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“HONORING NORTH CAROLINA'S BEEKEEPERS” mentioning the U.S. Dept of Agriculture was published in the House of Representatives section on pages H3415-H3416 on June 6, 2006.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
HONORING NORTH CAROLINA'S BEEKEEPERS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the gentlewoman from North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) is recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in honor of the many of the hard working beekeepers in North Carolina's fifth congressional district. Beekeepers play an extremely important role in our society and often do not get the recognition they deserve.
Back in 1905, an obscure Swiss patent clerk named Albert Einstein published three papers that would later result in his receiving the Nobel Prize. During that same year, he gave a speech on a subject that fascinated him greatly, the marvelous honey bee. He said, ``If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years left to live.''
Back then, much like it is today, the survival of the honey bee was threatened by pests and climate. The honey bee survived the challenges of Dr. Einstein's time but new obstacles have also emerged. Despite these challenges I am sure that Dr. Einstein would be happy to know that the honey bee is alive and well in North Carolina.
Next year the North Carolina State Bee Keeping Association celebrates its 90th year of helping local beekeepers succeed. I am happy to report that the association has seen a 58 percent increase in membership in just the past 2 years and now has more than 1,900 dues paying members. The organization is run entirely by volunteers without a single full time paid staff member. It is the largest bee keeping association of its kind in the Nation and some folks tell me the best.
According to Dr. David Tarpy, North Carolina State Agriculturist and head of the agricultural program at North Carolina State University, there are some 10,000 hobbiest beekeepers in North Carolina. I am proud of our North Carolina beekeepers and I want to tell you why. But first perhaps we should answer a basic question. Why do so many grown men and women fawn over this tiny insect and weighs less than an ounce and is so small it can rest on your fingernail? The answer reveals the secret of why so many are so passionate about their apiary hobby.
If you call the office in the North Carolina Department of Agriculture that works with beekeepers, you will be greeted by the words, ``beneficial insects.'' After all, the honey bee is one of God's most beneficial creatures. She makes sweet honey that mankind has enjoyed for most of his time on the planet. The 100,000 colonies of bees managed by North Carolina beekeepers produce some $10 million worth of honey, almost all of which is consumed within the State. Some say our honey, especially the wonderful sourwood honey produced in the mountains, is just too good to send away.
The honey bee also pollinates 90 or more important food crops, a third of all the food we eat. Without proper pollination, many of these crops would not produce fruit. The value of honey bee pollination to North Carolina agriculture exceeds $100 million and is growing. Cucumbers are ninety percent dependent on honey bee pollination, blueberries 80 percent. Apples, melons and many vegetables are also dependent on the honey bee.
There is much more to this little bee than the delicious honey they make and even crops they pollinate. Modern medicine is returning to the old ways and rediscovering the practical use of many products from the hive in preventing and curing disease. Honey was used to treat burns and minor wounds by the ancient Greek, Chinese, Roman and Egyptian civilizations. The jelly that worker bees use to grow their new baby queens is a highly valued and expensive cosmetic. Pure beeswax makes wonderful candles and is a reliable industrial grade lubricant. There is much anecdotal evidence that bee venom is an effective remedy for arthritis and multiple sclerosis. And most recently, sticky, resinous propolis from the hive, once considered a nuisance is now the subject of a major cancer treatment research project at Wake Forest University.
Speaker after speaker at the annual beekeeping conferences tell us that North Carolina has the best State wide organization of beekeepers in the entire Nation. Many people in many organizations deserve credit for this success.
In 1975 Dr. John Ambrose came to work for North Carolina State University as an extension bee keeping specialist. Dr. Ambrose led an important era of growth for beekeeping in North Carolina, expanding the position to a major teaching and research position that is now held by Dr. Tarpy. This position is one of the best of its kind in the entire Nation.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture bee labs also play an important role in finding and developing new ways to protect of the honey bee.
J.D. Foust has been president of the North Carolina association of Beekeepers for the past 3 years and has led the organization through its fastest growth ever. Brady Mullinax of Forsyth County, has been a stalwart in the organization for more than half a century. Steve and Sandy Forrest, proprietor of Brushy Mountain Bee Farm in Wilkesboro, have build a thriving business out of supplying beekeepers with equipment and supplies and are now the third largest beekeeping supplier in the entire Nation.
The typical beekeeper in North Carolina not unlike the solitary yeoman farmer who, with an ax and hoe, carved North Carolina's vast agri-business economy from the wilderness that once swept from the Atlantic and Mississippi River. He takes his chances and usually at the end of another season, there is sufficient honey for him to sell at his roadside stand and leave enough for the bees to survive another winter.
For many beekeepers in my district the honey they produce is their Christmas money and an important part of their annual disposable income. I am proud of our beekeepers, for they are the residual spirit of the early pioneers who built this country on little more than strong backs and a desire to be free.
If Albert Einstein was correct in his fear that the survival of mankind depends in large part on the survival of the honey bee, I am confident that the honey bee is in safe hands among so many North Carolina passionate beekeepers.
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