April-May 2005 Next Membership Meeting is Tuesday, May 24, 2005 7:30 p.m.

President Pat Haskell Vice President Tom Merz Secretary Kathy Heslep Treasurer Bennie Liles http://www.beekeepersnova.org Website In This Issue Next meeting program Announcements 4H Report Last Meeting Report Winter Loss Survey Sale Ad Future BANV Meetings Meetings are held at the Falls Church High School. We are frequently moved without notice, so check for announcements at the entrance. May 24, 2005 Cafeteria Terri & Tom Merz: Marketing Other Meetings of Interest May 31, 2005 Deadline Room reservation for VSBA June 25, 2005 Howard Co. FG MSBA Summer Meeting July 8-9, 2005 ODU, Norfolk, VA VSBA Summer meeting David Tarpy, Larry Connor, Wyatt Mangum, Rick Fell, and more August 1-5, 2005 Kent State U, Ohio 50th Anniversary EAS Meeting and Short Course November 5, 2005 Weyers Cave, VA VSBA Winter Meeting

Cafeteria, Falls Church High School 7521 Jaguar Trail Falls Church, VA 22042

May 24: Marketing 1 1 1 2 3 3 Terri and Tom Merz will be the featured speakers at our next meeting in May. They will describe how they developed a good sideline business in producing and selling products of the hive. Arlington County Fair All decisions on participation and prices will be made at the May meeting. Only those participating can vote on pricing. State Meeting Reminder Details for the state meeting on July 8-9 have been published in the VSBA newsletter and web site. Reservations for dorm rooms and reduced registration are due May 31. 2 B A Bee 4H Club Report by Brenda Kiessling The club members gave a demonstration for a Boy Scout pack (100 people) with an observation hive, a "dress-up like a beekeeper" opportunity, a hornet nest with discussion on the difference between honeybees and hornets, a table with examples of pests of bees, a table with queens/queen cells/package(empty) and Benton queen cage, discussion on pollination, a dismantled hive and a chance to try to construct it. They have 2 more requests for demonstrations in May and June. They re-elected officers: Pres. Nicholas Haring, VP Theresa Chick, Sec'y Rory Molleda, Treasurer Steven Haring. They compared notes at the last meeting on swarms. Plans are proceeding for the 4-H Fair to be held August 6-7 at Frying Pan Park.
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Minutes of the BANV Meeting of March 22, 2005 Kathy Heslep, Secretary The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President Pat Haskell. Our speaker, Judy Chen, had been in a car accident and was unavailable. Dane and Larry reported on the packages of bees and the projected delivery of them. Larry Kelly reported on the American Bee Federation meeting. Information included the fact that there has been a 60% loss of bees nationwide, and a 70-80% loss of bees statewide (Virginia). ABF recruited members to talk to legislators regarding pollination needs. California is 100-200 thousand colonies short for pollination of their almond crops. Losses are attributed to varroa. Varroa is now resistant to Amitraz, fluvalinate, and coumaphos. Some beekeepers are out of business. The bee labs must be able to help us as we have to get new miticides approved by EPA by September of 2005. Of these, the most likely were formic acid and oxalic acid. The problem needing resolution is the safe procedures for application so beekeepers dont endanger themselves. A lot of people are using these illegally to survive. Larry Kelley, Pat Haskell, Fred Holland (President, VSBA) and 2 very rough-looking pollinators met with Congressman Goodlett in Roanoke. They stressed that the above acids need to be available by September 05. Long-term, for 2006, we want Congress to double the budget for the bee labs from $8M to $16M, to hire double the amount of staff. We are all urged to write our congressmen as to this and ABF has canned letter available. The names and addresses of our congress people should be distributed. Pat Haskell noted that the Farm Bill comes up every 5 years. The 2006 budget is already done. The Farm Bill next comes up in 2007, so our efforts are needed NOW. Jim Haskell recommends asking for all that we can think of in our urgent letters to congresspersons. There was discussion about bear problems. Maryland had a fight about a proposed bear hunt with bear loving people volunteering to
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build fences around apiaries if the state would cancel the bear season. Keith Tignor and Larry Kelly have been exploring state law in Virginia to determine if money could be received and dispensed to beekeepers. Currently the game warden will issue a kill permit upon demonstrated proof that the beekeeper has suffered damage. Larry is hoping to obtain state money to allow beekeepers to put up electric fences instead of killing the local bear. At the National Honey Board meeting in Anaheim, California, it was learned that California beekeepers had trapped 21 bears with the game wardens permission. Bear fences were discussed. Bear fences are of 3-4 strands of electrified wire, about 3-4 feet high. The lowest strand is about 6 off the ground and the others are about 10 apart. You need 1 ground rod to go 3 into the ground. Southern States has an offering for bee fences. There was reporting by Sylvia Hall on possible marketing opportunities for members. Many of the local government events were cost prohibitive in that the vendor fee would not leave much for profit. She will do a spreadsheet of the possible sites and post it on the website. The question was who among us would be willing to be in charge of organizing each event? The best of the ones available seemed to be Celebrate Fairfax which goes for 3 days in June: June 10, 11, and 12. The county says about 65 thousand people attend this. The 10x10 space is $350. and the deadline is 3-25-05. Alexandrai Earth Day attracts about 350 people. On October 8, Fairfax City has its annual fall festival. That cost is $125.00. Larry Kelly volunteered to be our organizer for Celebrate Fairfax, since 5-6 people expressed interest in participating. Kathy Heslep moved that the club front the booth cost ($350.00) with the participating members repaying the club or donating 10% of proceedsso long as the $350 is repaid to the club. Paul Diehl seconded the motion. Motion carried. Pat Haskell reported that Dr. Rick Fell is pursuing the problem of queen failure. He received a grant for $35,000, but was turned down for an SARE grant. He desperately needs to depend on local bee clubs for resources to support his program. Our own

