Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association THE WAGGLE

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rainstorms to harvest spring honey at the Club apiary. To everyone s surprise, after a one-hour rain delay, punctuated with donuts from Ray s and bee talk, we took the honey without complications.

1 Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association July, 2011 Volume 3, Issue 7 THE WAGGLE President s Message Inside this issue: Meeting Preview The Bee King Recipes of the Month Free Newsletters Uncapping Options EMBA Calendar Varroa Mites Q & A Powder Sugar Roll 5 Articles and Pictures Sought for Newsletter A recent Saturday morning found about twenty-five intrepid Club members braving rainstorms to harvest spring honey at the Club apiary. To everyone s surprise, after a one-hour rain delay, punctuated with donuts from Ray s and bee talk, we took the honey without complications. So if anyone asks if Bee Go is effective in cloudy, cool weather, the answer is Yes, it was in 2011, but I wouldn t want to press our luck. Everyone seemed to enjoy the uncapping, extracting, and bottling at Maritz. The Club harvested around three hundred pounds from this first round. Thanks to Tim Hyde and Maritz, to Mike Godfrey, and to Jane at Isabees for the excellent preparations and use of their equipment. Most of all, thanks to everyone who contributed by attending and making it such a sweet day! We brought our fresh honey to the Pollinator Dinner at the St. Louis Zoo the following week. The Club was well represented at this annual celebration. The event was an evening of cocktails and dinner with the public and other pollinatororiented organizations, such as Gateway Greening and the Xerces Society, concluding with Ed Spivak s fascinating historical and cultural perspective on bees. EMBA members displayed bees and equipment, sold honey, and answered beekeeping questions. Thanks to everyone for coming, and to John Pashia, who organized the Club s efforts and bottled the Club honey. This month s excellent issue of American Bee Journal features Randy Oliver s Rules for Successful Beekeeping: Advice for Recreational Beekeepers. The article is a must for anyone serious about keeping bees, particularly novices who are considering allowing their colonies to die from varroa in the name of organic beekeeping. Oliver explains and echoes my view that it is not up to beginners to save the world by trying to keep bees without treatments. Everyone wants to be a treatment free beekeeper but you are not really keeping bees if they die each year! Beekeeping is enough of a challenge to learn without making it more difficult by allowing varroa to run rampant. The reality is that it serves no purpose whatsoever to allow colonies to unnecessarily die from varroa We are posting our advice for summer and early fall management on the website under Seasonal Management. I hope you will take a break after your spring labors, enjoy your honey, and consider what the bees need to get to winter strong and healthy. I will be away for a few weeks, but we have good meetings planned, the State Fair, and Extractaganza coming up in August! See you then. Bob

P a ge 2 www.easternmobeekeepers.com V olume 3, I s s u e 7 July Meeting Preview This month several new and old EMBA members will share their beekeeping experiences from this season.

