buzzwords http://www.barnstablebeekeepers.org January 2018 Upcoming Meetings Tuesday, January 9 th, 7:30 pm at the West Barnstable Community Building on Route 149. Happy New Year to our 400+ members! In this deep cold, spring is definitely on all our minds! This meeting Miguel Zamora will look ahead to package ordering and sourcing Russian bees. Joe McClure will talk about making splits and setting up a Swarm Club among the members to trade brood and frames so we can propagate bees even with our members who only maintain a single hive! Further, Melissa will talk about genetic diversity in honey bees. All of these subjects are with an eye toward supporting club members as they use the bees own natural enhancements to grow hearty Cape-friendly bees! SWEETS AND TREATS ALWAYS WELCOME FOR NIBBLING. Bee School Thursday, January 4, 7:30 pm at the West Barnstable Community Building on Route 149. Registration is full again this year. Anyone still interested in a class can take the one at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. We are keeping a keen eye on the weather. Claire will keep everyone in the loop as the time comes closer. Please keep an eye on your email! From the Board The same way we start to prepare for winter in July, we start to plan for spring in, well, NOW!
So, you may have already ordered your new woodenware and started building those new frames because the old ones have been culled and the wax collected for the candles and lip balm you needed for the winter. Now, you re putting in new foundation and thinking about how the bees are going to build on it and the queen will lay perfectly in those cells. The Problem The sudden realization dawns on you that we ve not been north of 15 degrees for almost two weeks. There is honey and pollen in the hive(s) outside. You have guarded against excess moisture. Perhaps you wrapped your hive in tar paper or insulation. You performed integrated pest management to minimize the parasitization of the cluster. There is a good number of bees buzzing to keep warm with full bellies. For every hive that is good, there s another that is not flush. You re going to wind up with a stack of cold boxes come spring. I know that cuts and rubs salt into it, but these are still insects. Bugs don t like winter. This is part of the natural cycle. What Is to Bee Done The good news is, we can rebuild it. Bees have the technology! Here are the ingredients for the magic potion. Warm and dry days in late May or early June when the temperature is regularly above 60 degrees 1 nuc box o The club may have ones for sale, or perhaps you can borrow one from another beekeeper. 2 frames of pollen and honey 2 frames of brood and nurse bees 1 frame of the newest eggs Easy peasy. However, you have choices to make. The first option is simplest. You can let the bees choose an egg and raise a queen of their own. There are arguments against this since the hive will not have created a proper queen cell in which to place an egg. The resulting queen will be smaller, and therefore, less productive over her lifetime. You may just wait until you see swarm or supercedure cells within your hive. Though, there is a danger because it may mean your hive has decided to swarm, and it will continue down that path regardless. Timing is everything when you re only looking at 16 days from egg production to emergence. You should be looking at your hives weekly during the spring when the weather is warm enough, and you will be able to catch when the queen lays in them. That is the time to move that frame and other support frames to their new home.
Club queens are a good choice for providing a queen to your new split as it will save you this two weeks. You are giving up the genetic characteristics of the mother hive, however. If you had that very strong hive last year, and you want to propagate those characteristics, you need to let the bees do what they did before we started mucking up the works. Ordering a queen online will get you a fertilized queen for immediate laying. You ll ramp up faster, but again you lose the hive genetics. You also lose the local genetics provided by local drones. If you would like to learn about adventures in swarm keeping and how BCBA members can take part, come to the January Meeting! Joe McClure WINTER FEEDING Nothing more difficult to accept than to find that your healthy fall clusterhas starved to death. This current arctic cold will not kill your hive but if the bees do not have access to food, it just might happen. The cluster, unfortunately, will not break apart and move a frame over to find honey or stores in this frigid temperature. This is where the mountain camp sugar sheets work nicely as the cluster has food right overhead. Sugar bricks also work well as you can move them around closer to the cluster. 4 pounds of sugar and exactly 12 tablespoons of water mixed well to wet the sugar, let it sit for ½ to one hour. Then pack well into oil lined sandwich containers to dry. Tip out in 24 hours to continue to dry and harden. Mine are made with adding 2 teaspoonfuls of Honey Bee Healthy in place of some water. Come late January, if the hive has a sufficient work force and food available, your queen will begin laying a small amount of eggs. At this point, stores will be essential. Here is a recipe from a recent journal but missing is the paper trail for credits. It is called the Crabby Patty for Winter Feeding. 4.5 lbs of sugar 0.5 lbs of pollen substitue powder 8 to 9 ounces of water 1 to 2 Tbsp of white vinegar 1 to 2 tbsp Honey B Healthy Mix all in a gallon ziploc bag. It will be a thick paste. Slice the bag with 1 x 3 openings and place the bag open side down on the top bars near the cluster. This is a low protein diet good for the bees to feed that new larva and when cleansing flights are not often available. As the weather warms and more cleansing flights are made, one can switch to the Bee Pro or Ultra Pro patties. Claire Desilets
