Author Archive
VSBA’S THE COMMONWEALTH BUZZ Newsletter: SHB Information
All BONS members should have received the February 2012 issue by now.
There is “a link to a new publication, Handbook of Small Hive Beetle IPM, by Dr. Mike Hood of Clemson University. The booklet is 20 pages, 8- 1/2 X 11 inches, filled with color photographs and everything you want to know about this pest. Topics include traps and chemicals: in short everything you need for control. To obtain a free copy while supplies last send name and address to:
EB 160 Handbook of Small Hive Beetle IPM
Public Service Bulletin Room 96
Poole Agricultural Center
Clemson, SC 29634-0129
Electronic copies of the handbook are also available free of charge: Google the title “EB 160 Handbook of Small Hive Beetle IPM” to find the downloadable PDF version online. ”
I recommend this article to anyone in Virginia who has honey bee colonies. A few of our standard beekeeping activities such as hive inspections can attract SHB to the hive because of the pheromones produced by the guard bees when the hive is opened. Also, hives should be placed in full sunlight where the ground is kept drier. But, do read the report for yourself. What else do you have to do in winter?
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MID-ATLANTIC ORGANIC HONEY BEE CONVENTION
MID-ATLANTIC ORGANIC HONEY BEE CONVENTION
4500 Kensington Ave., Richmond, Virginia
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Register at our website www.beebustersinc.com or contact John Adams, 804 285-BEES, or email martha.brooks27@gmail.com
Mid-Atlantic Organic Honey Bee Convention
Saturday, March 17, 2012
COST – $30 per person pre-register $35 at door $50 per household
Dealers welcome / free space
SPEAKERS & TOPICS
SCHEDULE:
8 – 8:30 am Registration/Snacks & Coffee
8:30 – 9:30 am John Adams Organic methods for Langstroth, top bar and alternative hives/Organic treatments of diseases/How to keep bees and almost NOT spend money/58 different types of bee hives/Honey, wax, and propolis extraction at a price anybody can afford.
9:30 – 10:30 am Sam Comfort Alternative hives. Exploring a different route, his Anarchy Apiaries now provides surplus bees, queens, and honey from about 400 rustic, treatment-free hives: Kenyan top bar, Warre’, and Langstroth from New York to Florida.
Sam freely shares a lot of tips, songs, why’s, how’s, and plenty of opinions for and against whatever, the state of the bee industry.
Break
10:45 am – 12 noon Wyatt Mangum is an icon in the world of beekeeping. Today he speaks on “Top Bar Hive Management” – Top bar hive management practices and how to hive package bees/Feeding the new adventure in a top bar hive, including feeding and establishing the new colony.
Lunch 12:00 – 1pm Pot Luck (or down the road)
1pm – 2 pm Sam Comfort Continuing the morning talk
Short Break
2 – 3 pm Wyatt Mangum “Hiving a Package in a Top Bar Hive” and “Summary of TBH Hive Products & Services,” including liquid honey, cut comb honey, queen and package bee production, pollen trapping and crop pollination
3 – 4 pm Keith Tignor is the State Apiarist for Virginia and whose love of honey bees is evident to anyone who knows him. His talk today is on “Overlooked facts that beekeepers sometimes forget.”
BIOS:
John Adams has been beekeeping since 1974 and has been an advocate of alternative hives since the 1980’s. His book was published last year which examines the many systems of keeping honey bees throughout the centuries. There is emphasis on O. O. Poppleton’s long box hive. This historic hive of Poppleton was very much tested and proven to have obvious advantages because of its simplicity to make and operate, particularly if you are not into lifting heavy objects. (The Langstroth hive requires hydraulics if you are a commercial beekeeper. Langstroth equipment converts well to a long box with a few modifications and very little loss of old equipment and can operate with many different types of topbars.)
