The Norfolk Bee. Due to the lack of good nectar-producing conditions. Harvest Season. Norfolk County, Massachusetts

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1 The Norfolk Bee Norfolk County, Massachusetts Volume 7, Issue 6 September 2008 Harvest Season Letter from the President September is one of the most important months in hive management. This is the month when we end the honey harvest season and prepare for winter. Whatever our hives were gracious enough to put in the honey supers for collection by us for the season is now done and over and we need to remove the honey supers and force and help the bees to use the two brood boxes as completely as possible to survive the winter. With some good weather (a warm and dry fall to keep flowers in bloom), a healthy hive (treated for mites and nosema) and a strong queen laying brood where and when she can with lots of workers to care for the brood, the outlook for winter survival is very good. From now until the first snow we need to check hive weight regularly and feed 2:1 syrup or your own honey you can give back to the hive as they take it to help your hive(s) the only way we can. At the next few meetings we ll discuss other winter preparations and plans. Ed From the Editor Due to the lack of good nectar-producing conditions this year, good winter preparation is more critical than ever. I've taken the notes from the September meeting and have made them the main Newsletter focus. I've also done a little "around the world" review of international beekeeping styles - hope you like it! As always, if there's anything particular you'd like to see in the Newsletter, or if you want to write something for it, or if you've got good phtoos of your bees or your setup, please - send them along! Kate Fall Hive Prep These are notes from the September meeting. They are reprinted here (and not in the meeting minutes section) for your ease of reference. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Preparation for Winter Hive Placement: Plan for winter sun 3 hours/day is recommended. The more sun the better in winter but hives should get at least 3 hours of solid (not dappled or broken) sun each un-cloudy day to allow the hive to warm enough by solar power to let the bees move their cluster. Move hives before winter if you will get better sun. If you are going to move the hives do it NOW so the foragers can find new sources of food. Extracting: We now have four extractors for club use please contact Tony or Ed to borrow one. (continued on pg. 2) In This Month's Newsletter Fall Hive Prep Page 1-2 & 7 Beekeeping Around the World Page 3 Administrative Page Page 4 A Taste of Honey Page 5 NCBA Meeting Minutes Page 6-7 Honey Labeling Page 7 The Buzz Page 8

2 Extracting (continued): Warming the honey frames prior to extracting can make the extraction process easier. You need the supers to be warm (+70 F but higher is better) for the honey to properly be extracted. Don t wait until November to do this or you will leave a lot of honey behind in the comb. Putting a good desk lamp or concentrated shop light on top of and beaming down on the frames will help raise the temperature of the comb and honey and make it easier to upcap and extract. Cleaning honey supers after extracting: let the bees clean the frames after extracting. Either: a) put the frames back in a honey super mounted on top of the inner cover with the inner cover middle hole sealed with duct tape or a thin wood strip, then put the outer cover on top, or, b) put the frames in a super about 100 away from the hive(s) on a sunny day. Option A takes about a week and option B about a day with lots of bees flying everywhere. Bees are more defensive in the fall when the hive has its own plans for that honey you are trying to harvest. Beware of robbing situations when you are removing frames with honey or are putting back wet frames for the bees to clean. Fall Feeding: You should start pulling the honey supers about now or by the end of the month and feed 2:1 syrup until the snow flies. Start feeding by the beginning of October or sooner if your hives are light. A two-deep hive should have roughly 60 lbs. of honey to make it through an average winter. If your hives are very light, start feeding now. 2:1 Syrup Recipe: 1. Bring 2 Quarts of water to a boil in a 2 gallon pot. 2. Once it boils, take the pot off the burner and add 10 pounds of sugar. 3. Stir constantly until the sugar is completely dissolved. (If you have crystals floating around the mix, they will crystallize on the bottom of the pot and dilute the syrup. Sugar crystals suspended in the syrup almost guarantee that the feeder will also crystallize at the feed opening, nail holes or screen, and you won t be able to see this to correct it and the bees will be blocked from getting syrup.) Some members advise adding Fumagilin-B to the first 2:1 feeding in the fall. If using Fumagilin-B, do not mix honey with the syrup. Medicated syrup: Add Fumagilin-B antibiotic to the first gallon of syrup to protect against Nosema and the much worse Nosema cerana (which many countries in Europe have seen devastate colonies). Either Nosema can quickly weaken or decimate a hive and in the winter when the bees are clustered, the impact of Nosema is faster. Winter Feeding: When feeding candy in the winter do not put it on until the cluster has moved into the upper hive body. Doing so may cause them to leave the lower hive body too early. You want them to use their natural resources first. Pests Checking, Forced Removal, Treatments: Wax Moth Remove moths, worms and cocoons when inspecting. Your best defense is a healthy hive. Small Hive Beetle Crush or remove the beetles and worms when inspecting. Again, your best defense is a healthy hive. Varroa Mites Check your bottom board inserts (after a light spray of cooking oil) over 2 or three days and determine a daily drop. A count of more than 10 mites in September should be treated. See last month s newsletter for the Powder Sugar Treatment (PST). Use the PST weekly until the count is below 10. If you use a Formic Acid Treatment (accepted by natural and organic beekeeping groups because formic acid is found naturally in comb and honey) follow the manufacturer s instructions for safe handling, time of application and sealing the hive. Trachea mites Most Formic Acid Treatments also treat for tracheal mites so this is a 2 for 1 option. If you don t use a formic acid treatment for mites then (continued on pg. 7) 2

