2018 02 Buzz news

February 2018

Nelson County Beekeepers nelsconcountybeekeepers@gmail.com

What’s The Buzz

Volume 4, Issue 2

Meeting

February 15th

@

6:30 PM

Steering Meeting @ 5:30 PM PROGRAM:

Officers President-Steve Hutchins Vice President-Ricky Humphrey Secretary-Bennie Hite Treasurer & Editor-Susan Zhunga Hospitality-Monthly Volunteer Newsletter Publisher– Georganne Collins

Introduction To Andrew Fogg Manager of Dadant Beekeeping Frankfort Programs – Schools -Fundraisers COMING IN MARCH – Kevin Hale – Hale Honey Farms – Spring Nutrition – Making Splits.

POT LUCK – Sharing Your Good Food and Good Treats for all

Inside this issue: Beekeeping Items for Sale 2 Minutes & Financial Report

3

Hive Notes

4

Bee keeping School

6

Winter Feed Recipes

7

Bring a friend who might be interested in keeping bees. All are welcome.

Robbie Smith County Extension Agent for Horticulture

Page 2 BEEKEEPING ITEMS FOR SALE SWAP MEET – YARD SALE @ Every Meeting If any member has beekeeping items for sale, list them in the newsletter and/ or bring them to the meeting. We can do some bartering after the regular meetings are over. Good time to save some money on necessary items. Be sure and bring items in good clean condition. Make sure they are priced and have your name. We will set up special tables for your items.

Susan Zhunga & Mary Ellen Marquess – are selling “Sue B Healthy” which is the Bee Ladies formula for Honey Bee Healthy - $12.00 for an 1 lb jar.

Mike Johnson – Will make wooden ware to order. Boxes, frames and wax dipping. Contact Mike for information and pricing @ 502-249-2007.

Larry Marks - is selling the Marks' Frames for $12.00 for a set of three frames. Comes with instructions.

The Club - has NCB T - Shirts Prices are: $8.00 for children $10.00 for Adults and $12.00 for Adults 2x & 3x.

February Program Andrew will be joining the Nelson County Beekeeper's meeting slated for February 15th. Andrew will be telling us what's new at Dadant and what new products they are carrying for sale.

If you need anything from Dadant prior to the February 15 th meeting, Andrew has offered to bring your orders to the meeting to save you a trip to Frankfurt. He will also be bringing his truck with some extra supplies for an on-the-spot shopping.

Dadant will also be donating a hive beginner kit to us for the up coming “Beginners Beekeeper's” School. We will use the kit as a demo, and then the kit will be given away as a door prize.

Thank you Andrew and Dadant.

Page 3 Nelson County Beekeeping Meeting January 18th 2017

Attending: Gene Englert, Benny Hite, Ricky Humphrey, Steve Hutchins, Robbie Smith, Pat Swartz, Henry Wilkerson and Susan Zhunga. Nelson County Beekeeping Meeting, January 18, 2018 Steering Committee Meeting Discussed: The nucs will be ordered by the last of January and the checks should be sent to Susan Zhunga (555 King Road, Cox’s Creek, Ky 40013) She must receive your payment before January 31st to secure your order. $130 for the nuc. Andrew Fogg from Dadant will be at our February meeting and bring some supplies with him. Susan picked up several door prizes from Kelley’s that should last this year’s meetings. Looks like 40 people have already signed up for this February’s school.

Discussed the new programs for the meetings the rest of the year. A meeting with the teachers of the bee school will be held January 29th at 6:00 P.M. We also talked about a 4-H Bee Ambassador Program for young kids.

Beekeeper's Meeting: Robbie spoke of a small error in the treasury report that was corrected. Robbie also passed around a sheet to update everyone’s current profile. Bee school will be February, 17th, with a snow day of Saturday 24th. The Suttons will be selling the spring nucs to the bee club again this spring for $130 per nuc. The meeting was followed with a question period that went over well. The chili cook off was held with Darrell Hester winning first place, with Henry Wilkerson second and Susan Zhunga third. Anna Burd won the door prize and there was 44 people in attendance. We also welcomed two new members, Scott Cundiff and Ruben Sizemore.

