Happy 2010

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February Meeting

We will meet at the Agricultural Extension Officer at the top of Thomas Heights Road at 7PM on Thursday February 4th. Our speaker will be Dana Stahlman, author of "Beekeeping 101 - A Handbook and Guide for Beginning Beekeepers", which is available from the Walter T. Kelley beekeeper’s catalog. Mr. Stahlman will offer autographed copies of his book for sale at the meeting. Refreshments will be provided by Don Yurges.

Minutes of the January Meeting

Janet Hill passed around sign up sheets for 2010 for various committees and for refreshment providers for meetings. She also passed on Tom Hill’s update on the Beekeeping School. It is scheduled to begin on Saturday, Feb. 20th and end Feb. 27th. The school syllabus will the same as last year’s. Tom will contact members about teaching a class. It is anticipated that sponsorship this year will not be as generous as last year. Any suggestions for sponsors or donors for door prizes will be appreciated.

Janet also brought up for discussion the idea that a limit to the honorarium for guest speakers be set and that the speakers should be made aware of this and accept it before agreeing to come. Vern Davis made the motion that it be set at $50 maximum. The motion was seconded and passed by the members. Vern also offered to host any guest speakers overnight at his home. John Henry suggested a memorial donation be made in honor of one of our members, DL Huggins who passed away last month. It was agreed by the members and the family of DL that the donation of a nuc to a member of the 2010 Beekeeping School would be appropriate considering DL’s interest in teaching and beekeeping. Vern Davis volunteered to provide such a nuc at no cost to the club.

Ron Kirkland arrived and presided over the remainder of the meeting. Ron told us about one of our members, Tim Burrell who will be raising queens in the near future. Tim has received a grant to pursue this goal. He is going to school to learn the skills he will need. Dr. Tarpy from the NC State Dept. of Entomology is mentoring him. Also in the works is a MCBA Calendar for 2011, again with Tim as a prime mover. These calendars will be available to members and sponsors. Francye Farley will be assisting by providing appropriate photos. The calendar will include seasonal reminders for beekeeping management practices.

Ron said that he has ordered 300 queens from a supplier in FL. They are due to be shipped in weekly installments beginning the first week in March. Any queens that he cannot use, will be housed by John Henry and will be available for members to purchase. Estimated price range is $14-$18. Ron encouraged members to requeen regularly with hygienic bees. He has fed his bees a product called Honeybee Healthy and found it increased the strength of his colonies.

Survey: Honeybee Colony Collapse Losses Declining

Fewer beekeepers are reporting evidence of a mysterious ailment that had been decimating the US honeybee population. A survey of beekeepers published in the January issue of the Journal of Apicultural Research finds the percentage of operations reporting having lost colonies with colony collapse disorder symptoms decreased to 26 percent last winter, compared to 38 percent the previous season and 36 percent the season before that. But losses due to colony collapse disorder remain high enough to keep beekeepers on edge, and longtime stresses on bees such as starvation and poor weather add to the burden.Also, the percentage of colonies that died that displayed the CCD symptom was 36 percent last winter, down from 60 percent three winters ago, the survey found. The earliest reports of CCD date to 2004, and scientists still are trying to find a cause."The story is really complicated. We thought we'd have a simple explanation," said Dennis vanEngelsdorp, Pennsylvania's acting state apiarist. "CCD drew our attention, but there are lot of things" affecting the bees. More than 90 crops, from almonds to tomatoes, rely in large part on bees for pollination.Richard Adee, who owns one of the largest commercial beekeeping operations in the country, Adee Honey Farms, based in Bruce, S.D., has bees in California now ready to pollinate the almond crop. At peak season, during the summer, he has about 80,000 hives for honey production in the Midwest. He said that after losing 40 percent of his colonies over the winter of 2008, losses are down to a more expected 12 percent. "We're not seeing as big a hit," Adee said, "but I still talk to beekeepers who are losing bees."Bees rely on stored honey to survive the winter. Beekeepers can wrap colony boxes to provide extra warmth or try to provide sugar syrup for food if supplies are light, but they generally don't work with bees in the cold. That means the winter months can be said before his demonstration at the Pennsylvania Farm Show in Harrisburg earlier this month. This winter has been particularly brutal, with storms producing record snowfalls and chilling winds in many parts of the country. Freezing temperatures that swept in on an Arctic front from Canada plagued as far south as Florida.Despite the apparent decline in colony collapse losses, the industry continues to be hit hard — an estimated 29 percent of all U.S. colonies died last winter, about 11 percentage points higher than what beekeepers consider normal, acceptable losses, according to the survey. Colony collapse was ranked as the eighth most important cause of bee mortality last winter, down from fourth the previous winter."Losses are shifting. There are fewer operations with CCD, though they still lost a lot of colonies," said vanEngelsdorp, the lead author on the study. "But other factors are killing bees."Starvation, typically a top cause of mortality, was first, followed by poor quality queen bees and weather. The percentage of beekeepers citing weather as a leading winter concern jumped from 9 percent to 18 percent. The study noted many of the top causes of mortality can be countered with better management, such as wrapping colonies over the winter or providing supplemental food. VanEngelsdorp sees a positive in the results — heightened concern over CCD in recent years has led beekeepers to become more aware of other problems plaguing the buzzing winged insects.Another offshoot has been more interest in beekeeping as a hobby. Some small beekeepers, like Jones, have enough hives to sell their own honey.

