2011 NEWSLETTERS
MARCH 6, 2011
WORKSHOP WOW! What a great success we had at our workshop! There were sixty-four people in attendance; out of which 46 were “newbees”. We had sixteen people sign up for membership. I want to thank all of our CABA members that contributed their time, materials, and help in making this event become one of our best in CABA history.
Our speakers, Jimmy Cunningham, Kurt Reekstin, Dick Brickner, Bryn Jaynes, and Jon Sharp did terrific jobs. Neda Brickner’s chili was a big hit and came just in time, since we only planned for sixty people! I would like to list the following new members with their cities so that any member that lives near them may offer their assistance in teaching them about the wonderful world of bees. If I have misspelled your name, please let us know. Alexander, Marti—Thompson Station Bennett, Michael—Spring Hill Bolden, David—Lynnville Brown, Carl---Thompson Station Choate, Kelly & Michael---Spring Hill Goodman, Warren---Columbia Gray, Phil---Lawrenceburg *Hutchinson, Kristina---Spring Hill *Lorz, Marilyn---Columbia Napier, Steve---Columbia Roberts, Don & Barb---Brentwood Sweeney, Ginnie---Spring Hill Uggla, John & Twyla---Culleoka Those with an * by their names indicate winners of the Tennessee Hive Grant Program. Kevin Davis was the third winner, but has not joined CABA yet. These three people are especially in need of a mentor. Please let me know if you can help them.
BEEKEEPING INFO: If you have a computer, go to www.hivetool.com to get a “cornacopia” of info on beekeeping. For the month of March, the web site has made several suggestions. Please use your judgement on implementing these suggestions. The key with any agricultural effort (including beekeeping) is weather conditions. Lately, we have had days in the 60 and 70 degree range. My bees have been bringing in “tons” of pollen—mainly from the Red Maple trees, but some weeds are beginning to flower. Although it is still a little early—winter is not over yet, the warm weather has afforded us a window of opportunity to look into our hives and check for food stores, and brood rearing.
I have noticed that the queen has started to lay eggs and brood is now capped. My hives have two deep boxes and most of this activity is in the upper chamber. This would lead us to consider reversal of the boxes—if the bottom box is empty. The queen is now needing space. In some cases, you will find the upper box full of honey with the middle frames having some honey removed so that the queen has and may start laying. Now is the time to begin feeding They say that you should not remove your entrance reducers until Easter, but then again; What is the weather like? “Hive Tool” says that you should repeat the reversal in two weeks, but since it takes 3 weeks for a worker bee to mature from an egg, I usually do it in that period of time
Feeding requires that you make a sugar mixture in a 1:1 ratio—that is: one quart of sugar to one quart of water. I usually boil some water in a kettle and then add it to the sugar, stir until water is clear again. Next you would get a jar and make several nail holes (the same size nail that you use to put your frames together-3/4 “. Remove the top cover of the hive, and then place the jar upside down covering half of the inner cover opening. Then place an empty box with no frames over the jar and return the top cover. Large hives have been known to go through a quart/day.
Terramycin is a product that is used as a prophylactic to fend off American Foul Brood (AFB) and European foul Brood (EFB). It is mixed with powdered sugar (not bought from a store, but made by you in your blender. Powdered sugar from the store has starch in it, which is harmful to your bees) Truthfully, terramycin will not cure AFB, but could possibly prevent it. It is a curative for EFB. Please make note that Terramycin (Oxytetracyline) used to come as TM25 which is no longer made. It has been replaced with TM343 which is stronger. Mixing instructions are: Mix one level teaspoon of TM343 in 1.5 cups (24 tablespoons) of powdered sugar. Deliver two TBSP of mix on top of outer frames of hive. Repeat three times with 4-5 day intervals. Do not treat during honey flow. Tylan is another product that has been found to be a substitute for Terramycin. It also, does not cure AFB—These products only control for AFB by killing vegetative forms of the bacteria. The only cure for AFB is burning!
