ACTUALITÉ / NEWS
Beekeeper Lothar Pettkus says he is on
beekeeping for the past 52 years at his
is not bragging; this is what I can do. I can
a “mission.”
operation on Pleasant Corners Road.
help beekeepers here. If this could be
A “magical”
He is convinced that his tried and true
“I want to share my knowledge,” says
introducedtopoorcountries,imaginehow
methods, which include a hive “cloning”
Pettkus who is trying to draw the attention
it would improve their agriculture.”
technique, can counter the effects of colony
of the press, beekeepers and government
AtthefallmeetingoftheEasternOntario
collapse disorder and help resolve food
solution for
towards his hive reproduction system.
Beekeepers’ Association, he presented his
shortages in the Third World.
While some have called his approach
“easy way of making nucs.” A nuc is a
Pettkus uses a lot of numbers and
“novel,” other beekeepers note that his
nucleus colony.
statistics to state his case for “the magical
“cloning” is similar to hive splitting, a
Scientists are trying to understand the
bee troubles
thing” he has to offer.
critical element of honey production that
cause of the sudden death of bee colonies
But he stresses the most important
dates back to 6000 B.C.
since late 2006 across North America. A
number to retain is 613-678-2496.
richard.mahoney@eap.on.ca
“I created bees where there was nothing
University of Guelph researcher has cited
That is the phone number of the 80-year-
P LEASANT
C ORNERS
before,”saysPettkus.“IfeelalittlelikeGod.
Varroa mites as the culprits.The demise of
old who has been making a living from
I can replace as many bees as I want. This
hives has widespread implications for
agriculture in general. If there are no bees,
there is no crop pollination.“Even if the
bees die off, I can raise more bees than are
dying. Anybody can do this without any
money, just some work and knowledge,”
6 . 24 % SINCE ITWAS CREATED
says Pettkus. “I can raise over 2,000 hives
in a season.”By keeping bees indoors
during the winter, his hives consume 15
pounds of food to get through the season;
an outdoor hive would consume 60
pounds per winter. “During the winter, I
feed them like cows in a barn, creating an
artificial honey flow from barn to the
hives.” He adds: “I want to share my
5-YEAR
knowledge. It makes me happy to do this.
This is what I would like to do for
civilization before I croak. I believe in God
and the after-life. I will have such a life...
a life that is out of this world. Look what
I can do with only three per cent of my
3-YEAR
brain. This is a blessing. Imagine what I
can do with 100 per cent of my brain. I will
be better than Einstein.”
1-YEAR
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Photo Richard Mahoney
Vankleek Hill beekeeper Lothar
Pettkus keeps preaching about his
1-year
3-year
5-year
Since it was created
“cloning”technique.
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Survey
The federal government plans to
transfer thousands of its civilian staff in
2
3
the defence department and RCMP to
Ottawa’sWestEndaspartofacombined
cost-cutting
and
operations
centralization project.
The United Counties of Prescott-
Russell council (UCPR) wants to know
how Ottawa’s budgeting plans will
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1-800-CAISSES desjardinsfunds.com/returns
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Survey questions will deal with
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times, and factors that influenced their
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past decision to make their homes in
Prescott-Russell rather than elsewhere.
ThesurveylaunchedMay1withmore
than 400 households targeted for the
telephone portion of the project. The
online survey is at http://
app.fluidsurveys.com/s/UCPR/.
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