Submitted by: Terry Dahms, Pres.
East Central Iowa Beekeepers Assoc.
internet: [log in to unmask]
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THE BUZZ JULY, 1994
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A newsletter published monthly as a cooperative effort by The Iowa
Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and The Iowa Honey
Producers Association (IHPA), an affiliate member of the Iowa
Horticultural Society. Copy deadline is the 20th of each month.
Your ideas, comments and letters are welcomed and encouraged.
EDITOR: Bob Cox, State Apiarist, Iowa Dept. of Agriculture,
Wallace Building, Des Monies, IA. 50319 Phone: (515) 281-5736.
IHPA MEMBERSHIP: Membership dues in the Iowa Honey Producers
Assn. are $5.00/year. Send to Gordon Powell, IHPA Treasurer.
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Dear Fellow Beekeepers,
I think it is 1988, but my age tells me it is 1994. The bees
up until now look just like they did in 1988. In April and May
the bees built up like they are suppose to do. I think they look
great. Our queens were accepted just like they should be in our
new splits and even as we were requeening. The bees were able to
work the dandelions this year, as they haven't been able to the
past three to four years. There was plenty of pollen and nectar
for them and the queens started laying real well.
I talked to several other people that ordered two and three
pound packages the middle of April, and the first of June were
putting on honey supers. The bees I have looked at the post
couple of days were putting honey into the cells as fast as the
brood was hatching. We have to be careful not let them plug up
their brood chambers and crowd the queen out of laying space. I
feel that this can cause swarming.
We had a nice rain a few days ago, maybe about two inches or
so. This should keep the flowers blooming for the bees. The
weather has been great this spring. It's a refreshing change.
Don't forget the Central Iowa/Iowa Honey Producers Field Day on
July 23rd at the Riverside Bible Camp north of Story City. This
should be a fun day for the family.
State Fair is just around the corner, too. It is not as far
off as it may seem. Start planning to enter into the Apiary,
Foods made with Honey or Honey-Walnut Classic competition at the
fair this year. There is great fun in doing this and prize money
also. An entry form for Apiary has been included on page 7.
SCOTT COUNTY BEEKEEPERS ANNUAL PICNIC
Sunday, July 10th at 1:00 p.m. the Scott County Beekeepers
Association will hold their annual picnic at the Duck Creek Park
Shelters on East Locust Street in Davenport, Iowa. A collection
will be taken up to pay for fried chicken catered from Riefes
Restaurant. You should bring a side dish, salad or dessert to
share and your own drink and table service.
Come, bring a friend and compare notes on this year's honey
crop. Bring a small sample of liquid, creamed, or comb honey for
others to taste. Maybe this could be a time to make plans to take
some of the best honey to the state fair in Des Moines in August.
REMINDER TO ALL BEEKEEPING FAMILIES
Help promote our favorite product--HONEY! Bring your favorite
honey-sweetened snack to the July 23rd Beekeeping Field Day at the
Riverside Bible Camp, Story City, Iowa. Share a tasty honey treat
with us. See the program for the meeting on page 3.
(insert Leo's signature)
LAPLANDERS HONEY CONFERENCE
Friday, September 9th, the Laplanders Honey Conference of
Southern Iowa and Northern Missouri will be held in Allerton, Iowa
at the "Inn of the Six Toed Cat." Dinner will be held at 6 p.m.
and the program at 7 p.m.
The following day, Saturday, September 10th at 10 a.m. the
Honey-Walnut Classic will also be held at the "Inn" in Allerton.
Look for more details in next month's newsletter.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
JULY
13-15 Eastern Apicultural Society Annual Conference in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Contact Maryann Frazier
telephone: (814) 865-4621.
23 IHPA/CIBA Summer Field Day at Riverside Bible Camp,
Story City, Iowa. Contact Gordon Powell or Bob Cox
for further details.
AUGUST
11-21 Iowa State Fair Apiary Exhibit, 2nd Floor of
Agriculture Building. Come see the best!
SEPTEMBER - NATIONAL HONEY MONTH
10-11 Laplanders Honey Conference 6:00 p.m. the 10th and
Honey Walnut Classic 10 a.m. the 11th both at the
Inn in Allerton, Iowa.
NOVEMBER
11-12 Iowa Honey Producers Annual Meeting in Marshalltown.
WANTED: Contact with beekeepers who collect and market Bee
Pollen. We are examining the nutritional qualities of pollen from
various crops, as well as seeking suitable quantities for use in
our Raw Food products. Contact Raja Tamaran, Vital Health Network,
P.O. Box 570, Kealakekua, Hawaii 96750 phone: (808) 328-8052
FAX (808) 329-7651.
