buzzwords · 2020. 6. 6. · have some with virgins, some are just going gangbusters and there are...
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buzzwords http://www.barnstablebeekeepers.org June 2020 Upcoming Meetings Zoom Connection will be provided via email in advance. Please do not share it outside the club. Tuesday, June 9 7:30 pm Hannah Whitehead In her role as an extension educator, Hannah creates educational materials for beekeepers, hosts workshops, speaks at bee meetings, and collaborates with university researchers on bee-related outreach projects. She received her masters at The Ohio State University where she studied drone brood removal and surveyed beekeepers about their mite management choices.. FROM THE BOARD You Should Beekeeping a Journal I write this in May, we are half way through spring and I have been sitting beside my hive watching the activity. There have been a lot of cold days lately but I was able to open the hive last week to take a peek and see how they are coming along. My over wintered hive is really booming this year. So many of them survived the winter and everything looks good. There is plenty of capped brood and drones are present. Pollen is being brought in and nectar is awaiting the transformation into honey. Very few varroa mites are seen on the board. In the Spring of 2019 I re-hived, so these girls are going into their 2nd summer with me. Even though this will be my 11th summer of beekeeping I still have questions and doubts. I feel like I don’t know enough, or sometimes, know anything at all. There are many variables that effect the outcome. Some I have no control over like the weather, and some I do such as varroa mites. While I was sitting there watching the girls come and go, I was thinking about those variables. I wanted to figure out what went wrong with my previous hive that didn’t over-winter in 2019 and what was different this year that got these girls through. Maybe it was just the milder winter. The previous year I might have harvested too much honey and this year chose not to harvest any. The previous winter I wrapped the hive and didn’t feed in March. This year I wrapped the hive and fed sugar patties in March. To me it’s like an equation, you fill in the variables to find the answer. Other times you may feel like a detective following the clues to solve a mystery. Which ever the case, the answers are hidden between the lines of your beekeeping journal. Your beekeeping journal doesn’t have to be written like a novel. Nobody is going to read it except you. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or overly Newsletter Submissions Please send Buzzwords submissions to David Whalley [email protected]. We are looking for good stories, photos, links, news about talks and presentations you’ve done or seen, book and movie reviews, and items for sale or free to good home! PDF, scanned document files, and hard copy submissions are not acceptable. You can create files in Word, Pages, Notepad, TextEdit, etc. for articles.
Transcript of buzzwords · 2020. 6. 6. · have some with virgins, some are just going gangbusters and there are...
buzzwordshttp://www.barnstablebeekeepers.org
June 2020
Upcoming Meetings
Zoom Connection will be provided via email in advance. Please do not share it outside the club.
Tuesday, June 9 7:30 pm Hannah Whitehead
In her role as an extension educator, Hannah creates educational materials for beekeepers, hosts workshops, speaks at bee meetings, and collaborates with university researchers on bee-related outreach projects. She received her masters at The Ohio State University where she studied drone brood removal and surveyed beekeepers about their mite management choices..
FROM THE BOARD
You Should Beekeeping a Journal
I write this in May, we are half way through spring and I have been sitting beside my hive watching the activity. There have been a lot of cold days lately but I was able to open the hive last week to take a peek and see how they are coming along. My over wintered hive is really booming this year. So many of them survived the winter and everything looks good. There is plenty of capped brood and drones are present. Pollen is being brought in and nectar is awaiting the transformation into honey. Very few varroa mites are seen on the board.
In the Spring of 2019 I re-hived, so these girls are going into their 2nd summer with me. Even though this will be my 11th summer of beekeeping I still have questions and doubts. I feel like I don’t know enough, or sometimes, know anything at all. There are many variables that effect the outcome. Some I have no control over like the weather, and some I do such as varroa mites.
While I was sitting there watching the girls come and go, I was thinking about those variables. I wanted to figure out what went wrong with my previous hive that didn’t over-winter in 2019 and what was different this year that got these girls through. Maybe it was just the milder winter. The previous year I might have harvested too much honey and this year chose not to harvest any. The previous winter I wrapped the hive and didn’t feed in March. This year I wrapped the hive and fed sugar patties in March. To me it’s like an equation, you fill in the variables to find the answer. Other times you may feel like a detective following the clues to solve a mystery. Which ever the case, the answers are hidden between the lines of your beekeeping journal.
Your beekeeping journal doesn’t have to be written like a novel. Nobody is going to read it except you. It doesn’t have to be elaborate or overly
Newsletter SubmissionsPlease send Buzzwords submissions to David Whalley [email protected].