2 P a ge 2 V olume 3, I s s u e 7 July Meeting Preview This month several new and old EMBA members will share their beekeeping experiences from this season. In addition, there will be an extraction demonstration and discussion of radial and tangential extractors. Information on the Missouri State Fair and preparation of items for entry into competition will be presented. See Home-Economics.php. And plans for the 3rd Annual Honey Extractaganza at Bob s Indian Creek Apiary will be discussed. I have always loved the idea of having my own bee hive and making my own honey. I know, you re thinking just another romantic notion of a dreamer right? But I m going to do it, and by the end of next summer I will be enjoying the fruits of my labor. There s not a lot of labor involved in beekeeping, but there is a fair amount of required research and knowledge. Here are a few fun facts to remember: Bees do not sting for no reason. (TIP: All you need to know to avoid getting stung by a bee is just let them go on their way. If they land on you or buzz your face, don t swat them. They will fly off as soon as they figure out you are not a flower.) Bees only live for six weeks. A single bee hive will produce four or more gallons of honey. Sweet! I hooked up with Grant Gillard, the president of the Missouri Beekeepers Association. This guy knows his bees and honey. He should he has over 150 hives and produces and sells a ton of honey. He claims it s a part-time job. After spending the day with Grant, I ve discovered that the most important thing about beekeeping is the beekeeper and proper training. 573: Tell us about you and your family: GG: I grew up in Albert Lea, Minnesota, and spent a lot of time on my grandfather s farm in Glenville, Minnesota. I attended Iowa State University in Ames and studied agriculture. I met my wife, Nancy, at Fuller Theological Seminary. We both graduated with Master s of Divinity degrees and were ordained in the Presbyterian Church. In 1993 we moved to Jackson, Missouri to be closer to our extended families. I ve written and self-published five books on beekeeping which I market to beekeepers. I currently run around 170 hives, but that number is expected to grow as we head into the summer. I raise my bees and produce my honey without chemicals. I breed my own queen honey bees from my locally adapted stock. I m a frequent speaker at conferences around the state and recently spoke at the The King Bee farmers markets, health food stores, grocery stores and from my driveway with an honor box. I had hoped my children would have found beekeeping as interesting as I do, but they developed other outlets. 573: Tell us why bees are so important to our world and our children: GG: I think the obvious reason is for pollination. The specialty crops, fruits and vegetables require some kind of insect pollination (not everything is done by honey bees), but a vast majority of our food is wind pollinated. What is often overlooked is the health benefits of honey. Consuming local honey is considered a good way to alleviate allergies without drugs. Two tablespoons of honey will help you sleep better at night. Honey will cure acid reflux. Honey s health benefits are antibacterial and will accelerate the healing of diabetic sores, bed sores, burns, etc. Replacing refined sugar with honey regulates a person s blood sugar, thus reducing the wild highs and lows. Honey is nature s wonder drug; it s just a whole lot better than refined sugar. 573: Tell us how you got into bees: GG: I had a rude awakening in college. What worked for me in high school didn t cut it in college, so I sat down with my advisor to find some easy electives to boost my grade point average. After rattling off several uninteresting class offerings, he mentioned Entomology 222, Beekeeping, but dismissed it just as quickly as this class attracted the granola crowd you know, the nuts and the flakes. I signed up anyway. Having an agricultural background, I thought it would be an interesting class and it was. I saw honey production as part of my greater vision for a small, sustainable, ecologically-friendly farm. Through my college years studying the empty promises of industrial agriculture and its dependency, even addiction, to chemical inputs, I wanted a more sustainable operation that integrated complimentary and collaborative enterprises and diversified the production to reduce the risks of the weather and the financial markets. I didn t want to the farm to become a monoculture, putting all my eggs in one basket. Then one summer, one of my church members had a swarm collect on their shrubs. They immediately called me. I assembled a box in my garage, raced to the scene and swiftly, and without incident, transferred the swarm to my make-shift bee hive all to the astonishment of the gathered crowd who kept asking me, How come you don t get stung? Capturing that swarm caught the eye of a neighbor who was a school teacher, which led to some programs in the schools, which led to more swarms, which led to people asking for honey, which led to and here I am today. And I m still the idealistic dreamer. July, Magazine

lemon peel 2 tsp ginger root, grated 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp rosemary crushed 1/2 tsp red chilies, crushed 1/2 tsp ground sage Preparation: Completely cover spareribs with water in a large pot

Place spareribs on rack in roasting pan. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake at 450 F. 15 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F.

