2011 Annual Honey Show Winners!

Please take a look at the products members have for sale.
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NJBA President's Message December 2011/January 2012

Fellow Beekeepers- I just returned from the NJ League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City. Before I forget, I want to thank all the volunteers who made this event arguably the most important event our club has ever attended. Without their volunteerism, this opportunity to promote beekeeping would not have been as successful. The executive board committee worked very hard before and during the convention. While attending this convention, our group made many contacts with numerous municipalities and offered our expertise in the areas of concerns to municipalities and our group. The vast majority of our contact was extremely positive. Municipalities were highly interested in helping honey bees and are seeking ways to do it safely in urban and suburban environments. Most had absolutely no idea whether they had beekeepers in their neighborhoods or not. I assured them they did, and if an issue arose, to please contact our organization first. Contacts with a variety of health departments, mayors, law enforcement agencies, fire departments, sustainable associations, parks and recreation groups, Land Trust associations and countless other agencies were accomplished.

As a result of this resounding success, it has created a lot more work for our organization. Many branches are likely to receive more requests for public speaking engagements, as we aggressively promoted our outreach programs. Our growth as an association has frankly been unparalleled in beekeeping history. It has created numerous issues associated with growth. It also affords opportunities that have never existed before this era. I look at these issues as an opportunity to control our mutual destiny as a club.

It is incumbent upon our membership to be good neighbors. We must be stewards of beekeeping at all times. We must take each and every opportunity to promote beekeeping in a positive light.

In that regard, NJBA and its affiliated branches has begun an aggressive promotional agenda. In the past year, we have collectively and individually written letters to US Senators and Congressman regarding EPA guidelines and the use of pesticides. Letters in support of highway wildflower programs were also sent on behalf of NJBA. Members have met with state elected officials regarding farmland assessment issues to insure beekeeping is considered in that evaluation process. We have represented members in municipal court in defense of nuisance issues in an effort to insure the lawful keeping of honeybees. We have made future arrangements to meet with township officials before they consider a ban on beekeeping in the New Year. We have made arrangements to sponsor an educational program for the health departments throughout NJ to insure our health officials understand how important beekeeping is and the need to insure the ability of beekeepers to prosper in the 21st Century.

Our work has just begun. It is very important for you to volunteer at your branch level to assist in this very important outreach process. You must help your branch help NJBA so we can collectively promote beekeeping in all of its many aspects. By volunteering at the branch level you lighten the load for executive board members. This enables these persons to assist NJBA on its numerous endeavors.

Our organization is exactly like a beehive. Through collective participation we can accomplish our many goals. So as the year comes to an end, I want to thank all of those people who helped make this the most successful year in NJBA history. I want to welcome the many new beekeepers to our association. I want to remind each and everyone of you that you are all an integral part of a comprehensive effort to promote beekeeping. I also want to say Happy Holidays and a Sweet New Year. See you all soon at the next state meeting on February 25, 2012 at the Eco Complex!

Seth Belson, NJBA President

The first place winner in the Photography Division of the 2009 Annual Honey Show was this closeup of a worker on an Echinacea flower. (Photo by Susan E. Ellis)