Sam Comfort is a brilliant creative beekeeper with a long record of commercial beekeeping. Sam Comfort explains that he won six beehives in a poker game in 2002, then spent several years working in large-scale migratory pollination, honey production, and queen rearing. Exploring a different route, his Anarchy Apiaries now provides surplus bees, queens, and honey from about 400 rustic, treatment-free hives: Kenyan top bar, Warre, and Langstroth from New York to Florida. Sam freely shares a lot of tips, songs, why’s, how’s, and plenty of opinions for and against this approach, the state of the bee industry, and how communities can work together towards self-sufficiency in beekeeping. The mission of Anarchy Apiaries is to bring the means of production back to the beekeeper, to make beekeeping feasible, simple, and affordable for all, and to facilitate the beekeeping network with more hives than televisions.
Wyatt Mangum is a life-long beekeeper, a columnist for the American Bee Journal, a world traveler among different beekeeping systems (in Asia, South America and Africa), and an apicultural historian studying old beekeeping techniques. He has managed 200 top-bar hives for commercial pollination, queen rearing, package bee production, honey, wax, and pollen collection. Wyatt has finished a 12-chapter book on top-bar hives with over 300 photographs comprising over 25 years experience with these hives; the book will be available soon. (In high school Wyatt built up a 125 frame-hive operation and made honey by the ton.)
Keith Tignor is the State Apiarist for Virginia and whose love of honey bees is evident to anyone who knows him. Through his association with Virginia Tech and Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services over the past 25 years, Mr. Tignor has worked closely with the agriculture community to promote beekeeping and the health of honey bees. His VDACS responsibilities include supervision of apiculture initiatives to promote the science of beekeeping, prevent the spread of diseases, and encourage the pollination of crops. Mr. Tignor regularly speaks to local, state, and national organizations and groups. He is also active in several apiculture organizations such as the Apiary Inspectors of America, Virginia State Beekeepers’ Association and beekeeping groups in the central Virginia region.
March 17th is St. Patrick’s Day, I wonder if they will have any green honey for sale.
Thanks to Karla Eisen for this info.
Meeting Schedules from February to May
The February 9th meeting will be lead by Randy Jackson, our VP. Randy wants to have an open discussion on the forthcoming Mentoring Program so that it can be designed to meet members’ requirements.
The March 8th meeting will feature a BONS member, Melissa Sylvan, presenting “Bee-Friendly Landscaping”. Melissa is a landscaper with 17 years experience and a beekeeper for five years. This was a topic of high interest when I took the survey last year.
April 12th we have, tentatively, another member, Karla Eisen who was the team leader of the the Prince William Regional Beekeepers Association (PWRBA) producer SARE project which 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. I gave you the link in the last Post.
Sounds just what we at BONS need to be doing!!! And this might get us started.
May 10th we have the election of officers. I have not located a speaker for that meeting. Any volunteers? Note that I complete my two year allotment on that date and it’s sayonara.
If you are wondering about this flood of information, well Ramona had her computer in the shop being upgraded and our older machine was just not up to the occasion. I am just catching up. Note that Confucius says ” Man whose wife buys computer is darn lucky.”
Scholarship Surprise
Thanks to Susan Wolk we discovered a Scholarship application lurking in the bushes. The application had been completed and sent but never arrived. Andrew Cather and his sponsor, Hope Cather, mother, are planning to attend the February 9th BONS meeting. The Cathers are third generation 4-H participants, Hope is the president of the 4-H Leaders Association. The family raise sheep and cattle in the Berryville area. The application was informally revealed to members of the Scholarship committee and all agreed it meets our requirements.
Ramona and I are unable to attend the February meeting. I ask all who do attend to welcome the Cathers to BONS. Andrew and Hope understand that this is our initial opportunity and that it will be a learning experience for BONS
Doug Morris.
Honey Entrepreneurs Wanted
There will be a”Grow Local, Buy Local” conference in the George Washinton Hotel in Winchester on Feb 6th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. The goal is to promote relationships and networking between local food producers and business. It is sponsored by the Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) and Shenandoah Valley Farm-to-Table. There will be speakers on the topic in the morning and an open time for networking after lunch. The cost of attending is $15. For more information, call 540-432-6029 ext 107 or Mark Sutphin, VCE at 540-665-5699.
