BEELINES. Annual Picnic ~ July 20, 2014 JUNE 2014 NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION. Danny Najera, PhD ~ Bee Waggle Dances

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1 JUNE 2014 NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION BEELINES Regularly scheduled meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7 PM at: Christ the King Lutheran Church 1305 Pine Avenue Snohomish, WA All are welcome, from newbees to experts. Please drop by and join the conversation. Share your experience and your questions! New members are welcome to mail the completed form, or simply bring it to the next meeting. We look forward to seeing you there! Visit Us Online: Sign up for subscription to Beelines: app.express marketing.com/ Survey.aspx?SFID= WSBA Board meeting ~Ellensburg Bee sure to attend! The next Washington State Beekeeper s Board meeting is June 29, 2014 at 11 AM, located at the scrumptiously delicious Rodeo City BBQ 204 N. Main St. Ellensburg, WA. Meeting is open to all. Details here: Our mission: to promote interest in honey bees and beekeeping through the northwest district of western Washington, and, in particular, Snohomish County. Danny Najera, PhD ~ Bee Waggle Dances Junes speaker is Danny Najera whose PhD thesis was about Bees. Danny talked to us last year about the effect of human population expansion on the world eco-system. This months talk is something entirely different, "Bee Waggle Dances". Karl Von Fritch won the Nobel prize in science for his work on eliciting how bees communicating with the other members of the hive. The scout bees returning to the hive, do a dance that shows others where nectar sources are located. On a swarm cluster, scout bees returning use the dance to alert the swarm to potential new homes. Tom Seeley used this knowledge and observed how the scout bees build a consensus among a swarm to choose a nesting site. It can even be used when cornered by a partner who wants you to dance at a party :-) Danny's talk will be informative and fun. Annual Picnic ~ July 20, 2014 July is our annual Picnic. We are going all out this year. Please see the flier below. Of particular note is our featured guest. Steve Sheppard and hopefully several of his grad students will be joining us. Dr. Sheppard who heads WSU's entomology division will be spending the day with us. Extremely knowledgeable about all aspects of bees and bee keeping, he and his team have been, and are presently leading the effort to bring new genetic material to the USA. Along with Dr. Sue Cobey (October's speaker) they introduced the New World Carniolan queens too our genetic pool. But, beside his numerous contributions, and wealth of knowledge, he is humorous and will be doing hive side talks/inspections. Questions are welcomed, and encouraged. Experienced and beginner beekeepers will all learn a lot. MORE DETAILS ON PAGE 5...

2 Page 2 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS Northwest District Beekeepers Assn. TO-DO List for the Puget Sound ~ June & July By Larry Brainard Calendar vs Weather: It is important to keep in mind that decisions are more dependent on prevailing weather conditions than on specific calendar dates! Blackberry Flow: The blackberry nectar flow is held to be the largest nectar flow in the Puget Sound. Blackberries begin blooming in June. Swarm Management: With the blackberry flow, it is important to watch for swarm conditions in each colony. Add Honey Supers; consider various Swarm Management techniques and watch for Swarm Cells. Make sure that the Queen has frames of empty comb to lay her eggs in. Hive Inspections: Look for eggs, larvae, capped brood, swarm cells, supersedure cells, brood pattern, honey domes (over capped brood, nectar & pollen buildup). ** During the heavy phase of Blackberry flow, colonies are less likely to swarm (as long as the hive offers plenty of room for egg laying and nectar storage). It is suggested that hive inspections are held to a minimum (or not at all during this time). The reasoning is that inspections can interrupt a colony s efficiency to produce honey. Ventilation: Each hive should be well ventilated. The addition of extra entrances might be considered. Queen Excluders: As Nectar flow approaches, some beekeepers use Queen Excluders to 1) keep the Queen out of Honey Supers or 2) as a swarm management tool. Honey Harvest: Check for surplus honey. Once each frame in a honey super is at least 80% capped, it is ready for harvest. At this point, nectar cannot be shaken from the comb. The preferred time to remove frames with honey is early morning or evening to minimize robbing. Pests & Diseases: Keep your eye out for symptoms related to Varroa and Tracheal Mites! Q: What did the sushi say to the bee? A: Wassabee! Bee Giggles and Fun Facts The Honey Bees Second Shift In addition to gathering nectar to produce honey, honey bees perform a vital second function - pollination. About one-third of the human diet is derived from insect-pollinated plants, and honey bees are responsible for 80 percent of this pollination. Pollination is the fertilization of a flowering plant. Pollination occurs when pollen is transferred from the anthers of a flower to the ovules of that or another flower. Honey bees are responsible for pollinating a variety of fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts such as almonds.

