buzzwords - barnstable county beekeepers...
TRANSCRIPT
buzzwordshttp://www.barnstablebeekeepers.org
April 2019
Upcoming Meetings
7:30 pm at the West Barnstable Community Building on Route 149.
And keep those snacks and nibbles coming!!
Tuesday, May 14 Mary Beers
Mary Beers presentation will focus on Massachusetts bees and other local pollinators. She has a BS in Biology and an MS in Education. Currently she serves as School Program Director for Cape Cod Learning Tours in Sandwich, a Teacher Assistant at the Horace Mann Charter Public School in Hyannis and former Director of Education at the Green Briar Nature Center in East Sandwich.
Tuesday, June 11 Kim Skyrm, Ph. D.
Kim Skyrm, PhD our Chief apiary inspector will be presenting on varroa destructor.
FROM THE BOARD
Well, Happy Spring…well somewhat. I hope everyone is settled in with their bees and the bees have settled in with all of you.
I was thinking about how a hive works and how it can apply to the BCBA. In my last email, I spoke about changes that are occurring within the BCBA and how we need people to fill in those tasks. Like in the hive, when things change, another honeybee takes over that task to keep the hive going. We have had a few that would like to take on the challenges, but, as in the hive it takes many to sustain the hive, it can’t be done with just a few. As it has been said, “ Many hands make the workload lighter.” So, as a hive functions, so should the BCBA. It’s time to give back to all that has been done in the past for us all so we can still reap the benefits in
Hive Openings
Saturday, May 18th, 9 am – Barnstable, Brewster Saturday, May 25th, 10 am – Falmouth
All members are welcome to attend any of the locations. Please remember this is a hands-on event and protective equipment is required. We will be opening and evaluating over wintered hives. For the new folks, all stages of brood will be available and how best to evaluate a brood pattern.
Tick season is upon us - so dress appropriately!
Barnstable –
Cape Cod Organic Farm, 3675 Route 6A
Proceed to the top of the hill and bear right in front of the office buildings
Head toward the big barn watching for “BEE” signs. (Lynn and Claire)
Brewster –
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History 869 Route 6A
Park in lot across from the museum.
(George Muhlebach and many, many more!)
East Falmouth –
Soares Nursery, 1021 Sandwich Road, Hatchville
One-half mile from the intersection of Route 151 and Sandwich Road. Drive between two greenhouses and park behind, not in the customer lot. (Marte Ayers).
the future. I am appealing to the membership, again, to become more involved with the inner mechanics of BCBA, but stepping up and joining the few that have made this Association what it is today.
I hope you all have a GREAT, bee season, and the fruits of your and the honeybees hard work pay off in a sweet way.
Michael D. Smith President
Cape Bee Update
At the club’s apiary in Barnstable, we have had a very rewarding winter with thirteen of our 16 hives overwintering. These hives are of moderate to good strength as we enter spring with the usual
variations. The only treatments the hives have received is an Oxalic Dribble in early November to knock down the phoretic mites as we brought them into the winter. All had been wrapped with felt paper, insulated with various methods and all fed with white granulated sugar on paper plates. Many were heavy with stores going into the winter but we treated all the hives the same.
Our goals this season will be to replace some of our deep brood boxes with those that have been lined with propolis traps. The reason for this is to encourage more propolis being brought into the hive promoting healthier bees. There will be controls and a couple will be included in the Sentinel monitoring program for comparison. Each month come May, we will be sampling our hives for varroa using the alcohol wash. Some samples will be sent off to U Md.
As of this week, all hives have been inspected, seams of bees counted, brood patterns noted, boxes rotated and some are being fed sugar syrup in hive top feeders. At some point, we will have the Arnia monitoring hives’ (2) data available on a noted site so club members can watch the weight increase and the brood temperature increase. Once new young virgins have hatched after grafting, a number of nucleus colonies will be available for sale. Stay tuned.
Cape Bee
Survey Says!
We have been working on a survey of winter survival that will be meaningful for the club but yet take you folks just a few minutes to complete.. Attached is our 2018 hive survival survey and we really wish you would take a few minutes in the next few days to complete the survey.
It is our hope that we will be learning from our mistakes and improving our management decisions each season.
Please, please, please check out the survey, respond to the few answers and help improve the keeping of honey bees on Cape Cod.
The site is: https://tinyurl.com/2018survivalsurvey.
Claire Desilets
Czarina of Falmouth continued:
Just in case anyone is interested, I received the results from the Bee Disease Diagnosis Research Lab in Beltsville, MD on the sample of bees I sent in from my 4 1/2 yr Russian queen “Eva’s” hive. The results were 3.1 mites per 100 bees and no Nosema disease. Soooo, I am assuming they were weakened from the mites going into winter even though I did the oxalic acid treatment in November. There was also robbing for a month even with the robbing screens in place, which didn’t help. Assuming again - the colony died off slowly to a point where it could not keep itself warm because there were a lot of bees on the bottom and not that many on/in the comb. They
Meet Queen M-17. Her hive overwintered quite nicely and as you can see has a nice brood pattern and of Carniolan decent. She was grafted in 2018 from an overwintered hive from 2017. Perhaps you might have one of her grand-daughters come June of this year once we begin our grafting season. Stay tuned!!
