Andrew: Although a few states indepenently have iniated a socalled Master
Beekeeper designation, most (if not all) failed because of lack of standards
or "politics" among the beekeepers.  That is NOT true (it better not be) for
the EAS MASTER BEEKEEPER PROGRAM.  Dr. Roger Morse, Director of Bee Research
at Cornell University, in 1970 iniated the program.  His concern that the
great majority of future beekeepers would not attend college (or colleges with
an apis curricula) and hence could not learn the details of good beekeeping.
He had recognized that in our ever "changing times" (there were no household
computers, micro-wave ovens, or even home aircondtioners back in 1970) the
beekeepers of that day would perhaps not be able to accept the changes
demanded in the future; and more important, WHO WAS AROUND THE STATES TO
INFORM (TEACH OR INSTRUCT) the beekeepers how to deal with these changes as
the scientists and apian researchers found new methods.
Hence, Dr. Morse created a MASTER BEEKEEPER PROGRAM that consisted of three
vital, but totally separate parts: A written examination covering any (or
every) detail of a honey bee: its history, races, anatomy, diseases, BEHAVIOR,
housing, diet, pollination, wintering, proper environment, useful tools,
profit making, queen rearing, functions and purpose of each caste, handling,
etc., etc., etc.  The 2nd part was work in a bee laboratory studying diseases,
using microscopes, the properties of honey, pollen, wax, propolis, the
identification of other races or stocks of apis and the flying insects often
confused with "bees", e.g., yellow jacks, hornets, miner bees, etc.  The lab
work also covered different styles of hives, foundation (worker size, drone
size, natural wax, plastic, 3 ply, thin , etc.), robber screens, use of
divider boards, double screens, and even artificial insemination of queens.
The 3rd part was an "on-the-job" test in which you were taken into an unknown
apiary and an instructor beseiged you with questions about WHAT you find as
you open and inspect a particular colony whic may be DISEASED, queenless,
laying workers, starving, spotty brood, poorly configured comb; or you may be
handed a caged queen and told to "to make a split of colony #53" or "requeen
colony # 6" or "make an observation hive" or "prepare colony #19 for moving
100 miles tonight" or " prepare a 3 pound Package with queen".  That
instructor observed your use of tools, smoker (did it stay lit?), use of
smoke, etc. etc.
       A "GOOD" test took days, exhausted the candidate, explored your
knowledge of most of what is written in The Hive And Honeybee or ABC & XYZ of
Beekeeping.
      The program was so well accepted (in thought) by many beekeepers in the
New York area, that Dr. Morse proposed that EAS "take it over' and make it
available to beekeepers from all over the world to be tested by the apian
experts or bee entomologists, researchers invited by EAS.
       This year was the 27th year that Dr. Morse's idea has been the EAS
test. In these 27th years several thousand beekeepers have asked to
investigate it, about 1000 people have actually taken some part of the test,
but as of 1998, only 118 candidates have been certified as an EAS MASTER
BEEKEEPER.
        Frankly, although was awarded my MB certification many years ago, I
value my degree in higher esteem that I value my college degrees in science.
WHY?
       Since 1984 when we first found acarapis woodi in the U.S., varroa
jacobsoni in 1987, more recently viruses, and the public fear of bees created
by too many movies and TV scenes of KILLER BEES; bees can NO LONGER be kept as
"Daddy kept bees", because our changing times have created problems that
require proper training and apian education of today's beeHAVERS to upgrade
them to tomorrow's beeKEEPERS.
I feel VERY STRONGLY that the most important contribution that a CERTIFIED EAS
MASTER BEEKEEPER can give is FREE training and instruction to today's
"newbies" or yesterday's beeHAVERS to upgrade them into knowledgeable
beeKEEPERS to save the valuable resource of agriculture - apis mellifera.
      Andrew, we need all the beekeeping teachers we can get, provided that
they are certified of the apian knowledge of 1998 and not the anecdotal
procedures of the past of learning "by guess and by golly".  As much as a like
and respect my local veternarian and my neighborhood butcher,  I would much
prefer to have a certified surgeon remove my tonsils than accepting the
combined efforts of the vet and butcher.
     Write to: Eastern Apicultural Society; Loretta Surprenant, EAS Secretary,
Box 300, Essex, New York 12936 or telephone (518) 963-7593
     Next year, I start my 66th year in beekeeping and my 2nd decade as an EAS
Master Beekeeper.  I have taught beekeeping FREE OF CHARGE in  many places (my
MASTER BEEKEEPER PARTNER, Ann Harman, at the moment teaching beekeeping in
Armenia, FREE, has done this in 5 continents in the past 3 years!) and
observing the losses of bees primarily due to the lack of beekeeping
knowledge, that our TEACHING or INTRUCTION is the most important contribution
we can make to all of society today.
      I hope you can come to the next EAS meeting, July 25-31 in Marysville,
Tennessee (20 miles south of Knoxville); and introduce yourself to this old
retired scientist but who still keeps and studies bees.
                                                              George Imirie