Financial Statement As Of 02/01/18 Start Expense (Christmas) Income (Dues) Balance

Susan Zhunga Treasurer

2,448.20 263.96 312.00 $2,496.24

Page 4 January and February KENTUCKY STATE UNIVESITY COOPERATIVE EXTENSION PROGRAM

What’s Happening Inside The Hive? The bees keep their winter cluster intact, except on the occasional sunny days in the 50’s and above when the bees can fly. The queen begins to lay eggs, and brood rearing begins in the largest, healthiest hives.

Kentucky often gets a sharp cold spell in January. Cold weather will not hurt the bees if they are ready for it — with a good cluster size, plenty of stored honey, and the mites and nosema disease under control. This is not too surprising, since hives are well adapted to overwinter successfully in northern Canada. At

KSU we have measured bee hive cluster temperatures above 80o or 90o on snowy January days Beekeeper Chores: This is the time for constructing, painting, and repairing equipment. Most of the new catalogs from the beekeeping supply companies will be available in January.

Your goal should be to have the bees and the equipment ready for making honey by midApril. Old, dark comb should be removed from frames in storage. Do not install the foundation yet — that should be done just before the frames go into the hives.

Foundation will dry, crack, and be rejected by the bees if it is exposed to the air for a long time prior to going into the hive. If

you are buying queens or package bees this year, order by January.

By February or March, many of the producers will be booked solid and not able to promise your shipment of bees before May. The availability of queens and packages depends partly on winter weather in the southern states where they are produced. A relatively cold winter will delay their production of bees.

There will be a few days in these months above 60o. If possible, take a few minutes to look at your hives. If no bees are flying from a hive, you probably have lost it or it’s very weak and could die soon. Open it and take a look. When examining a hive in late winter, you will be concerned with several things. Are there signs of serious tracheal mite infestation? It’s normal for a few dead bees to

Page 5 be carried out of the hive on warm winter days. But if many bees are crawling and clustered on the ground in front of the hive, suspect tracheal mites. They will be unable to fly and a few may have “Kwing” (wings sticking out at an odd angle). Often problems can be diagnosed at KSU or the Kentucky Department of Agriculture from a sample of worker bees taken from a weak hive. (See the KSU publications “The Tracheal Mite: a microscopic parasite of honey bees” and “Preparing and mailing honey bee samples for mite and disease diagnosis.”)

Does a cluster of bees nearly as large as last fall remain?

How many honey

frames are left? The bees should still have several frames with honey they stored last year. You may add honey frames from other hives that have more honey, if necessary. But do not break the cluster of bees by placing frames of honey inside of it. The bees will need to maintain their cluster through the remaining cold weather of late winter and early spring. Middle or late February is a good time to install Apivar, Apistan or Mite Away Quick Strips, strips for varroa mite control.

By getting the strips in early, it’s possible to leave them in for a full eight weeks (Apistan) (Apivar) or 7 days (Mite Away Quick Strips) and then remove them well before the honey

flow begins in late April. Mark your calendar so that you remember when the strips should be removed.

Oxalic Acid Treatments can also be done when temperatures are above 50o Observations and Ideas: Take a look at the maple trees through the month of February. The maple flowers are a drab, dark red and bees collect yellow pollen from them.

This is an indication of the first availability of food for the bees, and that the end of winter is coming.

Page 6 !!!!!!!! SCHOOL IS IN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AND IT'S FREE TO ALL (not just members) DON'T FORGET !!!!! Feb. 17- Snow date Feb. 24, 2018: The Nelson Co. Beekeepers Association will host a FREE Beginner Beekeeping School.

