BANV BUZZ

HOW DO I BECOME AN EAS MASTER BEEKEEPER THIS YEAR?

The Master Beekeeper Certication Committee invites qualied EAS members to apply for this years certication exam. Those interested should have a minimum of ve years as a serious beekeeper in some aspect of apiary management, such as a very dedicated hobbyist, a commercial beekeeper, working for a commercial beekeeper, or as an apiary inspector. Anyone wishing to take the Master Beekeeper Certication Exam must submit an application and recommendation by mail to: Susan Fariss, EAS Secretary, 142Cemetery Road, Mocksville, NC 27028, or by email tombcertication@easternapiculture. org. The application and recommendation forms can be downloaded from the EAS website or requested from the Secretary. The deadline for application is July 1, 2013. More information about the Master Beekeeper Certication application process and the exam can be found on the Master Beekeeper webpage athttp:// easternapiculture.org/conferences/ eas-2013/2013-mastrbeekeepers.html. Pennsylvania Beekeepers will welcome you warmly! See you in August!
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE This Month in the Beeyard VSBA Master Beekeeper Info BEES-Online Education USDA/EPA Honeybee Health Hive InspectionsClarication

MAY-JUNE 2013

It's amazing how one bee can seem to change one's fortunes in the beeyard. My experience coming out of last Winter was dismal with greater than 50% losses. I had the fewest surviving hives since my second year of beekeeping. Granted, I'm only in my fourth year and never anticipated having more than a couple colonies, but you know how this passion goes. Bees are good, more bees are better, how about doubling my apiary each year, imagine the honey to be harvested, the nucs I can sell, the pollination my girls will provide, and so on and so on! From what I've read and heard, severe setbacks in beekeeping are common nowadays. I'm learning that from my own experience, as well. But, maybe, if the stars are aligned...or more properly, if the entrances are

The Presidents Hive Stand

properly oriented...one can bounce back. That's my experience so far this Spring, and 90% of that success is due to one queen. Sure, I've bought and installed queens and one of them (yep, just one) returned from her mating ight and seems to be doing well. Certainly I've managed to make a nuc or two to sell to students. But when it comes down to it, one queen has provided all but one or two frames of brood and of nectar/honey/ pollen for my increase. And, that increase has pushed my colony count ahead of where I was last year when I thought I was in the clover! She's an overwintered queen from local stock, a granddaughter of my original Carniolan monarch.
continued on page 2 Want to contribute to the BANV newsletter?

Arlington County Fair Honey Sales Winter Loss Survey Results Fairfax City Council Beekeeping Vote

Write to: beekeepersnova+editor@gmail.com We prefer concisely written material, rather than suggestions & hints. Inclusion depends upon space available, timeliness, and/or relevance. Thanks

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

Hive Stand (cont.) Her choice of mates was not perfect, for if the personality of a colony descends from the male genes, she let some bad boys among the DCA catch her. This colony is a bit more fractious than all the others, though nothing close to overly defensive or hot. But I'm willing to overlook her attitude due to the generous contribution she's made to all the other hives that now populate the bee yard. What's the lesson? Well, this afrms my faith in Summer requeening to mitigate varroa mite problems and have a strong queen going into Fall and the succeeding year. I have learned to love overwintering in nucs. I believe using a local queen for sustainability reasons is the way to go. And I can't

2
ignore that this all may simply be blind luck and happenstance. Hey, I'll take some luck! I've been lucky with all the help I've gotten from my Mentor and other BANV'ers, that's for sure. And that goes for double when it comes to how your club is performing. I think we've put together some good programs for you, I know we've delivered great education to newbees and experienced beeks, and I'm certain we've added some features and initiatives to the club I hope you've found valuable. I hope they continue. They will, as long as one of you steps up when the need is there...that's been BANV's recipe for success long before I came along...and I'm sure it will keep happening. I just feel lucky about that, you know?

