January 2018
Nelson County Beekeepers nelsconcountybeekeepers@gmail.com
What’s The Buzz
Volume 4, Issue 1
Meeting
January 18th @ 6:30 PM Steering Meeting @ 5:30 PM PROGRAM: Open Discussion – Programs – Schools - Fundraisers Officers President-Steve Hutchins Vice President-Ricky Humphrey Secretary-Bennie Hite Treasurer & Editor-Susan Zhunga Hospitality-Monthly Volunteer
POT LUCK – CHILI COOK-OFF Judging by membership Bring side dishes and desserts. .
Bring a friend who might be interested in keeping bees. All are welcome.
Newsletter Publisher– Georganne Collins
Robbie Smith County Extension Agent for Horticulture
Winter Weather Policy If Nelson County schools are closed then all meetings at the office are canceled.
Inside this issue: Beekeeping School
2
Minutes & Financial Report
3
New manager at Frankfort 4 How do bees handle cold weather?
5
Sale
6
Winter Feed Recipes
7
Page 2 Bee School
!!!!!!!! SCHOOLS IS IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND IT'S FREE TO ALL (not just members) DON'T FORGET !!!!! Feb. 17- Snow date Feb. 24, 2018: The Nelson Co. Beekeepers Association will host a FREE Beginner Beekeeping School. Saturday workshop/school at the Nelson Co. Extension office, 317 S. Third St., 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. EST. Focuses on everything beginner beekeepers need for the first year. Lunch is provided, and door prize winners will be drawn. Limited to the first 50 who register. Pre-registration deadline is Feb. 12. Pre-registration: Nelson Co. Extension office, (502) 348-9204. HERE IS A LIST OF THE CLASSES 8:00 Registration – Coffee, Juice, Donuts 8:30-8:55 Class 1 Equipment 9:00-9:25 Class 2 Assembly/Cost 9:30-9:55 Class 3 Installing Bees 10:00-10:25 Class 4 Feeding 10:30-10:55 Class 5 Inspection 11:00-11:25 Class 6 Moving Bee Hives 11:30-11:55 Class 7 Finding the Queen 12:00 - 12:55 LUNCH 1:00-1:25 Class 8 Reducing Swarming 1:30-1:55 Class 9 Extracting Honey 2:00-2:25 Class 10 Storing Equipment 2:30-3:30 Q&A
Page 3 Nelson County Beekeeping Meeting December 21st 2017 Steering Committee Meeting Attending: Gene Englert, Benny Hite, Ricky Humphrey, Steve Hutchins, Pat Swartz, Henry Wilkerson and Susan Zhunga. Discussed: The development of a school program for the new beekeepers which will take place late February, Saturday 17th with a snow day of Saturday 24th. Different classes were handed out to the experienced members to help educate the new bee keepers. Sutton's should do our bees again this year for $130 per nuc. Money for the nucs will be collected at our January meeting.
Beekeeper's Meeting: Steve Hutchins was welcomed in as new president for 2018. Bee school will be February 17th with a snow day of Saturday 24th. The Sutton's will be selling the spring nucs to the bee club again this spring for $130 per nuc. Wooden bee housing can be purchased from the Antlerridge Bee Company for some good prices. The chili cook-off will be in January at our next meeting. Angie Boblitt won the smoker for the door prize and there was 38 member in attendance. Thanks to Pat Swartz for fixing the Christmas ham and decorating the table.
Benny Joe Hite Secretary
Financial Statement As Of 01/01/18 Start Expense (Christmas) Income (Dues) Balance
Susan Zhunga Treasurer
2,448.20 236.96 168.00 $2,352.24
Page 4 New manager at Frankfort Dadant
ANDREW FOGG is the new manager of the Dadant beekeeping supply store in Frankfort, reopened after being closed for a few weeks. State Apiarist Dr. Tammy Potter welcomes Andrew to the Kentucky beekeeping community. (KDA Photo) Andrew will be joining the Nelson County Beekeeper's meeting slated for February 15th.
Andrew will be telling us what's new at Dadant and what new products they are carrying for sale. If you need anything from Dadant prior to the February meeting, Andrew has offered to bring your orders to the meeting to save you a trip to Frankfurt. He will also be bringing his truck with some extra supplies for an on-the-spot shopping.
Dadant will also be donating a complete hive beginner kit to us for the up coming “Beginners Beekeeper's� School. We will use the kit as a demo, and then the kit will be given away as a door prize. Thank you Andrew and Dadant..
Page 5 How do bees handle cold weather? They hunker down eat and protect the queen When confronted with the brutality of a polar vortex, honeybees are just like us. They head inside, hunker down, and eat. For the bees, that means gathering in a dense cluster inside of and around the exposed edges of their hive and eating the fruits of their labor. Honey, that miraculous amber liquid, is distilled inside the bodies of the bees themselves from flower nectar composed of complex sugars. By the time they finish with it, it has been rendered into the simplest of sugars, which bees, like people, can convert into a ready source of energy. Unlike many insects and mammals, bees don’t hibernate when it gets cold. In fact, they do the opposite. They exercise like mad whenever the mercury dips below about 50 degrees. Lacking heaters or the ability to make fire, all the exertion amounts to one of the simplest, most reliable furnaces in the natural world. When
the temperature drops, thousands of bees crowd inside their hive and begin working their flight muscles in a tight, clenching and unclenching routine. Just like a gym room with a packed aerobics class, so many moving bodies generate a great deal of heat. It also creates moving air currents inside the hive that serve to expel carbon dioxide and moisture.
