818-Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, December 14,1985
Dave Hackenberg turns bees into
BY MARGIE FUSCO
Staff Correspondent
LEWISBURG - Dave
Hackenberg is on the road again.
But he’s not alone. Although his
wife, Linda, and their four children
are still home, Dave has lots of
company...about 19 million bees.
Dave’s Buffy Bee honey
business, headquartered in
Lewisburg, moves south in
November. His bees will spend a
busy season pollenating citrus
fields around Dade County, Fla.
Then they’ll return north to yield
sweet orange blossom honey.
From there it’s Adams County for
apple pollenation, then a summer
full of wildflower, goldenrod, and
about eight road trips around the
state and as far away as Maine or
the Dakotas.
“When we were in Future
Farmers, Dave did his project on
bees,” a Mifflinburg high school
classmate recalls. “Everyone
said, ‘That’s nice, Dave, but what
are you going to do for a living?”’
What Dave did was turn those first
hundred beehives into a blooming
business and became an industry
activist.
Although Dave intended to be a
fanner, his sights were initially set
on conventional fanning, dairy or
veal. But after-effects of a serious
farm accident caused his father to
cut back on his operation and
eventually sell the farm. Dave
turned to beekeeping for his
project, and his career began.
When he graduated from high
school in 1966 Dave found part
time work with the soil con
servation service and eventually
became a state bee inspector. But
he was working to get his bee
operation established. His break
came in the late 19605, when crown
vetch became popular.
The Penn State-developed
ground cover was in demand for
highway projects across the
nation. And crown vetch could be
pollenated only by bees. Hooking
up with a Philadelphia firm, Dave
expanded to 1,300 hives. By the
time the crown vetch boom slowed,
Dave had established the contacts
to continue as a full-time
Dave Hackenberg has turned beekeeping into a profitable
business.
'blooming' business
beekeeper with a crop pollenation
and honey business.
Today Buffy Bee is located in
6,000 square feet of processing
plant and warehouse near
Lewisburg. Dave’s 1,300 hives,
' scattered across the local coun
tryside, produce between 200 and
250 barrels, or 13,000 to 16,000
pounds of honey a year. Dave is
also getting a reputation as a
breeder and sells nucs, starter
hives for bee operations, as well as
beekeeping products and beeswax.
Buffy Bee is a family operation.
Dave and his wife are fully in
volved as well as their sons, ages
12 and 13, who help out when
they’re not in school. Dave’s father
operates the 18-wheel truck that
helps move the hives on long trips.
The firm also employes three or
four people part-time in peak
seasons.
Things aren’t always humming
in the bee business. “This year
we’re doing OK, but last year...”
Dave’s voice trails off and he looks
away and shrugs. Despite a good
local market for their preser
vative-free honey, it’s hard to
make a living at honey production.
The main problem, according to
Dave is imports. He notes that on
the world market honey sells for
about 30 cents per pound
wholesale. But in the United States
it costs about 45 cents to produce a
pound of honey. Rather than im
posing trade restrictions on honey
imported from Canada, Mexico,
South America, and China, the
U.S. government offers domestic
beekeepers price supports.
Like many beekeepers, Dave
finds price supports an un
satisfactory alternative. Although
the government pays slightly over
half a dollar a pound for honey
producers, Dave explains, “I’d
rather sell my honey on the open
market than be used to offset the
federal deficit.”
Unlike some producers, Dave is
trying to do something about it. He
is a state representative and a
national board member of the
American Beekeeping Federation.
He speaks eagerly about the
group’s Honey Promotion and
\
Education Act. “It’s a market
order to promote the honey in
dustry the way the dairy industry
has done.” He looks forward to the
act reaching a vote and admits it’s
frustrating to see the wheels of
government turn so slowly in
helping beekeepers.
“As it stands now,” he says, “a
lot of producers don’t know if
they’ll be in business from one
year to the next. You can’t live that
way. If it weren’t for pollenation,
our part in citrus and the food
industry, congress would probably
have kicked us out a long time
ago.” He sees a need for honey
producers to market their product
aggressively, to build a stronger
domestic market.
As the head of an interstate
operation, Dave has some other
concerns as well. Some of the
smaller problems are bears that
raid local hives and freezing
weather in Florida. Among the
larger concerns are bee mites and
“killer” bees.
“I don’t know if I’m really
worried about ‘killers’ or not,”
Dave admits. He’s in a unique
position to talk abot these bees,
which developed from
crossbreeding African with honey
producing bees. In the early ‘7os,
Dave was involved in the U.S.
Department of Agriculture ex
periment with Africanized drones.
“We had a lot of problems with
them,” he says. “They were mean,
nasty, didn’t make much honey.
We bred the stock out fast. ”
Mites, which invade the bees’
breathing tubes, are a more im
mediate concern. It’s not so much
Wayne County 4-H names outstanding boy, giri
Josh Sheard and Kyra Gadomsk
were named the outstanding 4-H
boy and 4-H girl for 1985 in the
Wayne County 4-H program. This
selection was announced at the 4-H
Achievement Night held recently
at the Honesdale Presbyterian
Church Hall in Honesdale.
