February-March 2012

Next Business Meeting Tuesday, March 27, 2012 7:00 p.m. BANV Officers - 2012 President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer In This Issue Rob McKinney Rick Haynes David Michaelson David Thompson Steve Johnson BANV Calendar Presidents Column This Month in the Bee Yard Minutes of Meeting 2 B A Bee: 4 H Club Report Announcements Nuc Hive Sustainability Project News & Notes 1 1 2 3 4 4 5 5

Worker Bees Newsletter John Fraser & Jane Harding Membership T McPalmer & Denise Taylor Recognition Committee Carolyn Foley Librarian Frank Linton Education Pat Haskell Web Master Kamalesh Kalarickal Program Coordinators Spring Nucs Julie Waser Queen Rearing Norma Epley GIS Mapping C Romulo & Jeny Beausoliel

BANV Calendar
February 1, 2012 February 2, 2012 February 4, 2012 Beginning Beekeeping Class Starts Intermediate Class St.Stephens-St. Agnes School, Alexandria @ 7:00 pm Luther Jackson Intermediate School, 3020 Gallows Rd., Falls Church, VA @ 7:00 pm Centerville Regional Library @ 9:00 am Mason District Governmental Center @ 7:00 pm Mason District Governmental Center @ 7:00 pm

The Presidents Hive Stand Rob McKinney Have any of you ever had a normal beekeeping year? It's just my third year pursuing this interest and it hasn't been normal yet! Mother Nature is throwing us another surprise with the mild Winter just passed and the early Spring we find ourselves in, but dealing with these kinds of challenges is part of the fun of beekeeping. It certainly connects us more closely to nature, having to observe weather and foliage, and learn from our bees as they make adjustments and tolerate our goodhearted efforts to help them thrive. Beekeepers are a component of the bees thriving, and your effort to raise healthy colonies is a notable thing. Using Integrated Pest Management techniques, supporting local bees, and orienting toward better genetics are all part of helping the bees thrive. Your club is at the forefront of that effort as well, and your participation in the club is also part of the bees' success. Along the lines of your participation, particularly for the benefit of the many new beekeepers who will graduate the last week of March, let me introduce BANV 2012 and give credit where it's due. First, you probably know who your club officers are and I appreciate their willingness to step into the elected positions and share oversight of some committees, but it's the many folks behind the scenes who keep BANV running strong. Pat Haskell's name is associated with many of the club's gains past and present, from the many newbees joining the club through her beginner classes, to leading the queen-rearing project and nuc program. Under Pat's guidance, Norma Eply and Julie Waser,

Beginning Beekeeping Class Starts February Refresher 28, 2012 Class March 27, Regular 2012 Meeting

BANV March Meeting You are invited to the next meeting of the club on Tuesday, 27 March, 7pm at the Mason District Government Center. We have three main agenda items for the first meeting under the newly elected officers. First, we will be privileged to recognize Bennie Liles for his years of service to BANV as a club officer and mentor. Then, as required by the Constitution and By-Laws, you will vote on the club's budget for the next fiscal year. After the business session and the usual announcements and a break, we can enjoy a presentation from Denise Shreeve who'll share her passion for native bees. You can visit her website at www.OurNativeBees.com. Mentors, bring your newbees! Please bring snacks to share during the break. Coffee will be provided.

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respectively, are charging ahead with those initiatives and the more of us who get behind their work the better off our bees will be in the future. Include Jim Haskell with the classes and refresher training and survivor surveys and you have a dynamic duo that make a difference. You may already know about those projects and others due to the terrific website we have. Kamalesh Kalarickal, our webmaster, has put in untold hours to make www.beekeepersnova.org a useful resource for all of us. Add his management of the list serve and BANV can claim a top-notch online presence benefiting you and anyone who finds us via an online search. Likewise, John Fraser and Jane Harding are to be commended for rejuvenating your newsletter. It's been about two years since our last issue was published so their work is not just timely, it's necessary. And the archived newsletters on our website provide continuity, thanks to Chris Reed's efforts to find long-term members who contributed copies for digitizing. Speaking of continuity, Frank Litton remains our Librarian and Brenda Kiessling remains the link to 4-H. Also along the lines of continuity, or perhaps I should say sustainability, because keeping BANV going strong takes sustained efforts, I'm grateful to Terri McPalmer and Denise Taylor taking on the job of Membership Committee and to Carolyn Foley who will direct the Recognition Committee. And our foray into new technologies for beekeeping via GIS Mapping is underway with Jeny Beausoliel and Chelsie Romulo at the helm. Too many to name, but providing a crucial part of learning to our newest members are the several dozen Mentors...where would we be without you? These standing and ad hoc committees are highlights of club participation that give you an idea about the club's energy and direction. Add in apiary visits and the picnic and honey sales and scholarship awards and outreach and guest speakers...turns out there's still room for more volunteers to sustain BANV and our work on behalf of the bees. For those named and those who may be inspired to add their names, thank you for your support in 2012.

