Obituary: Thomas E. Burleson, Jr.

Thomas Edward Burleson, Jr. of Burleson’s Honey in Waxahachie, Tex., died Sept. 19, 2011, at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Tex.

Bees Go to Washington

Photo by Ian Bens
The discovery and removal of a bee tree created a bit of excitement in July on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. The dying and decaying maple tree was cut down by the D.C. Dept. of Transportation and the colony was salvaged by a group of local beekeepers. The bee tree was [...]

Fence of Beehives Deters Elephants

The comeback of Kenya’s elephant population is a huge conservation success story, as well as a huge problem for the country’s farmers. But scientists have found a new ally in the struggle to keep elephants from trampling crops: honey bees. Like many animals, elephants are afraid of bees. So scientists recruited farmers in northern Kenya [...]

Savannah Bee Co. Helps Sea Turtles With New Honey Line

By Haley Bowers
Aug. 15 , 2011
Savannah, Ga.- Savannah Bee Company has partnered with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center to raise awareness about the beneficial relationship between injured sea turtles and honey. Often, an injured turtle that does not respond to modern medicine can survive using honey and honeycomb to help heal the wound. Three dollars [...]

Mussen of UC Davis Says Modesto, Calif.’s Africanized Bees Are Isolated Incident

he recent confirmation of Africanized honey bees in Modesto–the first confirmed case north of Madera County—is “probably an isolated case, and there probably aren’t any more Africanized honey bee colonies in the northern San Joaquin Valley,” Extension apiculturist Eric Mussen, based at the University of California, Davis Dept. of Entomology, said today.

Purchasing Officers Site Focuses on Laundering

Over the next few years, there was a widely-held view in the industry that certain US importers of were guilty of “honey laundering” and knowingly re-routed Chinese-produced honey through other countries to avoid tariffs. These suspicions were validated last year when the U.S. Justice Department indicted 15 people and six companies spanning from Asia to Germany and the U.S. for their roles in a honey laundering scheme that avoided nearly $80 million in anti-dumping duties and knowingly placed honey that was tainted with dangerous antibiotics into the U.S. food supply.

Asia Sends European-Banned Honey To U.S. Shores

A third or more of all the honey consumed in the U.S. is likely to have been smuggled in from China and may be tainted with illegal antibiotics and heavy metals.  A Food Safety News investigation has documented that millions of pounds of honey banned as unsafe in dozens of countries are being imported and sold here in record quantities. 

The Summer Edition Is Here!

The new 2011 Summer Edition of the Speedy Bee is hitting the presses as we speak!
To see Pages 1 thru 8, click here.
To see Pages 9 thru 16, click here.
As always, if you would like to subscribe, please contact us! Thank you and enjoy!

Wolff Honey To Be Destroyed

A U.S. District Court Judge has ordered the honey seized in the Alfred L. Wolff import fraud case destroyed. The 2,441 drums of honey is being held at various locations, mostly in the Chicago area.

Read the Degree of Forfeiture here.

Have You Seen any Tigers Around Your Beehives?

American beekeepers have a lot of non-bee issues to deal with while we are working our beehives — snakes, fire ants, briars (I even got into a yellowjacket nest once while mowing a beeyard) — but we have never heard of a U.S. beekeeper being eaten by a tiger.

Read about your fellow beekeepers’ travails while collecting honey in Bangladesh’s Sundarbans forest by clicking here.