Thanks to Lennie Mather for forwarding this information
BONS Jan 12, 2012 Meeting Minutes
Beekeepers of the Northern Shenandoah Club Minutes
January 12, 2012
Doug Morris, President, called the meeting to order.
Old Business:
- Mentoring Program: Randy Jackson reported that the committee met to discuss how and what the volunteers would be doing to assist the new beekeepers enrolled in the beekeeping classes this spring. So far there are seven volunteers signed up to be mentors. Committee members are planning to set up a station to demonstrate how to assemble wooden ware for the new students. They will be available 15 minutes before and after meetings to answer bee related questions. Mentoring will be provided to the new beekeepers for their first full beekeeping year. Randy passed the signup sheet around for new volunteers.
- Extractor Equipment: Rusty Foltz gave a report on cleanup day held at Blandy for the space that Blandy has donated for the club to store the extracting equipment. Several members turned out for clean up and successfully accomplished the task. Branson and Rusty will be building the equipment storage box on January 14, 2012.
- Scholarship Committee: Doug Morris reported that nothing is happening. We had no applications submitted. Doug plans to talk to the teachers and other recipients of the applications for input on how we might make this program more attractive to future applicants.
New Business:
- Bee Classes: John Lewis is the organizer and contact person for the classes. They are planning for 30 students. He would ideally like 15 mentors to volunteer. There will be three sections being taught in different locations. Monday, Feb. 20, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Research Farm, Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Winchester Medical Center. The cost for class and materials is $100. Anyone who has taken the class before may attend the classes for free of charge. Contact John Lewis immediately to sign up for class.
- Bee Packages: There was a signup sheet passed around for club members to indicate how many packages they wanted to purchase in the spring. Doug Morris is the contact person for club packages and John Lewis is the contact for beekeeping class students. Doug reported that he has posted on the club website an article on sustainable beekeeping, nucs, and queen rearing.
- Wooden Ware: Doug Koch will place an order this week for 30 sets of 10 frame equipment, 30 sets of 8 frame equipment and 6 nucs. He hopes to pick them up the third or fourth week of the class schedule in order to give the students time to build their equipment.
- Queen Rearing Class: John Lewis reported that Pat Haskell is planning a queen rearing workshop tentative date April 21. The workshop is to be held at John’s house. More details will come later.
Bob Wellemeyer, Virginia State Bee Inspector, presented a program on what a healthy hive looks like and how to determine and identify disease in a hive. Bob is based in Warrenton and works out of his home. He has over 40 years of beekeeping and bee related experience. You can reach Bob for hive inspections, bee questions and disease identification at the following contact numbers: cell: 540-229-5359 home: 540-937-7775.
Beekeepers of the Northern Shenandoah Club Minutes
January 12, 2012
Doug Morris, President, called the meeting to order.
Old Business:
- Mentoring Program: Randy Jackson reported that the committee met to discuss how and what the volunteers would be doing to assist the new beekeepers enrolled in the beekeeping classes this spring. So far there are seven volunteers signed up to be mentors. Committee members are planning to set up a station to demonstrate how to assemble wooden ware for the new students. They will be available 15 minutes before and after meetings to answer bee related questions. Mentoring will be provided to the new beekeepers for their first full beekeeping year. Randy passed the signup sheet around for new volunteers.
- Extractor Equipment: Rusty Foltz gave a report on cleanup day held at Blandy for the space that Blandy has donated for the club to store the extracting equipment. Several members turned out for clean up and successfully accomplished the task. Branson and Rusty will be building the equipment storage box on January 14, 2012.
- Scholarship Committee: Doug Morris reported that nothing is happening. We had no applications submitted. Doug plans to talk to the teachers and other recipients of the applications for input on how we might make this program more attractive to future applicants.
New Business:
- Bee Classes: John Lewis is the organizer and contact person for the classes. They are planning for 30 students. He would ideally like 15 mentors to volunteer. There will be three sections being taught in different locations. Monday, Feb. 20, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Research Farm, Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Winchester Medical Center. The cost for class and materials is $100. Anyone who has taken the class before may attend the classes for free of charge. Contact John Lewis immediately to sign up for class.