3 Beekeeping Around the World All over the world beekeepers keep their bees in different kinds of housing. Many have not changed for generations, maybe even centuries. Here are some photos many different styles of hives - some will seem somewhat familiar and some will be completely unique! Look for more in the future... Europe Croyden, England Berlin, Germany - bee apartment block Sweden Africa Albania Ukraine - traditional Italy Nairobi Rwanda - log hive Burundi - log hive 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 Position is open. 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. FAIR COMMITTEE CHAIR NEEDED Our club is looking has 3 open seats on the Board, including the chair of the Fair Committee. We have several members eager to be on the Committee, we just need a Chair. If you are interested in any of these positions, please speak to Tony or Ed at the next meeting. Sugar Andy Reseska has 80 lb. boxes of sugar for sale. Please contact him directly at: (508) WAX MELTER For Sale A friend of NCBA clubmember Druh Kolyr is selling a stainless steel double boiler wax melter. Originally bought in 2000 from Walter T Kelley at a cost of $750, it is 2500 watt, but the element needs to be replaced. Asking $500 or best offer. Pick up in Whitinsville. Contact Druh at: druh.kolyr@gmail.com.

5 A Taste of Honey For People Apples Over Honey-Caramel Pastry Ingredients Apple mixture: 4 Granny Smith big apples, peeled and cored 1/4 cup honey 2 Tbsp brown sugar 1/4 cup orange juice 1 tsp ground ginger 2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg 1/4 tsp cloves Celebrating the New Year Sundown September 29 marks the beginning of Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year - one of the most important holidays in the Jewish calendar. Symbolizing the hope for a "sweet year" ahead, honey is an important part of the traditional Rosh Hashanah menu. Here's a delicious desert appropriate for Rosh Hashanah - or any fall occasion (or no occaision at all - who needs an excuse?)! Try it and remember to wish your Jewish friends "Happy New Year" from the 29th through October 1st. Some notes and tips about this dessert: * Apples tend to change their color and get darker almost as soon as you peel them, so make sure you peel just before mixing. Alternately, you can put them in a bowl with 2 Tbsp of lemon juice, stir well, and it will keep them from changing their color. * When using apples in baked desserts, use firm tart apples such as Granny Smiths. Their tartness blends wonderfully in sweet desserts (sweeter apples can cause your dessert to turn out too sweet), and also they keep their shape very well during baking, and don t get all mooshy. * When preparing this dessert in a 9" pan, it won t slice that well, and its sliced look will be more "rustic". If you re looking for the more elegant look, you can prepare it in individual ramekins (as photographed). Dough mixture: 3/4 cup canola oil 3/4 cup sugar 1 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder pinch of salt 1 tsp Vanilla 1 large egg Directions: 1. Thinly slice the apples. 2. Preheat oven to 350F 3. Place apples, honey, brown sugar, orange juice and spices in a bowl, and mix until blended. 4. In a separate bowl mix all the other ingredients, until a dough is formed. 5. Grease the pan. If you re using a springform pan, wrap its bottom with a piece of aluminium foil, since the apple mixture is quite liquid, so it doesn t drip in the oven or on the floor. 6. Place the apple mixture in the pan and distribute evenly (add also all the liquids). Place the dough on top of the apples and make sure it s arranged evenly - you can help it using your hands or a tablespoon. 7. Bake for 45 mins, or until the top is nicely browned. 8. Store it tightly wrapped at room temperature or in the fridge 9. It s great by itself or with a side with a side of vanilla ice cream From 5

