From the Snohomish County Noxious Weed Control Board

Transcription

1 NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION June 2016 BEELINES Our mission: to promote interest in honey bees and beekeeping through the Northwest District of Western Washington, and, in particular, Snohomish County. July 12 Meeting: Guest Speaker, Gerry Saw From the Snohomish County Noxious Weed Control Board What is noxious weed? 'Noxious weed' is the traditional, legal term for any invasive, nonnative plant that threatens agricultural crops, local ecosystems or fish and wildlife habitat. Included in that definition are non-native grasses, flowering plants, shrubs and trees. Along with aquatic plants that grow along the wetlands, rivers, lakes and shorelines. About half of all invasive, noxious weeds are escapees from gardens; the rest are plants accidentally introduced to Washington through human travel and trade. Come and learn how we share in the responsibility of protecting our environment while also encouraging hive growth. Regularly scheduled meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at: Christ the King Lutheran Church 1305 Pine Avenue Snohomish, WA 6:00 Bee Talk A Buzz Session for NewBees and Experienced Beekeepers to interact and share questions and experiences. 7:00 Meeting Business meeting and guest speaker. We will also have Laura Elhai to present inform ation about the Evergreen State Fair in August. She can answer questions about the fair and how to go about entering your honey, wax, photos or educational displays. Don t be shy...there are many ways to enter and win a ribbon...or just help the public learn about bees. Presidents Buzz Mark Salser, NWDBA President We now have a blog up and running on the NWDBA website, and we have made a number of other changes including providing information about our upcoming speakers. Please go to the website and check it out! Also, we have linked the blog on the NWDBA website to the a facebook site called "Northwest District Beekeepers". If you are a Facebook user, you can "like" that page and have it notify you when new things are posted to it. It s just another way to stay informed.

2 PAGE 2 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION NUCS for Sale Proud sponsor of NWDBA Over-Wintered Survivor Bees Local and Queens Larvae should be 5 available Drawn Frames in June! Young Mated Queen CONTACT: CONTACT, Larry Brainard Tel: Tel: LarryBrainard@comcast.net Larrybrainard@comcast.net...I hate bee-ing wrong!! Last month I congratulated Larry Brainard for publishing an article in Edmonds Living Local Journal. He actually was featured in the article that was in-fact written by K. Shawn Edgar. I apologize for any misunderstanding this may have caused. I ve included the link in case you missed it. Way to go, Larry, for giving beekeeping a positive light. June 2016 Edmonds Living Local #ClippedOnIssuu JOURNALING It may seem more difficult to journal during the summer months when there is so much to do. Don t stress about your shortage of time. (That will take the joy out of beekeeping.) Instead find a way to keep track of your activities for now and then add them to your journal when things calm down in the winter months. Here are a few ideas to get started 1. Use wall calendar to keep track of hive visits and activity. 2. The basic spiral notebook comes in different sizes and is good for writing information and journaling. 3. Use your phone to take a photo or video of anything you want to note during your hive inspection and then download them to your computer. 4. Take an apprentice with you to help keep notes of what is happening in your hives. 5. Join or create a chat room where you can exchange information about your hives and their conditions. 6. Finally, you can find on-line programs that keep track of inspection details, budgeting and honey harvesting. Remember it s not how you journal...it s that you journal.

3 Page 3 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS Northwest District Beekeepers Assn. July-August To-Do List for the Puget Sound Calendar vs Weather: It is important to keep in mind that decisions are more dependent on prevailing weather conditions than on specific calendar dates! Food stores: The Blackberry Nectar Flow is (or has) tailed off. During this time in the Puget Sound, the availability of adequate nectar/pollen resources falls dramatically, which is known as a dearth. Once surplus honey is removed from your colonies, it is very important to monitor the stores in each colony and feed as needed. Keep in mind that a colony typically reaches its greatest population size at this time (through the blackberry flow), and it therefore requires its greatest food supply. Hive Inspections: Following the Blackberry Nectar Flow, it is important to inspect the Hive. Among the important items to look for are: 1) Brood and Brood pattern, 2) are eggs, larvae and capped brood present? 3) are there any Queen Cells (Swarm, Supersedure, Emergency) present? 4) Are there any signs of pests or diseases? 5) Does the Hive still have empty comb on which to grow and store nectar and pollen? Honey Harvest: Once your Honey Supers are mostly filled and capped, it is time to Harvest the surplus Honey. As a general rule, a frame that is at least 80% capped and no liquid nectar droplets are released when one shakes the frame is ready for harvest. To reduce the propensity of robbing, consider removing honey supers in the early morning or evenings. Note: Avoid using frames from the Brood Nest in your honey supers so that frames that have been exposed to Miticides and other chemicals are not used to collect surplus honey. Ventilation: July and August can be among the hottest months in the Puget Sound. It is important to assure good ventilation through the hive to assist the colony s ability to maintain optimal conditions inside the hive. The following are a couple of symptoms where added ventilation is needed: one observes many bees fanning at the entrance, or a large portion of the colony bearding outside of the hive. Swarm Management: Check for Swarm Cells; are the brood nest and or honey supers getting crowded? Conventional understanding is that after the Blackberry flow, the propensity for the swarming instinct diminishes. The reality is that many colonies don t get this message!! Queen Bees: There is a growing number of Beekeepers who believe that re-queening each colony with Queens that were mated AFTER the Summer Solstice (June 21) helps to position the colony for greater chances of winter survival in the Puget Sound. Pests and Diseases: Investigate colonies for various possible pests and diseases. Among those with which beekeepers need to be familiar are: Varroa and Tracheal Mites; Nosema, AFB and EFB. Hive Treatment: Early August is an appropriate time to treat hives for Mites. Depending on your choice of Miticides, remove Honey Supers prior to treatment. Yellow Jackets: The best time to treat for Yellow Jackets begins in the Spring, but it does pay to have active traps out through summer and into fall. Larry Brainard, Northwest District Beekeepers Assoc. July, 2014