Check out the BCBA Facebook page for shared links, photos, and questions/answers! Join the conversation!https://www.facebook.com/groups/BarnstableCountyBeeA/
Forage
Flowers That Remember
Local Bee Species In Decline
The Adorable Custom of ‘Telling The Bees’
could not move to the sugar bricks on top of the frames as a unit to keep warm and eat too, or if there was brood (and there should have been some in March), they would not leave it to eat. Remember, I found only one bee still alive on the pollen patty.
Any lessons here? Do more mite test? I did them once a month. Maybe the alcohol not the sugar test because it is more effective but I hate to kill a 1/2 cup of bees. How to prevent robbing? I did not use the Honey-be-Healthy nor syrup. I fed sugar on newspaper. It didn’t help that I had to moved 2 additional hives into that area mid September and that is when the robbing started. There are so many variables, it’s a guessing game.
Marte Ayers
New Bee Grad May Duties• Inspect every 7 to 10 days.• Look for solid brood pattern, all stages of brood and nectar/syrup stores• Do not let sugar syrup run out.• Have second deep and frames ready• When bottom deep 80 to 90% with drawn comb and covered with bees, add second deep and continue to feed syrup until 2nd deep is 80 to 80% covered with drawn comb and bees.• Attend club hive opening on Saturday, May 18th to learn how to monitor for varroa.• When second deep nearly full, remove feeder and add a single honey shallow with NO queen excluder.• When entrance is getting jammed with bees, remove entrance reducer and add mouse guard.
Claire Desilets
Barnstable County Fair
Each year the club opens our building at the fair grounds to educate the public about our club, the honey bees, gardening for the bees, and sell our honey and other products from the hive. We always get a great response from the public, and the excitement is infectious.
Everyone who volunteers has a great time!
If you want to sell honey or bee related products, you can do so at the fair by volunteering for a shift at the Honey House. All of the proceeds of your sales go directly to you. The Association takes no money, though we hope you’ll save aside your dues for next year!
Attached is the “Sign Up” sheet (pdf or xls file) with the shifts and dates. You can sign up at the next meeting or email me directly at [email protected]. I would like your emails as well as names as I do almost all the scheduling and reminders by email.
If you have any questions regarding what is involved for the “newbees”, please don’t hesitate to contact me and know that you will be paired with someone who has worked at the fair in past years. It is always fun to share your knowledge with the general public. It’s a great education tool which we have to offer. The “newbees” still know more then the public so please do not shy away.
If there is anyone who would like to choose the “display” theme for the building this year, we can always use new ideas. It is a “club” event and your participation would be appreciated.
Thanks ahead of time for all your volunteering. [email protected] 508-274-8754
Marte Ayers
Classified
Gently used 5 frame nuc boxes for splits or swarm traps. $10 each and available at the hive opening at Cape Bee on Saturday, May 18th.
Exact change only!!
MAY ACTIVITIES AT 186
Feeding sugar syrup continues for new packages and nucleus colonies until no longer taking or nectar flow begins (Autumn olive and Black locust).
Inspection of all hives continues weekly• Monitoring for the need of a second deep on new hives• Keeping and eye on brood pattern and watching for brood disease• Checking drone sinks for capped drone. Will be scraped and removed from hive.• Skewer pupa with cappings scratcher for varroa presence. • Add honey shallows on overwintered hives (two each hive) by mid-May• (each contain 3 frames for comb honey in between drawn frames)• First shake or alcohol wash late May before adding honey shallows Claire • Consider making splits from strong hives when new virgin queens available.• Put up swarm traps using old comb and old nuc boxes
Do not leave removed drone brood on ground – bag and trash!!
Claire Desilets
New Inventory For Club Members
If in need to treat for varroa mite, both ApiGuard (2 dose pack $10) and
Formic Pro (2 dose pack for $15) now in stock.
Email [email protected] if needed.
Claire Desilets
High Tech Hives
For those of you who are into some of the new technology, we have a number of hives around the Cape that are being followed with monitoring systems. The club’s Cape Bee apiary has two hives that are outfitted with the Arnia scales and inhive temperature and humidity probes. If you would like to view the results go to Bee Informed Partnership then Sentinel hives and then tap on the two circles in the Barnstable area on the map.
A number of members are using the BroodMinder system. Lower Cape, mid Cape and upper Cape are all represented in this system. You can view the current results by going to Broodminder.com, then to citizen science, followed by Bee counted and then to “maps”. Hover your mouse over Cape Cod and at least four towns will appear.
