Southside Beekeepers Association May 2017

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1 Southside Beekeepers Association May OFFICERS: President: Harvey Joyner Vice President: Jerry Taylor & Bucky Moore Treasurer: Donna Rogers Secretary: Sue Moore Program Coordinator: Karen Joyner Newsletter Editor: Tammy Malkin The President s Corner With Spring hurdling swiftly towards Summer, I can imagine that you have been busy tending to your bees, in addition to the other things in your lives. In case you haven t already noticed, beekeeping calls for commitment and a lot of hard work. Thankfully, we do not have to go it alone. We have resources and relationships that inform and encourage us with this work. The degree to which you benefit from your connection with Southside Beekeepers, with the Virginia State Beekeepers Association, and with others will largely depend upon the level of your participation with these communities. While much can be gotten from reading books, watching the videos, and/or listening to presentations, the best learning, in my opinion, comes from hands-on participation, and this is especially true with beekeeping. On Saturday, May 20, Lucky and Amy Streich will be hosting an Open Hive Demonstration at their home in Drewryville. Lucky is an excellent teacher who will, again, invite us to notice key elements of beekeeping and guide us with basic inspection techniques. I encourage us to take advantage of this learning opportunity. In addition to that, we get to enjoy a grill-out and potluck lunch! In these times of shrinking wildlife habitats, losses in biodiversity, and damage from pollution and insecticides, we have an opportunity to make our world a better place. No garden, no bee yard, and no prayer for nature is too small. No measure of effort is too small from those who care enough for our pollinators to plant some food to feed them. With a strong collective effort, we can give birth to hope for our community of honeybees and humans. As Les Crowder and Heather Harrell put it in their book Top-Bar Beekeeping, In a way, the term beekeeping is a misnomer. The door to a beehive must be open for the hive to live through a day. We don t keep our bees; we give them a place to live and do our best to protect them, and they do the same for us. Thank you for supporting life with every commitment you make. Thank you for giving the respect and gratitude that honeybees deserve. Thank you for your participation with Southside Beekeepers! From the bee yard, Harvey harvey.joyner@gmail.com

2 April Showers Bring May Flowers The 6th Annual Open Hive Demonstration has been set for Saturday May 20 th,weather permitting, (rain date May 27th) at Lucky & Amy s House, Old Belfield Road, Capron, VA We will be suiting up and going through our hives. There will be hives in various stages of development to demonstrate. Learn how to get your smoker going, the best way to work your hives, where you are most likely to find the queen in the hive how to clip and mark a queen and so much more. THERE WILL BE NO MAY MEETING!!! In lieu of the May Meeting we will gather on Saturday May 20 th For the 6 th Annual Open Hive Demonstration WHERE: Lucky & Amy s House Old Belfield Road Capron, VA AM Until ( Rain Date May 27 th ) This will be a great opportunity for seasoned beekeepers to help mentor new beekeepers (newbees) and for those contemplating getting hives (wannabees) to learn more about bees. Learn what to expect from your hives, find a queen, mark a queen, look at brood in various stages of development, etc. Lunch will be served. Please bring a dish to share. We usually eat between 1-2pm. Please bring a bee suit if you have one. If not, please let us know and we will try to locate one for you to borrow. ***If anyone has extra bee suits please bring them with you. ***This is a club event not just for new beekeepers. Please come out and enjoy the day, have some lunch and talk with fellow beekeepers. HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL THERE!! RSVP to Sue Moore at (804)

3 The bees will be working hard filling supers. They can still swarm during June, so keep an eye out for swarms. There is no need to feed the bees unless they are new hives in which case you want to feed, feed, feed! Established hives are gathering plenty of nectar and pollen. You may see the bees hanging out on the front of the hive at night. This is normal. On hot and especially humid evenings, many bees will spend the night outside the hive, clinging to the front of the hive or they may form a beard on the ground in front of the hive. This phenomenon is called "bearding". This would be like you enjoying your cool porch on a hot evening. Continue to monitor your hive. We suggest inspecting your hive every two weeks to ensure the queen is laying well. The bees will need water, so be sure to keep a water source near your hives. We fill bird baths with water so that our bees stay out of our dog's water bowl and our neighbor's pool. Most beekeepers begin to consider the number of mites within hives during June. Some even begin to treat. However, no treatments can be administered in a hive while supers are on. This could contaminate the honey with chemical residue. We do not use chemicals in our hives but we do treat for mites with powder sugar. However, we wait until the last summer nectar flow is over before treating with powder sugar. For Central Illinois, the summer nectar flow ends about the first week of August. If mites become a problem it will be during the summer and fall months. We do not like to disturb our bees during summer nectar flows, nor do we want any traces of powder sugar to be added to the honey. So, we wait until August or September to begin our powder sugar treatment program. Consider having extra empty hives on hand so you will be prepared to catch a swarm. You may be catching swarms from your own hives or a neighbor may call you to catch a swarm in their yard. Remember SWARMS = FREE BEES!! MEMBERSHIPS ARE SBA Memberships expire on June 30th. If you have not done so this year already, don t forget to pay your dues at the June meeting. Dues are $20 per household per year. Cash or checks are accepted. Checks can be made payable to Southside Beekeepers Association and given to Sue Moore, Treasurer of the Assoc. If you joined this year and already paid your dues your dues will not be due again until June * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Volunteers Needed for June and July Meeting Presentations. Please contact Harvey Joyner or Sue Moore if interested.

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6 RECIPE CORNER 3 Large Baking Apples, thickly sliced 2 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons Brown Sugar 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon ¼ cup chopped walnuts 1 tablespoon honey DIRECTIONS 1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar and cinnamon until blended. 2. Add apples and walnuts. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove from the heat and drizzle with honey. Serve warm. Yield: 4 servings.

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