3 V olume 3, I s s u e 7 P a ge 3 Recipe of the Month Honey Glazed Barbecued Spareribs Ingredients:: 4 lbs lean pork spareribs Water Salt and pepper 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup lemon juice 2 tsp grated lemon peel 2 tsp ginger root, grated 1 clove garlic, minced 1 tsp rosemary crushed 1/2 tsp red chilies, crushed 1/2 tsp ground sage Preparation: Completely cover spareribs with water in a large pot or deep skillet. Bring to boil, uncovered, over medium heat. Simmer 4 minutes. Drain liquid, reserving it for stock for later use., if desire. Season both sides of spareribs with salt and pepper. Place spareribs on rack in roasting pan. Cover loosely with aluminum foil. Bake at 450 F. 15 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients; mix well. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Brush spareribs with honey mixture. Bake 1 hour longer or until fully cooked, brushing with honey mixture every 15 minutes. For Barbecue: Boil spareribs as described above, over medium heat. Simmer 4 minutes and drain liquid. Season both sides of spareribs with salt and pepper. Place spareribs on barbecue grill over hot coals. Cook approximately 30 minutes per side. Brush meat generously with honey mixture twice during last 15 minutes of cooking time. Makes 4 to 6 servings. Free Monthly Beekeeping/Honey Newsletters Receive the excellent Kelley Bee News Modern Beekeeping each month by going to and select Newsletter Signup, (bottom right corner of page) and fill in appropriately. Back issues are also available on the website. Select Education at the top of the page, then Newletters. You may also signup to receive The Honey Feast, a newsletter from the National Honey Board. Each month you will receive a selection of delicious seasonal recipes. Go to and on the right side of the page select Subscribe under the newsletter signup and fill in appropriately. EMBA Librarian and Extractor Kit Coordinator Positions Filled Travis DeRousse has been named the new EMBA Librarian. His responsibilities will include safekeeping the club s library and bringing books, DVDs, and videotapes to the meeting when loan requests are received. John Stevens, who is lives in South County, has been named the new EMBA Extractor Kit Coordinator. He will be responsible for storing/lending the club s extractor. Uncapping Options This time of year there are questions about extractors and uncapping devices. Which is better? What size should I get? Etc. I can't answer those questions because there are too many personal decisions that you need to make. However, I can give you food for thought. Lets start with uncapping. There are a handful of tools to choose from. There is the uncapping fork, cold knife, hot knife, and sideliner uncapper. Most of you probably won't spring for the sideliner, so I'll focus on the others. In my opinion, the biggest bang for your buck is the cold knife. It's inexpensive and relatively fast; however, it can begin to stick while cutting if it is not kept clean. The hot knife keeps itself clean by melting the honey and wax off the knife. The fork is the least expensive option but also the slowest. Brushy Mtn Bee Farm July E-Flier

Warwick, RI, Eastern Apicultural Society Convention, For more information and to register http://www.easternapiculture.org/conferences/eas-2011.