"We're paying attention to research and approved management" techniques, said Lee Miller, president of the Pennsylvania State Beekeepers Association. "We think beekeeping is going to improve, but we don't know how fast."

BEEKEEPING SCHOOL

Presented by The Macon County Beekeepers Association

When: Saturday, February 20th 8:30 AM until NoonTuesday, February 23rd 6:30 PM until 9 PMThursday, February 25th 6:30 PM until 9 PMSaturday, February 27th 8:30 AM until 3 PM Location: Macon County Extension Office, Thomas Heights Rd.　Registration and Information Contacts:Phone: Debbie Hunter 349-2046 orJanet Hill 369 9819

Email janet28734@gmail.com

Come join us and learn the basics of beekeeping. We will cover basic hive construction, honeybee biology, colony management, handling your bees, and harvesting your honey crop. Introduced pests and diseases have made beekeeping more difficult, and we will discuss methods for overcoming these problems. Each session will cover various aspects of beekeeping presented by local beekeepers. Times for questions and discussion will be allotted throughout the school. Macon county beekeepers are men and women of various ages and include commercial beekeepers, hobby beekeepers, and many with no bees at all. On Saturday the 27th Alan Durdan, NC Extension Agent and Jack Hanel, the NC State Honeybee Inspector for our region will make presentations, and after lunch we will go to a local beeyard and examine a few colonies with Mr. Hanel. The school is open to all - you do not need to be a resident of Macon County to attend. All materials are provided. The NC Agricultural Extension Office is located off of the Highlands Road at the end of Thomas Heights Road at the top of the hill.Our generous sponsors make this school possible. We sincerely thank Macon Bank, Carolina Farm Credit, , Ron Kirkland Land Surveying, Farm Bureau of Macon County, and Lowes.

Three Bee Questions

1. The beekeeping pest associated with fermented honey within the hive is:A. Greater wax moth larvae B. Bee lice C. Small hive beetle larvae D. Varroa mite2. If you offered honey bees equal concentrations of glucose, sucrose and fructose, which one would the foragers prefer?3. Name two situations when you will observe a flying frenzy around the hive entrance.

Some Thoughts on Spring Beekeeping

While our cold winter this year may make it hard to believe, your queens are laying now and as the days grow longer they will lay more eggs with each passing day. In middle to late February the first pollen will be available and the hive will really kick into gear. Many of our losses from starvation occur during the spring buildup.I am not a believer in opening my colonies during the winter. (I have not pulled a frame since early November.) If you pull frames from the brood nest on a cool day now, you will chill the brood and kill some of the larvae. There is little or nothing to be accomplished by looking this early anyway.However as we get days in the mid sixties or higher, you need to look and be sure that your queens are laying and that the colonies have adequate honey and pollen. If not, feeding is necessary to avoid starvation. The flip side is that any feeding will stimulate growth of the colony. which will require more feeding, etc., etc. I know this because I have grown some really huge colonies before there was sufficient honey flow to sustain them! This is great if you want splits in time for the poplar flow, but otherwise you will repopulate the wild with swarms.If feeding is really necessary, be sure to reduce all your entrances and keep your colonies bee tight. Robbing is easily provoked in the spring as the colonies are all beginning to build up and there are field bees constantly in search of food. A spring colony is usually weak and can easily be robbed out in a few hours. It’s an ugly sight.In March I reverse the hive bodies on each of my colonies. (Most of us keep colonies of either one hive body plus one super OR two hive bodies. There is little difference.) having empty space ABOVE the brood nest is stimulative to the colony. It seems un-natural at first, but the bees absolutely do not care if the super is under the deep box or vice-versa. The bees will have eaten their way to the top during the winter, where it was warmer. I usually find the bottom box to be essentially empty. I remove the colony from it’s position and replace the bottom board with a fresh one, then place the box that was on top onto the bottom board followed by the former bottom box. Occasionally there will be brood extending into the box that overwintered on the bottom, and this relocation splits the brood. The colony will adjust to the change in a few days.This is also a good time to replace any damaged frames or old or poorly drawn comb. A few frames with new foundation will further stimulate the colony and may help calm the urge to swarm.Of course you will have any needed new equipment prepared and ready to go into service before March 15th or so, right? Equipment usually becomes hard to get in April, so this is another area where planning ahead is really helpful.

Answers to Quiz:

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Macon County Beekeepers News, Franklin, NCEdited by Tom Hill

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