We are looking for good stories, photos, links, news about talks and presentations you’ve done or seen, book and movie reviews, and items for sale or free to good home!PDF, scanned document files, and hard copy submissions are not acceptable. You can create files in Word, Pages, Notepad, TextEdit, etc. for articles.
descriptive. You don’t have to correct your spelling and you can abbreviate any way you like. Mine is more like a log than a journal unless more description is needed:
• July 15th: Hot, bearding.• August : Did not open. Smell honey within 5 feet. Will open when I treat. • Sept 20th: Warm, applied Apiguard. Top box full of honey.• Oct 10th: cool, expelling drones.
I also continue it through the winter. Most times just a brief monthly comment such as: November was mild, cleansing flights; December very cold; January snow I hear them with ear to hive; February 15th mild enough to throw in sugar quickly. You get the point, nothing fancy, just the facts. Just a brief, accurate, personal record so that you have something for comparisons.
One beautiful day when you are sitting peacefully beside your hive enjoying the movements of your new industrious friends you will wonder “why?”. After you have searched YouTube and Google without satisfaction, you just might find, within your journal, that little extra bit of information that puts your conclusion over the top. A small personal clue you left yourself last year, or years prior, that could make all the difference.
Louise Hopper,
Pollen Chart
We all have wondered just what pollen is coming in and from what plant or where have the foragers been? Attached is a color chart that just might answer our questions. Thanks to Leslie Litchenstein for finding this gem!
Check out the BCBA Facebook page for shared links, photos, and questions/answers! Join the conversation!https://www.facebook.com/groups/BarnstableCountyBeeA/
ForageTricky Bumble Bees
In Japan, the ‘Murder Hornet’ Is Both a Lethal Threat and a Tasty Treat
An Efficient Single Brood Chamber Colony
Cape Bee Update
Many of you know that the club is fortunate to have an apiary on county property in Barnstable. In the past, we have been able to provide monthly hive openings and workshops and, of course, they are on hold. To date the apiary has eleven hives. They are a combination of overwintered hives, new packages and new 5 frame nucleus colonies. As of this writing, they all are at different strengths. We have some with virgins, some are just going gangbusters and there are always a few that just mosey along and need help along the way.
Thanks to a grant, the apiary has established monitoring equipment. We are still waiting for a special solar hub that will help relay information over a short period of time for all to see. Four of our hives now have a temperature monitor installed. We have picked a new package, a new nuc and two of our better overwintered hives with the BroodMinder probe. These will be “read on a weekly basis until the solar unit arrives but all members can view the hives progress at www.beecounted.org. Go to “view map” and then find Cape Cod on the map. If you hover over the Cape, you will see there are 4 sites in Barnstable. The site on the right belongs to Cape Bee and will have 4 readings. As the brood expands, the temperature will rise. Also, we are waiting for a new scale that will eventually let us know when the hive takes on weight due to a nectar flow. If there is a sudden loss of weight, there is a good chance that the hive has swarmed. Stay tuned as we “gear up” with more equipment and monitors.
And we thought you would enjoy seeing what happens when shims are left on too long and then you decide to give it more room. As luck will have it, we moved this “situation” to another hive stand and let it grow and grow it has. It now has a laying queen in the midst of all that comb yet to have been seen. Stay tuned as to how we deal with this natural wonder.
Claire
Oh, Those Asian Hornets!!!
(and you thought they were all bad!!)
The giant hornet, along with other varieties of wasps, has traditionally been considered a delicacy in this rugged part of the country [Japan]. The grubs are often preserved in jars, pan-fried or steamed with rice to make a savory dish called hebo-gohan. The adults, which can be two inches long, are fried on skewers, stinger and all, until the carapace becomes light and crunchy. They leave a warming, tingling sensation when eaten. The real thrill is in the hunt. Setting out in the early summer months, intrepid hunters track the insects to their huge nests, which can house as many as a thousand hornets and their larvae, in the boles of rotting trees or underground. They lure a hornet with a streamer attached to a piece of fish, and when it grabs the morsel and takes off, the hunting party goes on a steeplechase through the woods. Upon finding the nest, the hunters stun the insects with smoke, then use chain saws and shovels to extract it. In other cases, the nests are rooted out by professional exterminators. Torao Suzuki, 75, said he removed 40 to 50 nests a year, getting stung as many as 30 times each season. “It hurts, it swells and it turns red, but that’s about it,” he said about the stings. “I guess I’m immune.” —
NY Times
Pollinator Series: Health Challenges for Long Term Survival live webinar for information on how to manage queen issues, how to monitor and treat for varroa mites, and how to prevent starvation in winter. Honey bee colony management is essential for survival throughout the year. This webinar will cover the three most important steps to ensure honey bee colony survival throughout the year.
