Honey Bees and Golf At The University of Georgia with Jennifer Berry and Scott Griffith (S5, E39)

Close your eyes and think of a gold course. We’re pretty sure that when you think of the landscape and maintenance of a typical golf course, with lots trim flat greens, schedules of pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers and other chemicals - a beeyard just doesn’t fit, right?

Jennifer Berry and Scott Griffith of the University of Georgia, are working to change that vision. They’ve placed a hive at the very first tee on the university’s golf course, in Athens, Georgia.

Jennifer, a grad student at the University and a researcher at the UGA Bee Lab, and Scott, Director of Agronomy and golf course Supervisor, are working to set a standard to use the tracts of land around golf courses, bee and pollinator friendly.

They are starting to make it happen.

Scott is spreading the word to every golf course in the US about how to keep both golfers and honey bees safe, what they should be planting to help bees stay healthy, and what they shouldn’t be doing with all of the chemicals golf courses use. The next step is working with an organization that could certify a golf course as being recognized as Bee Friendly, with guidelines, and standards that if followed, minimized, or better, kept bees truly safe, and well fed.

Listen now and see out if your golf course can be a part of this program, and what you can do to help………FORE!!!

Also on this episode, Ed Colby returns with another story from his book, “A Beekeeper’s Life: Tales from the Bottom Board”. The book is a collection of 60 of his best columns from Bee Culture. In this episode, Ed’s bee truck breaks down in Steamboat Springs, Colorado! Listen to hear how he gets out of this high mountain town. You can order signed copies of Ed’s book for $25.00. Contact him directly at [email protected] for your copy!

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: 

• University of Georgia Bee Lab: https://ent.uga.edu/bees
• UGA Golf Course: https://golfcourse.uga.edu/news/honeybees/ 
• Beekeeping Today Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekeepingtodaypodcast
• Honey Bee Obscura: https://www.honeybeeobscura.com

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This episode is brought to you by Global Patties! Global offers a variety of standard and custom patties. Visit them today at http://globalpatties.com and let them know you appreciate them sponsoring this episode! 

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

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 welcome HiveAlive back as an episode sponsor. HiveAlive is the #1 liquid feed supplement for honeybees worldwide.  It contains a unique blend of seaweed extracts, thyme and  lemongrass proven to increase bee strength, produce more honey, improved bee gut health and improved overwinter survival. Ask about HiveAlive and new HiveAlive Fondant & Pollen Patty at your local beekeeping store or visit the website www.usa.hivealivebees.com for more information. Listeners of the podcast can claim a special discount online using the code "BTP" at the checkout!

Thanks for Northern Bee Books for their support. 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.

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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; A Fresh New Start by Pete Morse; Original guitar background instrumental by Jeff Ott

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

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