Saturday workshop/school at the Nelson Co. Extension office, 317 S. Third St., 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m. EST. Focuses on everything beginner beekeepers need for the first year. Lunch is provided, and door prize winners will be drawn.

Nelson Co. Extension office, (502) 348-9204.

HERE IS A LIST OF THE CLASSES 8:00 Registration – Coffee, Juice, Donuts – Debbie Brown 8:30-8:55 Class 1 Equipment – Steve Hutchins (President) 9:00-9:25 Class 2 Assembly/Cost – Ricky Humphrey (Vice President) 9:30-9:55 Class 3 Installing Bees – Henry Wilkerson 10:00-10:25 Class 4 Feeding – Ernie Sharp 10:30-10:55 Class 5 Inspection – Gene Englert (Past President) 11:00-11:25 Class 6 Moving Bee Hives – Ricky Humphrey 11:30-11:55 Class 7 Finding the Queen – Gene Englert 12:00 - 12:55 LUNCH 1:00-1:25 Class 8 Reducing Swarming – Mike Vittitow 1:30-1:55 Class 9 Extracting Honey – Susan Zhunga 2:00-2:25 Class 10 Storing Equipment – Susan Zhunga 2:30-3:30 Q&A

NUCS FOR SALE Gene taken orders for the purchase of Sutton's Nucs again this year. The price of these Nucs are $130.00.

Most members have paid in full. Those members who owe a balance, all money will be due by the March 15 th meeting. If unable to make the meetings, checks may be mailed to Susan E Zhunga 555 King Road, Coxs Creek, KY 40013, payable to the Nelson County Soil Labs. The Nucs will be picked up at the Nelson County Extension Office some time in April. Everyone will be notified in advance.

Page 7 Winter Feed Recipes: Courtesy of Kevin Hale Sugar/Protein Patties: • 3 cups protein powder (Brood Builder, Mega Bee or AP 23) • 9 cups sugar • Add enough 2:1 syrup to make consistence of peanut butter and form into patties on wax paper.

Hard Sugar Blocks: • 1 pint water • 6 lb. sugar (12 cups) • 6 teaspoons HBH • Two 7”x7”x1.25” cake pans or two 9” pie pans (makes two 3 lb. pans) • Heat water to boil, add HBH, add sugar and mix, heat to 245 deg. mixing occasionally, remove from heat and let cool to 190 deg., stir

quickly and pour into pans, let harden (don’t let it get to hard while cooling or you can’t pour it) Hard Sugar/Protein Blocks: • 1 pint water • 6 lb. sugar (12 cups) • 3 cups protein powder • 6 teaspoons HBH • Two 7”x7”x1.25” cake pans or two 9” pie pans (makes two 3 lb. pans) • Heat water to boil, add HBH, add sugar and mix, heat to 245 deg. mixing occasionally, remove from heat add protein powder and mix in quickly. Once mixed, pour into pans, let harden.

$$$$$ MEMBERSHIP DUES $$$$$$$$

JUST A REMINDER Test kits for American Foul Brood (AFB) and European Foul Brood (EFB) are available for purchase from Extension Office for $14.00 each. Please call me (Susan 5078789) for availability.

There are 2 extractors complete with all that you need to

Don't forget!! you need to pay your 2018 membership dues. Mail them to the Susan E. Zhunga, 555 King Road, Cos's Creek, KY 40013. Make check payable to the Nelson County Soil Lab, or I'll see you at the meeting. This will keep you active on our facebook page and also on the mailing list for the newsletter.

Dues are still $12.00 per household.

extract honey. It

These dues and other fund raisers help to pay for speakers, assist in pot luck, and beekeeping education for both our members and the public about the importance of beekeeping and buying LOCAL honey.

maximum.

comes with a refractometer to test you honey. $10.00 for usage, with a 2 day

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED

Bardstown KY 40004

317 S Third St

Nelson County

Shepherdsville, KY 40165-7327

4355 Deatsville Rd

Josh & Crystal Allen