Creative Winter Workshop
For those of you looking for a special project next winter, check out what one beekeeper from West Barnstable has created for the 2020 season. The hive on the right uses double deep frames which can be separated to take off honey. The yellow hive has single traditional deep frames and built in SHB traps. Both are built to save wear and tear on the back. These are considered horizontal hives and built with sides that are 1-1/2 inches thick for warmth in the winter and cooler bees in the summer. Steve Whittlesey or [email protected]
JUNE’S HIVE MANAGEMENT• New hives, add second deep when bottom deep is 80% full. Best to move Undrawn frames in between drawn so they will be
filled as the hive expands.• Syrup feeding should continue until nearly all frames build with cells and filled.• No syrup when honey shallows are on• Overwintered hives – watch for queen/swarm cells• Ideal time to make a split or nuc from strong colonies.• Honey shallows on for black locust and linden nectar flow• Consider monitoring for varroa mite following the 2-2-2 sugar shake in May BuzzWords• Do not hesitate to skewer drone brood for varroa mites.• White boards should be removed for good ventilation• Entrance reducers removed and mouse guards added depending on activity
NEW LIFE – NEW HOMES
As part of the educational component of Cape Bee, we are attempting to provide the members with virgin queens that have been grafted from strong overwintered hives. And we thank you members that have taken advantage of our efforts to either requeen your hive or make a split to enable these good genes to be spread
around the Cape. Our efforts will continue as long as there is a demand. The queen cells to the left were placed in cages and will emerge on their own untouched by the beekeepers and sold directly to you as soon as they emerge as pretty frisky virgins.
Claire Desilets
Recipe
Honey and Cranachan Popsicles from Heather Hills Farm in Perthshire.
Ingredients:
• 500g Greek yoghurt, or full fat natural yoghurt• 340g Scottish heather honey• 340g raspberry jam• 200g Granola• 80ml Whole milk• Handful of fresh mixed soft berries
Instructions: 1. Whisk the yoghurt with the milk and 1tsp of heather honey
until smooth.2. Dollop one heaped teaspoon of raspberry jam into each
mould then sprinkle with a few fresh soft berries such as blueberries or raspberries.
3. Layer with the yoghurt mixture. Drizzle over a heaped teaspoon of Scottish heather honey then a layer of granola.
4. Finish with a final layer of yoghurt.5. Add popsicle sticks and freeze for at least four hours. To
remove popsicles, run the mould under a little hot water until they come loose.
Bee Culture
Honey Dandelion Shortbread Cookies
Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened• scant 2/3 cup sugar• 1 heaped tablespoon honey• 1/2 cup loosely packed dandelion petals• 1/4 teaspoon salt• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract• 1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour• coarse sugar, for topping, optional
Instructions:1. Gather your dandelions and pluck out the yellow petals until
you have a lightly packed 1/2 cup of petals. Discard the rest of the flower.
2. Try to wash the petals as best you can as they will get sticky when wet.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl with a hand mixer), cream together the butter, sugar, and honey until light and fluffy. Mix in the dandelion petals.
4. On low speed, add the salt and vanilla and then slowly add the flour until it is just incorporated into the dough. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
5. Turn the dough onto a couple large sheets of plastic wrap and roll it into a log that is about 2-2.5 inches in diameter. Wrap the dough and place in the refrigerator for at least an hour, or overnight.
6. When ready to bake, line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone baking mats. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Slice the log into about 1/4-inch slices and place on the baking sheets, about 1 inch apart.
7. Sprinkle each with a little coarse sugar, if desired.8. Bake for 9-11 minutes, until the edges and bottoms are
turning golden. Let cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheets and then place the cookies on a cooling rack to fully cool.
9. Store cookies in an airtight container. They are more flavorful a day or two after baking.
Leslie Lichtenstein
RESOURCES
The following officers and directors are a great resource to answer questions and requests for assistance.
Officers
President Michael D. Smith [email protected]
Vice President Maria Cashdollar [email protected]
Recording Secretary Claire Desilets [email protected]
Treasurer Lynn Heslinga [email protected]
Directors
Marthe Ayers [email protected] Louise Hopper [email protected]
John Beach [email protected] Mary Anne Mann [email protected]
Deborah Carmel [email protected] Andy Morris [email protected]
Todd Cashdollar [email protected] Brian O’Donnell [email protected]
Jennifer Cattin [email protected] Lisa Sheehy [email protected]
Melissa Caughey [email protected] Donna Tompkins [email protected]
Peter B Cooper [email protected] Dave Whalley [email protected]
Olga DiSavino [email protected] Miguel Zamora [email protected]
Edward Hegner [email protected]
Calling the girls. We captured the queen that departed a hive in Yarmouth and her workers are calling the rest of the swarm to come join them. Some were left behind, but they’ll likely go back to their original home.
