Brownsburg beekeeper looks to save the honeybee

By Andrea Hirsch

BROWNSBURG — January 02, 2009 03:53 pm

— Just the facts
WHAT: Indiana Beekeeping School
WHEN: Jan. 9-10
WHERE: Ivy Tech Lawrence Campus, 9301 E. 59th St., Indianapolis

Rob Green is anything but ordinary.
Green, who has lived in Brownsburg for the past 12 years, wears two hats. He owns a company called The Tech Support Department that repairs computers for businesses and individuals locally, and he is trying to make a difference by serving as a beekeeper to increase the honeybee population.
“In the last few years, studies show all bees are going to die within the next few years,” he said. “I am creating a backyard approach and trying to create a difference. Feral honey bees were doing the bulk of pollination in the country but because of parasites and other diseases, the feral stock has plummeted. Due to really poor beekeeping habits these diseases have also knocked the wild population of bees. People can keep bees and replenish the feral stocks. People that keep bees can make a difference in our future.”
In the past two decades a number of disease and parasites have killed off the majority of feral (wild) honeybee nests. The most recent problem, the Colony Collapse Disorder, has received a lot of press and fanciful theories as to its cause. In fact, the PBS Nature series predicted the end of beekeeping and honeybees in the U.S. within a short time, in a special program that aired two years ago, Green said.
Green’s beekeeping is a hobby but is turning into a small business. He has a bee farm in Pittsboro and sells his Bluffwood Creek Honey in local farmer’s markets during the year.
“I believe the answer is buckling down and raising bees and keeping them well,” Green said. “It is important that they don’t disappear in our neighborhoods. Up to 2008-09 we have not seen our crops adversely affected by not being pollinated, but it could be coming.”
Instead of joining the doomsayers, Green decided to hold beekeeping classes to teach interested patrons how to start and maintain their own hives.
The Indiana Beekeeping School is a 501(c)(3) organization whose sole purpose is to improve the lot of the honeybee by effective training of backyard beekeepers across the state and nationwide. Currently the school is making 60 to 90 new beekeepers a year, nearly all more successful than experienced beekeepers and migratory pollinators who truck their bees across the country with farm pollination contracts.
With cooperation with Ivy Tech Community College, Green is going to teach the 12th Beginners Beekeeping class Jan. 9-10 at the Lawrence Campus, 9301 E. 59th St., Indianapolis. Green has had people from all over Indiana and surrounding states that have come to take his class and even has a student coming from Hawaii to attend this session.
The two-day class is comprehensive. No previous experience or knowledge is required. In fact, Green says many of the current books are just plain wrong. It’s hard to find a textbook that doesn’t promote the use of low level pesticides for mite control and routine antibiotics for disease prevention. Even school children today know that antibiotics are for treatment not prevention, he said.
Instead, Green teaches a method using Integrated Pest Management, which includes improved hive designs, a more hands-on management style, and pure edible food products for mite control. And the people who regularly line up at his farmers’ market stall are convinced his honey is the best they can get anywhere.
“The more education, the better their chance for survival,” he said. “I like to give a real passion and inspire people so they can see the solutions and achieve success.”
The cost to attend the class is $100, which includes tuition, three textbooks, and meals. Additional hardware costs, if a student wishes to participate in the three construction workshops, costs $300. The workshops are manned by volunteers, all previous graduates. Bees, which typically are available in June, can vary in cost but have been under $100. Spouses and family members can attend at a reduced cost, and not receive a extra copy of the textbooks.
The class begins at 5 to 9 p.m. Jan. 9. Students return from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan 10. They go home with their work and complete the assembly of their beehive, paint them, and set them up in their yards. All students are continually mentored through a private online mail group where they can ask questions and compare notes.
Registration is limited and may be completed online at www.IndianaBeekeepingSchool.com. Green said he already has 40 people signed up for the upcoming class.
Anyone interested may also download a registration form and mail it, along with a check, to Indiana Beekeeping School, 7057 Bluffwood Court, Brownsburg IN 46112.
Green also teaches classes in six other locations around Indiana: Indianapolis, Terre Haute, Swit City, Nashville, Columbus, and Fort Wayne.

andrea.hirsch@flyergroup.com

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