UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Millions of workers in Pennsylvania annually play a direct and vital role in the production of more than $50 million worth of fruit and vegetable crops, says Maryann Frazier, Penn State University Cooperative Extension apiculture (bee and beekeeping) specialist. And the fruit of their labor isn't just fresh produce. They also manufacture a sweet and nutritious treat that's used as a topping or ingredient for a number of foods.These workers are honey bees, and without them -- and the people who keep and manage them -- Pennsylvania's bountiful crops of apples, peaches, soybeans, pears, pumpkins, cucumbers, cherries, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries would not be possible, Frazier notes. Many of Pennsylvania's 2,000 registered beekeepers belong to the Pennsylvania Beekeepers Association, which is marking its 100th anniversary in 2004. In recognition of the centennial and the importance of bees and beekeepers to the state's agricultural economy, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives has designated today as "Pennsylvania Beekeepers Day."To celebrate the occasion, about 100 beekeepers, decked out in beekeeping attire, will converge on the Capitol in Harrisburg from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow to greet legislators and visitors and pass out jars of honey and pieces of Beekeepers Association birthday cake."Despite many challenges, Pennsylvania's beekeepers continue to provide critical pollination services to the state's fruit and vegetable industries," Frazier says. "In addition, state beekeepers each year produce more than 500 tons of honey, valued at more than $1.3 million."In recent years, the beekeeping industry has had to overcome the introduction of foreign parasitic mites and other pests and diseases that have contributed to a drop in the number of managed honey bee colonies from more than 80,000 in 1982 to just 30,000 in 2000, she reports. This reduction not only has led to a drop in honey production, but poses a serious threat to the state's bee-pollinated crops.Visit Penn State University: www.psu.edu"