SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015 7 A NAMI offers mental Hollywood music maker to premiere score in Florence illness education course The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) will sponsor the NAMI Family-to- Family Education Program specifically for families of a person diagnosed with serious mental illness. The 12-week series of class- es will start in Florence on Tuesday, Oct. 27, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., at a convenient in- town location. The course will cover infor- mation about schizophrenia, the mood disorders (bipolar disorder and major depres- sion), panic disorder, obses- sive compulsive disorder, and PTSD; coping skills such as handling crisis and relapse; basic information about med- ications; listening and commu- nication techniques; problem solving skills; recovery and rehabilitation; self-care around worry and stress. The co-teachers for Florence and surrounding areas are Monica Kosman and Bianca Deris. The course is designed specifically for parents, sib- lings, spouses, teen-age and adult sons and daughters, part- ners, and significant others who are caregivers of persons with severe and persistent mental illness. The course is free. For more information and location, or to register, call Monica Kosman at 541-902-8308. City Lights Cinemas will host the world premiere of a muscial new score by award- winning composer Ken Wannberg, a Hollywood stal- wart who spent his career working with some of the Bees greatest directors of the age. Wannberg will be premier- ing a new original score to the 1920 German Expressionist classic, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari,” on Oct. 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for City from 1A This year Kuhn has 13 hives on his orchard property, but the number of hives and the amount of honey produced varies from year to year based on a multitude of factors. “Honey production is just like every other agricultural product,” Kuhn said. “There are good years and bad years. Like wine, honey production is very weather dependent.” In addition to weather, Kuhn’s bee colonies have been infested with the Varroa destructor mite that has deci- mated bee colonies across North America. “It was introduced into this country in the early 1990s, probably through the introduc- tion of honeybees from other countries,” Kuhn explained. “When it first came to North America, the honeybees here had no resistance to it. The mites almost decimated the wild honeybee population in the United States, as well as COURTESY PHOTOS Certified journey beekeeper Max Kuhn displays a jar of honey from one of his 13 hives. most of the domestic hives that were managed by bee- keepers. It is still with us today and it is still probably the No. 1 problem facing bees in this country,” he said. In addition to the die-off Let me Showcase your property. Chris Bunch Principal Broker 541 997-8877 Call for details. Expires 11/1/2015. 89301 Shore Crest Dr – Country living in this 2 bdrm, 2 bath home, only 3 miles north of town. The neighborhod has deeded access to Sutton Lake. Great rental history, and would make a nice starter home or invesment property. $116,500. #2489-15513066 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 Family Owned BUSINESS Lights members and $15 for general admission. Wannberg spent more than 40 years as an accomplished sound editor and composer and is best known for his work with John Williams, Steven SPOTLIGHT Abel Insurance Agency – 875 Hwy. 101, Florence 541-997-3466 www.abelinsuranceagency.com shareholders. Instead, we can It took a sudden accident to focus on our real ‘shareholders’ propel logger Harry Abel, Sr., into the insurance business. – our clients, employees and the by Catherine J. Rourke When some logs rolled off his community.” truck and pinned him to the ground Awards include the in 1953, Harry decided that logging Independent Insurance Agents was risky business. He found a job at an insurance agency in Coos and Brokers of America Best Practice Agency Award. Th e family Bay and turned “providing peace of mind” into his life work. also rewards employees who volunteer for charity eff orts with 40 Harry became the fi rst agent in the area to achieve a Certifi ed hours of pay each year. Agent designation and eventually purchased the agency, “Florence is such a warm and receptive community,” Wendy developing it into a family business based on “partnership, said. “We believe in giving back and match funding from our planning and protection.” carriers for local nonprofi t needs.” Harry Abel, Jr., followed his father’s footsteps and joined Future plans include solidifying partnerships with health- the agency in 1970 as president, with his wife, Francie, who still care carriers. manages the books. Th e family expanded the business by merging “Th e industry is constantly changing,” Wendy said. “We have it with other area agencies and opened the Florence offi ce in 1990. to stay on top of ways to continue providing the best coverage for Th eir daughter, Wendy Abel-Hatzel, is the business manager and our clients’ peace of mind.” her husband, Joe Hatzel, serves as corporate and IT