The Norfolk Bee. Happy New Year. Norfolk County, Massachusetts Letter from the President Some thoughts about hives in winter:

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1 The Norfolk Bee Norfolk County, Massachusetts Volume 8, Issue 1 Jan-Feb 2009 Happy New Year Letter from the President Some thoughts about hives in winter: A snow/sleet/rain day is not a day to look in your hives for any reason. Why? You will get moisture or (worse: H2O) in the hive and on the bees. Wet bees die regardless of health, dry bees can tolerate cold, lack of food (but not no food) and mites. Keep your bees dry. While you're at the hive check the bottom board insert and that the Mouser Guard is firmly in place (2 map pins at least, I like 3). Fondant: If your hive is heavy (+50 pounds, which it may well be for a 1st year hive if the bees were lucky enough to store enough natural foods or 2:1 syrup before Dec 1st) you don't need to feed fondant, but if your hive is light (easy to lift 2" from the back or side - side is best, continued on pg. 7 IMPORTANT after snow: You must check to make sure the hive has an entrance that is not blocked by snow or ice. Your finger will work fine most of the time but for ice you might need a knife. You need to do this to allow: 1) bees to exit for waste cleaning flights; and 2) ventilation. The upper entrance seen in the photo is the inverted Inner Cover front vent hole. Above the inverted inner cover is a shim with a piece of homosote to absorb rising moisture and act as a barrier for cold from above. The outer cover (Howard's Bee Killers) sits on top of this MAKING SURE NOT TO BLOCK THE FRONT HOLES. In This Month's Newsletter The Hive Mind Page 2-3 Administrative Page Page 4 A Taste of Honey Page 5 NCBA Meeting Minutes Page 6-7 The Buzz Page 8

2 The Hive Mind How Hilary Berseth Makes His Buzzworthy Sculptures By Christopher Bonanos Published in New York Magazine Oct 12, 2008 ate degree in mathematics from Berkeley he s a minor beekeeping celebrity. The mysterious pinwheel shown here is, he says, the most refined result of his unpredictable process. But Berseth s breakthrough came from an earlier hive, where the bees built him a remarkable spiral. I was really happy with that one when I got it open. That was when I realized, Wow, you can sort of break the behavior that is, manipulate the bees instincts about proportion and form. You can plan out a certain amount of what s going to happen, and then that design will sort of ripple through, and then they ll begin to draw out combs and riff off that design. Does he suffer for his art? Yes. I have been stung a couple of times. And I swell up like a son of a bitch. Berseth starts with a form made of thin wax sheets, mimicking the spacing inside a natural hive. Artists from Rodin to Warhol to Mark Kostabi have outsourced the construction of their work. Hilary Berseth goes them one better: He constructs basic frameworks of wire and wax, then lets teams of tiny yellow-andblack art fabricators finish the job. I knew they were ordered and regimented, the Pennsylvania artist says about his honeybees, which built the three otherworldly sculptures on view at Eleven Rivington. I had an intuition that I d be able to organize that, architecturally. Berseth s armatures each go into a closed box in the spring, and then the respective colonies take over, filling out his templates with wax cells, then stuffing them with honey. The last two seasons, I ve been working with a beekeeper whose name is Jim Bobb, he says, explaining where he turns for expertise. He has a gradu- That form hangs inside a wooden case with a color-coded stripe; turns out bees can distinguish some hues. Berseth orders fresh colonies by mail each spring. Each has one queen and thousands of workers. 2

3 A peek inside reveals some extracurricular building atop the plywood template. The fi rst time he handled a crate of bees on his own was frightening! A good beekeeper is really fl uid at this. The assistants get to work. At the end of the summer, when wax production tapers off, it s time to display the fi nished sculpture. The fi nished sculpture. Story: NY Magazine - com/arts/art/features/51163 Photographs Courtesy of Hilary Berseth Midseason inspection. Color indicates how well the queen s laying eggs; a stinky smell means bees are dying. 3

