2012 Beginning Beekeeping Class
In late February, the 2012 Beginning Beekeeping classes will begin. They will run on seven consecutive weeknights, with the final class held on a weekend day, working in the bees. As with the past eight years, we anticipate a lot of fun and good learning about bees.
This year, we’re teaching three sections:
> Monday, 7-9pm at Blandy Farm in Clarke Co. Starts 2/20/12.
> Wednesday, 7-9pm at the VT Research Farm in Frederick Co. Starts 2/22/12
> Thursday, 7-9pm at WMC Wellness Center. Starts 2/23/12.
The cost of the class is $100. This includes cost of books, etc. One registration per family – we encourage family involvement. This cost does not include cost of hive equipment, protective gear and bees. Pre-Registration is required. Please contact John Lewis @ 54o- 931- 439o (evenings and weekends) for more information.
Students from previous years are invited to attend, free of charge.
Posted in 
Beehive Tax Credit being considered in Virginia
Special thanks to Keith Provost for passing this important information along-
12100941D
1. That the Code of Virginia is amended by adding in Article 3 of Chapter 3 of Title 58.1 a section numbered 58.1-339.13 as follows:
§ 58.1-339.13. Beehive tax credit.
A. For taxable years beginning on and after January 1, 2012, but before January 1, 2015, any taxpayer who purchases equipment to start a new beehive shall be entitled to a credit against the tax levied pursuant to § 58.1-320 of an amount equal to $200 per new hive, not to exceed $2,400 per year. In order to be eligible, the taxpayer shall register as a beekeeper with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and request and receive an inspection of his new hives from the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
B. The total amount of tax credits under this section for a calendar year shall not exceed $500,000. In the event that applications for such credits exceed $500,000 for any calendar year, the Department of Taxation shall allocate the credits on a pro rata basis.
C. If the amount of the credit exceeds the taxpayer’s liability for the taxable year, the excess may be carried over for credit against the income taxes of the taxpayer in the next five taxable years or until the total credit amount has been taken, whichever occurs first.
2. That the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall compile, maintain, and distribute a Virginia Beekeeping Guide to provide information to beekeepers on beekeeping.
Here is the full link:
Local production of nucs and queens
The Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association developed a report on their research into the comparison of the survivability of colonies sourced from packages and from nucs. In addition, they examined the advantages of winterized queens, see below for a summary and links. A long but easy read (20 pages) and worth your time, IMO. An interesting outcome of the work done by the group of club members involved is that several had never made a nuc before and even more had not reared queens. BONS could do this too if we had the interest. We have current members that do all that and more, some with only a few years of beekeeping experience, and they could provide the core guidance. So what do you think? Huh?
Thanks to Karla Eisen for bring this information to my attention. She is also a new (2011-2012) BONS member. Karla was a principle member of the group that received the funding.
Promoting Sustainable Beekeeping Practices through local production of nucs (nucleus colonies) and local queen honeybees. Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) 2011 Final Report
Summary
The Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association (PWRBA) producer SARE project compared hives started from packaged bees to hives started from nucleus colonies (nucs) positively demonstrating higher survival for nuc started hives than package started hives, with survival differences more pronounced in the second year. Education and training resulted in adopting more sustainable beekeeping practices. These centered on utilizing existing colonies to produce sufficient nucs to (1) replace dead hives, (2) increase apiaries, and (3) provide starter hives for new beekeepers and association members instead of relying on commercially produced packaged bees from outside the region. The number of nucs made available to association members in lieu of packaged bees increased dramatically over the course of the project. Queen rearing was successfully initiated.
The results of the SARE funded research can be found at: http://mysare.sare.org/mySARE/ProjectReport.aspx?do=viewRept&pn=FS08-223&y=2011&t=1
In search of a better bee
BONS Meeting January 12, 2012: Apiary Inspector Presents “Pests and Diseases”
Wishing you and yours a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2012.
Well yes, I did sort of goof-off and take a Christmas break from posting and emailing. So you have not heard of the great fun we had at the informal December meeting with an enormous potluck and 12 jars of honey to sample. All were different but most were somewhat the same. The ringer in the group was a commercial honey that was very different. In my opinion, rather harsh in flavor missing the delicate and complex tastes of the members’ honeys. And now for 2012, I have received an interesting link on local queen rearing that I will post on our website http://valleybees.org/ that will eventually appear in your newsletter if you are registered on that website.
BONS Meeting January 12, 2012: Apiary Inspector Presents “Pests and Diseases”
Bob Wellemeyer, Agriculture Inspector from the Warrenton Office has agreed to give us a presentation on bee pests and diseases. One of Bob’s professional tasks is to inspect existing colonies for diseases before they are presented for sale, for example, in the case of a beekeeper retiring or dying and his/her apiary being sold off. Also, if a beekeeper suspects he/she has a hive with problems, then Bob can be called upon to inspect the hive and make a recommendation.
Come hear the facts from a person that actually deals with honeybee pests and diseases regularly and find out what to look for and how to react.
Incidentally, BONS buys our packages from Bob.
I copied the following paragraphs from http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/plant&pest/apiary.shtml just for your information.
Apiary Inspection
The Virginia Bee Law regulates the movement of honey bees into the state, the sale of bees, queens, used bee equipment; and provides a means for dispatching bee disease reservoirs.
Virginia utilizes a Uniform Inspection Certificate approved by the Apiary Inspectors of America for interstate movement of colonies.
Virginia also participates in the Mid-Atlantic States Agreement which specifies inspection requirements for bee diseases and pests and allows for partial (random) inspection of apiaries that meet certain disease-free criteria.
The agreement alleviates problems of reduced personnel and budgets while maintaining control over apiaries with disease histories.
Video of Mike Embrey’s Small Hive Beetle Presentation
Mike gave a SHB presentation to the club at the October meeting. Our thanks goes to Paul Oman from the Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association who made an excellent video of the presentation. It can be viewed by going to the following link on the PWRBA Vimeo site:
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