FOR SALE: Dadant 4-frame stainless extractor with motor (will
handle 8 shallow frames) - $250; 40 gal. galvanized tank with
2-inch gate - $50; 12 shallow supers with comb - $5.00 ea.; 7 deep
supers with frames, 2 smokers, 2 bee veils, electric uncapper. My
beeyard was destroyed by fire. Contact Don Kraus, Box 275, Britt,
IA 50423 phone: 515-843-3133.
FOR SALE: Dadant 4-frame s/s extractor. Hand crank or power
drive. $125 w/out the motor. Call Phil Ebert in Lynnville, Iowa
515-527-2639.
STATE APIARISTS REPORT
Please sign up to help in the State Fair Honey Booth this year.
It's a great way to spend a part of a day. (see sign-up on p. 6)
The number of swarms this year must be at least double that of
last year. I am running that far ahead on bee swarm calls here in
my office. I think this year has caught a lot of beekeepers off
guard after last year's slow and poor build up. You couldn't
hardly split your bees enough this spring.
Stan Weiser told me of the following incident that illustrates
how frustrated he became with trying to stop a colony from
swarming. Stan had been reversing the hive bodies, making splits,
and cutting unsealed swarms cells to prevent swarming of his dozen
or so colonies in his back yard near Adel. Despite all this he
watched one of his colonies swarm one morning a couple of weeks
ago. It landed in the top of an evergreen tree in his yard, about
30 feet off the ground. It made him so angry that he got out his
20 gauge shot gun and shot the swarm out of the tree. As soon as
the swarm was hit, it dropped to the ground like lead. Then the
bees dusted themselves off and all went back into the hive from
which they issued. Believe it or not! (Explanation? Stan figures
that he killed the queen and the demoralized swarm simply returned
home.)
Field inspectors will be starting in July and August. We are
delaying inspections in the early summer so that we can save hours
to inspect more next spring. I have been inspecting those
requesting it, mainly in central and eastern Iowa. We will have
the same inspectors as last year working in the same counties,
with the exception of Bob Wells, who retired last July 1st. If
you would like your bees inspected, contact my office in Des
Moines. (State Apiarist, Iowa Dept. of Agriculture, Wallace State
Office Building, Des Moines, Iowa 50319 phone: 515-281-5736)
Beekeepers who have treated their colonies with Apistan strips
have been getting a clean bill of health with respect to Varroa
mites. So far this year the highest levels of Varroa mites have
been found in bees where the beekeeper was not aware that he had
Varroa yet. Plan on treating with Apistan as soon as the honey is
harvested from your colonies to avoid losses due to Varroa mites.
Check any weak colonies for signs of American foulbrood disease
(i.e. sunken, perforated, greasy, darkened cappings over brood
with a "melted-down", gooey, chocolate-brown mass underneath the
capping). These must be dealt with promptly to avoid spread to
neighboring healthy colonies.
The beekeeping class taught at the Des Moines Botanical Center
will conclude this month with the final field trip to the beeyard
to harvest honey (hopefully) and extract some honey to take home.
We will meet at the beeyard Saturday, July 16th at 10:00 a.m. so
that we can get done before its too hot.
Don't forget the IHPA/CIBA Beekeeping Field Day July 23rd at
the Riverside Bible Camp near Story City. It should be a fun day
for all the family. The meeting place is air-conditioned. Save
time and a dollar by preregistering now on the form on page 9. We
are really looking forward to Dr. Spivak's presentation as well as
the rest of the program.
A LAND OF MILK AND HONEY
While driving through the Wisconsin countryside I saw a sign
on the side of a barn with the slogan "Bee Udderly Cool, Drink
Milk and Eat Honey." Many consumers today have an even better
idea--eat honey-sweetened ice cream. Ranking 8th in the nation in
milk production and around 15th in honey production, Iowa is also
"A Land Flowing with Milk and Honey" (Bible - Exodus 3:8).
Several years ago the Iowa Honey Producers Association got the
idea to sell a small serving of honey-sweetened ice cream at the
State Fair Salesbooth as a way of promoting this use of honey, as
well as the use of honey in general.
Several other state beekeeping organizations in the upper
Midwest were selling honey ice cream and thought it was a winner.
For example, Nebraska Honey Producers were contracting with the
University of Nebraska for producing several flavors of honey ice
cream, both soft and hard.
Nebraska State Apiarist, Marion Ellis, offered to let us
purchase some of their mix, but transportation during the hot
summer seemed a problem. We then contacted several large Iowa
Dairies about making us a small batch for our needs at State Fair.
Anderson-Erickson (A-E) Dairy of Des Moines seemed to be the most
interested and the most convenient because the State Fair is also
located in Des Moines. In order to taste the honey flavor, we
felt it was important to keep the flavors simple, so we tried
Honey-Vanilla and Honey-Almond premium ice cream. We contacted
the National Honey Board who provided technical support
(commercial recipes, etc.). The Iowa Honey Producers Association
provided a nice light-colored, mild-flavored clover honey for the
manufacture of the ice cream.
