Beekeeping With Disabilities - Justin Ruger (S4, E49)

Can you imagine the difficulty in trying to work a standard Langstroth hive when sitting in a wheelchair? Or how about working bees while blind?

These are just two of the handicaps that Justin Ruger is working on so that people with handicaps like these can work bees.

Justin is in a wheelchair so he knows what he’s talking about. His group is a 501 3c charitable program, working to get training apiaries in every state to accommodate teaching handicapped people how to keep bees, no matter their condition. These apiaries will have all the requirements needed for these people.

Along with University in Pennsylvania, he is developing techniques for teaching, building specialized equipment and developing standards for state programs.  This way, beekeeping organizations and equipment manufacturers can use the specifications and recommendations as guidelines to providing the right location setup and the right equipment for establishing their own accessible apiraries

Check out their web site for even more information on Accessible Beekeeping. And share what you find with everybody you can.

Also in today's episode, Kim returns with a new Bee Books Old and New, presented by Northern Bee Books. This week, Kim reviews, The Principles of Bee Improvement, by Jo Widdicombe

We hope you enjoy the episode. Leave comments and questions in the Comments Section of the episode's website.

Thank you for listening!

Links and websites mentioned in this podcast: 

• Accessible Beekeeping.org - https://www.accessiblebeekeeping.org
• Accessible Beekeeping Survey - https://www.accessiblebeekeeping.org/survey
• Accessible Beekeeping Podcast - https://www.accessiblebeekeeping.org/podcast
• "Henry Meets A Bee" series of children books - https://www.hippiechickapiary.com/books
• Honey Bee Obscura Podcast - https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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We welcome Betterbee as sponsor of today's episode. Betterbee’s mission is to support every beekeeper with excellent customer service, continued education and quality equipment. From their colorful and informative catalog to their support of beekeeper educational activities, including this podcast series, Betterbee truly is Beekeepers Serving Beekeepers. See for yourself at www.betterbee.com

This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global Patties is a family business that manufactures protein supplement patties for honey bees. Feeding your hives protein supplement patties will help ensure that they produce strong and health colonies by increasing brood production and overall honey flow. Global offers a variety of standard patties, as well as custom patties to meet your specific needs. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their sponsorship of Bee Books: Old & New with Kim Flottum. Northern Bee Books is the publisher of bee books available worldwide from their website or from Amazon and bookstores everywhere. They are also the publishers of The Beekeepers Quarterly and Natural Bee Husbandry. Check them out today!

Thanks to Strong Microbials for their support of Beekeeping Today Podcast. Find out more about heir line of probiotics in our Season 3, Episode 12 episode and from their website: https://www.strongmicrobials.com

We want to also thank 2 Million Blossoms as a sponsor of the podcast. 2 Million Blossoms is a regular podcast featuring interviews with leading bee and insect researchers in the world of pollination, hosted by Dr. Kirsten Traynor.

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We hope you enjoy this podcast and welcome your questions and comments in the show notes of this episode or: [email protected]

Thanks to Bee Culture, the Magazine of American Beekeeping, for their support of The Beekeeping Today Podcast. Available in print and digital at www.beeculture.com

Thank you for listening! 

Podcast music: Be Strong by Young Presidents; Epilogue by Musicalman; Walking in Paris by Studio Le Bus; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

Beekeeping Today Podcast is an audio production of Growing Planet Media, LLC