budget is just breaking even. Pat would like us to make a little more money to support our interests, give more to the 4-H kids, and make a regular donation to Rick Fells program. Alan Fiala moved to accept the budget as it appears in the newsletter. John Ferree seconded the motion. Motion carried. A discussion about the above mentioned queen failure was held. Sylvia Hall expressed interest in a program on raising our own queens. Rick Fell did this 2 years ago and the workshop was very good. Bob Wellemeyer has a hygienic/SMR cross of queens and will sell 3-frame nucs late in April. Billy Davis will have some queens available. They are New World Carniolans crossed with SMR. Pat Haskell reported that there are currently 7 classes going with 120-150 new beekeepers from Spotsylvania west to Page County and north to the Potomac River. She especially thanked Bennie Liles, Dane Hannum, Alan Fiala, Denise Taylor and Eli Alford for their help with the classes. Mentors for the new classes were asked to come on the next Monday to meet the mentees. New members and/or guests were introduced [the secretary apologizes if getting names wrong]: Kathleen Oakland, Renee Closter, Don Griner, Frank Linton, Mark Sherman. Welcome all! Thereafter, the program consisted of a short report by each member as to how they are doing and how their bees made it through the winter. A summary of this may be available at the May meeting, as a handout. The meeting adjourned about 9:30 pm. Annual Winter Loss Survey Keith Tignor, the State Apiarist, has issued the annual call for data on winter losses in the state. The data is not detailed, and can be submitted anonymously. The request is for reply by association, so you may received numerous requests. Reply only once. The form will circulate at the BANV meeting, but if you cannot attend, please get the information to Pat Haskell by May 31. Supply the following simple data: Name (optional)
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No. of hives last fall. No. of hives lost over winter. Check All Applicable Fall/Winter Treatments: None Sugar Feed Pollen Feed Terramycin Fumidil/Fumagillin Grease Patty Menthol Apistan CheckMite+ Formic Acid ApiLifeVar Other Typical Requeen Period Never 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Years or more Equipment for Sale The following is available from an estate sale in SW Virginia. Great for a sideliner! 1. Maxant Chain Uncapper, excellent condition. $750, price new is $1400. 2. 40 gallon stainless steel clarifier, like new, $500. 3. Custom comb cutting stand, stainless steel, $100. Call Bill Hartis after 8 p.m. 276-629-5283.

7250 Idylwood Road Falls Church, VA 22043