4 Norfolk County Beekeepers Association Administrative Page The Norfolk County Beekeeper s Association (NCBA), is dedicated to apiculture education and promotion of the art and science of beekeeping among beekeepers, agriculture and the general public. This is a Non-profit organization, meeting the first Monday of every month, at 7:30 PM (second Monday if the first Monday is a holiday). The meetings are held at the Norfolk Agricultural High School (Media Center Cafeteria) in Walpole, MA. Meetings in June-August will be held at members bee yards as announced NCBA Officers President Ed Karle 169 Seekonk Street Norfolk, MA (508) ewkarle@yahoo.com Vice President / Treasurer Tony Lulek 35 Dalton Road Holliston, MA (508) tlulek@gallery223.com Recording Secretary Lesky Lescoe 174 Beach Street Foxboro, MA (508) lesky@comcast.net Corresponding Secretary Kate Notman 136 East Street Sharon, MA (781) kate@notman.com Bee School Director Howard Crawford 360 West Central Franklin, MA (508) Bee School Director Tim Sullivan 101 Sherman Road Dedham, MA (781) Fair Committee Chairperson Sue Ito starlightducks@yahoo.com Librarian Susan Osgood 8 Hoper Blvd. Bellingham, MA (508) susanm_osgood@hotmail.com Swap N Sell N Wanted Classifieds Here s a column where you can sell, swap, or give away just about anything. If you are a paid member, advertising is free for as many issues as you wish. If you are not a member, the cost is $8.00/ad/issue (so, it pays to become a member for just $15!) Raffle & Snack Tables We greatly appreciate all items brought in for the club raffle table. Please keep supporting this important club fundraiser. This month's door prize will be a surprise, but sure to be great! If we could have some extra help with treats for the meeting, it would be appreciated. Please contact Susan Simmons at susanhsims@hotmail.com if you can contribute. BEEKEEPING ITEMS For Sale From member Paul Simoes: 5 Frame NUCs for sale Minnesota Hygenic and Russian Queens. $80 PER NUC, available April 1st Delivered to Norfolk County Agricultural School or wherever convenient to you Also have other beekeeping items for sale at best prices around. Our website is currently under construction for 2009 updates but it will get updated ASAP as we confirm what items we will offer this year as well as this year's pricing. Sugar Andy Reseska has 80 lb. boxes of sugar for sale. Please contact him directly at: (508) dadant jr. extractor for sale Never used. Stainless steel hand powered. 2 frame capacity (9 1/8" deep maximum) per load. SS extracting basket and SS top assembly. Piano style continuously hinged lid. 1½" plastic honey gate included. Tank: 304 SS, 14" dia. x 23¼" tall, all MIG welded construction. Lists for $299, asking $200 or best offer. Pick up in Norfolk MA from Bob Ravinski (see info. below). (508) circadog@comcast.net NCBA 2009 Spring Meeting Schedule Monday Feb 2 Monday Mar 2 Monday April 6 4

5 A Taste of Honey For People - Game-Day Specials Sage and Honey Skillet Cornbread Makes 10 to 12 servings Herbed Cheese with Pears, Pinenuts, and Honey Serves 4 * 8 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese * 3 tablespoons pine nuts * 6 ounces fresh goat cheese, room temperature * 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped * 2 teaspoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped * 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest * 2 ripe but firm Bartlett pears * 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons flavorful honey 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place ricotta in a fine sieve set over a bowl; let excess liquid drain, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, spread nuts in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet. Toast in oven until lightly browned, tossing occasionally, about 7 minutes. Transfer to a plate; let cool. 2. In a food processor or medium bowl, mix together goat cheese and drained ricotta until creamy and thoroughly combined. Stir in thyme, parsley, and lemon zest; set aside. 3. Slice each pear into six wedges. Divide herbed cheese among four serving plates, spooning it into mounds. Arrange three pear wedges next to cheese on each plate. Sprinkle with nuts; drizzle about 2 teaspoons honey over each portion of cheese and pears. Serve immediately. from: * 1 cup cornmeal * 1 cup unbleached all purpose flour * 1 tablespoon baking powder * 1 teaspoon salt * 2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage plus 12 whole fresh sage leaves * 1 cup whole milk * 1/2 cup honey * 1 large egg * 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter Preheat oven to 400 F. Heat heavy 10-inch-diameter ovenproof skillet (preferably cast-iron) in oven 10 minutes. Whisk first 4 ingredients and 2 teaspoons chopped sage in large bowl to blend. Whisk milk, honey, and egg in medium bowl to blend. Remove skillet from oven; add 1/2 cup butter. Swirl until butter is melted. Pour all except 2 tablespoons butter into egg mixture. Add whole sage leaves to butter in skillet; toss to coat. Arrange leaves over bottom of skillet, spacing apart. Add egg mixture to cornmeal mixture; stir until just combined (do not overmix; batter will be wet and runny). Pour batter over sage leaves in skillet. Bake until browned around edges and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 22 minutes. Cool in skillet 10 minutes. Invert onto platter. If necessary, reposition sage leaves atop cornbread. from: 5

