Buzzing BY SALLY BAIR Staff Correspondent LANCASTER - Steve Conlon, a homestead farmer and bee hob byist from West Virginia, and Brad Montgomery, state apiarist from West Virginia, displayed nerves of steel and a talent for “sculpting” to become the winning team in the bee beard contest. The contest was held in conjunction with the 31st annual conference of the Eastern Apicultural Society of North America, Inc. going on at Franklin and Marshall College this week. The West Virginia duo beat out 11 competitors for the most evenly sculpted beard fashioned from thousands and thousands of bees. Second place team was Dot .contests.. didn’t flinch a bit as he coaxed the swarm of bees up over his shoulders to his chin. To attract the bees, a queen bee in a box was tied to his chin. * -* , .■■■ , > I M , -i ■ ■■ JOHN BROWN RD 1 Box 9 Forksville PA 18616 PH (717)924 3492 FANCY FURROW FARMS Afi EQUIP., MC. RD 1, Uhlerßd Easton, PA 18042 PH (215)252 8828 C. PAUL FORD I SON RTI Everett, PA 15537 PH (814)652-2051 HETRKK FARM SUPPLY Rt 1 New Bethlehem, PA 16242 PH-(814) 275-3507 bee beards attract onlookers Harvey and Don Hopkins from New Jersey, and third place team was Richard Vansandt and Max Beck of Florida. Each group worked with a box of bees, weighing from three to five pounds, with one pound containing about 3,700 bees. The person on whose chin the bees were sculpted had a queen bee in a box tied to his chin. Once the timing began and the bees were dumped out of their box, the second team member worked with a card, encouraging the bees onto the face and neck of the competitor. Asked why he entered the con test, Conlon replied, “I had seen Bard do it and I was attracted to £ 0 mp an y Thats Been In Business Over 40 Years * NEED A BARN CLEAN REPLACEMENT CHAI ger’s Price Against The Lesser Quality Bi TOP OF THE LINE DURA FORGED CHAIN WITH HEAT TREATED STEEL FORGINGS, LARGE DIAMETER PINS, 13/.”I 3 /.” WIDE FLAT BARS, AND REPLACEABLE PADDLES AND WEAR HEELS. mm KOCH'S REPAIR CENTER P 0 Box 16 E Market St Berrysburg PA 17005 PH (717)362 8252 HONESDALE SPREADING SERVICE INC 505 Cliff St Honesdale PA 18431 PH (717)253 2410 HOOVER EQUIPMENT R 4 Box 371 H Tyrone PA 16686 PH (814)684 1777 HUTTON FARM EQUIPMENT c/o Joe Hutton Mahaffey, PA 15757 PK (814) 277-5504 the idea of doing something like that. There is not much danger for people who work with bees.” Conlon, who was stung on the finger early in the process, said it didn’t bother him. He gave all the credit for winning to Montgomery, saying, “It is the skill of the ap plicator.” Montgomery said he was glad to be the sculptor and not the sculptee, noting, “I knew he had the nerve.” He pointed out that the secret of getting a well balanced beard is that bees like to go to the shady side of the face. So once they did, he created shade on the other side with the cardboard which is permitted to hold the bees during the sculpting process. “I don’t want to suggest people try this themselves. There is always a risk,” Montgomery cautioned. However, he said there was little danger from these bees because they were well fed prior to being released. He also said that change is what causes them to sting, and noted that if there had been a change in atmospheric pressure during the contest, the bees would not have been so docile. Montgomery also credited organizers with doing a great job. “The contest here is the best organized bee beard contest I’ve seen.” He complimented them on having a large number of people monitoring the contestants, as well as having professionals available to remove bee stings should the need arise. They also had a vacuum to remove the bees in a hurry if someone got in trouble. Other smaller but equally im portant equipment on hand in cluded plenty of rubber bands to close off pant legs and shirt sleeves to prevent bees from stinging under the clothing, and cotton, BARN CLEANER REPLACEMENT CHAIN BUY THE BEST FOR LESS & RALPH KETTERER Deep Run Box 98 Rt 1 Perkasie PA 18944 PH (215)766 8531 McMILLEN BROS. Clair McMillen RD 1 Loysville PA 17047 PH (717)789 3961 MHLLEfI EQUIPMENT INC. RD #7 Box 256 A Greensburg PA 15601 PH (412)539 8966 MELVIRG. MILLER RT 2 Spring Mills PA 16875 PH (814)422-8279 , «cW~. -fWr - - ■*■ qt" 1 " w --^1 vr* ty u & PIKEVILIE EQUIPMENT INC. RT 2 Oley PA 19547 PH (215)987-6277 SNOW EASE STALL CO. 573 Willow Rd Lancaster PA 17601 PH (717)299 2536 SOMERSET BAM EQUIP. RD 5 Somerset, PA 15501 PH (814)445-5555 SWOPE ( BASHQRE, INC. RD 1 Box 173 Myersfown PA 17067 PH (717)933 4138 * VA i f* to apicultural meeting Do these gents need a trim? Each apiarist used thousands of bees to sculpt a beard on his chin and face. which contestants slutted in ears and nostrils prior to the contest. After the final judging, all the bees were taken off contestants and used to literally cover up Max Bert, who offered to help the group try to grain a place in the Guinness Book of World Records by seeing how many bees they could use to cover him. The bee beard contest was a the conference are hobbyists, small part of the three day con- according to conference officials, ference for the beekeepers, with but they take their hobby 670 persons registered from all seriously, and enjoy learning more over the eastern United States and about their favorite sweet. I \jl UNIONTOWN FARM EQUIPMENT CO. PO Box 1030 Rt 119 Uniontown PA 15401 PH (412)437 9851 WILLIAMS FARM SYSTEMS RD 1 Box 324 Linden PA 17744 PH (717)322 6164 WOLFE'S BADGER SALES RD 1 Box 420 Milton PA X 7847 PH (717)524 0931 LEONARD WORK RD #3 Brookville PA 15825 PH (814)849 3361 Canada. Prior to the conference a beekeeping short course was of fered on the campus. Throughout the parking lot, bumper stickers extolled the virtues of honey and beekeepers with slogans like, “I’d Rather Bee Keeping,” “Bee Keepers Make Better Honeys,” and “Bee My Honey.” Most of those attending CECIL DAIRY SERVICE RD 1 Rt 274 '6 Mi South Rising Sun MD 21911 PH (301)658 6923 DUDLEY CHANGE S SON RT 1 Galena MD 21635 PH (301)928 3834 HEFLIN SALES t SERVICE 12312 Oak Hill Rd Woodsboro, MD 21798 PH (301)898-3233 C(C FARMERS SUPPLY RD 8 Box 23A Harrisonburg, VA 22801 PH (703)433-8582
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