WHAT IS NEXT? We now have spottings of the Asian Giant Hornet (Vespa mandinnia japonica) in North Carolina. This Asian wasp is the world’s largest hornet. It is 2” long and has a wing span of 3”. It has huge mandibles with a black tooth inner biting surface which is used for burrowing. Here is how it works against our European bees. A scout will find a bee hive and will return with about twenty other hornets. they will then enter the hive and start slaying all of the bees with their huge mandibles. As the bodies and heads pile up at the front entrance, they will gorge themselves with honey and carry the honey bee larvae back to their young. A group of these hornets can kill off a hive of 30,000 bees in ten or fifteen minutes! There are some fascinating videos on this if you google for Japanese hornet or wasp. Beekeeping has become a real “tight-rope walk” for beekeepers in protecting our bees against varroa mites, small hive beetle, and now a predatory wasp!
FEBRUARY 6, 2011
Our preparations for the 2011 beekeeping workshop are coming together. Alex Domkowski is the chairman of our committee with Kurt Reekstin, and Bryn Jaynes as very busy helpers. Alex has produced the format and I hope to get him to speak at our meeting today on what help he might need. Along with giving the progress report, I expect him to give us a list of speakers and any requests that he may have from the membership.. So far, it looks like it will be an exciting event. I will have some flyers with me if anyone wants some to advertise the event in their community. I hope that all of you will offer your assistance in this event.
LEGISLATION
Jean Simpson, a friend and long time officer of NABA e-mailed me on some upcoming legislation that will protect beekeepers from being liable for bees bothering/stinging our neighbors. Dick Brickner has already e-mailed some of our membership with the attachments explaining this matter. I will make copies of this and add them to the printed copies of our newsletter. Everyone who has bees or is planning on starting into beekeeping should respond to this by writing or e-mailing you state representative. The House Bill 30 will eliminate any liability for responsible beekeepers. A list of representatives and senators along with their contact information is also enclosed. This bill is being presented by Representative Glen Casada, District 63 (part of Williamson County).
TBA GRANT
George Martin has requested that we give him an answer by Feb. 5th on whether we would like to enter into the TN. Grant for new beekeepers. As you may recall, we opted to not enter into it last year. In 2009, CABA had three new beekeepers enter into it: Sue McClure, Jon Sharp, and Ben Smith. The requirements were:
1. You must join a local bee association and join TBA for a period of two years and be a new beekeeper.
2. You must be mentored for a period of two years along with providing ½ of your honey production to your local association. Note: Thus far Jon has been the only one to produce any honey. Ben Smith opted out and returned the equipment to CABA.
3. Three bee kits would be given out with CABA paying for the third one. They will cost $151.00 this year and will come from Kelley’s.
4. The individual must be a resident of TN.
5. He is responsible for purchasing the bees and any other additional equipment. One grant per family.
6. Attend a Beekeeping workshop and be prepared to start this year
7. If the individual decides to opt out, he must return the equipment to his assoc. for redistribution.
That was about everything. I brought it up for a vote last year and the membership decided to turn it down. We did have some success with it since two out of three people are now one year beekeepers.
A NEW MIDDLE TN. SUPPLIER
Wib Magli has recently gotten a franchise started for distributing bee supplies from North American Beehive out of Jacksonville, FLA. Wib says that he goes to Florida quite often and can offer your bee supplies with no freight charges, He also offers discounts on bulk orders, which would be good for a CABA “co-op” purchase.
Wib is one of our bee suppliers as well and is still taking orders for 5 frame deep nucs for April 9th delivery. The cost is $130.00.
He also offers “double deep” fully assembled hive kits for $117.00 + tax. That seems reasonable to me since these kits will have the foundation, inner cover, telescoping top cover, screened bottom board, 20 frames, 20 sheets of foundation and an entrance reducer! Having it assembled, makes this deal fantastic; especially if you are in a rush to get into beekeeping.
SUGAR BARRELS
Dick Brickner and John Seaborn have teamed up this year to go after some sugar barrels. They are taking orders now! The cost of the barrels this year will be $80.00. This includes: $60.00 for sugar, $10.00 for barrel deposit, and $10.00 for freight. non-members would pay an additional $10.00 which would go for a membership fee or additional costs. The barrels weigh 400#; so a buyer must be prepared to transport this much weight. Jason Dodson has been generous enough to allow his barn to be the staging area. You may take your empty barrels to his barn this week in order to fray the deposit cost. All barrels must be picked up on the one day that they are delivered. Dick will post the date on our web site. John Seaborn talked to our supplier and he will have 35 barrels saved for us one week from today. Thus far we have commitments for 27 barrels. All money must be brought to our Sunday meeting in February or mailed to Alan Woodruff, 822 Ridgeview Lane, Columbia, TN. 38401.