LEARNING BY WEIGHING HIVES

When should I add supers? When does the honey ow end? How much should I feed in the fall? Have the bees swarmed? When should I re-queen? When should I create nucs? Those and many other questions can be answered through an understanding of how the net weight of a hive changes as the season progresses. Net weight is the weight of the bees, the wax and the stores within a hive. It excludes the weight of the woodenware. Tracking the gross weight would not be very instructive because that changes signicantly as the conguration of the hive is changed. This chart demonstrates how the net weight of a hive changes as the seasons change. The weight declines as winter stores are consumed. It then increases dramatically with the advent of the honey ow. This colony, typical of Italian bees, ends the nectar ow with a huge population that consumes nearly all of its stores by late summer. That necessitates feeding of signicant amounts of syrup in order to build up their winter stores. This is true even when the amount of honey harvested in minimized. The cycle then repeats itself. For a more extensive discussion of the value of net weight monitoring, check out www.beeweigh.wordpress.com Ernie Becking

120"

HIVE$M9$,$1D$1M$
13"Jun("Gross"wt"201"lbs" Swarm??" 19"May"Gross"Wt"193"lbs"

100"

Took"3"frames"honey" Swarm??"

Took"21"lbs"honey"

80"

Took"17"lb"honey" Took"23"lb"honey"
Net$Wt$
60"

40"

23"Mar(Nectar"Flow"start"
20"

4"April"("nectar"ow" Colony"started"June"2010"
0"

add"Miller"Feeder"

add"Miller"Feeder"

11 " 1( Fe b( 1 1 1( M " ar (1 1" 1( Ap r(1 1" 1( M ay (1 1" 1( Ju n( 11 " 1( Ju l(1 1" 1( Au g( 11 " 1( Se p( 11 " 1( Oc t(1 1 " 1( No v( 11 " 1( De c( 11 " 1( Ja n( 12 " 1( Fe b( 12 1( " M ar (1 2" 1( Ap r(1 2" 1( M ay (1 2" 1( Ju n( 12 " 1( Ju l(1 2 " 1( Au g( 12 " 1( Se p( 12 " 1( Oc t(1 2" 1( No v( 12 1( " De c( 12 " 1( Ja n( 13 " 1( Fe b( 1( 13" M ar (1 3"

1( Ja

n(

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

Winter Loss Survey 2012 2013: Preliminary Results Preliminary Results: Honey Bee Colony Losses in the United States, Winter 2012-2013 May 1, 2013 Dennis van Engelsdorp and the other researches in the Bee Informed Partnership have published preliminary results of their Winter Loss Survey for the 2012-2013 winter. The Bee Informed Partnership, in collaboration with the Apiary Inspectors of America (AIA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), released preliminary results for the seventh annual national survey of honey bee colony losses. For the 2012/2013 winter season, a total of 6,287 U.S. beekeepers provided validated responses. Collectively, responding beekeepers managed 599,610 colonies in October 2012, representing about 22.9%1 of the countrys estimated 2.62 million colonies.

Preliminary survey results indicate that 31.1% of managed honey bee colonies in the United States were lost during the 2012/2013 winter. This represents an increase in loss of 9.2 points or 42% over the previous 2011/2012 winters total losses that were estimated at 21.9%. This level of loss is on par with the 6 year average total loss of 30.5%. On average, U.S. beekeepers lost 45.1% of the colonies in their operation during the winter of 2012/2013. This is a 19.8 point or 78.2% increase in the average operational loss compared to the previous winter (2011/2012), which was estimated at 25.3%. The difference between average loss and total loss is explained by the respondent pool: while a majority of the respondents (95%) were backyard beekeepers, they managed a small fraction of the colonies represented in the survey (6%). For this reason total loss (which is more heavily inuenced by commercial beekeeper losses) is more

3
representative of national losses. Survey participants indicated that they considered a loss rate of 15% as acceptable, but 70% of them suffered losses greater than this. Previous survey results found a total colony loss in the winters of 21.9% in the winter of 2011/2012, 30% in 2010/2011, 34% in 2009/2010, 29% in 2008/2009, 36% in 2007/2008, and 32% in 2006/2007. The Bee Informed Partnership is funded by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA. Results posted online here http://beeinformed.org/2013/05/winterloss-survey-2012-2013/ [The above preliminary summary has been edited and all footnotes and citations have been removed. For the full report, please go to the online posting. BANV Editors]

