NOVEMBER 2, 2008

And a heck of a picnic it was! Our annual fall picnic was a huge success. We had 46 people attend, and they were all hungry! I’m just glad that some of you finally got to meet my wife, Doreen (The brains behind the bees). I wanted to thank all of you that helped by supplying the food and refreshments. Tim Rowe really brought us out of a clutch when he brought the ice and drinks. Ms. Helen McClain did an excellent job of putting it all together. Thank you. We have a great little organization and the event brought the best out of all of us.

At the TBA meeting last month, I met Charlie Parton. He is the president of the Blount County Bee Assoc. They have an excellent newsletter along with a strong membership. I am taking some of the info provided by his letter and passing it on to you. If you would like for me to e-mail you a copy of the entire letter, please let me know.

FALL SWARMS
A consequence of the current lack of a nectar flow may be an increase in fall swarming. The books all say that late summer or fall swarming is unusual, and normally I do not get many reports of swarming in Kentucky after the first of July. This year is an exception. I have gotten a number of calls about swarms, mostly from non-beekeepers with cluster of bees in their yards. Several years ago, a beekeeper friend, Larry Blandford, commented that he thought that most of those fall swarms were not really swarms. He thought that they were bees absconding from hives that were starving during a poor fall nectar flow.” The newsletter goes on to say that Charlie had an observation hive that had only about a “pint” of bees. One day his wife called him and said that there was a small cluster of bees on a bush near the house. Charlie went to look at the observation hive, and they were all gone. Charlie continues to report, “Richard Taylor, a longtime contributor to Bee Culture described in an old column a type of “starvation swarm” that is the result of a dearth of nectar and pollen. I think this fall we are seeing many of Richard Taylor’s “starvation swarms” in Kentucky.” Charlie brings out an interesting point about small fall swarms. East Tennessee had a lot less rainfall than we had this year, thus causing a dearth in fall pollen

Your TBA (TN. Beekeepers Assoc.) has requested a grant from the state in the form of a proposal: The State would provide funds for the purchase of two hives of bees along with protective wear and hive tools to each association in the state. This is an aggressive response to the disappearance of bee colonies in the state. Coinciding with this, each association would provide an additional hive set-up, which would make a total of three. In order to receive this, “a new beekeeper would have to attend a beginning beekeeper course taught by an affiliated association or TBA. They would have to be mentored by a member of the association or TBA for a period of two years. For the first two years, half of the honey production in these hives would go to the local association to help defray the costs of the set up. At the end of the two year period the new beekeepers would get all of the honey produced by their hives.” It continues by stating that the requirements for the new beekeeper are: “1. must register their hives with the state of TN. 2. Be a member in good standing for those 2 years with the local beekeepers Assoc., and 3. Be a member of TBA”

As a safeguard to this expense, it goes on to say that “If the new beekeeper finds out that this is not something that they want to do, then the beehive would go back to the local assoc. where they must be sold to another beekeeper for a price that is no less than $100.00 per hive, provided that the bees are still alive and are healthy. If the bees die for some reason, the equipment will be sold to a veteran beekeeper at a designated price of $75.00. When the hives are sold, half of the money would go to the local assoc. and half to TBA.” It is my feeling that this is a fair way to expand the number of beekeepers and colonies in the state. I have a copy of this request, if anyone wants to see it in its entirety.

While at the TBA meeting, I talked with John Skinner, the state Apiast. It came to my attention that he was a strong supporter of 4H in Tennessee. In fact, he requested and received $1500.00 from TBA for the support of this organization. I cornered him and got his support on trying to obtain a meeting place in the Sam Ridley 4H Camp. I told him that we would provide bees for their observatio9n hive if we could get the use of a meeting place and place some hives on the facility. Maybe it will come to fruition. Who knows?

On a lighter note, there is an excellent movie in town that everyone should see—“The Secret Life of Bees”. I have read the book and listened to the audio. It is has a great plot and can be enjoyed by all of the family. Queen Latifah is the main star. A North Carolina beekeeper, Julian Wooten, was used as their beekeeper source. He is a third generation beekeeper. An article in the October ABJ gives you some background info. Try and see it.