IRS IS COMING
The February issue of the ABJ (American Bee Journal) is loaded with good articles for the month. The one that struck me as particularly pertinent was on the posture that the IRS takes on honey sales.
let’s take a hypothetical situation where a beekeeper has a booth in a county fair. he is selling honey to one individual and the person asks him how long he has been a beekeeper. We get this question quite often, so it shouldn’t or didn’t set off any alarms. That person, as it turned out, worked for the IRS. he then took your jar of honey home and since the State requires you to put your name and address on the lable, he had all of the info that he needed. If you told him that you had been a beekeeper for the past ten years, he would then go back through your tax reports and see if you had mentioned any revenue from beekeeping. Now, I might add that the “friendly” attitude that occurred ten years ago because the IRS had received so many complaints has changed. In case, some of you do not know this; our government has run up a tremendous national debt. Now they have to find some way to reduce this, and it is the taxpayer. The IRS is now scrutinizing the Middle Class—without the smile. Every worldwide incomeof $10.00 or more must be reported. They are searching for “under-the-table” income or “little fraud.
The author goes on to say that “the thing is that you want to come as close to breaking even as possible. If there is profit, you may end up paying up to 35% taxes on those profits. If there are losses, you pay no taxes, but if you continue to lose money (over three out of five years), your activity will be deemed a hobby, not a business, and you will be taxed on the revenue instead of profit.”
Here are some of the things that you may do:
1. Report your beekeeping revenue and expenses on a Schedule C form. You may need a tax accountant.
2. Deduct all beekeeping expenses from revenue. Of course this is bee supplies, but there are some more items that you might overlook such as subscriptions, visits to the bee yards (mileage), and conventions.
3. Take full capital expenses only if you need to. This would be major purchases. Through Section 179, you can elect to expense the item in the year of purchase. However, the author suggests that you use Section 179 and take ½ of the purchase cost and then use the rest for future years. This would help you to achieve the break-even taxability.
4. Include your traveling mileage (to conventions, bee yards, supply procurements, etc. You may use the Standard Mileage ($.58/mile) or Actual Cost. Actual Cost takes actual costs and apportions over total mileage.
5. Employ your children. If you pay them less than $750.00 each, you do not have to take out taxes. Nor do they have to pay Social Security taxes. Put the total figure as “Contract Labor”.
NEW PRODUCTS
Mite-Away II pads have been replaced with Mite-Away Quick Strips. It is still Formic Acid but in a strip form. Formic has the additional benefit of also killing tracheal mites, and disinfecting combs ( to some extent of chalkbrood and nosema). Treatment is just 7 days with daytime temperatures from 50 to 92 degrees. The manufacturer says that it has no residues and can be put on during the honey flow with supers installed. Note: I personally question that statement.
“Hopguard” a patented product that is soon to be released will be available from Mann Lake. It is being registered for a section 18 (emergency) registration, but there are hopes that it will receive a full Section 3 registration.
Hopguard consists of a cardboard strips immersed in a dark brown liquid, which are applied dripping wet, straddled over the top bars. The thick brown liquid (“gloopy” is the term) is composed of “hop beta acids”; which are one of the components that five hops their aroma. BetaTec, the company that makes this, have also found that Hopguard not only goes after varroa mites, but also prevents the growth of AFB and EFB bacteria in the lab. BetaTec has filed for two patents –for control of varroa, AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, SHB, and wax moth. Wow! Wouldn’t that be marvelous! For more info on this, please read the article in ABJ, Feb. 2011 on page 145 by Randy Oliver.
DON’T FORGET
INTRODUCTORY BEEKEEPING COURSE NABA will be having their Introductory Course to Beekeeping Feb. 16th through 19th. Admission is $20.00 for adults with anyone under 18 years getting in free. The weekday nights will start at 6:00 p.m. and go until 9:00 p.m. Saturday will be from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. It will be at the Ellington Ag. Center in the Jones Auditorium. Contact Jim Primus at (615) 599-0724 or jim_primus@bellsouth.net.
JANUARY 9, 2011
Another year is in front of us and our activities are increasing in number. Because of Steve Brown, we will be having our workshop early enough for the “newbees” to place their orders—Feb. 26th. It will be on a Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the U.T. Conference Bldg. This one day event will attempt to cover everything about beekeeping that one should know in order to enter into the fascinating world of bees. Last year we exceeded our expectations with 28 new members and $280.00 received in membership dues. Our expenses were $610.18 which covered food, wooden ware, and door prizes. Even though we did not have a “profit”, I feel that the gain of 28 interested beekeepers was well worth the expense. With all of your help, we may have another successful event for expanding the “world of bees”!
