[TheUWfarm] BEES & BUGS on the UW farm

Hi there! Bees will soon again be part of the farm. I have ordered another honey bee colony and in mid-April when the bees arrive, I will be putting a hive back in the original place. Mason bees would be good to have also; I have in the past put bee boxes up for them and so has Keith. I stopped because I needed to have my boxes elsewhere but I now have some extra ones and could put some up around the Farm, so I'll do that also. They will be flying anytime now, as the Mahonia is beginning to bloom. Look for them during dead week or the 1st week of classes.

Since the Farm now has substantial funding and renewed impetus, I would like to suggest that the following be considered:
- Aquisition of the Farm's own hive (so far it has been mine personally but on loan),
- Setting up an apiary space on or near the new space near CUH (this would be the venue for a future course), and
- Forming a committee to begin planning for a formalized course in line with other UW Farm courses (ASAP, especially if this could possibly result in a course this summer).

I offer to help with any or all of the above.

BEE COURSES.

BEEKEEPING. I have had difficulty getting a sponsor for my planned beekeeping course. I wanted it to be a formal course but all my UW potential sponsoring entities (I've approached 4 departments/units) have failed to extend themselves. So I am up in the air on that front. I could still make a schedule to teach such a course Summer term but , I've filled up my Spring schedule with other activities in lieu of a committment from sponsors to take it on. The beekeeping course my once again devolve somewhat into an informal look-see when I do routine maintenance of the hive. What I worry about is liability so I may have a release form if many people get involved.

MASON BEES. One of my alternative offerings is a probable Mason Bee workshop through Tilth, so Farm Folks watch for that if you are interested. It would be taught sometime during the next 6 weeks, TBA.

ENTOMOLOGY.

We are lucky that the Entomology series is still alive. There are still spaces in the lecture (Biology 454) and lab (Bio. 455). These courses have quite a lot to do with agriculture in addition to natural history, so if anyone is considering taking them, definitely do so. It may be the last time they are taught.

OK, sweet! Keep up the good dirt!

Evan A. Sugden

On Sat, 12 Mar 2011, kdasselin@hotmail.com wrote:

> Hello Dr. Sugden, Lily and I are fellow student farmers. We are interested in reintroducing bees at the UW farm. Beth Wheat
> recommended your name. Following are some questions we have:
>  
> 1. Would you suggest implementing Mason Bees seeing that they are native to the Pacific Northwest?
>  
> 2. Would the beginning of Spring Quarter (first weeks of April) be an appropriate time to introduce the bees to the farm?
>  
> 3. What would you recommend for material to construct the hive? Would bamboo shoots suffice? 
>  
> 4. Any suggested supplemental information we should research before investing in the bees? 
>  
>
> __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
> Subject: Re: apiculture on the UW farm
> From: elizaw@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
> Date: Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:37:18 -0800
> CC: lilystar@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
> To: kdasselin@hotmail.com; easugden@U.WASHINGTON.EDU
>
> Hi!
> I think that is great.  I think that Dr. Evan Sugden (cc'd above) might be happy to help you all with the project.   He is a
> terrific bee keeper and in fact earned his Ph.D. studying bees. 
>
> It seems to me that it is best to talk directly with him.  He has kept bees on the farm for the last several years.  It will be
> great for the farmers to take a more active role in caring for and maintaining the hive.    How can that work?
>
> I think that Evan can help us think about how to a - empower students to learn and care for bees, and b - how to bring some bees
> to campus for us to care for. 
>
> Cheers,
> B
> On Mar 11, 2011, at 11:32 AM, <kdasselin@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi Beth, 
>  I was talking to Lily about apiculture. She and I are very interested in reintroducing bees at the farm. Our thought
> is to work on the project Spring quarter. Would you like to set up an appointment to talk about this project before
> Spring break? Kat
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> Elizabeth Wheat, Ph.D.
> University of Washington
> Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellow
> Program on the Environment
> Education Coordinator - UW Farm
> 206.550.4622
>
>
>
>