HONEY BEE. The Connecticut. President s message. Calendar of Events for 2014

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1 Volume 87, l Number 2 Summer 2014 June 7 Calendar of Events for 2014 June 21 Oct 18 - Picnic at Lockwood Farms Alternative Hives - Summer Hive management - Lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper Workshops - Massaro Community Farm Woodbridge, CT 9am - 10am and 11am - 12pm Table of Contents Page 1 President s Message Page 2 List of Officers, Ads, & Directions to Woodbury Senior Center, Page 3 EAS report, recipe & ads Page 4 Up Coming Events, Info & ads Page 5 Hannan Honey, Jones Apriaries, Nutmeg Woodenware, Dadant & Son, Ads Page 6 V,P. Notes, Mike s Beehives ad Page 7 Brushy Mountain Ad Page 8 BetterBee Ad Page 9 Report: American Beekeeping Federation A & Z Apiaries Page 10 Objectives of NPIC Page 11 Queen Breeder Association, Cedar Lane ad Page 12 Membership Form The Connecticut HONEY BEE President s message It is the end of May and finally it looks that we have shaken off that long harsh winter whish was hard on honey bees, wild life, humans and plants, it was over selective on any living thing. That cold season has passed, the cool weather in the spring was actually a positive option for the bees, giving them enough time to expend their brood and overall build up in anticipation of the honey flow. The beekeepers were busy replacing the dead outs, reversing, supering and staying ahead of the swarming season. Myself I like to over super in the spring (2-3 super) and under super in the fall (just one). My bees entered the cold season heavy in honey and healthy and in the spring they came in a very good shape. Low numbers of Varroa and good fall flow are the main ingredients of the successful overwintering of locally acclimated honey bee colonies and like the real estate, beekeeping is local, some areas just do better that the others. This is the peak time for swarming, probably the most challenging aspect of beekeeping. Often, despite our best efforts, even when we do everything we can to prevent it, bees will swarm. We should learn to read the signs and anticipate the growing strength of the hive few weeks before it leads to swarming. Splitting a hive that has started swarm cell is a better practice than taking out those queen cells. Always we miss some. While trying to prevent it, we should embrace swarming when it happens. After it happens we should make sure that the new queen is matted and laying fine. Actually a short period of brood rearing interruption (that happens after swarming) is very beneficial for the health of the colony. That is the natural way to interrupt all the brood diseases including Varroa, Yes, I do consider Varroa a brood disease. This is the time to makes some splits and increase the size of your apiaries. That is one of the topics that we will cover in our picnic meeting this June. We have an interesting speaker, will split some hives and make some nucs and will open up some matting nucs (baby nucs). We plan on cooking some hot dogs and burger and I hope to see you all there. Good beekeeping Gilman Mucaj

2 President, Gilman Mucaj Granby, CT CBA officers Vice President Steve Dinsmore East Lyme, CT Secretary, Karen Parker 122 Whippoorwill Road Old Lyme, CT Treasurer, Mark Creighton Eastern Apiculture, John Baker Society Director Program Chair, Al Avitabile Bethlehem, CT Mark Creighton Interim Newsletter Coordinator Member at Large, Richard Moore Canton, CT Directions to Woodbury Senior Community Center* 281 Main Street South Woodbury, CT From I-84 *Traveling West: Take Exit 17 to merge onto CT-64 W/Chase Pkwy toward CT-63/Middlebury/Watertown. Continue to follow CT-64 W, Turn right onto CT-64 W/Middlebury Rd, Continue to follow CT 64 W Turn right onto US-6 E/Main Str. South address 281 will be on right. *Traveling East: Take Exit 15 for CT-67/US E turn left onto CT 67 N/US - 6 E/Grand Army of the Republic Hwy. Continue to follow US-6 E Grand Army of the Republic Hwy. Destination will be on right. 2 Where Am I? This is a picture of Robin Wachs, her daughter Jessica and their friend Linda Santandrea after they completed their first nuc install. Robin and Linda are alumnae of our Beekeeping School in January.