6 Minutes from the December 1, 2008 & January Meetings ~~ December 1, 2008 ~~ Meeting started at: 7:30 This was more a socializing meeting with refreshments provided by the club. There was coffee and cider as well as dips and pastries and the annual honey tasting with samples from Italy, China, Singapore, Australia, Arizona and many samples provided by members from their local hives. 63 members in attendance: cool night in the 40 s with lots of stars. Next Meeting: Jan 5 Board members present: Ed Karle, Tony Lulek, Tim Sullivan, Kate Notman, Sue Simmons, Howard Crawford, Lesky Lescoe. Door Prizes: None this month After refreshments Ed announced the winner of this year s second annual NCBA Hall Of Fame Award Howard Crawford. Congrats, Howard, and thanks for many years of help and support of the club. Raffle Items: Following Howard s very short acceptance speech was the drawing for one of the clubs two school hives. The winner was Patrice Benjamin. The second hive will be raffled at the January meeting. Guest speaker: Ken Warchol, the state bee inspector covering Worcester County and doing work in Norfolk County (as we don t have one yet) and others. Ken stressed that the state inspectors shouldn t be feared or intimidating; they are not out there to cause you grief but to help you and they can be a great resource for new bee keepers as they can point out weak hives, problems, swarm issues, mites, etc. and can offer suggestions. Ken welcomes invitations by bee keepers to come inspect and advise. He also mentioned in response to a question, that registering a hive is not required but helps the inspectors identify potential problems that can spread to other bee keepers. As an example he mentioned some cases of American Foul Brood found locally and how he tracked them to the source. Other questions led to discussions about the recent trend of late swarming, mites, viruses, disease and pesticides and an overview of Worcester's 5 year plan to inoculate the trees from the Japanese Longhorn Beetle. Ken also talked about other things he has run into such as having a shotgun fired (into the air) by a bee keeper who saw a stranger in his apiary. The state inspectors are allowed by law to enter property to inspect any hives, whether registered or not. If you would like to register your hives or contact Ken do so through Ed or Tony. Meeting ended at 8:55. Meeting started at: 7:42 ~~ December 1, 2008 ~~ 52 members in attendance: It was a cold and cloudy night. Next Meeting: Feb 2 Board members present: Ed Karle, Tony Lulek, Kate Notman, Sue Simmons, Lesky Lescoe. Door Prizes: Postponed until next month. Raffle Items: Buckets, Bee CDROM case, books, a bee hive bowl set, boxes for cut comb, stainless tea kettle and bottles of honey. Refreshments: Donuts, pound cake, chocolate cookies. The meeting portion of the night was very short as we had two guest speakers. 1. Kate started off the meeting by introducing the guest speakers Ramona & Dean Stiglitz who talked about microorganisms in the hive and bees, and their importance. They also talked about chemical free bee keeping. 6

7 2. Last year s second school hive was raffled off with Tony Lulek being the winner. 3. Bee school starts Feb 3 anyone who would like to help in any way is welcome please contact Tim. Meeting ended at 9:34. continued from pg. 1 as it gives you less leverage advantage and more real feel) then you should be feeding fondant now. Once you start feeding fondant you will need to continue until you start feeding 1:1 syrup in April. The consumption rate for a strong hive light on stores can be 1 6" plate per week. (lots of bees) this works well. To add more fondant simply slide a new piece along the rack SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY, pushing bees out of the way. Fondant with a paper plate bottom: This is tougher to see how the fondant is being consumed because you have to lift the plate up SLOWLY AND CAREFULLY to see what's left and the bees can be annoyed by that. If the paper plate is a cheap one (mine are) they will absorb the hot fondant as it cools and the bees will tear the plates apart to get to the sugar if they run out of fondant, that will be seen from above. The plate works well to trap rising cluster heat to warm the fondant so the bees can eat it, this can save a weaker hive that will generate less heat. Howard only uses fondant on plates but many use fondant without plates. In order to eat fondant the bees must warm it to a consistency of hard fudge so they will move the cluster under the fondant to do this. When you add fondant, don't stack it. To make sure your batch of fondant comes out consistent and bee-right you should stir it well and vigorously as it cools from 242 degrees after about 8-10 minutes while it is still clear and again when it gets a bit cloudy, which is just before it gets real cloudy and ready to ladle out ( degrees). This will make sure the cooling is uniform and the plates all look the same when cool. I place the fondant on a simple rack that sits on top of the upper brood chamber frame top bars. The inverted inner cover sits on top of the shim. There is enough room below, next to an above the fondant for the bees to get around and air to circulate. A hive check peak in winter should take about 1 minute, that's all. You want it to be quick to disturb the bees as little as possible or not at all by the temperature change and light entering. When you lift the inner cover to peek inside make sure the inner cover doesn't shift, it just lifts, or you may drop bees on the ground where they will die. Adding pieces of fondant that isn't attached to a paper plate: This works well for seeing on quick checks how much of the fondant is left. For strong hives Bee behavior in cold: As seen in these and other photos the bees are not flying in the cold. They can if threatened but they do not want to use their wings, which are decoupled from the muscles that move them when bees cluster. These muscles shiver to generate warmth in the cluster. They can't shiver if the wings are attached. They also know if they fly they may freeze up and drop to the ground. In the winter the bees will seem to be calmer and more tolerant of beekeeper inspections because they don't fly and aren't defending but that should not lead you to think they like/love you and won't sting. They will attack so keep wearing your veil, though maybe not your gloves (I don't) to better and more quickly handle the opening and closing of the hive. Ed 7

8 The Buzz - NCBA 2008 Hall of Fame Award Winner: HOWARD CRAWFORD Holiday Party, December, 2008 Howard Crawford, a longtime member of the NCBA and an inspiration to all of our members was chosen as the 2008 inductee into the NCBA Beekeeping Hall of Fame. The award recognizes depth of beekeeping knowledge, willingness to share that knowledge with other beekeepers and years of service to the club. The award was presented by Tim Sullivan who was one of Howard's many students and is now the director of our Bee School program. Club members at our annual December honey tasting Ken Warchol, Worcester County bee inspector, addresses club members at our December meeting From: Kate Notman 136 East St. Sharon, MA TO: 8