Josh Sheard, from Boyds Mills
Road, Milanville, is a four-year 4-H
member in the Calkins 4-H Ag
Club. Josh has served as president
of his 4-H club and also is president
of the Wayne County 4-H County
Council.
He has attended 4-H Capitol
Days in Harrisburg, 4-H
Leadership Congress at Penn State
University, the 1985 4-H Citizen
ship... Washington Focus Program
in Washington, D.C., 4-H Careers
Trip to Penn State University and
has been a camper and a 4-H camp
counselor at 4-H Camp Shehaqua
at Hickory Run State Park.
Josh also participated in the
Pennsylvania Pork Producer’s
Council Public Speaking Contest at
the Pennsylvania Farm Show in
1984. His main 4-H project has been
the 4-H market hog project, but he
has also taken vegetable
production projects. Josh is
currently a junior student at the
Slice feed budget by cutting your mm meals
YORK - If you’re looking for
ways to cut the food budget,
sharpen your knife and your
carving skills. You can cut up your
own chicken, slice your own lunch
meat, even make your own lunch
meat and stretch large cuts of
meat into more than one meal.
The old geometric law-the whole
is equal to the sum of its parts
does not always apply to chicken
prices says York County Extension
home economist, A. Joan Lam
berson. Chicken sold whole always
costs a few cents less per pound
than cut up. The price difference
between whole and cut-up will vary
among stores, but it is usually ten
Linda Hackenberg shares Butty Bee honey with the young
visitors.
the mites as the reaction to them
that Hackenburg fears. “They just
came to light about 18 months
ago,” he says. “No one knows why
they occur or how much damage
they can do, but they don’t seem to
affect the honey.” He’s afraid the
Wayne Highlands High School.
Kyra Gadomski, from R.D. #5
Lake Ariel, is an eight-year 4-H
member in the Ledgedale 4-H
Community Club. Kyra has been
very active in her 4-H club and
currently serves as a 4-H Teen
Leader in the club. She is a five-
year member of the Wayne County
4-H County Council, having served
as secretary of this group.
Kyra is a five-year member of
the Wayne County 4-H Livestock
Judging Team has attended 4-H
Leadership Congress at Penn State
University. She also attended 4-H
Camp Shehaqua as a camp
counselor - in - training and par
ticipated in the 4-H Careers Trip to
Penn State University.
Kyra has exhibited her 4-H
projects at the Wayne County Fair,
Greene-Dreher-Sterling Fair and
the Pennsylvania Farm Show. She
has taken a variety of 4-H projects
including; dairy, market beef
steer, capons, pet care, onions,
melons, potatoes, wildlife,
strawberries, and beekeeping.
Kyra is a 1985 graduate of Western
Wayne High School and plans to
attend Penn State University in
January, 1966 to pursue a degree in
computer science.
cents a pound. If you buy a four
pound bird, you save 40 cents by
cutting it up yourself.
Retailers continually find new
ways to merchandise parts so that
it is next to impossible to compare
values among the different
packages of parts.
A money-saving idea to help
reduce the meat budget might be
to consider slicing your own cold
cuts rather than selecting the
prepackaged kind. Next time you
see unsliced bologna or salami on
sale compare the price with that of
a presliced package.
If you like baked ham for lun
cheon meat, why not select a small
U.S.D.A. will over-react to the
mites and begin destroying hives.
“I hope the government doesn’t act
too quickly on this or it’s going to
be like the avian flu. It’ll drive
more producers out of business.”
Kyra also received a 1985 Isabel
Loesch - Wayne County 4-H
Development Fund Scholarship.
Also receiving a scholarship was
Wayne Mang, R 3, Honesdale.
Wayne, a member of the Bethany
4-H Community Club, is a nine
year 4-H member. He has been
active on the Wayne County 4-H
Livestock Judging Team, is a
member of the Wayne County 4-H
Council, has been active in his 4-H
Club, currently holding the office
of president. He was a participant
in the 4-H Careers trip to Penn
State.
Wayne has taken a number of 4-
H projects during his 4-H career,
including market lambs, sheep
breeding projects, gardening,
flowers, arts and crafts and the I
hobby project. He has exhibited his |
4-H projects at the Wayne County i
Fair and the Greene-Dreher- $
Sterling Fairs. ’
He received the Wayne County |
Outstanding 4-H Boy Award in '
1984. Wayne is a 1985 graduate of ■■
Honesdale High School and is I
currently pursuing a degree in
computer science at Penn State
University, Worthington Scranton j
campus. i
I
tavern ham at the meat counter. I
This will cost less than the baked |
ham at the deli department. |
There are other things to con-
sider-like how good are you at
slicing and whether or not you '■
want to take the time. 4
I
You could also prepare meat at |
home for luncheon meats. Com- |
pute the cost of cooked meats such t
as chicken, turkey and roast beef |
with the price of slice-to-order |
meats from the deli department f
and decide if it would pay you to |
prepare si|ch a); home. |