4 P a ge 4 V olume 3, I s s u e 7 EMBA Calendar Wednesday, July 13th Beekeepers Meeting at Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center at 7:00 pm, the Bee-Happy Social starts at 6:15 pm July 25-29, 2011 Warwick, RI, Eastern Apicultural Society Convention, For more information and to register Friday, August 12th EMBA Club Day at the Missouri State Fair, Sedalia, MO Entries will need to be there by August 9th, judging is August 10th, and the Fair opens August 11th. Saturday, August 13th EMBA Extractaganza Clean Up and Prep at Bob s Indian Creek Honey House additional information will soon be available. Saturday, August 20th EMBA Extractaganza at Bob s Indian Creek Apiary additional information and registration will soon be available. Saturday, October 8th EMBA Fall Harvest Picnic at the Lions/Sugar Creek Ridge Pavilions, Kirkwood Park Varroa Mites Q & A By Peter de Bruyn Kops Dealing with Varroa is probably the most important challenge for beekeepers in the US these days. I believe more hobbyist and sideliner hives die from Varroa-related causes than all other causes combined. How do I know I have Varroa mites in my hives? I can assure you, you have them. They are lurking in there. But I have not seen any mites and the bees look fine. There are mites in there. They are in the capped brood and they are tucked in the creases on the underside of the bees abdomens. If you see mites on the backs of bees or walking around on the comb, that means the problem is very serious. How can I know how many mites are in my hives? You need to measure the mite levels. There are many methods out there. You need to pick one, practice it until you are good at it, and use it regularly. I recommend Marla Spivak s powdered sugar test because it uses food-grade ingredients and will not accidentally kill a queen. What mite levels are okay? Unfortunately, each year it seems to take fewer mites to cause serious harm. One mite per 100 bees is probably fine. At ten mites per 100 bees, serious trouble is just around the corner. If you can get your mite levels under one per 100 bees on August 31, your chance of winter survival will be much improved. I want to lower my mite levels. How do I do it? There are many methods, ranging from home remedies, to powdered sugar dusting, to soft chemicals and harder chemicals. No matter what method you use, you need to measure mite levels after treatment. This is the most valuable advice I can give. Verify success through measurement. Do not assume anything. What works for one person may not work for you, in your situation, with your extra-talented mites. What mite control methods would you recommend for hobbyists? I suggest you consider powered sugar dusting, drone brood removal or a Thymol product such as Apiguard. I did powered sugar dusting and saw lots of mites fall. How could that method fail to work? Murphy s Law seems to follow me like my shadow. I have noticed that foraging bees will learn the smell of powdered sugar and forage for it under screened bottom board hives. In the process, they probably pickup any mites that fall through and take them back to their hives. You need a way to securely capture the live mites that fall and dispose of them down the kitchen sink or in your freezer. Another thing to watch out for when using powdered sugar is the sugar needs to be very dry. I prefer brands that use an anti-caking agent and I keep it in a sealed container. I read about drone brood removal on the Internet. It sounds promising. How could it backfire? If you get busy with some other aspect of your life and do not pull the drone frame before the brood hatches, you have then magnified your Varroa problem significantly because Varroa population growth is much higher in drone brood than worker brood. Another thing to consider is what you do with the drone frame when you remove it. If you put it in your freezer for three days, I think you can be confident the Varroa is dead. If, instead, you just scrape the drone brood off, you need to carefully dispose of all the scrapings AND wash the frame before putting it back in the hive. Varroa like to hide in the food at the bottom of the brood cells and your scraping will likely miss them. It is also worth noting that flying bees are attracted to the smell of drone brood and those bees might pick up mites from any scrapings that you leave lying around. If I put a frame of brood in a different hive, should I worry about contaminating hives if I don t know if either hive has Varroa? You can be sure both hives have Varroa. I generally do not worry when moving frames of brood between hives, although occasionally it does cause problems. If you are measuring your mite levels regularly, you will know which hives have high mite levels. July 2011, Kelley Bee News Modern Beekeeping

5 V olume 3, I s s u e 7 P a ge 5

EASTERN MISSOURI BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION President: Bob Sears robt.sears@gmail.com Vice President: John Pashia johnfpashia@yahoo.com Treasurer: Loren Grossman lorenhgrossman@sbcglobal.

com TREASURER S REPORT As of May 24, 2011 Checking Account Balance: $19,280.33 Certificate of Deposit: $1,684.

" Find the EMBA Stl on and become a fan. Help spread the word about our club! Articles and Pictures Sought for The Waggle The Waggle Needs You!

6 EASTERN MISSOURI BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION President: Bob Sears Vice President: John Pashia Treasurer: Loren Grossman Secretary: Keith Pey Acting Editor: Yvonne Von Der Ahe Webmaster: TREASURER S REPORT As of May 24, 2011 Checking Account Balance: $19, Certificate of Deposit: $1, Mission Statement "To promote beekeeping generally; to broaden the knowledge of beekeeping among its members; and to foster the best practices and techniques in apiary management." Find the EMBA Stl on and become a fan. Help spread the word about our club! Articles and Pictures Sought for The Waggle The Waggle Needs You! Please short articles and/or pictures to info@easternmobeekeepers.com. The editor reserves the right to use or keep material for a later issue. We are always on the lookout for interesting facts, figures and stories about honey bees and the art/science of keeping them. If you would like to be published in The Waggle, send your article! The next meeting of the Eastern Missouri Beekeepers Association will be on July 13th at 7:00 pm in the Powder Valley Conservation Nature Center (11715 Cragwold Road, Kirkwood, MO 63122) Enter from side doors to the left. Founded in 1939

Honeybees Late Fall Check

Honeybees Late Fall Check Honeybees and Fall Care Caring for honeybees is a learning journey. We have been beekeepers for only eight months. My neighbor and I started a hive together this past spring.