Reading Patti’s Meeting Minutes (attached) for March 17, I missed a really good meeting. I very much wanted to be there, but a tragedy occurred the night before which kept me away. Thanks Laurie for calling the meeting to order after Damon’s presentation, and thanks to everyone that brought snacks. I got a call last week from one of my package suppliers that (3) of my bee packages should be here April 7, barring any unforeseen setbacks. That’s early, and I’m happy for that. I talked to my second supplier last evening and he said he didn’t have a confirmed date yet, but they will be coming soon. That’s good news after he originally told me there were no guarantees that he would even be able to get any due to poor weather in California. (I like to buy from more than one supplier so that at least one comes through.) (For anyone looking for bees, as of Friday Honey Bee Ware still had packages available, but you’d have to call because I think their site says they’re sold out.) The package bees WILL HAVE Varroa mites and I’m going to be treating them right away, before the queens start laying. I’ve never treated prior to mid-summer, so treating fresh-out-of-the-package bees is something new for me. I have two methods in mind; one is to spray the bees with oxalic acid syrup, and the other is to dribble oxalic acid syrup on them. Either way, I’ll spray/dribble 1:1 syrup on them a couple of hours prior to the oxalic acid treatment. Bees are hygienic and will lick the syrup off each other, so it’s good to fill their stomachs with 1:1 syrup before introducing oxalic acid syrup. There are other methods that can be used, like Apivar and Hopguard II strips, and this is a good time to use either of them. However, oxalic acid in syrup will be the least expensive methood, by far. When the bees are more spread out over the frames, an oxalic acid vapor treatment would be effective. But once the queens start laying the mites will head into the cells to reproduce and oxalic acid will be relatively ineffective unless used in synch with the brood cycle. I know what to do this year if the bees don’t take syrup from the feeders. Last year was the first time the bees didn’t take syrup, and all (5) of my packages acted the same way. It took them all summer to build up, and they died over winter. I’ve read, and heard from others, that drenching them with syrup containing Hive Alive, or Honey Bee Healthy (home made or store bought), or Fumagilin-B will help to stimulate them. I’ll be doing what I can to help them build up quickly this year. Side note: I read that some commercial beekeepers quit using Fumagilin-B in the spring because their colonies built up too fast and they had trouble controlling swarming. Hmmmmm. I haven’t had that problem yet. The bees will be here soon and I hope that everyone is prepared. If we have as much precipitation during the summer as we’ve had this winter, and if it’s hot, it should be a very good year for the bees and honey production. I’m asking for night rain only, several times per week. Our next meeting will be April 21 and it will be dedicated to our new beekeepers. Bring your questions, none of which are stupid. Hopefully many of our seasoned members will be present with their years of combined knowledge and experience to share. There is a lot to know, and to enjoy, in beekeeping. Today’s world has challenges that didn’t exist a hundred years ago, or even 50 years ago, and we are all working to help the bees as they adapt to this world. Lets those of us who have the tools and know-how share what we know. I would like to have mini-talks/demos on sugar shakes and/or alcohol rolls for mites, mite treatments, lure hives for capturing swarms, queen marking, hive tools, etc. All things appropriate for April/May. I have those things but would like to hear from members that are willing to take a piece. (You know who you are.) While a meeting can be dedicated to nearly each topic mentioned, this is to be introductory for those that don’t know the what’s or how’s. Please contact me with the piece you’re willing to cover and I’ll try to put together an agenda. Thanks in advance. Next meeting: April 21, Caestecker Library, Green Lake, 9:30 a.m. Bee ready. Gerard
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Laurie has requested that everyone that can bring baked "finger" goods to the March 17 meeting to please do so. There will be plates, napkins and coffee provided by Patti, but no flatware.
Gerard It’s March, which is typically the hardest month for honeybees in the north to make it through. It’s critical to keep an eye on their food reserves and add white granulated sugar if they’re low. The queens will be laying eggs so a pollen patty (or a pollen substitute patty) may be helpful (the nurse bees will be needing protein in some form to produce royal jelly). They may have enough pollen stored away, but a pollen patty is cheap insurance.