This Month in the Bee Yard - March The usual March weather is composed of freezing nights, cold rain, and snow that lasts no more than 2 or 3 days. We commonly have a full supply of slush, ice, wind, mud and muck. These weather gifts offer no insulating value to the hives and actually suck heat from all surfaces. Of course, we know that the bees only heat the cluster and do not heat the hive box. In most months of March, we can see why. This March is very different. Late March brings silver maple, alder, willow and other maples, as well as henbit and other flowers close to the ground. This March has brought all the above plus wild cherries, ornamental plums, crab apples, and numerous other flowering trees in full bloom by March 15. On warm days with calm breezes, the bees will fly out are bringing back pollen, nectar and large amounts of both. I opened a hive on March 11 and found white wax, newly capped honey and over 100 drone cells that were less than 7 days from hatching. Strong hives are 30 days ahead of the usual schedule. This means that Varroa mites are also hatching with each days batch of brood, so watch for mites. Consider using an organic mite treatment that can be left on the hive even during a nectar flow. Strong hives will not only seek out blossoms, they will also rob out dead hives that have not been sealed. From these hives, they will bring back food, mites, and anything toxic that may have contributed to the death of the dead hive. This robbing habit is one of the reasons for starting the winter with strong hives, as a strong hive may resist infection. Seal any dead hives against robbing, and find the time to clean them out as soon as you can. Melt or dispose of those old, black combs and do not recycle combs from hives that died from uncertain causes. When the weather is good (55 degrees, calm winds), check your hives. The brood nests of many hives are as big as a soccer ball and the queens are pumping out hundreds of eggs per day. Hundreds of new bees are hatching and maturing rapidly. The hive needs pollen and nectar, and these are readily available on warm days. A very cautious beekeeper will add a small pollen patty and/or fondant above the brood nest if it looks like the weather is going to turn foul. March is a good time to organize your equipment and clean up frames, melt wax, repair or replace damaged goods, and to prepare smoker fuel. Build or buy a portable workbench to hold the smoker and hive parts at waist level during inspections. Looking ahead, plan your strategy for swarms. Are you going to use a beetle device? Hive beetles are

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Norma Epley spoke about the queen-rearing project she is heading; interested members should contact her. Free queens will be offered to club members that want them and are willing to report back on the queen's performance. Julie Waser spoke about the Spring Nuc project she is heading; there will be a class on spring nucs on the 4th Tues in April, information is available on the BANV website. Julie will be acting as a broker between Nuc producing members and those members who wish to purchase one. A goal is to provide nucs to students in the current class. Paul Diehl announced that Arlington public Schools will be offering a one night class for beginning beekeepers; information is available on the Arlington Public Schools website. He also mentioned that a friend has 100 plastic frames available if anyone was interesting in buying them. Paul announced the nominees for club officers for the 2012-2013 period. They are Rob McKinney for President, Richard Haynes for 1st VP David Michaelson for 2nd VP, Steve Johnson for Treasurer and David Thompson for Secretary. Paul asked for any other nominations and there were no new nominees. The slate was then approved unanimously. David Michelson made a motion, duly seconded, that the club provide recognition to Bennie Liles for all his service to the club. The motion was approved. Pat Haskell introduced Kathleen Curtis who is starting a program to introduce bees onto the George Mason campus. Pat also announced that a DC beekeepers club will formally organize on the February 24th. Chelsie Romulo gave a presentation on Graphical Information System (GIS) maps and how they could be used to improve information available to beekeepers. Paul Diehl announced that the city of Norfolk had lifted all restrictions on beekeeping. Gale Minnich-Blewis reminded members to check their hives and add fondant if needed. David Michaelson reported that Arlington County is setting up a commission to study urban agriculture in the county and David has volunteered to serve on the commission. New president Rob McKinney introduced the new club officers, announced the date of the next executive meeting and invited members to offer input for ideas for the club's future. He also asked if someone was interested in starting up the club's newsletter. He requested members to consider being a mentor for one or more of the new bee-