VSBA SPRING 2013 MEETING LOCATION and SCHEDULE Greenbrier Elementary School,Virginia Beach,Virginia VSBA MEETING -JUNE 21 & 22, 2013 PRELIMINARY AGENDA Friday, June 21 registration - 12:00pm - 1:00pm meeting 1:00pm - 5:00pm Opening Remarks Dennis Van Engelsdorp (topic TBA)Wyatt Mangum Colony Usurpation Dennis Van Engelsdorp (topic TBA) Dr Troy Anderson The Decline of Honey Bees in Virginia: Saturday, June 22 registration - 8:00am - 8:45am
The Latest Buzz on Pollinator Week Events! Did you RSVP for the Free Film Screening of Vanishing of the Bees? Pollinator Week begins on June 17, 2013! What better way to start off the week celebrating pollinators than by joining us for a free screening of the acclaimed lm,Vanishing of the Bees? The screening will take place on Monday, June 17 at 7pm at the historic Hill Center, Capitol Hill, Washington, DC. After the lm, there will be an

meeting 8:45am - 5:15pm Opening Remarks Buddy Marterre "Bee Stings: Immunology, Allergy, and Treatment" Keith Tignor State Apiarist Report Buddy Marterre "Why Treat for Varroa?" Business Meeting Lunch on own Master Beekeeping Update Breakout sessions Wyatt Mangum Top Bar Beekeeping: Financially sustainable) Beekeepers Guild Meadmaking workshop Norfolk Beekeepers Bee Vac building workshops For more information, the VSBA Website is at http:// www.virginiabeekeepers.org/content/vsba-2013-springmeeting-agenda
of pollinators and the plight of the honeybee For more information about our Pollinator Campaign, visit Beyond Pesticides BEE Protective webpage. Location: Abraham Lincoln Hall Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20003 When: Monday, June 17, 2013 7:00pm to 9:00pm Cost: Free! RSVP Today!

exclusive director discussion with Maryam Henein! Come by and join the pollinator party! To help you BEE protective and keep the buzz going in your neighborhood there will be: Free packets of organic pollinator friendly seeds The newly published BEE Protective Habitat Guide Additional educational materials on the importance

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

Beekeeper Education and Engagement System (BEES) Online Courses From NCSU Continue learning with an online course! http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/ apiculture/BEES.html#CurrentCourses The Beekeeper Education and Engagement System (BEES) is a new online resource for beekeepers at all levels. The system is entirely internetbased and open to the public. The structure of the BEES network is broken into three ascending levels of difculty (Beginner, Advanced, and Ambassador) and three general areas of content (honey bee biology, honey bee management, and the honey bee industry). This is the online course offering that Dr. Tarpy spoke about in a BANV Spring meeting.
BANV Spring Nuc Program Update: After a slow spring start, I am happy to announce that the clubs spring nuc program was a success. A total 10 club members were able to create and nurture 42+ spring nucs (34 med and 8 deeps) to sell to our newest members. I am thrilled to report that all student orders that were placed have been lled. Two members (that I know of), Rob McKinney and Todd Harding made nucs with their mentees. In an effort to help club members who placed orders and did not receive nucs, Mr. Bill Husztek stepped forth and worked w/ several of them to create splits off his own hives. Individuals who participated in this sustainable effort: Pat & Jim Haskell,
Paul Oman, Rob McKinney, Julie Waser, Roger Wilhelm, Marvin Winston, Gale Minnich Blewis, Bill Husztek, Todd Harding It has been my pleasure to work with students and seasoned beekeepers to get this program started for our club. When I stepped into this role, we had just the Haskells producing nucs. Over the rst two years we have had 20 club members make and sell a nuc. In order for me to focus on the BANV new student classes, I am stepping down from this position next year. What does this mean? The club needs a new nuc program coordinator. This is an opportunity for anyone in the club (new or seasoned beekeeper) to take an active role in helping all of us become more sustainable. The job requires a small amount of time between February and June. It is a great way to meet fellow beekeepers and give back to the club. If you have interest, please call or email me. 703-281-2958 jwaser@cox.net.

