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<P><FONT size=7>Hurd creating a buzz with Pollinator Conservation
Award</FONT></P>
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<P>11.04.2008</P>
<P>By CAROL KINSLEY<BR>Staff Writer<BR><BR>HARRINGTON, Del. — It may have been
the need for bees to pollinate his pumpkins, cucumber, squash and other crops
that launched Chuck Hurd of Lister Acres into a new vocation for which he has
just received a national award. <BR>The North American Pollinator Protection
Campaign and National Association of Conservation Districts presented the
“Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Conservation Award” in ceremonies at the Organization
of American States in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 22.<BR>Noting that former
recipients have mostly had Ph.D after their names, Hurd said he was “humbled by
the honor.” <BR>He added that it was a great honor for Delaware to be recognized
for its “pollinator-friendly practices.”<BR>Dr. Faith Kuehn, administrator of
the Delaware Department of Agriculture Plant Industries Section, nominated Hurd
in recognition of his efforts on behalf of DDA’s long-term bee conservation
project. <BR>In 2005, she said, Hurd offered DDA the use of three-quarters of an
acre of Lister Farm to plant a native wildflower meadow for use as a bee survey
study site. <BR>“As part of his agritourism program, he thought it would be a
great learning experience for the children to walk through a field that was
alive with butterflies and other insects,” she wrote. <BR>DDA developed a
pollinator seed mix that Hurd planted in the plot and continues to maintain,
even though the farm’s focus is no longer on agritourism. The plot contains 17
native species.<BR>Earlier, in 2000, Hurd had installed 14 acres of Conservation
Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) filter strips, which he delays mowing until
after most of the flowering plants have stopped blooming, thereby preserving
season-long forage for pollinators. <BR>“Natural plant community succession
continues to introduce a number of native bee forage plants into the filter
strips,” Kuehn said.<BR>Hurd smiled broadly as he recalled how he’d “planted”
black-eyed Susans on the CREP acres. “I had collected a 5-gallon bucket full of
seed,” he said. “And on a windy day, I just drove along the filter strips
tossing seed into the wind.” <BR>The tiny seeds had taken hold and yielded a
bounty of flowers for honeybees and other pollinators.<BR>He recalled, too, that
he had asked to take steps, when the CREP acreage was originally installed, to
make sure the crop of vegetation was successful. <BR>Farmers now are allowed to
employ such management skills in the first year, he added.<BR>Hurd got into
beekeeping by default, he said. In 1995, he moved to the farm started by his
great-aunt and uncle, Matilda and Joshua Lister, in 1927. Farm production in
recent years has included cucurbits, lima beans, tomatoes, peppers, onion and
cabbage, as well as mums and strawberries. <BR>A few years ago he opened his
pumpkin patch to the public and added an elaborate corn maze.<BR>Originally he
had a hobby beekeeper tend the hives needed for pollination, then a commercial
beekeeper for a while, later retuning to the services of another hobbyist. “But
I found I was caring for them more and more myself,” he said. <BR>So he took
some classes and read Dewey Caron’s book, Honey Bee Biology and Beekeeping.
Caron, professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of
Delaware, was helpful to him, but has since retired to Oregon. <BR>When Caron
learned of the award, he called to congratulate Hurd and said he was sending a
tie. <BR>Unsure of what sort of tie an entomologist of 40 years would send, Hurd
was pleased to receive one decorated with butterflies, another native
pollinator.<BR>Now Hurd is the one moving hives around. He rescued a number of
swarms and built his own hive boxes. One farmer with whom he worked planted lima
beans in four successive plantings, providing nearly a four-week window of
pollination which allowed the bees to work longer than an eight-day window in
most cucumber fields. <BR>“I got terrific honey flow from the limas,” Hurd
said.<BR>The honey is being marketed casually by Hurd and his wife Suzanne as
the bee population grows. One of Suzanne’s friends was an early recipient of the
sweet, golden product. “Your honey’s honey!” she exclaimed, and Suzanne adapted
the name to its present form: “My Honey’s Honey.”<BR>In 2006, two weeks into a
seven-week cycle of mum production, Hurd considered keeping up the pace for five
more years. <BR>He quickly made up his mind to make it five more weeks — until
the mum crop was sold. <BR>For now the Hurds are taking a break from intensive
agritourism and farm stand marketing — which has been in addition to off-farm
careers — to spend more time with their five grandchildren and parents.<BR>Hurd
continues to tend a large garden for the family — and the bees — and he shares
the bounty with friends. <BR>He said the pick-your-own strawberry operation will
continue at the farm on Route 14 between Harrington and Milford.</P></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV>Laurie Davies Adams<BR>Executive Director<BR><B>Pollinator Partnership
</B><BR>423 Washington Street, 5th floor<BR>San Francisco, CA
94111<BR>415-362-1137<BR>LDA@pollinator.org</FONT><FONT lang=0 face=Arial
color=#000000 size=2 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="10"><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#0000ff size=4 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" PTSIZE="14"><B><A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></B></FONT><FONT lang=0
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PTSIZE="10"></B><BR><A
href="http://www.nappc.org/">www.nappc.org</A><BR><BR></FONT><FONT lang=0
face="Gill Sans MT" color=#000000 size=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF"
PTSIZE="12"><B><I>National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. <BR>Beecome
involved at <A
href="http://www.pollinator.org/">www.pollinator.org</A></I></FONT></B></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="44d0e92e3ffbf43931d02ccbaf04b62d"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and all other Holiday needs. <a href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212792382x1200798498/aol?redir=http://searchblog.aol.com/2008/11/04/happy-holidays-from-aol-search/?ncid=emlcntussear00000001
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