CLEVELAND COUNTY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION June, 2014 Cleveland County, NC By: Steve Gibson, Program Director, Cleveland County Chapter, NCSBA Extension Agent, Agriculture (Retired) June Beekeeping Notes, Items for Fair, We Need Your Input!!! Volume 3, Issue 6 2014 Inside this issue: Fair Planning 1 Educational Note Pic President s Corner 2 Meeting Schedule 3 Meeting Announcement 4 It is never too early to plan for the fair and get ready. I have met the new director and he is very excited about us continuing the beekeeping cabin. This of course is our major outreach and many times I have pointed this out to folks who request we do something just for their group. One thing we have decided to do is to dedicate the cabin to our members who have passed away. Wesley Voigt and Eric Gant have agreed to take this on. The idea is to put small plaques on a beehive with some descriptive phrases about the person. Please if you have any ideas of how to describe the person in less than 8 words please send me or Annie an email. stephen_gibson@ncsu.edu or annie_thompson@ncsu.edu We will compile all the comments and come up with an appropriate description. Meeting Photos 5 Also we need pictures of the members who have passed away. I have a few pictures but not for all. If you have contact with the families of the deceased members and can get a photo please advise. The members I know of who have deceased are Huitt Reep, Erskine Ware, Kenneth Mayes, John Childress, Gene Walker, Jack Jones, Woffard Martin and W. L. (Ladley) Stell. Contact Us: NC Cooperative Extension Cleveland County Center 130 S. Post Road, Suite 1 Shelby, NC 28152 704-482-4365 phone 704-480-6484 fax cleveland.ces.ncsu.edu Greg Traywick County Extension Director greg_traywick@ncsu.edu https://sites.google.com/ site/nccba1 In addition to the artwork item Eric Gant s mother is donating (can t wait!) we are also raffling off a set of bee photos. I know several of you have taken pictures of bees so if you have some you are especially proud of please send to Annie or me. Please, I don t want to be the only one to send these in! Very likely a set of 4 photos with each of the 4 seasons represented will be the case. The hive with funds to purchase bees of course is the main raffle item so if you are in a position to ask a supplier for a hive please do so. Our Association has accomplished so much and all of us should be proud. I feel it all is represented at our cabin. I am so glad we have this opportunity. Please if you have any ideas and skills or items to share let us know.
Page 2 Cleveland County Beekeepers Association June Educational Note With the drier weather than we had last year we very likely will have a more drastic transition into a nectar dearth and a sharper decline in colony population. I hope this will not be the case but last year was an exception. In 2013 I don t feel we ever had a complete dearth like we usually do. The population of our colonies and production of brood never ceased last year in most of our colonies. I felt we had some issues with low brood due to frames being honey bound which is a rare problem. So if our population drops drastically in the next several weeks please monitor for varroa mites. We have had excellent results with our biopesticides which have either thymol or formic acid as the active ingredients. Some beekeepers report issues with formic acid. There is an excellent article on using the formic acid Miteaway Quick Strips TM in the link to scientific beekeeping on our website. This article details how lower rates can be used and reports on several experiments checking the effectiveness of using only one strip per treatment. Last year in Western NC varroa were not as big a problem in years past. Please monitor your colonies and treat only if needed. Last year I did this with sugar shakes on at least 30% of my colonies and elected not to treat. I had none at threshold. Of all the things a new beekeeper and for that matter an experienced one needs to learn how to do, I feel this is most important. We are not sure what is happening but it can be safely said that varroa are not as virulent as they once were in this area. But we can not let our guard down! You can also get a pretty good idea of mite infestation during regular colony inspections. Drone brood is typically very easy to find between hive bodies. Simply expose the drone grub and examine for mites. If they are very easy to find then you should consider treating Our dearth is a critical time for us and our bees. If a summer drought persists into early fall our nectar sources which normally sustain brood production will not provide enough nectar and beekeepers should feed. Let s try to avoid a repeat of the losses we suffered in the 2011/2012 winter. Many times we hear that beekeeping used to be much easier and less inputs were required. What has changed? In my opinion the loss of habitat for the late summer and fall nectar sources has made a drastic impact on beekeeping and there are fewer sites for apiaries that even have these sources nearby. Some of the urban sites in particular have essentially no nectar sources nearby this time of the year. Good luck and let s hope for the best. Beekeepers in Mizque Bolivia using the sugar shake method to quantify varroa mites. We were surprised that mite levels were as high as they were since the Africanized bees are thought to be less susceptible. Last year I got even less mites in my sugar shakes in NC. Please sample!!! Despite my good luck some other beekeepers have found very high levels.
Page 3 Cleveland County Beekeepers Association Varroa mites on bee larvae. President s Corner - June Summer is here! My Bees are staying busy, but at times I find them chilling on their front porch. Nectar flow is subsiding a little, gardens are in full bloom and farmers are tending to their crops hoping for rain. Great time had by all during at our field trip on 17 May Tim Orner 2014. Steve Gibson taught us about the queen castle and inspection techniques to avoid defensive behavior. Steve is batting.750 on the queen castle production. That s great Hall of Fame numbers! Thanks to Reggie Endsley for the lunch and refreshments. I am looking forward to our guest speaker this month, Bob Cabaniss - honey in general, granulation, taste, fermentation, etc and our Honey House tour. Hope to see everyone at the Foothills Farmers Market on June 28, 2014. The Association has a booth. We will have an observation hive and sell honey/related products. Remember we have plenty of opportunities for everyone to be involved- Demonstrations, Cabin project, Media projects, etc. If you get a chance, check out our Facebook page. It s a great way to share your photos, ask a question or answer a question from fellow CCBA beekeepers. Catch the Summer Breeezzzze! The Bees. Hives that haven t swarmed will be boiling with bees. The queen s rate of egg laying may drop a little bit his month. The Beekeeper. Inspect the hives weekly to make certain the hives are healthy and the queen is there doing her job. Supers full of poplar honey may be removed. If you want to, you may increase your hives by splitting strong colonies. There should be no need to add more honey supers this month. Keep watching for swarming which may still occur. This month the Sourwood blooms. But, if you want to get any Sourwood honey you and the girls need to pack-up and take a road trip to the mountains. If you get a chance, check out our Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/cleveland-county-beekeepers-association/712475552117193?ref=stream It s a great way to share your photos, ask a question or answer a question from fellow CCBA beekeepers.
Page 4 Cleveland County Beekeepers Association June 2014 Meeting Announcement This month s meeting will be held on Monday, June 23, 2014 @ 6:30 PM. The meeting will be held at: Extension Auditorium 130 South Post Road Shelby, NC 28152 Topics: Presentation on Honey, Review May Field Meeting, Honey House Tour/Orientation, Discussion on New Woodworking Area near Honey House. Hope to see everyone there! 2014 Meeting Schedule Presentation on Honey, Review May Field Meeting, Honey House Tour/Orientation, Discussion on New Woodworking Area near Honey House. Picture credit: Elizabeth Smith http://natureartjournal.blogspot.com
Pics from the May field meeting. Sick Board If you know of an Association member who is ill or has had surgery, please let us know. 704-482-4365
Cleveland Page 6 County Beekeepers Association NC Cooperative Extension Cleveland County Center 130 S. Post Road, Suite 1 Shelby, NC 28152 Interested Beekeeper 0000 Colony Street Waggle Dance, Nectar USA