A Note From WCBEEKA President....

Hello everyone, 

I'm happy to announce that we have lined up speakers for meeting on Monday April 2. 

Ed & Mary Kosenski, a husband and wife team of E&M Gold in NJ have agreed to speak.

The program will begin precisely at 7:30 so please be prompt. In the event you are a bit late, please come right in and be seated as quietly as possible. 

The presentation will run until 9:30. It will include some time for Q&A's. 

Mary & Ed have 3 hours of travel time so they plan to leave immediately after their presentation.

We will have coffee, tea & some home made baked goods for the event. 

If you'd like to find out a bit about them in advance, please check out their web site. http://www.emgoldbeekeepers.com/

Depending on how things progress, we may postpone the business meeting until our May meeting.

Hope that everyone can make it!

See you Monday.

Thanks, 

Dolores

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!

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 

Highland Valley Apiaries.......

If you are looking for local Apiary consulting, bee products, honey, bees and more check out Ron Papa's new site; Highland Valley Apiaries


Highland Valley Apiaries is a small family business located in Milford, Pennsylvania. We are producers of Local Raw Honey for northeast PA, NJ,and NY. Our apiary locations are selected for there abundance and variety of natural floral sources. We also pride ourselves on producing the best honey possible by keeping healthy bees that are free from the use of hard chemical treatments or antibiotics.

Online Seminars

The following are online classes and seminars through Brushy Mountain Bee Farm:

Year 2 - Build them up, keep them healthy, and produce honey:

We will have a panel made up of beekeepers from different parts of the U.S. Each will discuss the steps they take coming out of winter to build the colonies. We will cover how to get the most from the colony while also keeping it healthy. Lets get ready for the coming year. Panelist include Kim Flottum (editor of Bee Culture Magazine) and Marygael Meister (hobby beekeeper in Denver, CO)

Title: Year 2 - Build them up, keep them healthy, and produce honey
Date: Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Time: 7:00 PM - 8:00 PM EST

The webinar is free; however, space is limited and advanced registration is required. Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/814801226

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Online Beginner's Class:
This class is broken into 4 sessions. Each session will focus on a different topics and you can pick and choose which you wish to attend. All together, the 4 sessions will take you start to finish of your first year of beekeeping. All four sessions are free but advance registration is required. If you would like, you canpurchase a CD with all four sessions and other resources. This will be available upon conclusion of the last session. Below are the registration links for the class.

• Online Class Part 1 March 14 at 6:00PM EST
• Online Class Part 2 March 16 at 6:00PM EST
• Online Class Part 3 March 21 at 6:00PM EST
• Online Class Part 4 March 23 at 6:00PM EST

Hive Management: MARCH

Here's a list of management practices for the month of March according to Hivetool.com some of these activities will depend on how warm it is.


Beekeeping Calendar of Management Practices: March

• Check brood chambers. If all of the brood is in the upper part of the brood chamber, reverse the upper and lower brood chamber units.
• Reversing the chambers will cause the queen to use both units for egg laying.
• In two weeks, the queen should be laying in the upper unit filled with brood. Reverse the units again.
• Feed an over wintered colony two gallons of one-to-one sugar syrup to stimulate brood rearing.
• Repeat reversing the units every two weeks or as often as necessary until the honey flow begins.
• Check the brood for diseases each time you open the colony.
• Feed a mixture of Terramycin to the colony during this heavy brood-rearing period.
• Repeat the use of the Terramycin at seven-day intervals until you have treated a colony three times or use an extender patty.
• Check the honey stores. Feed all colonies that have less than 15 pounds of honey stores.
• Prepare supers with foundation in a warm room and store under fumigation with Para dichlorobenzene crystals.

Reversing Brood Chambers
Inspect the brood chamber. The top hive body (Fig. 20) or super will be filled with brood and bees in early March. The bottom hive body will contain frames of empty comb.
Remove all the equipment down to the bottom board. Place the brood chamber (super or hive body) filled with brood on the bottom board. Place the empty brood chamber on top of the filled brood chamber.
Reverse the positions in two weeks when the queen is in the top brood chamber laying eggs.
Remove the entrance reducer after Easter.
Feeding a Colony
Mix 6½-7 pounds of granulated sugar in 1¾ quarts of hot tap water. Dissolve the sugar. Do not boil.
Using a small frame nail; punch 12-15 holes in the center of a friction top pail.
Fill the pail with the sugar syrup and close the lid. Invert the pail of sugar syrup over the opening (Fig. 23) in the inner cover (inside an empty super).
Place the outer cover over the super to close the hive.
Stimulative Feeding
Mix a one-to-one sugar solution using two quarts of sugar to two quarts of hot tap water. Dissolve the sugar.
Feed this sugar solution 10 the bees in early March and April. Begin this feeding when you reverse the brood chamber in the first two weeks of March.