But mainly, it keeps the queen warm. And it’s all powered by honey. According to the beekeepers at the West Mountain Apiary, bees begin exhibiting the clustering behavior when air temperatures drop into the 50s. The cluster forms around and in the hive. As temperatures drop lower, the cluster becomes tighter, and moves inside the hive.
Question: We are in the middle of winter and my hive just died off completely We have had some -6C nights here recently and the deaths almost appear to have happened in the last couple of days. What temperatures can they endure in a hive? We were late putting in their winter feed, could that be the reason? There is no sign of disease or other insects in the hive. Reply: Your bees seem to have died of hypothermia. They can't survive when their body temperatures are lowered to about 7 degrees C. Bees don't like getting cold. Their hives may have to be better insulated and protected by a heater in harsh winters. With a sufficient energy source from the food they have stored, bees can keep themselves warm by clustering and huddling even when the outside temperature drops to below zero degrees C.
Page 6 SALE SALE SALE BEEKEEPING ITEMS FOR SALE SWAP MEET – YARD SALE @ Every Meeting If any member has beekeeping items for sale, list them in the newsletter and/or bring them to the meeting. We can do some bartering after the regular meetings are over. Good time to save some money on necessary items. Be sure and bring items in good clean condition. Make sure they are priced and have your name. We will set up special tables for your items. Janet Brown - is selling NCB Hats and Visors for $10.00. The club gets $2.00 from each sale. Susan Zhunga & Mary Ellen Marquess – are selling “Sue B Healthy” which is the Bee Ladies formula for Honey Bee Healthy - $12.00 for an 1 lb jar. Mike Johnson – Will be make wooden ware to order. Boxes, frames and wax dipping. Contact Mike for information and pricing @ 502-249-2007. Larry Marks - is selling the Marks' Frames for $12.00 for a set of three frames. Comes with instructions. The Club - has NCB T - Shirts Prices are: $8.00 for children $10.00 for Adults and $12.00 for Adults 2x & 3x.
NUCS FOR SALE Gene will be organizing another purchase of Sutton's Nucs again this year. The price of these Nucs are $130.00. Ordering and money will be due at the January meeting. Pick up will be at the Nelson County Extension Office some time in April.
Page 7 Winter Feed Recipes: Courtesy of Kevin Hale Sugar/Protein Patties: • 3 cups protein powder (Brood Builder, Mega Bee or AP 23) • 9 cups sugar • Add enough 2:1 syrup to make consistence of peanut butter and form into patties on wax paper. Hard Sugar Blocks: • 1 pint water • 6 lb. sugar (12 cups) • 6 teaspoons HBH • Two 7”x7”x1.25” cake pans or two 9” pie pans (makes two 3 lb. pans) • Heat water to boil, add HBH, add sugar and mix, heat to 245 deg. mixing occasionally, remove from heat and let cool to 190 deg., stir quickly and pour into pans, let harden (don’t let it get to hard while
cooling or you can’t pour it) Hard Sugar/Protein Blocks: • 1 pint water • 6 lb. sugar (12 cups) • 3 cups protein powder • 6 teaspoons HBH • Two 7”x7”x1.25” cake pans or two 9” pie pans (makes two 3 lb. pans) • Heat water to boil, add HBH, add sugar and mix, heat to 245 deg. mixing occasionally, remove from heat add protein powder and mix in quickly. Once mixed, pour into pans, let harden.
The Cooperative Extension Service prohibits discrimination in its programs and employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex, religion, disability, or national origin. To file a complaint of discrimination, contact Jim Lawson, UK College of Agriculture, 859-2573879; Terry Allen or Patty Bender, UK Office of Institutional Equity and Equal Opportunity, 859-257-8927; or the USDA, Director Office of Civil Rights, Room 326W Whitten Bldg., 14th & Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 202509410 (202-720-5964)
$$$$$ MEMBERSHIP DUES $$$$$$$$ Don't forget!! you need to pay your 2018 membership dues. Either mail them to the NELSON COUNTY EXTENSION OFFICE, 317 South Third St., Bardstown, KY 40004 attn: Georganne Collins. Make check payable to the Nelson County Beekeepers, or I'll see you at the meeting. This will keep you active on our Facebook page and also on the mailing list for the newsletter. Dues are still $12.00 per household. These dues and other fund raisers help to pay for speakers, assist in pot luck, and beekeeping education for both our members and the public about the importance of beekeeping and buying LOCAL honey.
RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED
Bardstown KY 40004
317 S Third St
Nelson County
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