QUEEN REARING BOOK

If you are interested here is a link for a out of print book on Queen rearing:

Queen Rearing Simplified by Jay Smith

A permanent link to this book will be in the "Helpful Books" section on the left side of this page.

CONGRATULATIONS!!

We won first prize at the WAYNE COUNTY FAIR this year! Thanks to Dolores, Beth and Elizabeth for all their hard work.

RECENT EVENTS....

Club member Carla Strozzieri arranged to have Sam Comfort, top bar and
warre' hive beekeeper, speak to the club at a recent meeting. Sam operates
Anarchy Apiaries in New York's Hudson Valley.  He looked like an anarchist -
scruffy beard, ragged shorts, straw cowboy hat, no shoes, and a guitar(for
singing songs about insects)- and what he had to say about bees was
revolutionary to many beekeepers.

Sam thinks that today's "problem" with bees stems from "industrializing"
them, rather than respecting the way bees live in the wild. He believes that
bees weren't meant to be trucked cross-country to pollinate mono-crops such
as corn, or almonds. Such crops provide poor nutrition due to lack of
diversity. Mites and other pests are symptoms of compromised colonies.

What to do? Go back to nature starting with smaller cell-sized foundation
which will eventually produce smaller bees.  Sam claims that smaller bees
are more resistant to diseases and pests, forage earlier in the day and
later in the evening, among other benefits. His  goal is "yippie, hippie
stuff." Sam believes "bigger is better" is the philosophy that got bees and
crops in trouble; he'd like to see more people with no more than five or six
beehives in their backyards. Then he could relax with his guitar and go
fishing.

To learn more about top bar hives and Sam's brand of "less-invasive"
beekeeping visit: http://anarchyapiaries.org/hivetools/node/32. One of Sam's
mentors is Dee Lusby of Arizona whose writing appears in the POV section of
beesource.com. To learn more about the warre' hives that Sam discussed,
visit warre.biobees.com. Also, check out "The Complete Idiot's Guide to
Beekeeping" by Dean Stiglitz and Laurie Herboldsheimer. The couple are
owners and operators of Golden Rule Honey, LLC and run treatment-free
beekeeping conferences such as this one,  http://www.beeuntoothers.com/,
where Sam also spoke and sang sans shoes.



*Thanks to Elizabeth Knight for contributing this article


**A permanent link to Sam's website: Anarchy Apiaries will be in the "Helpful Links" section on the left hand column. 

BEE FIELD DAY....

Our field day is this Saturday May 28, 2011 from 11:00am-2:00pm and will take place at the home of Carla Strozzieri, Barry Bilger and Raven. Carla and Barry have top bar hives as well as Langstroth, so you will have a great opportunity to see how both work.

Contact for directions or if you are on Facebook join our private WCBEEKA group and directions will be posted there.

Hope to see you!

Ellen Page speaks about "The Vanishing of the Bees"

Part One

Part Two

Help needed....

The following is a email from a WCBA member on his hives. Please use the comment box below to leave any tips or suggestions.

Hello-

I've just examined my three hives.

The first was dead. All the bees were on the bottom board, lower super had no honey left, upper super had plenty. Two frames had dead bees on uncapped comb.

The second had a good quantity of bees in the upper super - the lower was empty of honey. I reversed the supers and began feeding with 1:1 sugar

The third hive had a good quantity of bees in upper super. Reversed and fed.

Any ideas why one hive didn't have the collective sense to forage upward? There was no sign of disease or mold. Perhaps they had mites and just didn't make it through? ?

When should I start looking through the hive for a queen? Any suggestions?

Thanks,Roger 

FACEBOOK

Welcome to Social Media Networking fellow Beekeepers!

You can now find us on Facebook! The link to our Facebook page is on the left. We have also created a private group on Facebook that will allow us to post more private things such as directions to other beekeepers houses if there should be an impromptu field trip. If you would like to be included in this private group, please leave a message either on our Facebook page (you must have a Facebook account) or send Michelle a message at wcbeeka@yahoo.com