Buy, Sell, Trade For Sale- Best Offer! MANN LAKE PRO WINTER PATTIES 10# (paid $19.95 plus shipping) and ULTRA BEE POLLEN PATTIES 10# - 18% protein (paid $34.95 plus...). One of the PRO WINTER PATTIES has been removed. Other box is full. Both purchased this autumn. Please message me at clobridge@comcast.net. Thanks! Kathy Clobridge Beekeepers Ball 2018 We re looking for a new venue to host the Beekeepers Ball this September. The Cultural Center of Cape Cod is booked every Saturday in September (National Honey Month), and we d like to find a location of similar character and charm. We need a venue that will allow alcohol to be served and access to a kitchen to hold our food donations. If you know of any place or anyone that can help, please email kconcra@msn.com. If you feel comfortable approaching a location to see if they d be interested in helping before emailing Kim, that would be appreciated as it will help us know who is really available and willing. Bee Ball Committee Bee Informed Survey If you love to do surveys, here is one that would be helpful for beekeeping across the country. Please follow this link: http://limesurvey.aesa-epid.be/index.php/677317?lang=en It comes from the Bee Informed Partnership. World Bee Day New York, 20 December Today, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus a resolution declaring 20 May as World Bee Day. Every year on this day, the attention of the global public will be drawn to the importance of preserving bees and other pollinators. People will be reminded of the importance of bees for the entire humanity and invited to take concrete action to preserve
and protect them. The resolution was co-sponsored by 115 UN Member States, including the USA, Canada, China, the Russian Federation, India, Brazil, Argentina, Australia and all the European Union Member States. Via Mark Simonitsch This is an amazing little book, originally published in German ca. 1985, dealing with Eastern Europe, but highly relevant here. Many of these behaviors will be familiar to you. You can download the book here. It is available in multiple formats including text, pdf, and epub for E-reader applications. John Portnoy Barnstable County Beekeepers Calendar It s time to start talking about calendar photos again! Please start rounding up your pictures for this year s submissions. If you would like to be part of the selection process, please let me know. I have my eyes open
Joe McClure Holiday Market A special thanks goes out to all the vendors and all the shoppers at the BCBA Holiday Fair in December. It is always remarkable to see all the talents our members have. Going around the room Diane Midura showcased her custom knits and repurposed items while Kate Wing was back for a second year with Wing and Things. Not to be outdone, Joe McClure and Mike Smith had numerous beeswax candles and creams for sale, competing with Marte Ayers' creams and Claire Desilets' candles. A new twist this year was Deb and Steve Carmel's early Ball canning jars which sent me home to see if I had any collectibles gathering dust in my cellar. Aaron Lovell's original wood furnishings were eye dropping while Mary Ann Barr offered original and most creative painted ornaments and necklaces. Red Buzz Honey, courtesy of Rachel Avenia and Robert Prol, was there with their raw, unfiltered (is that redundant?) honey and Dotty Higgins offered sewing creations including some aprons that ended up under my Christmas tree. Ann Richards of Annie's Apiaries, Olga DiSavarino with knitted whale hats, and Caterina's Pure Delights rounded out the show in fine form. I am in awe of the talents you bring and thank you for sharing them with all of us. In closing I must acknowledge I was hesitant to write this article for fear that I would either omit or mischaracterize a vendor. If I have, mea culpa and let me know and an erratum will follow next month.
John Beach RECIPES Honey Cornbread or Muffins with Gluten Free Option (adapted from the Neely's on the Food Network) 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup all purpose flour or gluten free blend 1 TB baking powder ½ cup sugar- cook's choice
1 tsp salt 1 cup milk or nut milk 2 large eggs, room temp 6 TB butter or butter substitute, melted (plus extra for drizzling) ⅓ cup honey 2 tsp vanilla extract DIRECTIONS Preheat oven to 375F, with rack on lower-middle position. Grease your cast iron skillet. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk together well. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, honey, melted butter and vanilla. Fold wet and dry ingredients together until just incorporated; do not over-mix. Pour batter into greased cast iron skillet and bake 20-30 minutes until golden brown. If top browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil and continue baking. Be sure to start checking for doneness after 20 minutes. Cornbread is done when toothpick inserted in center has a couple of crumbs attached to it. Don't overbake or bread will be dry. Optional: drizzle melted butter over the top and serve warm. For muffins, bake 13-15 minutes in lined muffin tins, following same directions for doneness. Kathy Clobridge Cranberry Pancakes fresh or frozen cranberries (can add apples, berry mixtures too) butter or coconut oil, avocado oil 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour or your favorite 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 tsp nutmeg or fresh ground 1/4 tsp cardamom pepper to help spices better utilized in your body Place a good handful of cranberries in oil/buttered skillet and heat up berries. Cover skillet to heat up faster and popping berries won't splatter over the stove. Add pancake mixture to your preferred thickness and cover.
When bubbles surface, flip over but add a little more oil/butter to pan first to prevent sticking (hopefully). Drizzle with honey instead of maple syrup because it is sweeter. (Don't tell my Vermont friends) I add a protein powder, ground flax seeds, sesame seeds and pumpkin seeds. Top that with yogurt instead of whip cream. Now you have a more complete meal. Marte Ayers RESOURCES (accurate as of 1/17) The following officers and directors are a great resource to answer questions and requests for assistance. Officers President Michael D. Smith michaeldgetsmail@gmail.com Vice President Kayleigh Cronin kcrone@gmail.com Corresponding Secretary Claire Desilets beekeepr@gmail.com Recording Secretary Deborah Carmel deborahcarmel429@gmail.com Treasurer Lynn Heslinga lynneheslinga@gmail.com Directors Marthe Ayers mfoura32@aol.com Mary Anne Mann hummann@outlook.com John Beach john.a.beach@comcast.net Joe McClure joegetsmail@gmail.com Maria Cashdollar winter64@aol.com Andy Morris andymorris02553@gmail.com Todd Cashdollar thruheavenseyez@aol.com Brian O'Donnell bjmdod98@gmail.com Melissa Caughey pcmc2000@msn.com Steven Pelletier steven@pelletiernet.com Kathy Clobridge clobridge@comcast.net Melissa Sanderson melissa.a.sanderson@gmail.com Kimberly Concra klconcra@msn.com Lisa Sheehy lisasheehy@msn.com Peter B Cooper brpbc1@gmail.com Mark Simonitsch fishweirs@capecod.net Mary Johnson mrj9922@msn.com Miguel Zamora zamorasmiguel@gmail.com Paul Lefebvre lefbvr@gmail.com