4 PAGE 4 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION Mark Your Calendars! July 12-Monthly Bee Meeting July 30-Annual Bee Picnic...we will bee needing volunteers August 9-Monthly Bee Meeting August 23 and 24-Fair Set-Up August 25 to September 5-Fair Dates...we will bee needing volunteers (this is a great opportunity for you to get volunteer hours and get practice talking about your passion.) September 13-Monthly meeting-sue Cobey October 1 and October 8-Apprentice Level Beekeeping Class 2017 Calendars: A Fund Raising Event! Help NWDBA create a calendar for 2017 by submitting original bee themed photos to helhil@msn.com. Profits from the sales of calendars will benefit our club, and we all benefit by having fabulous photos with monthly to-do lists for our wall NWBDA Board Members Mark Salser, President president@nwdba.org Mike Kossian, V-President vice_president@nwdba.org Lori McConnell, Secretary secretary@nwdba.org Mary Rider, Treasurer treasurer@nwdba.org Tim Ade, Board Member...mbesnohomish@yahoo.com Helen Crozier, Board Member Joe Canfield, Board Member We are always looking for ideas or articles to publish in the Beelines newsletter. Please us at mbesnohomish@yahoo.com with ideas or articles to be submitted. Please direct corrections or additions to Debbie Ade; Beelines Editor at mbesnohomish@yahoo.com Visit Us nwdba.org and Like us on Facebook!

5 NWDBA BEE CLUB PICNIC DATE: 7/30/2015 (Sat 11AM 5:30PM or beyond) Lunch will be from 11:30-1:30 PM, with the club supplying hamburgers, hot dogs, condiments, iced tea, lemonade, utensils, and plates. Each family is asked to bring a covered dish to serve 8 people. If other beverages are desired please bring them (alcoholic beverages are permitted). Also, if you want to bring something else to throw on the grill you are welcome to do that as well. Near the end of lunch we will have a bee club raffle with an amazing list of prizes to be won by those present. Prizes include an unassembled nuc kit, a smoker, veil jacket, hive tool, bee brush, 1 year subscription to American Bee Journal, a club tee shirt, 1 years membership in the club, and many more. From 1:30-3:00 PM we will have a hive side chat demonstrating how to go through a hive and what to look for. In the past this has been really useful for both new beekeepers and even those more experienced. From 3:00-5:30 PM we will have demonstrations/workshops on mead making, how to make whipped (creamed) honey, wax handling and candle making, how to mark queens, how to apply extra wax to plastic foundation, and making cosmetic products from the hive. We may also have a demonstration of how to make your own wax foundation. You are also welcome to check out the Polestar Apiary and look at how I have my traphives set up. I will have one traphive down where people can look at it and see how I typically set them up. People are welcome to hang out beyond 5:30PM. We will have a fire pit to gather around and socialize, and we are trying to encourage those who play instruments to bring them. If you are interested in this extended bee picnic idea please include that information in your or response to sign-up genius. Be aware that the farm is a working horse training facility, and parents will need to keep an eye on their kids to keep them safe. There will be horse activity going on with our regular clients people are welcome to watch riders but please be respectful of them and their horses. Also, be aware that the County is doing construction on the bridge that accesses our property so it is a bit of a mess. Ignore the road closed signs access to our farm is open! Finally, be aware that this is a club event limited to club members and their families yet another reason to join our wonderful and growing club! To help with organizing this event we will be sending out a sign-up genius so that you can indicate whether you are coming and how many family members you are bringing. Also, we need volunteers to help with organizing and running this event please don t be shy. me at president@nwdba.org. LOCATION: Polestar Farm at th ST NE, Lake Stevens, WA (for directions go to Phone: (910) WE NOW HAVE THE SIGNUP GENIUS LINK FOR THE PICNIC, SO IF YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CLUB PLEASE FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW AND LET US KNOW IF YOU PLAN ON COMING OR NOT (REMEMBER, THE PICNIC IS ONLY OPEN TO CLUB MEMBERS AND THEIR FAMILIES).