3 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION Page 3 BEESLINGERS 4-H Club Installs New Package By Clare MacQueen 4-H = Head + Heart + Hands + Health Photo s courtesy of Amy Laidlaw On 16 April 2014, the 4-H Beeslingers Bee Club suited up and installed their new package of honey bees! Lisa Webb ed me the next day with a photo and said that the kids had a great time installing, even in the rain. The first photo shows the Beeslingers before installing their package. That s Molly, an honorary club member, in the colorful jacket. The second photo shows five of the Beeslingers at work. In the third shot, Molly is shaking the bees into their new home. You may notice that the kids are wearing rubber gloves of two types; these were donated by an NWDBA member in response to the club s wish list (reproduced below). The donor appreciates that the gloves are coming in handy! These photos also show the variety of ages in the club, which reminds me to mention the ongoing need for children s beekeeping suits. After all, kids grow fast. As part of their fundraising efforts, Beeslingers are selling excellent, dripless, smokeless, pure beeswax candles, and prices start at $2 or $3. Candle sales help pay: 1. Not only for beekeeping suits, which are $100 each, but also for: 2. More candle molds; 3. New bees, which are $100 per package; 4. General supplies; and 5. Field trips. For instance, the club has been invited to visit the University of Washington s new beekeeping program in June. Please consider helping the kids out and buying a few candles they make great gifts not only for yourself, but also for your friends, family, and coworkers. Or, if you d like to help out another way, here s the club s ongoing wish list: 1. Small- and medium-sized dishwashing gloves (latex or nitrile, as you prefer) 2. Honey bees: We would like to fill more hives so we can self-sustain any losses hard to do with 1-2 hives. 3. Nucs and exterior paint 4. A few more medium-sized bee suits [*] [*] Sizing charts for children s bee suits may be found at: [Scroll down to More Info ] Beeslingers Contact To learn more about the Beeslingers, please contact: Lisa Webb beelingers4h@hotmail.com Donations can also be mailed directly to: Beeslingers 4-H Club c/o WSU 4-H Team th Street NE Everett, WA Thanks so much 4 your support! :)