active now, and we need to assume that they will attack weak hives on every warm day. March is a good time to go to meetings, assist with beekeeping classes, ask questions, study books and catalogs, order equipment, and ask more questions. Are you going to receive packages - then do you have the equipment ready to receive them? The first delivery of packages from Dane Hannum is set for March 21 between 8 and 10 a.m. and the second for April 9. This winter has been so mild that reports of flying mature drones and queen cells are common. Get ready to check for crowding by March 24, and assume that you will need to add supers for honey by the same date, or early April at the latest. This is not the normal weather cycle, so assume that you need to be in April mode. Minutes of BANV Meeting January 24, 2012 Seventy-seven people attended the first BANV meeting of 2012 at the Mason District Government Center on January 24, 2012. The feature attraction was the annual potluck dinner. The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by president Tom Greiner, who introduced the candidate for president Rob McKinney who then presented a short talk on Bees in Culture, which showed some of the connections between bees and our culture focusing mainly on aspects of astronomy and bees. Larry Kelley made an announcement about the package bees from Georgia. Dane Hannum and Larry will drive together to Wilbanks Apiaries in Georgia and bring back packages of bees. The first shipment is scheduled to arrive March 21 and packages for the beginner classes should be arriving the 9th of April. All packages in the first shipment have been spoken for; there were around 40 packages still available for the second shipment. Pat Haskell talked about the upcoming beginning beekeeper classes. There will be three classes starting Jan. 31 and 111 people have signed up for the class. Members were asked to attend the first classes if they could to provide support for the teaching staff and meet the new students. She also spoke about the class by Rick Fell to be presented Feb 2nd. Dr. Fell will be talking about pheromones and bees. If members are interested in taking state certification beekeeping tests in Feb. they should contact Pat. Dr.Wyatt Magnum will teach a Top Bar classes on 7th April.

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BANV Members Survey on the way

keepers who were starting the classes. Samantha Gallagher then spoke about her project to have Virginia offer a pollinator plate for automobiles. She needs 450 people to commit to purchasing a plate in order for the state to issue them. Information is available online at www.pollinatorplates.com. The meeting was then adjourned. A good time was had by all. Respectfully submitted David Thompson Secretary 2 B A Bee: 4 H Club Report Dr. Brenda Keisling 2 B A Bee, 4-H beekeeping club, is meeting every month. We have a club colony located at Hidden Pond Nature Park. This colony has a queen from sustainable Honeybee Program and was started as a nucleus colony in 2011. It has overwintered well. One of our club activities is that the families in the club take turn being "Family of the Month"- and examine the colony twice during their month. The child club member then makes the "club colony report" to the club in the meeting of the following month. On the most recent report, Lukas Camby told of watching a funeral bee remove a dead bee, the kinds of pollen that the foragers were bringing in, and that we saw a lot of adult small hive beetles. We have three quite new families in our club. If you have a 9-19 year old in your family and would like to join us, please contact the leader at brendakiessling@yahoo.com. Announcements Big anniversary coming up

In partnership with Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation with oversight and technical assistance provided by NOVACC's Geospatial Technology faculty, BANV seeks information through Survey Monkey to create a GIS Apiary Database to develop maps for BANV. The maps will detail different aspects of beekeeping over time of BANV members, and will include Fairfax and Arlington counties, Washington, D.C., and beyond. The survey seeks input from members about what kind of information you would find helpful to your beekeeping operation.** **ANY INFORMATION COLLECTED FOR THIS SURVEY IS SOLELY FOR MAPPING PURPOSES AND WILL REMAIN BANV PROPERTY. ALL ADDRESS AND LOCATION INFORMATION WILL BE KEPT PRIVATE WITHIN A BANV OWNED DATABASE. ANY IMAGES GENERATED USING THIS INFORMATION WILL NOT DISPLAY LOCATION INFORMATION OR SHOW DATA ZOOMED IN CLOSER THAN MILE.** Please take a few minutes to complete the surveyeven if you choose not to participateand let us know what you think! Chelsie Romulo, Jeny Beausoliel, BANV, and Debbie Burtaine, NOVACC. All Things Bugs