6 Minutes from the September 8, 2008 Meeting Meeting started at 7:40, 54 members attended. This meeting started the new fiscal year. Next Meeting: Monday, October 6, Board members present: Ed Karle, Tony Lulek, Sue Osgood, Sue Simmons, Lesky Lescoe. Door Prizes A collection of health and beauty products donated by Robin Lampertti and Chis Poulin. Raffle Held at 8:30. Items included: bottles of wine, winter hive wrap (insulation), Styrofoam boards for making a honey super heater (used on cool days before extracting), bags of smoker chips, home made soap, wrapping paper & table cloth with honeybee design, bee brush, tools and other assorted items. Refreshments Bee Hive cakes (really good), cookies, other cakes. Please keep the contributions coming. During the meeting we discussed 1. Finance: Annual Membership Dues for are due. $15 (single or family) 2. If you have library books out that you are finished with please get them back to Sue so that others may check them out. Sue has a new video from out package supplier about how packages are put together. 3. Bee School: School directors would like to have input from last years grads as to what should be added, changed or addressed what did you find you needed to know that was not covered? It is not too early to start thinking about Bee School; Howard already has 10 signups. The dates have not been set yet. 4. If you are not getting club (Mail from Tony or Ed, newsletters from Kate, etc.) let Tony know (tlulek@gallery223.com) as he keeps the master list. Sue mentioned that the web site may have non-functioning contact links. Tony will check. Also, if you have changed ISPs or do not use certain addresses let Tony know; some ISPs (e.g. AOL) do not notify senders if addresses are invalid or inactive so the club may be sending your mail to an inactive account and not know. can t be sent to notify you of this if your mail doesn t work. 5. The club has six board members and three open seats. Current board members are filling multiple positions (Tony is VP & Treasurer). Board would like anyone interested in filling the VP position, heading the fair committee, or being a director (attend board meetings, voice an opinion on how the club should be run, help make decisions, etc.) to submit their name. Please contact Tony. 6. Worcester County Bee Keepers meeting on Oct 4 will have a guest speaker addressing CCD issues. 8:00: break - Raffle held during break The club tee shirts are in and each member is allowed to buy one for $5. Actual cost to for club was $6 so the club is paying the $1 difference. If you were not at the meeting and want one contact Tony. (Side note from last year: Each member is entitled to a plastic name tag at no cost. If you didn t get one contact Tony.) Dues, held at $15/family, were collected along with monies for tee shirts. 8:40 Open discussions included the 4 club extractors available for members to borrow; contact Ed or Tony. The club web site has a forum which can be used by members to post questions (better than a 1-on-1 as you get various opinions and others can benefit from your questions and the answers), find others in their local area, exchange ideas, etc. There is now a search capability to find earlier threads on some topic. It is easy to use. Click "Message Forum" on our web site, the password is ncba. The behavior of the bees this year was discussed. It seems the girls are behaving very strangely - e.g. weak hives, side by side hives may show one strong and the other weak, low honey yields, spotty brood patterns, not capping honey cells, etc. Be aware the girls are more protective of their honey and aggressive this time of year. Be sure to suit up well and use your smoker if you are going to inspect or extract. Have your Benadryl 6