I have a couple of articles from two associations on “Winterizing your bees”. One is from Nashville (Jim Primus), and the other is from Blount County (Charlie Parton). I have copies to hand out. They cover fall chemical treatments, having the correct amount of bees to over winter, honey stores, and just about all of the answers to your questions at this time of year. Did you know that your hive would need about 25,000 bees to make it through the winter? One standard deep frame contains about 2,400 bees. Therefore, 25,000 bees would be one “deep” with ten frames full!! I plan on covering the combining of hives at our meeting; though you would not want to do this until daytime temps reach above 55 degrees. I treated some of my hives with “Mite-Away II” this year since the small hive beetle became so rampant. It consists of some pads that have formic acid. This product will not only kill varroa mites, but will get SHB as well. I have some pictures of the SHB traps that I made showing a tray full of dead critters. It was pretty effective. I also bought some “AJ’s beetle traps” from Dadant at the TBA show. From what I have heard from other beekeepers, it seems that more of us will have this problem.

Next month’s meeting will feature Dan Purvis of Purvis Brothers Bees. He is now living in Leoma, TN. and will speak about his operation and quality of queens. He gave Don Lockhart his “last queen of the fall”. Did she make it, Don? CABA has 25 queens that we booked with them last year. We are third on the list to be shipped out around the first of May.
Don Lockhart also won a ribbon for one of his snapshots that he took of a hive exposed on the outside of a tree. His honey was disqualified because it was in plastic. Ahhhh!! At least you won with CABA’s contest.
I wanted to thank everyone for their enthusiasm this past year. Our membership doubled. We have another exciting bee year coming up with the Bee Master Course in March, Mule Day, and Old Timers Day in Dickson. I will be giving a talk to the Kiwanis Club this spring. Please make a mental note that we have several members that would be willing to give a talk on bees to your clubs, schools, etc. Let’s promote bee in Middle Tennessee!

September 7, 2008

It really feels like fall now. Some of you may have started your chemical treatments: Terramycin for foul brood, Fumigilin B for Nosema, Apistan, or Checkmite, or Mite-Away II, or formic acid or Apiguard for varroa; and the list goes on. These will have to be choices that you should make—ask your mentor or one of our members.

I talked with Steve Brown this week. He is still chugging along. As a matter of fact, he will not be at our meeting today, because he is monitoring local dove hunts!! His cancer therapy knocks him down for a few days in; the week, but he bounces back after a couple of days rest. His sister, Bernadette, tells me that Betty has been a big help with his bees and his recovery—she is a nurse, after all.

We have several events coming up for this fall: 1. The TBA meeting in Memphis Oct. 17 & 18th. 2. The C.A.B.A. picnic October 5th in lieu of our normal meeting. 3. The Master Beekeeper education course on March 19th, 20th, & 21st of 2009 at Ellington in Nashville. 4. Lynnville is having a fair in October (check with Debbie Hale on the date). 5. The Tennessee State Fair is this week and N.A.B.A. has a booth there. I have also been invited to talk to the Columbia Kiwanis Club next June. Our year is filling up quickly.

Adding a few details to some of the preceding events, I have some flyers on some of these. The Master Beekeeper course is for everyone. There are no pre-existing requirements. The contact is Jennifer Waganer at (865) 974-7138. Tuition is $130.00, but if you sign up in one of the first 115 registrants, the State will pay half & it will only be $65.00. The hours are March 19th—6:30p.m. to 9:30 p.m.; March 20th—9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (breaks for lunch & dinner); and March 21st—9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
The TN. Beekeepers Assoc. meeting in Memphis will for the two days, but the times were not given. I assume that it will be similar to last year—around 9:00 a.m. You may get more info at www.tnbeekeepers.org. Several of the suppliers (Walter Kelley in particular) have said that if you place orders with them, so that they will meet you there and there will be no freight charges. Vendor booths will be there and you can buy supplies as available. Several authors from the ABJ magazine will be guest speakers. Jerry Hayes, author of the Q&A section, will also speak.

I am planning on going. If you want to share a ride and gas expense, please let me know. I will be staying at one of the motels there and I can make reservations for you if needed. We could double up on the rooms and save even more.
As I stated earlier, there are no prerequisite requirements for the Master Beekeeper Course. Although this is for beginning hobbyist, it may give everyone some very useful information. We are never too old to learn something new! It is possible that we could carpool for this event as well. I have a flyer on this if you need more info. You would mail your check to: Jennifer Waganer, 2431 Center Drive, 205 Ellington Plant Sciences, Knoxville, TN. 37996-4560. You can also e-mail her at: jmcarroll@mail.ag.utk.edu .

The National Honey Board has an excellent web sight for honey recipes: www.honey.com . They have given us a box of different recipe books to hand out at our various booths. I have brought these to the meeting if you want one. A new recipe is put out each month on their web page.

