Local beehive builders are keeping busy
Kennebec Journal - 12/27/2009.By Betty Jespersen – Farmington: Professional logger Jon Bogue got the itch to raise honeybees years ago. He discovered a honey tree deep in the woods and the experience of quietly observing wild bees at work captivated him. "It is fascinating. I enjoy it so much that it is something I wish I had started years before," he said. |
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Two hives, but which thrives? Maine beekeepers differ
Portland Press Herald - 12/27/2009. By Tom Atwell – It's a tough time to be a honeybee. For more than two decades mites have been attacking bees throughout the United States to the extent that honeybees can survive in the United States only with human help. That problem worsened in 2006, when bees began suffering what has been labeled Colony Collapse Disorder, in which entire hives of bees all over the country died in unusual numbers. The cause of the disorder has not been determined, with some blaming a worsening of the mite problem and another parasite called nosema. Others blame pesticides and the frequent movement of hives all over the country to pollinate crops. |
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Activist sows seeds for farm co-op
Common Dreams - 12/26/2009. By John Gallagher – The Mo' Green Town proposal by New York City activist Majora Carter just might hit the sweet spot in Detroit urban agriculture. Carter visited Detroit recently to talk up her plan to create a worker-owned urban agriculture cooperative venture. By pooling the efforts of numerous small growers in Detroit, it would attempt to grow big enough to generate real profits and a return for investors. But it would be run by local community growers themselves. |
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New rules threaten small poultry producers
Kennebec Journal - 12/26/2009.Letter to the Editor by John J. O'Donnell – The Maine Department of Agriculture has proposed new rules that will affect hundreds of small poultry producers in Maine. There has long been an exemption for producers of fewer than 1,000 birds a year, and the Legislature renewed that law this year, with the intention of fostering and protecting this important small farm sector. However, new rules developed by the Department of Agriculture to accompany this law are so strict as to threaten the livelihoods of many of these producers. |
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