This Month in the Beeyard

Strong Hives Need Honey Supers The strongest hives in your beeyard should require honey supers. Blackberry brambles are blooming in wild profusion all over Northern Virginia as I write, and many other nectar sources will come into bloom in the next 3-4 weeks. The nectar ows will dry up after July 4, so make honey now. Waxmoths It is early June, so the wax moths that survived the winter are ying and are attacking any brood combs that are not protected by active honeybees. If you have brood combs from last year without bees, wax moths will nd them and will lay eggs, which will produce a mess. There are many ways to moth-proof stored combs. Check your textbooks and the internet. Queen Supersedure Rates Always Check for a Queen or Signs of Queen Activity As you know, there are least 4 major suppliers of packages that have customers in this region, so this note is not aimed at any one supplier. I am hearing from beekeepers around the region that more than 50% of the queens from packages delivered e a r l i e r t h i s y e a r h av e b e e n superseded, and that more than half of hives established with packages (and many purchased nucs), have gone queenless for reasons other than bad management. If you are working with marked queens, you will be able to tell when a new queen appears. If not, then now is a good time to learn how to mark queens. Of course, if a package-started hive has had a tremendous spring, it may have swarmed and the original queen may have own off with the prime swarm. Mark that off to bad management and look for the swarm cells that should have been left behind. If you got a great package and it swarmed within two months, then the queen was not superseded. Even a hive booming with bees may be queenless for reasons other than swarming. Look for eggs, wet larvae, and other stages of uncapped brood even if you dont spot the queen on every inspection. In the absence of very young brood, conduct a careful examination and take steps to allow a queenless hive to raise a new queen. If the examination produces a newly hatched queen, then wait a week and search again for young brood.

Mite Treatments One theory as to why last winter showed high loss rates among beehives is that varroa mites enjoyed s eve r a l e x t r a g e n e r a t i o n s o f reproduction due to the very warm, very early spring. The advocates of t h i s t h e o r y s ay t h a t v a r r o a treatments in the late summer 2012 were too little, too late. This theory has led some experienced beekeepers to advise treating for mites as early as now. With some of the newer mite treatments being permitted to stay on during a nectar ow, it seems that it may be practical to treat for mites before the nectar ows dry up at the end of June. Are any beekeepers treating for mites now, or in the past few weeks? What results are you seeing?

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

USDA and EPA Release New Report on Honey Bee Health

WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today released a comprehensive scientic report on honey bee health. The report states that there are multiple factors playing a role in honey bee colony declines, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure. U.S. honeybee colonies need increased genetic diversity. Genetic variation improves bees thermoregulation (the ability to keep body temperature steady even if the surrounding environment is different), disease resistance and worker productivity. pesticides to bees in the eld and the potential for impacts on bee health and productivity of whole honey bee colonies. Those involved in developing the report include USDAs Ofce of Pest Management Policy (OPMP), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Agricultural Research Services (ARS), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), National Resource Conversation Service (NRCS) as well as the EPA and Pennsylvania State University. The report will provide important input to the Colony Collapse Disorder Steering Committee, led by the USDA, EPA and the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). An estimated one-third of all food and beverages are made possible by pollination, mainly by honey bees. In the United States, pollination contributes to crop production worth $20-30 billion in agricultural production annually. A decline in managed bee colonies puts great pressure on the sectors of agriculture reliant on commercial pollination services. This is evident from reports of shortages of bees available for the pollination of many crops. The Colony Collapse Steering Committee was formed in response to a sudden and widespread disappearance of adult honey bees from beehives, which rst occurred in 2006. The Committee will consider the reports recommendations and update the CCD Action Plan which will outline major priorities to be addressed in the next 5-10 years and serve as a reference document for policy makers, legislators and the public and will help coordinate the federal strategy in response to honey bee losses. To view the report, which reportedly represents the consensus of the scientic community studying honey bees, please visit http://www.usda.gov/documents/ ReportHoneyBeeHealth.pdf