director. Now marking its 75th year, the agency specializes in risk management and insurance services, with 18 employees and a focus on personal service. “We don’t just sell insurance,” said Harry, Jr. “We love helping clients achieve peace of mind.” Abel Insurance off ers service locations in Newport and Gold Beach, making it “the only locally owned, independent insurance agency on the Oregon coast.” “We partner with people to protect their most important assets – their health and family,” Wendy said. “Th e advantage of a family-operated agency is that we don’t have corporate Providing Peace of Mind directly related to the Varroa mite, Kuhn said that the mites also weaken the bee’s immune system, making them more susceptible to other diseases and predators like tracheal mites. “There are products on the market that can reduce the infestation,” Kuhn said, “but there is nothing that will elimi- nate it completely. I can reduce the infestation in my colonies this month and they may become re-infected next month because other colonies are infected and they intermin- gle. It is an ongoing process.” Kuhn hopes that North American honeybees will eventually build up immunity to the Varroa destructor mites. When talking honey, Kuhn takes on the visage of a vint- ner describing the subtle dif- ferences between a Petit Shiraz and a Merlot. “In one of the bee clubs I belong to, we have honey tast- ing every year,” Kuhn explained. “In the city of Eugene there is one beekeeper that has hives in various parts of the city. He may have sev- eral jars of honey at the tasting table, sometimes from just a few city blocks apart. The dif- ference in the taste of the honey is astounding. And it changes every year. “The same area does not taste the same from year to year, because the plants and trees bloom at different times each year. “Labels like clover honey or apple honey comes from the fact that the bees were prima- rily exposed to that particular crop. But other plants will probably also be found in the honey as well,” Kuhn added. Kuhn said that in Florida, bees are brought in to pollinate the orange orchards, and for miles around, all they have access to are orange blossoms. That is how the bees produce orange blossom honey. Spielberg and George Lucas. In addition to the perform- ance of a new score, there will be a short introduction to German Expressionism and the career of Ken Wannberg by Michael Falter. The same thing is true for almond orchards in California and apples in Hood River. “But, most of what I see around here should be labeled ‘wild flower honey,’” he said. Some have called honey just another form of glucose or sugar. Others have touted a range of medicinal benefits associated with honey con- sumption. Kuhn tends to lean more toward the beneficial camp. “Honey is a sugar, but it is not an ordinary sugar,” Kuhn said. “Honey has anti-bacterial qualities and other health ben- efits derived from bee enzymes. It requires practical- ly no digestion. It goes almost directly into the blood stream,” he added Kuhn said that people need- ed to be cautious when pur- chasing honey, especially honey that has been imported, because unscrupulous overseas companies typically mix the honey with corn syrup and still market it as honey. “Some of the honey that is sold in stores and that is used in fast food production is not really honey at all. It is a honey product,” Kuhn warned. “It is cut with high fructose corn syrup. If you can call it honey by adding honey to it and selling it for the price of honey you’ve created a pretty good profit.” Kuhn said that China pro- duces millions of tons of honey products and the United States has banned the importa- tion of Chinese honey because of the deception. “Now, China sells it to bot- tlers in Thailand or some other country,” he said. “It is rela- beled and eventually makes its way into the market here. “My philosophy would be to buy local and know your beekeeper. Then you are assured of getting pure local honey. It’s probably the only way you can be sure.” But don’t expect to buy honey from Kuhn. “This is a hobby. I have never sold honey,” he said. “We mostly use our honey for Christmas gifts. I have a lot of relatives that like honey. This is a hobby. “Honey is just the icing on the cake, a pleasant byproduct of the hobby.” Kuhn invited anyone inter- ested in beekeeping to attend the Central Coast Beekeepers Association meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at the Newport Public Library, 35 NW Nye St., in Newport. __________ Follow Jack on Twitter @SNews_Jack. Email him at jack@thesiuslawnews.com. Yard Debris Disposal Next Date is October 17th 9am to 2pm at the Kingwood entrance to the airport, located at Kingwood & 27th St. COST Pickup load $10 Small Utility Trailer (Single Axle) $10 Medium Utility Trailer (10-12 ft) $15 Large Utility Trailer (12-18ft) $20 Greater than 20 cubic yards $20 +$5/yard over Bring: • Tree Clippings • Leaves • Grass Clippings • Weeds • Prunings • Brush DO NOT Bring your: • Food & Household waste • Animal Waste • Plastics • Construction Debris • Hazardous Waste For questions, please contact the City of Florence Public Works Department at 541-997-4106