3 Three ways to register... EAS 2014 July 28 - August 1, 2014 Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond, Ky. 3 Online Registration - Click to start online registration. Your registration will be reviewed by the registrar before your charge card is billed Mail-in Form - click here to download the paper application. Do not mail after July 15, Walk-in Registration - Print the paper application form, fill it out and bring it to the registration desk at the conference. Dorm rooms, meals, and tickets to special events will not be available for walk-ins. Preregistration will avoid the delays at check-in. If you are a vendor go to the Vendor Registration. The cutoff date to purchase dorm rooms, meals, and special event tickets is July 11, Register early to get the choices you want. Registration Fees Short Course and Conference (Mon-Fri) $250 Short Course Only (Mon-Wed) $175 Main Conference Only (Wed-Fri) $175 Single Day Fee $65 Registration does not include room or meals. If you are not a current member, include the cost of membership ($25/yr). The easiest way to estimate your cost is to use the online registration. You can stop short of processing your credit card, in order to calculate your cost. Student Rate $25 per day (Must show student ID at registration. Check the Student box on the application form. Students under 18 must be accompanied by a registered adult. Children under 12 free, but must be accompanied by a registered guardian.) The Connecticut Honey Bee Official journal of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association, Inc. Published four times a year prior to the meetings in February, April, June and October. The Honey Bee is mailed to all members of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association, Inc. Advertising rates: Full page: $50, Half page: $25, Quarter page: $15, Eighth page: $8 Send all news articles, announcements and advertisements to ctbees@snet.net. ***HONEY EXTRACTOR RENTAL PROGRAM*** In case you haven t heard, the Association has received a grant for 4 extractors to be available for rent to our membership. These will come complete with uncapping tank, hot knife, pail, filters and even a refractometer. Rental will cost only $25 when the equipment is returned spotlessly clean. Equipment will be stored in Windsor Locks, right near the airport. To pick up an extractor, contact Sharon or ghr4@hotmail.com. Funding has been provided by the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program of the Agricultural Marketing Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, awarded and administered by the Connecticut Department of Agriculture.

4 Calendar of Events June 7, 2014 Picnic at Lockwood Farm, Hamden CT. Speaker: Sam Comfort Owner of Anarchy Apiaries Swarming the state AM, Alternative hives for Alternative minds PM June 21, 2014 WORKSHOP We will offer two sessions on Summer Hive Management at Massaro Farm in Woodbridge. October 18, 2014 Speaker: Marina Marchese Author of The Accidental Beekeeper and The Honey Connoisseur Tasting the Terroir of American Honey AM Honeybee lessons from an Accidental Beekeeper PM POT LUCK LUNCH Be sure top bring your favorite dish for our famous Pot Luck Lunch!! Products from the Hive Please bring your Bee Products to the meeting for Sharon Rowe to display at our new Bee Products Table! WE D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU We are adding the capability of communicating to our members by and, if you think this is a good idea, we would appreciate your sending us your comments and address so we can update our files. We would also like to know whether you would want to be notified of upcoming events, membership renewals and newsletters by in the future. Please send responses to: Richard J. Moore rjjamoore@comcast.net or call:

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6 6 Vice President s Notes: It has been a cold spring so far. The farmers say this is a more typical New England spring than the past few years. The bees seem a bit slower to build. The flowers are running later. The swarms are running later. Two years ago, I was chasing swarms in April. The first I saw this year was past mid-may. I think the take away lesson is that you can t keep bees to a calendar. You have to keep bees based on their response to the environmental factors. They build up based on the weather and the nectar flows. Really, they build in early spring in response to the longer days, in anticipation of the honey flows to come. If they waited until the honey flows hit, they would not build in time to utilize them. This returns to my theme of the last issue. The balancing act of the bees. The bees have to manage their honey stores while their population increases. If they build too fast, they can starve. If they don t build fast enough, they aren t strong enough to take advantage of the honey flows and can be in trouble in the fall with not enough stores for the coming winter. As the beekeeper, you can help by providing pollen supplements for the rainy weeks. Make sure they have a healthy environment and good nutrition. Rotate your combs every 3-5 years. Before we meet again, the summer will be upon us. By mid-july, the major honey flows will die down. During the honey flows, the bee and mite populations both are increasing, but the bees seem to manage the stress from the mites while they are growing stronger. When they honey flows die down, the hive population starts to decrease, but the mite populations continue to increase. By mid-august, the balance in the hive is skewed heavily towards the mites. You need to know your mite levels. Learn to test for mites. Learn mite control methods. Select for mite tolerant bees. Consider requeening in late summer to give the bees a break in the brood cycle, which in turn interrupts the reproductive cycle of the mites. Again and again, I have to stress you need to become an educated beekeeper. You may get lucky from year to year, but your bees will do better if you work with them to support their needs. For education come to our meetings meet people, find a mentor, become a mentor. SNEBA this fall will provide a full day of education (Speakers are Larry Connor, Deborah Delaney and a third to be named later). Massaro farm workshops provide hands on education for the various phases of beekeeping throughout the year. Eastern Connecticut Beekeepers will be having Jim Tew in October. Backyard beekeepers have regular field days and a several speakers a year. You will find that the more you learn about these amazing insects, the more you will want to know. Finally, I make my regular appeal. Please consider becoming involved in the club. Even if you don t have a lot of extra time, there are small, meaningful things you can do to help promote our organization and beekeeping in Connecticut.