Honey bee breeding should There is an important link between the emphasize traits such as hygienic health of American agriculture and the behavior that confer improved health of our honeybees for our resistance to Varroa mites and countrys long term agricultural diseases (such as American productivity, said Agriculture Deputy foulbrood). Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. The forces Poor Nutrition Among Honey Bee impacting honeybee health are complex Colonies: and USDA, our research partners, and key Nutrition has a major impact on stakeholders will be engaged in individual bee and colony addressing this challenge. longevity. A nutrition-poor diet The decline in honey bee health is a can make bees more susceptible complex problem caused by a to harm from disease and combination of stressors, and at EPA we parasites. Bees need better are committed to continuing our work forage and a variety of plants to with USDA, researchers, beekeepers, support colony health. growers and the public to address this Federal and state partners challenge, said Acting EPA Administrator should consider actions affecting Bob Perciasepe. The report weve land management to maximize released today is the product of available nutritional forage to unprecedented collaboration, and our promote and enhance good bee work in concert must continue. As the health and to protect bees by report makes clear, weve made signicant keeping them away from progress, but there is still much work to pesticide-treated elds. be done to protect the honey bee population. There is a Need for Improved In October 2012, a National Stakeholders Collaboration and Information Sharing: Conference on Honey Bee Health, led by Best Management Practices federal researchers and managers, along associated with bees and with Pennsylvania State University, was pesticide use, exist, but are not convened to synthesize the current state widely or systematically followed of knowledge regarding the primary by members of the cropfactors that scientists believe have the producing industry. There is a greatest impact on managed bee health. need for informed and coordinated communication Key ndings include: between growers and Parasites and Disease Present Risks to beekeepers and effective Honey Bees: collaboration between The parasitic Varroa mite is stakeholders on practices to recognized as the major factor protect bees from pesticides. underlying colony loss in the Beekeepers emphasized the U.S. and other countries. There need for accurate and timely bee is widespread resistance to the kill incident reporting, chemicals beekeepers use to monitoring, and enforcement. control mites within the hive. Additional Research is Needed to New virus species have been Determine Risks Presented by Pesticides: found in the U.S. and several of these have been associated with The most pressing pesticide Colony Collapse Disorder research questions relate to (CCD). determining actual pesticide exposures and effects of Increased Genetic Diversity is Needed:

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

Minutes of BANV Meeting May 28,2013 Richard Haynes called the meeting to order at 7:10 pm. He then led a discussion about the List Serv and the BANV website. The issues of a members only restricted portion of the website, is there a need for private information to be available, if there should be a list of members available on a voluntary basis were among those discussed as being a subject that should be brought before the Board. Mr. Haynes then introduced Pam Fischer from the Beekeeper's Guild of Southeast Virginia, who gave an informative and interesting talk about Organic Beekeeping. She discussed the differences between organic honey and honey that was obtained from Certied Naturally Grown (CNG) hives. Additional announcements were then made by Paul Diehl about the next beekeeping class in the Arlington County adult education class is to be held August 13. Terry McPalmer spoke briey about the upcoming county fair August 8-11, mentioning that to enter the honey judging contest one did not need to be a county resident. Entries may be dropped off August 7-8 and this year there is a new category called the black jar category in which the honey is to be submitted in a black jar and judged solely on taste. The meeting was then adjourned at 8:10 pm. Dave-Secretary, BANV

6
VSBA Master Beekeeper Program Testing for Summer Meeting Testing Schedule for the June 21 -22, 2013 VSBA meeting in Chesapeake,VA. Registration: Can sign up in advance (click here for application) OR register at the meeting. Cost: $25.00 for the Qualied or Certied testing. This includes the written and practical hive inspection testing which will be held on another date and at another location. Make checks payable to VSBA. Written Testing (Qualied and Certied levels) - Friday June 21 & Saturday June 22, immediately following conclusion of the meeting program in the auditorium. Practical Testing for those who have taken the Qualied or Certied Written testing in the past: Schedule: Practical "In hive" testing Friday June 21, 2013 from 10 am - Noon in VA Beach,VA. For further information, please contact VSBA MBP Coordinator: Frank S. Walker (757)641-5933 or e-mail: mail@norfolkbeekeepers.net
queenright, however, no health certicate will be issued for just nucs. Only inspected hives/ nucs will get stickers. As to the question about how many hives per yard get inspected, theres a formula to govern that. For yards with 1-10 hives, 100% of them will get inspected.Yards with 11-20 hives, 50% will get inspected (mix of nucs and parent hives) and so on. The health certicate covers the entire yard regardless of how many hives actually get inspected (and, again, only inspected hives will get stickers). The link to the Virginia Bee Law is here: http:// leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod +TOC03020000044000000000000. That's the law that governs hive inspections. There isn't any ofcial reference to inspection stickers as such. When we inspect beehives we issue a sticker for the hives and/or a Certicate of Health. If you plan to sell bee equipment like nucs, you must provide the purchaser a copy of the health certicate to show that your hives have been inspected. Beth McClelland Bee Inspector