The results in weight gain should be helpful in your area and time to put on your honey shallows on your overwintered hives. Increase in temperature means that brood is being reared.
Claire Desilets
March-APRIL 2019 report from the land of the Carniola bee
The Carniola is the native bee in Slovenia (formerly southern Austria). Apis mellifera carnica has been indigenous to this alpine territory since the last Ice Age. In this heavily forested nation, the Sleeping Beauty of Europe, the traveler will encounter the gentle
Carniola bee, beekeepers, bee-houses and bee trucks in almost every rural village and urban area.
Since my arrival in SE Slovenia on 15 March there have been ten days in this monthwhen the temperature has exceeded 50 degrees. On three of those days 65 degrees has been surpassed. Slovenians attribute these high temperatures to climate change. Beekeepers take what benefits they can for their beloved bees from these warmer weather conditions and hope for the best.
The south facing alpine mountain where I am staying at an elevation of 400 meters is largely devoted to vineyards. My living arrangement is in a cousin’s small apartment above his wine cellar. Many bees are foraging among an abundance of flora that grows between the rows of his and other’s vines by mid-March. In a small area of 30 sq ft between two rows vines I counted 10 different species of spring meadow flowers.
At the edge of the forests are many, many flowering wild cherry trees. They are easily noticed from a distance with their white blossoms contrasting with other trees that will remain drab for another week or so. These wild fruit trees will bear a cherry that is mildly sweet. One of the first honeys available for beekeepers, if they are so inclined, is to select a few frames with cherry nectar from their hives purposely located near the cherry trees. The honey has a cherry flavor and is superbly unique.
Nectar is flowing in such abundance that robbing is a problem. Entrances are greatly reduced and efforts are made to remove or turn frames with honey from near the hive openings where unscrupulous bees intent on robbing can detect honey as they snoop for a handout. A trick Slovenians use to discourage robbing is to spread fresh coffee grounds at the entrance of a hive being robbed. The inhabitants of the hive accustom themselves to the fragrance, but robbers returning to their own hive smell of the coffee grinds and are rejected and killed. Slovenians observe that robbing hives is often accomplished sequentially – hive by hive.
The Carniola bee is an icon of this tiny nation. The bee is embraced for setting an example to citizens for gentleness, productivity, cleanliness, cooperation and diligence. Here it is claimed: “To be Slovenian is to be a beekeeper.”
Mark Simonich
Requests for Honey
Chatham Bars Inn
I am the Head Baker at Chatham Bars Inn, I am looking to source 19” Langstroth honeycombs. We purchased this beautiful display piece (link below) and we are looking to source a local Cape Cod Honey from a local apiary instead of something from off cape or even out of state.
https://backyardhive.com/collections/honeycomb-display/products/glass-honeycomb-display
Kevin Curtin, Head Baker & AM Sous Chef P. 508.945.6973 C. 617.633.1284 www.chathambarsinn.com
Wequassett Resort and Golf Club
I am reaching out to you to see if any of your beekeepers sell local honey or bee pollen. I am looking to feature these components in a dessert for our fine dining restaurant, 28 Atlantic. Any information you could provide would be much appreciated.
Ashley Corrao | Pastry Chef [email protected] | 508.430.6974 https://wequassett.com/
RESOURCES
The following officers and directors are a great resource to answer questions and requests for assistance.
Officers
President Michael D. Smith [email protected]
Vice President Maria Cashdollar [email protected]
Corresponding Secretary Claire Desilets [email protected]
Recording Secretary Deborah Carmel [email protected]
Treasurer Lynn Heslinga [email protected]
Directors
Marthe Ayers [email protected] Louise Hopper [email protected]
Phyllis Bayer [email protected] Mary Anne Mann [email protected]
John Beach [email protected] Andy Morris [email protected]
Todd Cashdollar [email protected] Brian O’Donnell [email protected]
Jennifer Cattin [email protected] Lisa Sheehy [email protected]
Melissa Caughey [email protected] Donna Tompkins [email protected]
Peter B Cooper [email protected] Dave Whalley [email protected]
Olga DiSavino [email protected] Miguel Zamora [email protected]
Edward Hegner [email protected]
Recipies• Honey and Curry Dressing• Whisk together the following:• ½ cup nonfat plain yogurt• ½ cup low-fat mayonnaise• 3 tablespoons lemon juice• 2 tablespoons water• 1 tablespoon honey• 1 teaspoon curry powder• ¼ easpoon salt• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Use as a dip, a dressing, a sandwich sauce, or fish, shrimp or chicken.
A traditional Japanese haiku is a three-line poem with seventeen syllables, written in a 5/7/5 syllable count. Often focusing on images from nature, haiku emphasizes simplicity, intensity, and directness of expression.
Welcome Spring
Dandelions bloom Temps begin to rise again Beekeepers rejoice
Why not try your hand at a haiku celebrating our wonderful bees and submit it to Buzzwords.
Maria Cashdollar