Australian Stonefruit Grower Magazine Issue 4 April 2017 | Page 10

Feature old says. “I loved agriculture, and pests and labs, that sort of thing. “Then, when I went to the University of California (Davis), I did some volunteer work in the bee lab and I was hooked. I found honey bees fascinating and the value of pollination is huge to the world.” After uni she got a job as a travelling beekeeping technician, which meant a lot of long days travelling through Minnesota and North Dakota working The European honey bee (species Apis millifera to be exact) is not native, but is the one that pollinates a vast number of crops, fruits and vegetables, and the lucerne that feeds cattle which ends up on your burger. with commercial beekeepers, but people her passion is bees, do they look at her like she’s a geek. Or is she suddenly the life of the party? She chuckles. “I haven’t been asked that before,” she says. “But overall I’d say it’s positive because everyone has a reaction. Some people are scared of bees, others find the whole idea interesting, and some use it to talk about their If that question surprised her, the So here she is. creating vocational educational tools for beekeepers with When she goes to a party and tells favourite honey.” hankered for something different. “It’s temporary, a nine-month contact,” she says. “I’m Passion next wouldn’t – but I have to ask. How many times have you been stung? There’s a brief pause. “Probably 200, I’d say. At first Tocal College’s Educational Delivery Team and really when I was stung on the finger it was quite painful and my enjoying it. Ideally I’d like to stay on.” whole hand would swell up, but not any more. So let’s cut to more important matters. “I guess I’ve desensitised – although not everyone does. It’s important that you get the sting out straight away. It’s s u h t i w e s i t r e v Ad THE RATES ARE ULTRA REASONABLE Full page $250 Half-page $175 Quarter page $1 00 IF YOU ARE A SUPPLIER OF PRODUCTS OR SERVICES TO GROWERS THIS IS THE PUBLICATION WHERE TO PUT YOUR AD Ad pages contain direct, active email addresses as well as live links to your webpage or webpages and/or Facebook page. Copy and artwork deadline for next issue of Australian Stonefruit Grower is 1 July, 2017 at 5pm. Email: [email protected]. Please put "advertising" in the subject line and attach your ad as a high-resolution pdf file. For a small extra fee we can make up your ad and write enticing copy. 10 Australian Stonefruit Grower | April 2017 summerfruit.com.au