Also remember:

• Make sure there is food for the new brood, you can place your protein patties on.
• Check that the entrance is clear. Clear away any dead bee accumulation.
• Check for dead-outs. (Bees all dead)
• Check for clean and repaired equipment for the coming season.

VERMONT BEES

If you are interested in Northern Survivor Queens, bred and raised in VT and can handle hardy Winters please check out Roland Smith's Singing Cedar Apiaries Roland carries a variety of queens including Russian, Carniolians, Purvis Golden and Canadian Buckfest. Five frame Nucs are also available.

BEEKEEPING SYMPOSIUM....

Message from Ron Papa about bear damage....

Hi friends and fellow beekeepers,




Since this is the time of the year we experience pressure from the bear, I thought I would share some information I recently learned.



As beekeepers you are entitled to make a claim with the PA Game Commission for bear damage. It is my understanding that you can be compensated for equipment loss along with some value for your honey but not your bees. It is also my understanding that you can file your first claim without having an electric fence but subsequent claims at the same location require that you DO have a fence.

If you should incurr damage and wish to make a claim you must leave everything as it is and contact the game commission right away so that your local contact can come out and make a determination.



Your first step should be to contact the Dallas, PA office at 570-675-1143 or 570-675-1144. If you're not getting results through this contact you can call the Commission Biologist(Mark) at 814-625-3597.



Best of luck in your beekeeping endevours.



Regards,



Ron Papa

Did You Know?....

Do you have beekeeping related items to sell or trade? Are you looking for help with your hives or do you have questions? Would you like to be a Mentor to a "newbee"? Would you like to start a discussion? If so please email wcbeeka@yahoo.com with your request comments and or concerns and we will post it up here.

At the bottom of each blog entry there is the ability to comment on that particular post, this option is available to everyone and is a way to communicate with one another. Please feel free to use this feature.

Just a reminder....

This month's meeting is June 7, 2010 at 7:30 at the Park Street Complex in the old Stourbridge School building.

This year's Field Day was another success! Thanks to Robert Hochreither for hosting another informative field day. Below is a picture contributed by Dolores Motichka.....if you have pictures you would like to share please send them to wcbeeka@yahoo.com

QUICK REMINDER......

Tonight is this month's meeting. Join us at the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce @ 7:30. See you there. 

Interesting News Clips

Passed on by Francis Motichka. If you cannot see the print just click on the image and it will enlarge for you.

FLOWER FARM SEEKING BEES.....

Katherine Brown of Fox Hill Farm is looking for a beekeeper that might be interested in keeping their hives on the property. If you might be interested please contact: Katharine Brown Fox Hill Farm 251-9334 or foxhillfarmexperience@gmail.com

GETTING STARTED....

Here's a great article from Father Salnicky and the Monroe County Beekeeper's Association's newsletter; "Propolis" for new beekeepers:

Enjoy....

I came across an article on the hives located on the roof of Fortnum and Mason, a famous grocery store in Picadilly. It wasn't so much the article that mesmerized me, but the beautiful pictures of the very unique hives. They are absolutely dreamy. ENJOY!

Beetight....

Here's a great site if you are technically savvy: It's called Beetight You can keep records of your apiary (or apiaries) and hives. Track inspections, keep photos and even blog about your beekeeping online or on your mobile phone. It's free for up to 6 hives, $15 for the "Pro" feature which is up to 1,000 hives. With the Pro version you can get "assets tracking" This will let you keep track of all of your hive components, so you know which hives have got which honey supers and so on, as well as which parts came from where and which need repair. 


I've already signed up for the free version, since I have only 2 hives. It is very user friendly and easy to follow. In my opinion a great tool to help you keep track of your hives and what needs to be done on a regular basis. 


Just click on "Beetight" above


*contributed by Michelle Erbach*