It's officially getting cold outside. For Davey Hackenberg's bees, that means going down to Florida! I wish I was a bee right now. The November/December time period works best because the height of hurricane season is over in Florida which means less chance of any hive disasters from the weather. For beekeepers, this is an important time to make sure hives have PLENTY of food for the winter so the colony can stay strong for the almond crop early next year.

GMO's have again been in the news recently. Voters in Washington recently had the opportunity to decide if their food should be GMO labeled. Just like in California, the initiative was defeated. No change here in the states, but a couple weeks ago a Mexican judge banned GMO corn in Mexico sighting environmental concerns. No real evidence has shown that GMO food has negative health impacts on humans over the long term, but the amount of research is mounting on GMO's affect on bees. Some GMO crops don't produce pollen, leaving less food for bees. They are created to be pest resistant. I agree some pests can do a lot of damage on crops, but trying to repel all insects, like bees, cannot be good. Also, "Roundup Ready" crops are designed to be sprayed with herbicides. The application practices used to distribute these herbicides is another concern for bees. Being doused with man-made chemicals certainly doesn't sound like something any living thing should be subjected to.