82-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 9, 2003
It Takes A
Troutman in action wears a bee veil but prefers to work
with bare arms and hands. She said, “I have this theory: If
you dress for war with gloves and long sleeves, the bees
are more aggressive. Not wearing gloves forces me to be
more careful with the bees. If I do something wrong, they
let me know in a hurry.”
Working in tandem are Pennsylvania Honey Bee Inspector Renee Troutman and bee
keeper Dennis Ernest, Stevens.
Whitetail Wetlands Offers A Different Kind Of Getaway
LINDA WILLIAMS
Bedford Co. Correspondent
NEW PARIS (Bedford Co.)
A farm with a never drying wet
lands quickly brought farmer
Jerry Fetter to the realization
some land is not meant to be
fanned.
Rather then fight nature, Jerry
decided to take a lesson from his
neighbor, Dr. Tom Dick, a veteri
narian surgeon from Johnstown,
and give a part of his land back
to the wildlife by turning it into
wetlands.
Jerry credits the thus far suc
cess of “Whitetail Wetlands” to
manager, Connie Hunt.
Connie loves and has studied
plants, flowers, birds, butterflies,
and all the other wonderful acts
of nature brought about by the
wetlands.
“It is so sad to think that wet
lands are disappearing at a rate
of 275 acres per day,” says this
talented bundle of energy.
She is amazed at how quickly
nature came in tune with the
wetlands efforts and has identi
fied numerous species of birds
and dragon flies, plus ducks, tur-
umu.’n Touch To Examine Beehives
ties, frogs, geese, snakes, fish, and
mammals attracted by the return
of nature to its own.
Connie oversaw the construc
tion of a lodge, an addition to the
original farmhouse which allows
outsiders to see, photograph,
hike, horseback ride, cross-coun
try ski, and genuinely enjoy all
aspects of the wetlands.
“It is a setting that offers no
stressful schedules, no crowds,
opportunity to commune with
nature on a closely personal
basis, to observe wild critters in
their natural habitat,” said Con
nie.
The lodge itself is uniquely and
beautifully constructed. A large
dining table provides a setting for
dinners for about a dozen people,
which Connie herself can whip
up in the octagon-shaped kitch
en.
Sliding doors enlarge the room
for conversations and meetings.
Upstairs a wall of windows
that overlooks the wetlands
greets visitors. The room contains
a self-playing baby grand piano
or those with talented fingers
(Turn to Page B 12)
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
STEVENS (Lancaster Co.)
Renee Troutman calmly removes
a honeycomb from a bee hive.
Bees swarm around her, but
Renee doesn’t appear to notice.
‘T’m not afraid of being stung,
although I probably will be a few
times before I finish morning in
spections,” she said. “I have this
theory: If you dress for war with
gloves and long sleeves, the bees
are more aggressive. Not wearing
gloves forces me to be more care
ful with the bees. If I do some
thing wrong, they let me know in
a hurry.”
So Troutman tackles her job as
state-appointed apiary inspector
with bare hands and arms but
with a bee veil. It’s her job to in
spect every hive in the three
county area of Lebanon, Lancas
ter, and Dauphin counties at
least once every two years.
Connie Hunt sits in the duck bedroom. Each bed has a locally-made quilt.
Readers will probably remem
ber Troutman as the former
Pennsylvania Honey Queen,
Renee Blatt, who went to nation
al competition where she was se
lected American Honey Queen.
As the representative for the
U.S., she crisscrossed the states
promoting the industry and en
couraging beekeepers. After that,
Renee filled an internship with
the Department of Agriculture.
Last fall she married Justin
Troutman. Together they operate
a dairy farm.
Renee helps her husband milk
their 50 cows in the morning,
then travels about 15 minutes to
her parents’ farm to help milk
their 70 cows before she heads
out to inspect bee hives.
All hives and apiaries must be
registered with the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture. The
inspection service is a benefit to
the beekeeper. It helps pinpoint
problems, detect viruses in the
beehive, and solve the problems.
“The most dreaded bee disease
is American Foulbrood. The bac
teria is highly contagious and will
kill a colony and quickly spread
to other hives in the area,” Trout
man said.
The bacteria is usually spread
by bees robbing honey out of
other colonies, especially if the
infected hive becomes weak and
cannot fend for itself.
The bacteria can also be
spread by moving infected equip
ment from hive to hive or by pur
chasing used equipment that is
infected with the bacteria.
The only cure for American
Foulbrood Bacteria (AFB) is to
bum all infected equipment. A
preventative method is to treat
hives with Terramycin, but some
AFB strains are resistant to the
treatment.
Troutman said, “Many bee
keepers are unfamiliar with the
symptoms of disease.”
Troutman’s trained eye quick
ly recognizes the larva that has
died and exhibits a “ropy” condi
tion. The healthy larva that was
pearly white has sunk to the bot
tom of the cell and turned into a
black, thick substance that can be
stretched with a toothpick.
Troutman has found 15 cases
of AFB since she began inspect
ing hives in May.
The diagnosis isn’t made mere-
ly on Troutman’s visual assess
ment. She inserts a toothpick into
the suspicious-looking substance
and has it tested in Harrisburg.
Troutman uses a smoker to
calm the bees while she inspects
the honey and the hives. Even so,
several bees disturbed by her in
trusion circle around her.
As she works, Troutman and
the beekeeper whose hives she is
inspecting discuss the appear
ance of the hive.
“There’s your queen bee. She’s
beautiful,” Troutman points to
the large, honey-colored bee sur
rounded by hundreds of working
bees.
Hives are “requeened” every
two to three years. The queen
bees are generally mailordered
for $l7 each.
Troutman also examines the
hive for honey distribution. A
healthy hive has lots of bees, a
solid brood pattern, and healthy,
capped brood.
“When I’m inspecting, I look
for punctured capping, indicating
that the larva has died from a
disease and the bees have at
tempted to open the cell to re
move and clean up the dead
larva,” Troutman said.
Chalkbrood, a diseased larva
that becomes mummified, is an
other common brood disease.
Tracheal mites, which can live
and reproduce in the bee’s
breathing tubes, are microscopic
and a big problem for beekeepers
to eliminate. A sign to detect tra
cheal mites is when wings on one
side of the thorax become de
tached.
Another virus beekeepers need
to be concerned about is Sac
brood. The virus prevents bees
from completing their larval
phase and pupating, and the
larva dies and quickly turns dark
brown.
“Sacbrood is easily identified
because the whole larva can be
scooped out of the cell complete
with its larval sac,” Troutman
said.
There is no cure or medicine
for Sacbrood. Requeening and a
good honey flow will sometimes
clean up an infection.
Troutman has learned to iden
tify many known viruses and
fungi diseases.
(Turn to Page B 12)