Beekeepers Buzz - March Edition

Page 1

Beekeepers Buzz Coming this month…

Volume 1, Issue 3

No members’ meeting the month of March due to Wooster trip.

Dana’s Corner: Starting Over this Spring

March 2011

By Dana Stahlman

April Events: COBA Board Mtg. 7:00 pm Rothenbuhler Bee Lab, Monday April 11, 2011 All members are invited to attend. COBA General Mtg. Franklin Park Conservatory, 1777 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH Wed., April 20, 2011 6:15 pm-Roundtable discussion 7:00 Meeting Inside this issue:

Getting Ready for Spring

2

Observation Hive Class

2

Community Edu- 2 cation

Many of you have had the chance to check your hives recently. I am getting reports of heavy losses from some beginning beekeepers who started hives with package bees last spring. Just keep in mind that you have quite an investment in your equipment and buying replacement bees makes a lot of sense. Even so, we are going to have to look at making some changes in our management practices. Fortunately, beekeepers who have re-queened with COBA queens are for the most part doing well. With the arrival of Africanized bees in Georgia – I am told that one shipper has been stopped from shipping packages because Africanized bees were found in some of their hives in Georgia – we need to be vigilant in watching for aggressive behavior in our honey bees. If you have a hive that seems very aggressive, you need to notify your supplier of the bees that you have a problem and report it to Barb Bloetscher with ODA. Last year COBA re-queened several nasty hives with very mean bees. This year a donation to COBA of $50.00 will be required. It is not much fun to requeen a hive of bees. The $50.00 will include a COBA marked queen. Contact Dana Stahlman if you desire to requeen such a hive. If you suspect any Africanized behavior in your package bees, it will be necessary to re-queen immediately. It may not be a bad idea to consider replacing all queens in packages or those purchased for spring splits from states with proven Africanized honey bees by mid summer.

First, you gain some advantage in breaking the brood cycle to combat Varroa mites (an IPM technique) and secondly, you get northern queens that have the genetic background to survive Ohio winters and not carry the aggressive behavior associated with Africanized honey bees. Queens will be available from COBA. If you are buying queens or packages, be sure to ask where the bees and queens are coming from! Our area has dealt with Varroa mites, tracheal mites, small hive beetles but none of these compare to an Africanized colony of bees. Ohio law requires the destruction of these bees if they are positively identified as Africanized. You will not be reimbursed if your bees need to be destroyed.

2010 ODA Apiary Report By Dan Wampler

Registration certificates issued: 3,871 Apiaries Registered: 6,000 Colonies Registered: 32,119 County Apiary inspectors: 52 Apiaries inspected: 3,356 Colonies inspected: 14,724 Colonies with American Foulbrood: 141 Colonies with European Foulbrood: 31 Colonies with Chalkbrood: 180 Colonies with Tracheal Mile: 129 Colonies with Varroa Mite: 3,332 Colonies with Small Hive Beetle: 252


COBA Officers President Dana Stahlman stahlmanapiaries@aol.com

Getting Ready for Spring Central Ohio Beek eepers Associat ion: http://ce ntralo hiobe ekeeper s.org/

By Joy Vorhees

Spring is just around the corner. This has been a long cold winter and thus has been a challenge to our bees. As soon as the temperatures are above 50oF, you should Vice President open your hives. If your bees are alive, you should determine whether your bees Terry Eddy facilitymanagementsupport@ have adequate honey stores. The queen should have started laying and thus the hive will have an increased need for energy and food sources but with no sources of new hotmail.com‎‎ honey.‎If‎they‎don’t‎have‎enough‎stores‎or‎you‎aren’t‎sure,‎then‎you‎need‎to‎feed.‎‎It‎ is best to place sugar patties directly on top of the brood frames. There is most likely Secretary going‎to‎be‎cold‎days‎yet‎this‎spring.‎The‎bees‎won’t‎leave‎the‎brood‎to‎get‎to‎the‎ Gail Walter gailwalter@columbus.rr.com sugar.‎So‎it’s‎best‎to‎place‎the‎sugar‎near‎the‎brood. Treasurer Barry Conrad barry@hiveandhoney.com One-Year Trustees Pat Chambers jimpat28@sbcglobal.net Mike Hatter mike.hatter@yahoo.com Joy Voorhees voorhees3@ameritech.net

If your hive is dead, take heart. Many experienced beekeepers lost hives this winter. This has been a very difficult and hard winter. All is not lost. You still have drawn comb and maybe some honey stores left. You should brush off the dead bees from the‎frames.‎‎Don’t‎worry‎about‎bees‎down‎in‎the‎cells.‎‎Move‎the‎hive‎into‎a‎building.‎‎ Then remove the inner cover and replace the telescoping cover so it closes the top of the hive. Tape closed or in some way close off the bottom board entrance. Be sure that‎there‎aren’t‎any‎mice‎residing‎inside‎the‎hive.‎By‎closing‎up‎the‎hive,‎you‎will‎prevent robbing. You should order replacement bees ASAP. There is a very high demand for package bees this spring due to the heavy winter losses.

Observation Hive Class be‎time‎for‎“hands‎on”‎after‎ the demonstration. So if you want to try your hand There will be a class ofat the observation hive, fered for those of you who you may want to bring your signed up to be speakers veil, etc. for COBA. The topic will be on how to fill and care Things to remember: We will be loaning our observafor an observation hive. Dana is going to present tion hive to you if you want to borrow it for a speaking this educational offering engagement. You are to on May 14 at the OSU bee yard at 1:00 pm. This use your own bees when you fill it. As with the other is the day of the COBA equipment you borrow, you Pancake Breakfast. If any of you are in town for will need to fill out a loan the breakfast, you will not form and return the hive in a timely fashion. have to drive here again for the class. Any questions, please conDana will have the obser- tact Pat Chambers or Dan Wampler. A reminder will vation hive and will use be sent out closer to the the COBA bees for the demonstration There will time of the class. By Pat Chambers and Dan Wampler

Two-Year Trustees Nina Bagley ninabagley@spcglobel.net John George jkgeorge1@roadrunner.com Dan Wampler poppawamp@hotmail.com

Community Education Forms for requesting a speaker are now on the web site. When completed, the forms will be forwarded to Dan or Pat, who will assign a speaker from those who have volunteered. We want to thank Dennis Lamb for his donations of a minihive and DVD player for use in presentations. Nina Bagley has put together power point presentations, and training posters have been purchased. The club also has a DVD describing bees. We look forward to our COBA members providing this important service in educating the community about bees.


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