4 Page 4 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS Meeting Minutes ~ May 2014 Larry B (beginner session) You should be checking for swarm cells every 7 to10 days. Consider getting your supers on now to start drawing out the frames. Blackberry flow should start around the first week of June and run to mid July as a rule of thumb. At least 1 person reports blooms on bushes right now. Highway of bees will let you know if the flow is on. Q: how fast can they fill a super? Dave has seen as little as five days. Get your new equipment on now. Q: super goes where? A:Under the inner cover on the top of the brood chamber. Where would you place the foundation empty frames for second super? Larry suggests under the drawn comb, Dave did it last year and didn't have good results. Q: benefit from putting honey on the foundation? Larry sometimes does syrup, Jeff suggests trying honey. Dave brings up the lower price (vs last year) of sugar in bulk at Cash & Carry. He just mixes his syrup in the bucket feeder with his hose and a paint mixer. There was some discussion of funnels. How to treat mediocre hives this time of year? Where should a hive be? If it's a package, Dave suggests you should, one month in, have 10 frames of bees (not brood) (4-5 frames of brood), if it was a package. If less then it s likely failing. You might use that hive for a split. Or combine, depends on your plan for the year. But evaluate now. If you split now, be aware that you may eliminate getting a honey crop of this year. Dave says if it's a marginal hive now, it's almost guaranteed to die out in the winter. Look at re-queening or combining. Q: can you mix bees? Larry says yes. Dave suggests the newspaper method. Place the strong hive on top, weak hive on bottom. Bee lines will be out soon. Kudos to Mike and Christa Miller. To do list is in meeting notes. Break Jeff: First issue will be out in very soon. We have a new webmaster. We get occasional messages about things we wish to forward. Issue to discuss tonight, picnic. Mark Salser has a farm and a shop that is a perfect spot not that far from here. We have several activities, and need people to run it. We don't want Jeff to cook for us. If you want to bring something or need special constraints, bring it. Scheduled: mead making, bee beard, possible candle making. Need a volunteer since Jim can't do both. Beards are fun. Couple kid activities but need someone to come forward tonight. Guest speaker is promised, but he has a 10 hour drive. The date is Sunday July 20th. Esteemed Dr Steve Shepard. (Quick credentials) Steve is doing this free, so we need to show up. He will likely even bring some students. Can't possibly be a better plan, with the speaker the spot and the event. We need volunteers. Sign up sheet will be put out now. There is plenty of space at the farm. Need activities. Ideas? Learning? Bouncy castle? 11 am. July 20th. Informative and fun time to talk about bees. Have some people who want to host a bee yard. Lake Stevens, easy access, water, fenced in area up on a hill. Talk to Jeff or Larry or Mike, at least 2 people who can do that. Dave says swarm calls come in for bumblebees. But if you are interested let him know. Treasurers report. 5k in bank at present time. Q are we tax exempt? Yes. Jeff asks do we get asked about beekeeping when we are out? Sure but we need something new? How about doing the bee dance? Waggle dance is how they communicate where the resources are or where a favorable swarm site is. Talk next month about the bee dance. From (didn't get name). Increase essentials on sale on amazon for ~$15. Tim Lawrence is our speaker tonight He is going to talk about a Neonics project, and he can use our help with a study they are doing. 160 bee yards need to be sampled, we are enlisting help tonight if there are any present that want to have a visit. He is married to queen bee breeder Sue Cobey. Year of beekeeping. Did a book in 2nd grade about bees. fun bee fact: It takes one ounce of honey to fuel a bee's flight around the world.

5 Page 5 BEELINES NORTHWEST DISTRICT BEEKEEPERS Mark your calendars, July 20th is the Annual Bee Club Picnic Place: The picnic will be held at Mark Salser's farm just outside Lake Stevens. This is an amazing 400 acre horse farm with plenty of parking and covered space. Key Guest: Our key guest will be Steve Sheppard PhD. Steve is head of WSU's entomology department whose main interest is the Honey Bee and Beekeeping. Steve, along with a few of his grad students will be giving mini talks pertaining to our favorite subject, and Steve will do several hive side inspection/talks a on all sorts of interesting tidbits. Steve will be available to field your questions. Additional Picnic Activities: We are also planning to have demonstrations on the following topics and activities: making mead wax and candle making cosmetics from hive products bee beard contest!!! a "bouncy house" for the kids There WILL NOT be any interactions with the horses. Food: The club is providing free hot dogs, hamburgers and drinks. We ask you to bring something to share that is edible. We will need an RSVP to Mark Salser ( mark@polestarfarm.com ) with numbers of attendees so we can assure enough food. More on this later, stay tuned. NWBDA Board Members Jeff Thompson: president@nwdba.fatcow.com Mike Miller: millermd10@gmail.com David Whitlock: secretary@nwdba.fatcow.com Larry Brainard: larrybrainard@comcast.net Mark Salser: mark@polestarfarm.com Elisabeth Douglas: hotredracer@yahoo.com Got Ideas? Please send suggestions and/or newsletter content (announcements, articles, humor, links, news, photos, reviews, etc.) to: christa.miller@live.com Beelines Editor s Mike & Christa Miller