A couple of weeks ago, I filled this column with information about carpenter bees or mason bees. I really got a lot of good feedback from that column on both sides of the bee. Some were thankful to have useful information on how to deal with their carpenter bee problem, while others suggested a follow-up on protecting and nurturing carpenter bees and other bees.

There’s no question bees are important for numerous reasons, including the fact that they pollinate a third of our crops. Even carpenter bees pollinate most fruit trees and plants, and they will also visit a wide variety of other early spring-blooming trees and shrubs, such as hollies, willows, azaleas and redbuds. 

For those of you who purposely want to attract carpenter bees to your site, you can provide them a residence — called a nesting block — by crafting a pre-drilled block of soft wood, like pine or fir. This should be a project for next year, however, since female carpenter bees begin laying eggs in March. While it is too late to mount a nesting block now, one might want to get an early start constructing the project.  Plans for a carpenter bee nesting block are available from various on-line sources including  HYPERLINK “http://www.audubon.org” www.audubon.org.

Obviously, there is still great concern over the mysterious ailment called colony collapse, which has wiped out a large number of honey bees in the United States. Last spring, beekeepers across our nation were surveyed to determine how many colonies failed to make it through that winter. Nationwide, 36 percent of colonies were lost compared to a typical winter decline of 15 to 25 percent. Noteworthy, is that 60 percent of those losses were attributed to colony collapse disorder. Within our Southeastern region, Mississippi, Arkansas and Tennessee were about normal, but Alabama, Georgia and Florida reported considerably more colony losses than normal.

There continues to be interest among Extension Service clients wanting to know more about bees and even get into beekeeping as a hobby. Therefore, I’ll conclude today’s column with information about the 2009 Bee Short Course scheduled for June 2-3 at the Forrest County Extension Service in Hattiesburg. This particular course is designed for the beginner or novice beekeeper, but will also include some updates important to the experienced beekeeper.

The short course will be taught by Dr. Clarence Collison, head of the Entomology Department at Mississippi State University, and Mr. Harry Fulton, president of the Mississippi Bee Keepers Association, along with selected beekeepers Milton Henderson, D.L. Wesley and Charles Wilson. 

Topics include basic bee biology, honey flows and food sources, getting started — how and when. 

Field exercises on how to work bees/smoking, types of equipment for bee hives and collecting swarms are also scheduled.

Fulton and Collison will cover some important issues, such as colony collapse disorder, Nosema disease, mite control and small hive beetle management.  They also have a session on Africanized Honey Bees — What Beekeepers Should Know and Do.

John C. Coccaro is county Extension director. Write to him at 1100-C Grove St., Vicksburg, MS 39180 or call 601-636-5442. E-mail him at jcoccaro@ext.msstate.edu