination."

He indicated that when the weather warms up and the bees get active again, the group will have some meetings at the "Bee Yards."

The new association will be open to anyone interested in honey bees whether they have bees or would just like to learn about them.

"I am hoping that we can keep this free to join without dues to pay," Gruener said. "We currently will ask for donations to pay for the conference room each month until a more suitable place can be arranged."

Gruener asks that anyone interested in attending on Jan. 13 call him (720-5089 or 765-386-2679) so he can get an idea on the number of chairs needed for the meeting.

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