Colonies that are alive now must be in pretty good health because they haven’t succumbed to the viruses and pests they have had to deal with. If they make it to April and beyond, they’re survivors and should be considered for splitting when they get to two boxes full of bees. Last year I let my survivors swarm, this year I am going to do walk-away splits so they requeen from the survivor stock. People like Sam Comfort, Ross Conrad and Tom Seeley are preaching this method of beekeeping in order to develop local sustainable colonies. Their philosophy is to keep the bees in one place and let them reproduce from within their own colonies. These beekeepers and researchers have found that bees kept this way adapt to their local conditions and have a higher survival rate. And if an emergency queen is needed, get one from a local queen breeder. Tom Seeley also recommends keeping some distance between hives so the bees don’t drift and bring unwanted diseases and mites into neighboring hives. It will be nice if one day we no longer need to import bees from other states to replenish our losses because we have few losses and can replace them with splits and swarms. But the bees need to stay alive through our Wisconsin winters for that to happen. They’re doing it in upstate New York and Vermont so there’s no reason why it can’t happen here. This spring I will be using Fumagilin-B extensively. I’ve used it as a fall treatment to combat Nosema apis over winter, but with Nosema cerenae believed to be in every colony in the world, it is now recommended for spring treatments as well. I’ll be starting the package bees off with a Fumagilin-B spray, and all colonies will be given several weekly drenches. The hope is to stop N. cerenae spores from reproducing in the midgut of the bees so they can absorb the nutrients in the pollen and nectar they consume. (I have written in the past that the University of Minnesota states that Fumagilin-B should never be used, but it seems that theirs is a lone voice. Cornell recommends it, Randy Oliver recommends it, other beekeepers recommend it.) Throughout the year I’ll be sampling for mites more often, treating when they reach the “economic threshold”, then rechecking. The economic threshold depends on the sampling method, and below are the economic levels determined by the Dyce Lab at Cornell University: I’ve only used formic acid and oxalic acid (both organic) to knock down the mite levels, but there are other treatments on the market. Perhaps some of our members can share their experience with those others. I’ve got the above treatments on hand to help my bees, and the 64% colony loss I’ve experienced since October is a strong incentive to follow through. Cleaning out dead-outs is a sad, messy ordeal. I’ll also be using a variety of essential oils this summer instead of just the spearmint and lemongrass that I have been using all along. I’m using a strong Tea Tree oil/water mix to disinfect my woodenware because Tea Tree oil is antibacterial and antifungal. I will also be adding Tea Tree oil to the syrup I feed the bees, along with different combinations of essential oils including oregano, hyssop, marjoram and eucalyptus. The store was out of thyme, but I think that would be a great one to include. And I will be changing out brood comb more than two years old to remove the pesticides and viruses that build up in the comb over time. Any drawn comb that I do reuse will be sprayed with an essential oil/syrup mix that will include Tea Tree oil. You may be wondering what happened to the Hive Alive campaign I was on. Well, I saw that the bottle I received was sent to me 2 months past the expiration date. This didn’t please me and the vendor has been sent a message concerning my displeasure. I have not gotten a response yet, but fully expect one tomorrow. I tried getting a bottle from another vendor within the 2-year expiration window and was told that they no longer put date codes on the bottles. Scary. Off the list. Joe Walsh contacted Tim Wilbanks about getting a package of bees that we agreed to purchase for the hive that we will be maintaining at the Rushford Meadery and Winery. Joe apparently mentioned our intent to use the hive for mentoring new beekeepers, and those that may become interested in beekeeping, because Tim offered to donate a package if it was used for mentoring purposes, otherwise we could pay the current price. Shane Coombs, owner of the RM and W, was very interested in the idea, and went on to share that he is planting a 500 sq. ft. pollinator garden with the local 4-H. When asked if he thought the local 4-H’ers would be interested in beekeeping, he invited us to their pollinator garden organizational meeting on March 16 at 1:00. Pam, our extractor coordinator and liaison with RM and W, has offered to attend that meeting and propose the idea. I will join her if I can get out of work early, but anyone else interested in attending, please contact Pam: [email protected] So, Mark and Patti are going to get the hives from Ripon College to Pam and myself to set up, Tim Wilbanks is donating a 3 lb. package, and Pam will attend the meeting to propose the idea to the 4-H’ers. This does not mean that this 4-H Club is the only group that should be offered mentoring by the ECWBA. Members can take this to the streets, but in an organized manner. Pam is setting up a calendar for extraction schedules, and this calendar can also be used for mentoring dates, with rain dates. These dates can also be posted on our blog. These ideas are just a few that I’m throwing out, and hopefully members with different views and more organized minds will bring forth other ideas of how to proceed. We’ll be discussing this on March 17. But no matter how this goes, in our litigious society I feel we need some protection from people getting stung or injured. I asked Kent Pegorsch, President of the Waupaca County Beekeepers and of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association, if he had any suggestions. He did. He suggested that we post a “Wisconsin Limited Liability Law Signage Information” sign, as they do. I contacted Tiffany Chadwick, Executive Director of the WI Agricultural Tourism Association, to inquire about getting a sign, and she informed me that they no longer carry them and that I should contact a sign maker to have one made, within the specifications. So I turned to one of our own, Denise Palkovich (AKA: D), and she designed the following 24 x 36 x 084 white enameled aluminum sign with forest green lettering: Denise has offered the ECWBA this sign for $70.00 and it’s cheap insurance. To read how this sign protects us you can visit the WATA site at: http://www.visitdairyland.com/limited-liability.iml I hope the membership approves this expenditure because I authorized the purchase. Guess it would look good back by my hives if not. Mentoring at the Rushford Meadery and Winery is moving forward, we just need mentors and mentees. Several members suggested holding a meeting at the Rushford Meadery and Winery to see the place, meet the Coombs, admire the extractor, visit the ECWBA bees, etc. Pam has reported that Shane has offered the place to us for a meeting on June 23rd, so our June meeting will be held there, then. (There will not be a meeting at the Caestecker Library in June, Linda.) The Coombs are excited to meet the membership and will probably have samples of their wares available. Speaking of the Caestecker Library, Linda DeNell has informed me that the library is arranging a “seed swap” on March 17, our next meeting day. They would love to have some “pollinator friendly” seeds exchange hands if any one in our membership has any. Bring 'em if you got 'em. On March 17, Damon Reabe will be giving us a talk on aerial applications and bee clubs from around the area have been invited. We will be meeting in the large meeting room, and Laurie will be gathering together refreshments. Should I get a call-out from Laurie concerning anything needed , I will certainly pass it on to all of you. March 17, Caestecker Library, Green Lake, 9:30 a.m., the big room. (Vote 'AYE' for the sign.) See you then..... Gerard |
ECWBA NewsletterSince 2009 Archives
March 2019
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