I have a few additions to make on our list of bee source and equipment suppliers:
1. Wib Magli
Wib is currently taking orders for Nucs and various supplies. You may contact him at (615) 418-8945 or wrmagli@gmail.com
2. Bon Aqua Springs Apiaries & Woodware
Trevor Qualls (CABA & NABA member) has Nucs, 8-10 frame hives, and wooden ware. Call him at (931)670-6862 or www.basprings.com
3. Moses N. Zook—Amish cypress woodenware. You may write or visit him at 72 Nutt Lane, Lawrenceburg, TN. 38464
Three Rivers Beekeepers Assoc.
Trevor Qualls and John Seaborn had their first meeting December 18th. They had 32 people attend with 16 new members. CABA gave them $100.00 and NABA gave $150.00 for “seed money”. They will be covering Hickman, Dickson, Perry and Lewis counties. Good for you John & Trevor! You may contact them at: John-(931) 628-2279 or Trevor-(931) 670-5138. They are currently having their meetings at the Dickson Public Library.
Marshall County Bee Keepers Assoc.
I talked with Jamie Ledford who is treasurer of this new group and found out a few more details. Nathan Haynes is president (931) 359-1053. They meet the 4th Tuesday of each month at the Chapel Hill Fire Dept. I did not get the time, but I assume that it is in the evening. I don’t know the size of the group just yet. Maybe Jamie can fill us in on more details. This month will be about their third meeting.
News From Don
Don will be getting more serious in his beekeeping efforts this year. He has ordered 20 hygenic Carnolian queens from Kent Williams along with some Russian queens (reported to be varroa mite resistant) in order to start his own breed of queens in a “queen yard” located near his home. We will soon have a local supplier for queens and nucs! Go Don! He is also still going to make a trip to Mississippi to work with Kent on queen raising in March of this year. Don has mentored a lot of our “newbees’, and is one of CABA’s major supporters. Retirement is great. Isn’t it Don?
Walter T. Kelley Trip
Dick Brickner will be making a trip to Kelley’s on the 17th. For those of you who wish for him to pick up some things, please let him know. His phone is listed at the back of our newsletter. Dick requests that you do not order assembled wooden ware, since he will be in a car/not a truck. This would be a good opportunity to get your wax foundation, since Kelley does not ship this in the winter months.
Clover For Bees
I received a flyer from the Douglass W. King Company in San Antonio, Texas. It regards the “Hubam Clover” which is a white, blossom sweet clover that is unique for nectar productivity. here are some of the interesting facts:
Hubam blossoms for about two month.
There can be as much as 1500 flowers on a single plant.
Hubam produces nectar from morning to evening.
It can be planted from early spring until July. It will blossom until frost.
It grows best in lime soil (that is Maury County!)
It can get up to 6 feet tall.
Planting rate is 15#/acre
The prices are: 10# bag-$49.95, 25# bag-$119.95, 50# bag-149.95.
Phone: 888-DKSEEDS, e-mail: sales@dkseeds.com
This might be a good item for a CABA “Co-Op” buy in. I have not checked yet to see if our local Co-Op can get it. Seet Clover is a biennial, so that if you wanted flowers for this spring, you would have had to plant it this past November.
NABA’s Introductory Beekeeping Course
NABA will be having their workshop this year from Feb. 16th to Feb. 19th. The weekday meetings will be from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with Saturday’s meeting from 9:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. There will be a $20.00 per adult fee for the course with young adults under 18 years admitted free. Registration must be made before Feb. 12th. I have enclosed a copy of the flyer to our newsletter along with a registration form. For more information, contact Jim Primus at (615) 599-0724 or by e-mail at jim_primus@bellsouth.net.
Bee Facts
The major purpose of the queen is to lay eggs. During April and May she lays day and night, each egg taking about 20 seconds. That’s over 2000 eggs per day! the queen mates only once and holds sufficient sperm from the male drones to lay 3-5 years. she can be mated by over twenty drones during this “virgin flight”. This insures that there will be a genetic variance in her colony. The males die after mating. This bee tidbit was donated by our CABA member, Bryce Martin.
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