The first two years we sold out the 7000 servings of ice
cream before the end of the Fair. Many people said they loved the
ice cream and asked where they could purchase more of it. In
fact, the second year we collected signatures on a petition asking
A-E Dairy to offer this for sale in the local grocery stores.
In 1992, A-E Dairy decided to produce honey ice cream
commercially using Iowa Honey Producers Honey. In spite of delays
due to the new nutrition labelling requirements, Honey Almond
premium all-natural ice cream will be available to super markets
in their marketing area by July 1st according to David Bush,
general manager, A-E Farms, Inc.
Additionally, A-E Dairy is teaming up with Sioux Honey
Association of Sioux City, Iowa in a joint venture to develop and
market honey-sweetened light ice cream. Test marketing will begin
this summer according a June 1st Des Moines Register article.
Honey-sweetened yogurt, dairy spreads and juice blends are
also on the drawing board. Initial ice cream flavors will include
honey-vanilla, chocolate, oatmeal-raisin cookie dough,
mint-chocolate truffle, honey-almond and peanut-butter cup. The
product will be in pints in the "super premium" category.
We hope that the proposed products will be a big success and
that the promotional efforts will pay off in a greater consumption
of honey in our area, increased business opportunities and a
better image of honey by the public.
1994 SUMMER BEEKEEPING FIELD DAY
Iowa Honey Producers & Central Iowa Beekeepers Assn.
Saturday, July 23rd
Riverside Bible Camp, 3001 Riverside Rd.
Story City, IA 50248
Phone (515) 733-5271
8:30 a.m. Registration - $5.00 for individuals or family (at the
door) Sign up for door prizes.
Preregistration (before July 16) $4.00.
9:00 a.m. Bee Pasture Walking Tour Jim Cherry
9:45 a.m. COFFEE BREAK with honey-made snacks that you bring.
(door prizes)
10:00 a.m. IHPA President's Welcome Leroy Kellogg
10:05 a.m. CIBA President's Welcome Arvin Foell
10:10 a.m. Queen management Lecture - Dr. Marla Spivak
11:00 a.m. Demonstration of Queen management in the beeyard
12:00 M LUNCH
(door prizes)
1:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
A. Beginning Beekeeping (beeyard) Bob Cox
B. Pollen trapping Jim Cherry
1:45 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
A. Beginning Bee Diseases & Pests Bob Cox
B. Comb Honey Production (beeyard) John Johnson
2:30 p.m. BREAK
(door prizes)
2:45 p.m. Minnesota Research Update Dr. Marla Spivak
3:15 p.m. Hot Topics in Beekeeping Panel of Speakers
4:00 p.m. ADJOURN
FARM AUCTION: July 16th at 9:00 a.m. at the Bob & Phyllis Gott
residence, RR 1, Box 72, west of Ollie, Iowa. FOR SALE: s/s honey
extractor, s/s bottling tank, 2 large s/s tanks, honey strainer,
uncapping knife, 5 gal. plastic buckets, bee blower, foundation,
new frames in box and other misc. beekeeping and farm equipment.
DIRECTIONS: From Iowa Hwy. 78 turn north 2 miles west of Ollie
Jct. at the Golden Furrow Fertilizer Plant. Go 1 mile north and
1/8 mile west to home on the south side of the road. Follow
"Auction" signs. For more info. call Phyllis at 515-667-3611.
FOR SALE: 7 2-story bee hives plus misc. equipment. Contact
Raymond and Jo Whitwood in Muscatine, Iowa at 319-263-0992.
FOR SALE: Dadant Gasoline-powered bee blower. Contact Edwin
Richardson, 2103 E. 156th St. South, Grinnell 50112. (515)
236-6034.
FOR SALE: Moving--must liquidate bee operation. 175 2-story hives
- $50 @; 350 Illinois supers - $6.50 @; 40 shallow supers - $40 @;
honey crop from 175 colonies - $40 @; 60-70 deep boxes (some w &
some w/o frames) - $2 @; 40-50 shallow supers (some w & some w/out
frames) - $1.50 @; 1 box deep foundation - $135; 2 boxes Illinois
foundation - $140 @; 1 box cut-comb foundation $140; Dadant 20
frame stainless extractor - $1600; stainless capping tank - $200;
50 gal. stainless holding tank; other misc. beekeeping equipment -
$400 = $21,000 for Complete Bee Operation. Contact Keith & Gail
Rhodes in Fairfield, Iowa (515) 469-6628.
PECAN HONEYBALLS (A.B.F. contest recipe)
1 cup butter or margarine 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup honey 2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups sifted flour 2 cups finely chopped pecans
Cream butter; add honey gradually; add flour, salt & vanilla. Mix
well. Add chopped nuts & mix well. Form into very small balls.