2 B A BEE 4-H club --the happy faces at our honey tasting. We had honeys from around the world.

NUC INSPECTION REQUIREMENT FOR NUCS TO BE SOLD In summation "If a yard is inspected and a health certicate is issued, regardless of how many hives were inspected, the yard is considered healthy and nucs can be made/sold from that yard for the rest of that year. If an entire yard is inspected, the stickers are optional. If you simply want some nucs inspected (e.g., for a quick sale), they will get stickers which show that they are apparently healthy and queenright (but no health certicate issued). Apiary Inspection Standards Apiaries will be inspected with priority going to hives/equipment for sale or moving out of state. If parent hives are inspected, nucs can be made from them for the rest of that year (all certicates expire at the end of the calendar year they are written in). The health certicate is proof of inspection and a copy should be provided at time of sale. If just nucs are inspected, then stickers will be placed on those nucs showing they are disease free and

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

7
Bee Inspection Serv ice Available in Norther s n Virginia Beth McClelland will pe rform inspections focusing on nucs in Fairfa x, Arlington and Alexandria. Contact he r via her work email (beth.mcclelland@vda cs.virginia.gov) to schedule an appointm ent. Provide your phone number, add ress/location of hives and number of nucs to be inspected. As a backup for schedule changes/concerns, leave a message at 703-973-2783. Fairfax City Council May Vote to Allow Beekeeping On June 10, 2013, the Cit y of Fairfax Planning Commission un animously recommended that the City Council modify the zoning ordina nce to specify that the keeping of hone y bees is allowed within the City of Fairfa x. The text of the proposed re-zoning can be found here: http://fairfax.granicus.com / MetaViewer.php? view_id=2&clip_id=107 1&meta_id=3438 2

Important Details For Honey Sales at Arlington County Fair Arlington County Fair - August 7-11 2013 Once again BANV will have a Honey Sales and beekeeping information booth at the fair. See http://arlingtoncountyfair.us for complete information. As always, all BANV members are eligible to enter their hive products in the various hive product competition categories. Be sure to get your entries registered Wednesday, August 7 from 4 p.m. 9 p.m. or Thursday, August 8 from 7 a.m. 9 a.m. BANV members with honey or other hive products for sale should contact Tom Greiner via e-mail at tomgwinterhill@yahoo.com. We need to nalize the product/price list as soon as we can, so send that e-mail today if you have questions and/or want to participate. Also contact Tom if you would like to volunteer for booth duty. We need to have enough folks there to help sell honey and talk with the public about bees and beekeeping. The booth hours will be: Friday,
August 9, 2013 4 p.m. 10 p.m Saturday,
August 10, 2013 10 a.m. 9 p.m. Sunday,
August 11, 2013 11 a.m. 7 p.m. You don't have to have a lot to sell, just what you want to unload for $7, $8, or whatever we decide to charge for a pound this year. And between sales and telling people about all the fun of beekeeping there's always spirited discussions with the other beekeepers. Tom Greiner Eastern Apiculture Society 2013 UPDATE

Have you heard about bee venom therapy, which combines honey bee stings with techniques of acupuncture? Do you know that honey bees make a glue called propolis that has antibiotic properties? Have you heard that honey and bee-collected pollen may reduce allergies to local pollens? http://gallery.mailchimp.com/3895e292b40d1d247eb27eb0e/images/ apitherapy.gifApitherapy is the medical use of honey beeproducts, including honey, pollen,bee bread, royal jelly, propolis and bee venom. The Eastern Apicultural Society is proud to announce thatFrederique Keller, DOM, L.Ac.,and President of the American Apitherapy Society (AAS), will conduct two apitherapy workshops and several talks at EAS 2013 on August 8, 2013 (8:00 a.m.-5:30 p.m) in coordination with AAS Board Member,Craig Byer. Frederique and Craig will share their knowledge and experience in honey bee related therapies; see a demonstration of bee venom therapy and make a jar of propolis-containing salve to take home! .Click here to register for all or part of the EAS 2013 Short Course and Conference. The entire schedule may be found atwww.easternapiculture.org/addons/2013/conference.pdf.