7 available. Some members prefer this over Claritin. Ed has tried the penny trick a couple of times. It has to be a copper penny, not one of the newer clad pennies. He says it works. Preparation for winter: Plan for winter sun 3 hours/day is recommended. Don t wait until November to extract, it needs to be warm for best flow. Use of heaters was discussed. When feeding candy in the winter do not put it on until the cluster has moved into the upper hive body. Doing so may cause them to leave the lower hive body too early. You want them to use their natural resources first. Feeding: You should start pulling the honey supers about now or by the end of the month and feed 2:1 syrup until the snow flies. Some members advise Fumagilin-B for the first 2:1 feeding in the fall. If using Fumagilin-B do not mix honey with the syrup. Other discussions included various pests, chemical treatments and dusting. If you do sugar dusting be sure to catch the sugar that falls through. If you leave it on the ground you may attract hive beetles. You don t want sandy ground under the hive, that s where they breed. You want leaves, etc. Meeting ended at 9:25. (continued from pg. 2) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ you must use a Crisco Patty added to the hive in early December. The recipe will be shared at the November meeting but it can also be found in Jan and Feb 2008 newsletters. Adding a Crisco Patty when SHB are still active is bad since SHB love sugar and lard. Disease Nosema See 2:1 syrup notes above. Other discussions included various pests, chemical treatments and dusting. If you do sugar dusting be sure to catch the sugar that falls through. If you leave it on the ground you may attract hive beetles. (You don t want sandy ground under the hive, that s where they breed. You want leaves, etc.) Honey Labeling by Ed Karle I ve received queries about how our honey products must be labels for selling to the public. This is very important for all beekeepers and our customers. The Massachusetts and Federal Food Labeling Regulations require the following minimum information on every food label: - Common or usual name of the product. - All ingredients listed in descending order of predominance by weight, and a complete listing of sub-ingredients. Example of a sub-ingredient: Flour (bleached wheat flour, malt barley, flour, niacin, iron, potassium thiamine, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin). (Stick with straight honey and you ll make your labeling easier) - Net weight of product in the container. Dual declaration of net weight, if product weighs one pound or more. Example: 1 pound [16 oz.] - Keep refrigerated or Keep frozen (if product is perishable). For honey state Do not give honey to children under 1 year of age. - All perishable or semi-perishable foods require open-dating and recommended storage conditions printed, stamped, or embossed on the retail package. - Once an open-date has been placed on a product, the date may not be altered. - Name and address of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor. (That s YOU) If the company is not listed in the current edition of the local telephone book under the name printed on the label, the street address must also be included on the label. - Nutrition labeling. (Not necessary for the quantity that most hobby beekeepers sell to the public. Honey or type of honey ( raw, cut comb, etc. is enough in small quantities.)) - If a food product has a standard of identity, the food must meet the standard in order to be offered for sale under that product name. For more information, see: docs/dph/environmental/ foodsafety/ food_label_brochure.pdf 7

8 The Buzz Various Beekeeper Organization Meeting notices: Worcester County October 4th, 9am to 4pm. Knights of Columbus Hall in Leicester, MA The program is FREE TO ALL and a catered lunch will be available for a cost of $10 but you must reserve lunch in advance. Dr Jeffrey Pettis, head of the USDA Maryland Honeybee Research lab, will present the latest findings on Colony Collapse Disorder. He is working on the cutting edge of CCD research. Dr Pettis is a speaker who is in high demand and we are very fortunate to have him talk to our club. NH State Beekeeper s Fall Meeting October 18, 8:30 AM-2:30 PM The Yard Seafood & Steakhouse, Manchester NH Guest speaker Randy Oliver, master beekeeper and frequent contributor to the American Bee Journal. $20 per member includes meal and speaker. Mass Bee Association Fall Meeting October 25th - Free admission for the full day program Middleboro, MA, Elks Lodge 24 High Street in Middleboro Special speakers: 1) Mike Palmer from VT maximizing honey production. Mike knows this topic well as his apiary produces on average over 60 tons of honey a year. 2) Dana Stahlman, master beekeeper, mentor and teacher of beekeepers will present about Queen Bee management. We expect vendors to be selling equipment and there is always silent raffle and door prizes. Watch the MBA web site for more details. Bees on an onion flower Howard with supers from his friend Joe's hives From: Kate Notman 136 East St. Sharon, MA TO: 8