- Bee Packages: There was a signup sheet passed around for club members to indicate how many packages they wanted to purchase in the spring. Doug Morris is the contact person for club packages and John Lewis is the contact for beekeeping class students. Doug reported that he has posted on the club website an article on sustainable beekeeping, nucs, and queen rearing.
- Wooden Ware: Doug Koch will place an order this week for 30 sets of 10 frame equipment, 30 sets of 8 frame equipment and 6 nucs. He hopes to pick them up the third or fourth week of the class schedule in order to give the students time to build their equipment.
- Queen Rearing Class: John Lewis reported that Pat Haskell is planning a queen rearing workshop tentative date April 21. The workshop is to be held at John’s house. More details will come later.
The meeting was adjourned.
Bob Wellemeyer, Virginia State Bee Inspector, presented a program on what a healthy hive looks like and how to determine and identify disease in a hive. Bob is based in Warrenton and works out of his home. He has over 40 years of beekeeping and bee related experience. You can reach Bob for hive inspections, bee questions and disease identification at the following contact numbers: cell: 540-229-5359 home: 540-937-7775.
Beekeepers of the Northern Shenandoah Club Minutes
January 12, 2012
Doug Morris, President, called the meeting to order.
Old Business:
- Mentoring Program: Randy Jackson reported that the committee met to discuss how and what the volunteers would be doing to assist the new beekeepers enrolled in the beekeeping classes this spring. So far there are seven volunteers signed up to be mentors. Committee members are planning to set up a station to demonstrate how to assemble wooden ware for the new students. They will be available 15 minutes before and after meetings to answer bee related questions. Mentoring will be provided to the new beekeepers for their first full beekeeping year. Randy passed the signup sheet around for new volunteers.
- Extractor Equipment: Rusty Foltz gave a report on cleanup day held at Blandy for the space that Blandy has donated for the club to store the extracting equipment. Several members turned out for clean up and successfully accomplished the task. Branson and Rusty will be building the equipment storage box on January 14, 2012.
- Scholarship Committee: Doug Morris reported that nothing is happening. We had no applications submitted. Doug plans to talk to the teachers and other recipients of the applications for input on how we might make this program more attractive to future applicants.
New Business:
- Bee Classes: John Lewis is the organizer and contact person for the classes. They are planning for 30 students. He would ideally like 15 mentors to volunteer. There will be three sections being taught in different locations. Monday, Feb. 20, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Virginia Tech Research Farm, Thursday, Feb. 23, 7:00-9:00 p.m. at the Winchester Medical Center. The cost for class and materials is $100. Anyone who has taken the class before may attend the classes for free of charge. Contact John Lewis immediately to sign up for class.
- Bee Packages: There was a signup sheet passed around for club members to indicate how many packages they wanted to purchase in the spring. Doug Morris is the contact person for club packages and John Lewis is the contact for beekeeping class students. Doug reported that he has posted on the club website an article on sustainable beekeeping, nucs, and queen rearing.
- Wooden Ware: Doug Koch will place an order this week for 30 sets of 10 frame equipment, 30 sets of 8 frame equipment and 6 nucs. He hopes to pick them up the third or fourth week of the class schedule in order to give the students time to build their equipment.
- Queen Rearing Class: John Lewis reported that Pat Haskell is planning a queen rearing workshop tentative date April 21. The workshop is to be held at John’s house. More details will come later.
Bob Wellemeyer, Virginia State Bee Inspector, presented a program on what a healthy hive looks like and how to determine and identify disease in a hive. Bob is based in Warrenton and works out of his home. He has over 40 years of beekeeping and bee related experience. You can reach Bob for hive inspections, bee questions and disease identification at the following contact numbers: cell: 540-229-5359 home: 540-937-7775.
The meeting was adjourned.
Submitted by Brenda Brown, BONS Secretary.
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