Place on greased cookie sheet and bake in 300 oven 40-45 minutes.
Roll hot honeyballs in powdered sugar and repeat when cool.
OBSERVATION HIVES--A REAL LEARNING EXPERIENCE
During my eight years experience as a beekeeper, much of the
factual knowledge I've gained has come from magazines,
newsletters, bee meetings and talking with other beekeepers.
Recently I've added my observation hive to that list of sources of
bee information. It has been a good learning experience for me
and can be for you if you decide to purchase or build one.
In my small operation, the observation hive gets used more
every year. It's been used for a demonstration in kindergarten, a
children's sermon at church, at the Iowa State Fair, two craft
shows, and at Cattle Congress in Waterloo. When at home, it is
found by the window in the guest bedroom. My wife and son look
forward to it's appearance every year. The glass-sided hive is
really valuable when retailing honey at a craft show, because it's
a good attention getter.
Observation hives give the opportunity to watch bee behavior.
Bees can be seen filling the cells with nectar, depositing pollen
and propolis, feeding each other and taking care of the queen and
brood. The queen provides most of the excitement by depositing
eggs in the brood nest.
The Iowa State Fair is a place to "show-case" observation hives
in the apiary division. This year's fair is August 11-21. The
rules for this class state that the observation hive must have a
standard size frame on the bottom for brood and a shallow frame or
comb honey section frame above, with bees and a marked queen.
Observation hives must be built with adequate ventilation or the
bees will overheat and die in the Ag building with no air
conditioning. They must also have a closeable opening to allow
the bees to exit the hive.
Extra prize money is available for the first 15 places in this
class at state fair. If you need assistance or plans to build an
observation hive, I would be happy to assist you.
(from Summer 1994 Central Iowa Beelines and written by Tim
Laughlin)
HONEY BEES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION
Several recent discussions across Internet computer network
about bee-collected propolis and pollen have concluded that honey
bees are excellent samplers of their environment. This has both
good and bad aspects according to one of the pioneers in this
field, Dr. Jerry Bromenshenk, University of Montana. Here are a
couple of his "take home" messages concerning these insects as
environmental monitors as they appeared in May Apis newsletter:
1. Honey bees serve as multi-media samplers that average the
concentrations of pollutants over time and throughout large areas.
Bees sample contaminants in all forms - gaseous, liquid,
particulate - and can detect chemicals in their surroundings at
levels often difficult, if not impossible, to detect using more
conventional approaches - i.e. instrumentation.
2. Most of the contamination (at least as indicated by the
concentrations measured) ends up in the bees themselves and in the
pollen. Some chemicals concentrate in wax. Generally, honey
seems to be less contaminated than pollen, bees, or wax.
1994 IOWA STATE FAIR WORK SCHEDULE
Please indicate the day(s) and time(s) that you are willing to
work by writing your name(s). Also, fill in your name, address
and phone number at the bottom of the page.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 11 TUESDAY, AUGUST 16
9:00-1:30____________________ 9:00-1:30____________________
1:30-6:00____________________ 1:30-6:00____________________
6:00-9:00____________________ 6:00-9:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________ 10:00-2pm____________________
(Handing out samples) (Handing out samples)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 12 WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 17
9:00-1:30____________________ 9:00-1:30____________________
1:30-6:00____________________ 1:30-6:00____________________
6:00-9:00____________________ 6:00-9:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________ 10:00-2pm____________________
(Handing out samples) (Handing out samples)
SATURDAY, AUGUST 13 THURSDAY, AUGUST 18
9:00-1:30____________________ 9:00-1:30____________________
1:30-6:00____________________ 1:30-6:00____________________
6:00-9:00____________________ 6:00-9:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________ 10:00-2pm____________________
(Handing out samples) (Handing out samples)
SUNDAY, AUGUST 14 FRIDAY, AUGUST 19
9:00-1:30____________________ 9:00-1:30____________________
1:30-6:00____________________ 1:30-6:00____________________
6:00-9:00____________________ 6:00-9:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________ 10:00-2pm____________________
(Handing out samples) (Handing out samples)
MONDAY, AUGUST 15 SATURDAY, AUGUST 20
9:00-1:30____________________ 9:00-1:30____________________
1:30-6:00____________________ 1:30-6:00____________________
6:00-9:00____________________ 6:00-9:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________ 10:00-2pm____________________
(Handing out samples) (Handing out samples)
NAME:________________________ SUNDAY, AUGUST 21
9:00-1:30____________________
ADDRESS______________________ 1:30-7:00____________________
10:00-2pm____________________
_____________________________ (Handing out samples)
PHONE(_____)_________________
RETURN TO:
W. John Johnson
RR 4, Squaw Valley
Ames, IA 50010
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