Ms. Helen McClain has been gracious enough to volunteer to be the coordinator for our picnic next month. The main course, drinks, ice, and tableware will be provided by C.A.B.A. Ms. Helen will be your contact for the side dishes, which will be pot luck. Please call her at (931) 381-6500. By doing this, we should avoid having 25 dishes of baked beans!! There will also be door prizes and games (I hope). Everyone is invited. This is a good chance to meet the families that support our beekeepers.
I would like to welcome our visitors and hope that you members will assist them in every way that you can. 

AUGUST 3, 2008

Well, guys & girls, it has been a real hot one. Those bee suits can really get wet! But…It has been a great honey year. I have never seen so much honey. This Saturday I just discovered another super that I missed. The comb is beautiful! However I just got all of my equipment cleaned up. Remember to return your “wet” supers in the evening for the bees to clean them up. Also, this is the time when robbing becomes a problem. You might want to put entrance reducers on your small colony hives. I also found that the bees are flocking to my bird bath. If you can put a bucket of water out with a block of wood or some rocks piled up in the middle.

UPCOMING EVENTS
The Tennessee Beekeepers Association will be having their annual conference in Memphis this year. Some of you have expressed interest in going. I would be willing to car pool for those of you that would like to go. Don Lockhart and Jamie Ledford are planning on going. It will be for two days, Oct. 17th & 18th. Guest speakers will be Jerry Hayes (author of the Q&A section in the ABJ Magazine), Dr. Ellis of Florida, Dr. Amanda Ellis, who works with Jerry Hayes, and Kent Williams, who is a Master Beekeeper that is an excellent queen raiser in Kentucky. There will also be some booths from Dadant, Kelley’s, and Brushy Mountain. Altogether, it sounds like the same group that was in Franklin last year. For those of you that missed it, you should try and go.

Last year, we had a picnic in lieu of one of our meetings. I think that we did it in November! Brrrr! It would be good to target it maybe for the October meeting; that is if ya’all want to do it again. Let’s discuss it at this meeting and make plans. It was a good way for all of us to have an informal gathering where we could get to know one another. Who knows, maybe I will remember your name this time (so many new faces)

We missed entering our honey for the Tennessee State Fair in Nashville. The cut-off date was August 1st. I failed to mention at our last meeting. Oh! The TBA meeting will have a honey judging event as well. Take some of your wares if you want to enter.
Jeff and Debbie Hale and I have been removing bees from houses lately. It has been a kind of learning experience, but we did get some bees and sometimes the queen. So if any of you hear of someone needing bees removed, call Jeff.

Brushy Mountain sent out a flyer this week advertising Apistan Strips at a discounted price (23.00/ 10 pack). They also had some beekeeping equipment on sale. I would show you my flyer, but the U.S. Post Office ate a big bite out of it, where all the prices were. I can still give you their toll free number: 1-800-233-7929.

On a more serious note, our bee inspectors are failing to turn in their inspection copies to Tom Voss. The State pays on a quarterly basis to C.A.B.A.’s checking account as a direct deposit. Tom mails the inspections in once a month. From that point, Tom mails you a check. All Apiary inspections are free to the owner. The inspector receives $20.00 per apiary and $5.00/hive inspected. Tom needs you to mail the forms to him first so that he may keep up with who gets the money that is being deposited in our account. I appreciate your cooperation on this matter.

Jim Primus e-mailed me an article that determined the cause of CCD. A study performed in Spain found that the spore Nosema ceranae is the real culprit. This can be treated with Fumigilin B that is mixed with sugar water and fed to your colonies. I have copies of this article, if any of you want it. At the same, John Skinner, our State Apiarist, put out a paper that blamed it CCD on four causes: stresses due to frequent moving, fluctuating temperatures, presence of chemical contaminants in the wax comb, and varroa & tracheal mites.

 Finally in the August issue of ABJ, Jerry Hayes mentions the ag chemical Neonicotinoids that has been recently used in the past few years as a pesticide. This is also found in flea collars for pets. It has been related to Alzheimer’s, and Autism. It appears that there is a shotgun effect from our professionals as to what is the definitive cause of CCD. I am still of the opinion that it is not just one factor causing it, but I would lean toward Nosema being involved.

I wanted to express my thanks to Kitty Stalnaker for mailing out all of our C.A.B.A. post cards. If you have not been receiving one, please give her a call at (931) 626-1305.