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9 Secretary Minutes 9

10 The objectives of NPIC are: 10 To serve as a factual source of information for diverse professional and public audiences on pesticide-related issues: To operate a toll-free, bi-lingual telephone information service for all caller in the United States and its territories, Monday through Friday at least 4 hours per day, with accessibility to voic during closed hours, and ability to address inquires through and social media: To develop and maintain English and Spanish websites accessible to broad audiences and host NPIC original content, state- of-the-art information technology tools and links to unbiased and authoritative sources of information about pesticides: To collect robust pesticide incident data through systematic protocols and to disseminate the information through scheduled reporting and by request from U.S. EPA and partner agencies: To conduct our service professionally, with an emphasis on teamwork, integrity and accountability, and a strong commitment to collaboration and exceptional customer service. NPIC is committed to making science-based information available to the public and professionals using appropriate and timely technologies. On this page, you will find our collection of web applications that have been optimized for use with mobile devices. Developed in HTML5, they are compatible with iphone, Android, and other phones and tablets. Available Web Apps: Pesticide Education & Search Tool (PEST) Designed for the general public as they search for pest controls solutions, this app brings together product search functions and new pest control information, written by NPIC. Users are prompted to pick a pest or pick a product. When you pick a pest, you ll find a bullet list of actions items grounded in integrated pest management (IPM). When you pick a product, you ll find a one-stop interface with options to view the formulation, ingredients, the signal word, and the pests controlled by the product. Interpretive statements make the technical information easy to understand. Mobile Acess to Pesticides and labels (MAPL) Search for pesticide products by name, site, pest, EPA Registration Number, registrant, or search for a combination of these. For example, search for products registered for use in apple orchards against fire blight, or products with citronella that can be used on horses. When you find the right product, you can bookmark the results, bring up the federal label (pdf) and browse the product s ingredients, registered use sites, signal word, formulation, and more. The web app is optimized for mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, and works on desktop computers as well. Insect Repellent Locator (IRL) Find information about all of the products registered to repel mosquitoes, ticks, or both. Refine results by selecting the desired protection time, form < 2 hours to? 10 hours. Click on the active ingredient name to review it s potential health and environmental impacts, or click load PDF to see the product s official label. Once you find the perfect product for you use the manufacturer s name to find their contact information. Pesticide and Local Services (PALS) One-click dialing! Find pals in your state to help you 1) report pesticide incidents, 2) get pest control advice, 3) learn about area-wide pest control in your neighborhood, 4) get licensed to apply pesticides or contact pesticide law enforcement professionals, 5) determine whether pesticide poisonings are reportable in your state, 6) comply with occupational standards and select appropriate PPE (personal protective equipment). and 7) dispose of unwanted pesticides. NPIC Contact Information: Call us (toll free): We have trained pesticide specialists available to help you free of charge from 8:00am to 12:00pm Pacific Standard Time, Mon.-Fri. us: npic@ace.orst.edu To be informed when resources are added or updated, please subscribe to our notification list. Send us an to npicupdates@ace.orst.edu with the word subscribe in the subject or body of the message and we ll add you to the list. This is a low-volume notification mailing list only, not a discussion list. Or send us postal mail: National Pesticide Information Center Oregon State University 310 Weniger Hall Corvallis, OR

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12 C/O Mark Creighton The Connecticut Beekeepers Association 36 Freestone Avenue Portland, CT Forwarding and return address requested First Class PLEASE CHECK YOUR DUES BLOCK AND KEEP CURRENT! 12 CONNECTICUT BEEKEEPERS - MEMBERSHIP FORM It is advantageous to be a member of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association in order to save money on subscriptions to your bee journals, stay informed on the lasted issues concerning beekeepers and bees and receive information on the upcoming meetings of the association. Journal subscriptions are less when purchased through the Association. NAME ADDRESS CITY/TOWN ST ZIP PHONE ( ) CT Beekeepers Asso. dues $20.00 Special Legal Fund Donation. Norm Farmer Educational Fund. General Donation to the Club. Total enclosed $. Note: New policy You may still receive a discount on your subscriptions to the magazines, pick up a form at the meeting or when sending in your dues, send along a stamped, self-addressed envelope and which magazine form you would like. It will be mailed to you. Make checks payable to: Connecticut Beekeepers Association Mail to: Mark Creighton 36 Freestone Avenue Portland, CT Phone: MCreig9716@aol.com