All Things Bugs is organizing the entomology section of the USA Science & Engineering Festival http://www.usasciencefestival.org/ One of their six booths will be themed Bees and Pollinators. They are looking for Beekeepers and people interested in pollination to staff the booth during the Festival (April 27-29, 10am-5pm each day),talking with kids and their parents about pollination. They are also looking for display materials and an observation hive. If you can help out at All Things Bugs, contact: Elinor Lichtenberg Nieh Lab, University of California, San Diego Dept. of Entomology, University of Maryland, College Park emlichtenberg@gmail.com

2012 is the 390th anniversary of the arrival of Apis Mellifera in Virginia. Honeybees were included in a shipment of farming and gardening supplies and livestock for the Jamestown settlement in 1622. It is possible that honeybees arrived earlier in Spanish Florida, but there does not appear to be a record of any such arrival. Guide to Hive Beetle Control

Beekeepers concerned about the growing menace of the small hive beetle can consult a free guide to control of the beetle. Clemson University Extension Bulletin 160 is free and very detailed, as well as being written for those who do not have degrees in biochemistry or entomology. The bulletin can be found at http://www.clemson.edu/psapublishing/Pages/ Entom/EB160.pdf

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pm. The need for local bees is vast. If you have not yet AWAKENED to the fact you should be keeping a nuc, WAKE UP! In addition, Julie is looking for a few motivated individuals willing to work on strategies to evaluate and improve our program next year. Anyone who would like to be a committed member of this committee, please email her at beekeepersnova+nucprogram@gmail.com. News Notes Homeowner Insurance for Beekeepers By John Fraser This newsletter item concerns general liability insurance for beekeepers that keep a few hives in their backyard. A general liability policy protects you and your home in the event of a lawsuit or injury claim, if there is coverage. (A later newsletter item will cover product liability insurance for honey sold from the home.) We are interested in identifying insurance companies that will state in writing that their standard homeowner liability policy covers backyard beehives. If you have a written homeowners policy that expressly covers beekeeping, then please bring a copy to the March meeting. If you have a letter or email from an insurance company that indicates yes or no to coverage on any homeowner policy, bring a copy to the meeting. Please do not rush out and call just any insurance agent about your policy coverage. Some insurance companies cancel coverage when they find out about beekeeping activities, so be careful when dealing with your insurance carrier. If you have other information about homeowner liability coverage for beekeepers, then please bring it to the meeting or send it to the author, who will share it with the meeting. All the results will be compiled into an article for the next newsletter. Spring Meeting VIRGINIA BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION March 23-24, 2012 The Spring meeting of the Virginia Beekeepers Association was scheduled for March 23-24 at the Meadow Pavilion at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell, Virginia, a few miles north of Richmond near Kings Dominion. However, VSBA received notice on March 7th that all planned events at Meadow Event Park, including the VSBA March meeting, have been cancelled. The speakers include Dewey Caron, Keith Tignor, Jim Tew, and Ed Levi. The program begins Friday March 23 at 1 p.m. and continues Saturday morning at 8:45 a.m.

2012 Spring Nuc Hive Sustainability Project The new BANV Spring Nucleus Hive initiative is well underway. In an effort to address and promote honeybee sustainability in our club, Julie Waser is working with the clubs queen breeders, teachers, and members to coordinate the production and distribution of spring nucleus (nuc) colonies. As liaison, Julie will coordinate with those who are able to make nucs and the individuals looking to purchase one or two nucs. Nuc producers will set their own prices and terms. The BANV teaching team has requested that if possible, nuc sale prices to students remain $80-90 range. If the club has nucs available after filling student orders, the BANV members who have placed a request online will be notified of remaining nucs. Unfortunately, at this time, it does not look like the club will have an excess of nucs for our members although we are still looking for nuc producers. Orders will be filled in order of date of request, with students having priority over club members. Nuc orders will be filled one nuc at a time before selling seconds. We will post the names in order of request on the website for those who would like to monitor their position on the list. As of today, March 4, 2012, we have orders for 85 spring nucs to be nurtured by our club members. At present, we have only 29 members on the current roster to create and sell nucs to our clubs students. To meet the demand, we need more beekeepers to take part in this venture! As spring has sprung, we have already lost 7 nuc sellers who have taken winter losses. If you can make just ONE NUC (or, better yet, more), PLEASE register your information at the following link: http://beekeepersnova.wordpress.com/clubactivities/spring-nuc-program/spring-nucprogram-suppliers/. State law requires that individuals selling bees have their apiary inspected by a state inspector. Dont worry, its free and the Northern Virginia inspector, Bob Wellemeyer, is a nice guy! He can be contacted at: Robert.Wellemeyer@vdacs.virginia.gov Bob will need your contact information and the specific address of your apiary (and you dont even have to be present for this inspection). To educate, encourage and support our members in successfully making spring nucs, Jim and Pat Haskell will be running their famous Spring Nuc Refresher class on April 24th at the George Mason District Center from 7 9