BANV members Ian No rthrup and Frank Linton testied in favor of the revised ordinance, which was pre par O'Brien of the City Plann ed by Kelly ing department, with input from the BANV and other local, state, and regional beekeeping and regulatory organizations. The City Council will tak e up the proposal on June 25, 2013 . Frank Linton

President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer

Rob McKinney Rick Haynes David Michaelson David Thompson Steve Johnson

BANV OFFICERS 2012-2013

beekeepers+president@gmail.com beekeepers+1vicepresident@gmail.com beekeepers+2vicepresident@gmail.com beekeepers+secretary@gmail.com beekeepers+treasurer@gmail.com

GIS Mapping Librarian Membership Mentoring Newsletter Team Outreach Queen Program Recognition Spring Nuc Program Webmaster Chelsie Romulo & Jeny Beausoleil Frank Linton Terri McPalmer Amy Bennett John Fraser & Chris Dugmore Martha Kiene Norma Epley Carolyn Foley Julie Waser Kamalesh Kalarickal

Workerbees
beekeepers+gis@gmail.com beekeepers+librarian@gmail.com beekeepers+membership@gmail.com beekeepers+mentoring@gmail.com beekeepers+editor@gmail.com beekeepers+outreach@gmail.com EpleyBeeks@yahoo.com beekeepers+recognition@gmail.com beekeepers+nuc@gmail.com beekeepers+webmaster@gmail.com

NEWSLETTER | May-June 2013

EAS 2013 Comes to Pennsylvania

The Planning Committee for the 2013 Conference& Short Course is proudtointroduce not one, but two, keynote speakers for our annual event!

Dr. Mark Winston,Simon Fraser U

Mr. Brian Snyder, PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture

The keynotes will be delivered on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 . . . but wait, let me take a step back for those of you who haven't been to an EAS Conference week before. The format of this annual event follows: This year, the "Short Course" spansMonday through Wednesday.The tracks in 2013 will include Core and Advanced Sessions, and a curriculum on Queen Rearing, Top Bar Hive Management, Natural Beekeeping, Sideliners and Train-the-Trainers. On Wednesday, though, the Conference and Workshop Series beginswith the keynote addresses and ends with a social gathering at a local picnic ground. If you're not too tired by quittin' time on Thursday, you should attend the annual Auction Dinner, which is a fundraiser for the research grants that EAS awards each year. Starting Wednesday, your favorite vendors of beekeeping supplies, books and gadgets will be on hand with their wares. In the samevendor area will be bee fabric for the quilters, bee art & jewelry andmuch, much more! And, oh yeah - there's a HONEY SHOW with prestige and prizes to be won. Admit it, you're proud of your bees' work! So bring it, enter it and show it off! By Friday, you will have met so many new and interesting people, you will want one last chance to get together with them before it's over - the Annual Banquet! Pennsylvania's own Maryann Frazier is ably organizing the program for Wed. through Fri. Invited speakers are conrming their intention to be with us and pinning down the titles of their talks and workshops. Check the EAS websiteoften for conrmed speakers, lodging information andotherupdates. There's so much to see and do in and around West Chester, PA that you may want to make it your family vacation! Spend a day or two touringtogether inPhiladelphia,Valley Forge or Dutch Country. By Wednesday, they'll know their way around on their own and you can get back to the conference! Or stick around an extra day at the end and enjoy the PA State Beekeepers Association Picnic, complete with a "hive crawl" and mead tasting, in a nearby urban area on Saturday August 10. Pennsylvania beekeepers will welcome you warmly! See you in August!