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Intermediate Beekeeping Classes Pat Haskell organized and is teaching the first Intermediate Beekeeping Class in our part of the country. About 25-30 BANVers are participating in the course that started last October. These hardcore beekeepers meet once a month (1st Thursday night at Luther Jackson Intermediate School) to learn and share knowledge on current beekeeping issues. Classes for the first 6 months have focused on bee biology, behavior and nutrition; with lots of emphasis on current research findings. This summer will see more management-oriented courses. Guest lecturer Dr. Rick Fell presented Honey Bee Pheromones at the February meeting, to which all BANV members were invited. The class is designed for 18-20 sessions, or 1 to 2 years. You Can Do it Too: Improve your Marketing Skills -- Enter a Honey Show! By Anne Frey How good are your honey, candles, mead, photos and baked goodies? Bring your efforts with you to EAS in Burlington in 2012 and show them off! Have you ever had a customer tell you your honey was the best he had ever tasted? Join in with others this summer and strut a little. Don't worry if you're unsure of how to get ready to enter a Honey Show. The Honey Show Committee has made a new page on the EAS website. It includes everything from why not to use smoke when harvesting comb honey (tiny bits of soot end up on the comb surface) to how to transport your jars of liquid honey (not in a carry-on bag on a plane). The education that is gathered together on the EAS Honey Show page has many uses. Learning to get hive products ready for a show is the same as learning how to prepare them for market. By investigating and using the material collected for you on the site, you'll develop skills that improve all your hive products. Just how are great candles made, including finishing the bottoms? How long should a bottling tank or bucket of honey be allowed to settle before you bottle? Not only will you learn to improve your products for market and for the EAS Honey Show, but it's also fun exhibiting at County Fairs, or State Beekeeping meetings. Check out the EAS website for this new Honey Show page and get answers to these and many other questions. There are contributions from former judges, as well as webinars from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm, links to high quality websites, a list of the best books and more. The website could be used as part of a meeting, by connecting a laptop to a projector. If your club has someone who has judged shows, or enjoys entering shows, perhaps those people will give a presentation at a spring or summer meeting, and more members will enjoy entering the next competition. Be sure to read the rules carefully. I didn't before my first EAS show, and only brought one jar of honey for each class (three are needed). At our local County Fair, a new exhibitor was saddened to find she couldn't enter her honey because it had her own label on it. Later, I was so proud to see my entries among the others at another EAS show, and that teenage beekeeper won first place the next year at the fair. EAS Short Course and Conference will be held August 13-17 in Burlington, VT.

Registration is $30 per BANV member for both days, and $25 for one day. The program promises to be educational and practical. Check with your bee equipment supplier to see if the supplier will make free deliveries at the meeting. Some suppliers are happy to make delivery at the meeting without shipping charges. Additional meeting information can be found on the VSBA website at www.virginiabeekeepers.org.

:IMPORTANT: VSBA Meeting Location Change !!! VSBA Spring Meeting March 23 & 24, 2012 MOVED TO ACCA Shrine Center Richmond, VA
Due to circumstances beyond VSBAs control, the location of the March 23rd-24th Spring Meeting has changed. The meeting will now be held at The ACCA Shrine Center in Richmond. This location is approximately 21 miles south of the previous Doswell / Kings Dominion location. New Meeting Location: ACCA Shrine Center 1712 Bellevue Ave Richmond, VA 23227 Directions to New Location: Traveling I-95 South take exit #78, left (north) onto Boulevard, which will change immediately into Hermitage Road. Traveling I-95 North take exit 78, right (north) onto Hermitage Road. Proceed 3 traffic lights and turn left on Bellevue Avenue. About 70 yards to the entrance driveway in middle of long white fence. Signs will be posted at entrance. Beekeeping Classes Beginning Beekeeping Classes The three BANV Beginning Beekeeping Classes are well underway. We have 90 student units (households) this year with around 120 folks attending classes on Tuesday night, Wednesday night, or Saturday morning. Lead instructors are Pat Haskell and Todd Harding; with teaching assistance from Julie Waser, Rob McKinney, and Jim Haskell. Special thanks are in order for the 50+ BANV members who volunteered to mentor our largest crop of new beekeepers ever.