Attaches is the newsletter put together by the Prince Edward Island,
Canada Bee Cooperative. Enjoy.
PEI BEEKEEPERS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTER
APRIL 27/94
In this issue:-
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
PRESIDENT'S NOTES
INSPECTOR'S REPORT
APICULTURIST'S NOTES
FORAGING FOR FLOWERS
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE
RECIPE
NSBA MEETING
UPCOMING EVENTS
AGRICULTURE CANADA
EDITOR'S COMMENTS:- Harvey Hyde
We would appreciate as much input, in the production of this
newsletter, as possible--
There are many good ways to enhance your beekeeping skills. One
such way is to attend the functions of the other Associations
such as the NSBA annual meetings, Maritime Beekeepers Association
meetings held in November in Amherst and by attending the various
field days put on by our NS and NB friends. You will be welcomed
there. We will try to keep you notified well in advance of these
events so that you can plan ahead.
We would like to thank Katherine Clough at the Ag Canada Research
Station for her efforts in preparing an article on Island bee
flora.
PRESIDENT'S NOTES:-John Burhoe
Our annual meeting was held at Central Queens Elementary School
Saturday March 19/94 and was attended by some 30 beekeepers from
around the Island.
Our guest speaker was Chris Prouse, Provincial Apiarist and his
talk centred around what turned out to be the main topic of
discussion; the strong likelihood of not being able to obtain
bees from New Zealand due to the U.S. government's refusal to
allow transhipment flights of bees through Hawaii.
The discussion that followed examined the possibility of our
Island beekeepers becoming self sufficient in bee stock so that
we are not held to ransom by other factors out of our control
such as foreign government intervention and supplier problems.
Several motions were entertained one of which related to
approaching seed growers, particularly blueberry growers to
explain the anticipated shortage of bees for pollination this
year visa vis the Hawaiian transhipment restrictions.
It was the general consensus of the commercial beekeepers that we
would increase our colony numbers as quickly as possible to be
better able to provide ample supplies of strong colonies for
pollination.
A keen and I must say competent executive was elected for the
coming year as follows:-
Carol Jollimore:-Vice-president
Paul Dick:-Secretary
Glenda Carver:-Treasurer
Al Picketts:-Chair Education committee
Phillip Maxwell:-Chair Disease inspection committee
Sharon Labchuk:-Chair Public Relations/Fund raising committee
Harvey Hyde:-Newsletter Editor Eunice Wonnacott:-Bee Orders and
beekeeper registration
and myself as president.
The meeting was given a brief update on the progress of this
years Maritime Bee Tour 94, the theme of which is to be "Nectars
of the World". The Tour this year will take place in Kensington
July 29-30 and will feature very informative speakers, unique
displays; one of which will include a display of honey samples
from all over the world, demonstrations, and will conclude with a
sumptuous banquet on Saturday evening with guest speakers and
much socialization. For detailed Tour information and
registration please contact Eunice Wonnacott at 894 4363/ Box
2604, Charlottetown, C1A 8C3
Our first executive meeting of 1994 was held April 11/94 and
centred around defining achievable objectives to be undertaken
during the current year given the anticipated fiscal restraints.
Although more discussion will be required in order to prioritize
these objectives, some of the suggestions included:
-initiation of a comprehensive central apiculture library;
-initiation of a campaign for Island bee self sufficiency;
-to hold informative and fun monthly meetings to include the
latest bee talk, videos, demonstrations, and a great deal of
socialization;
-implementation of a training program for "deputy" bee inspectors
to be available to help beekeepers deal with problems encountered
with their activities in view of reduced government funding for
such inspection.
-involvement co-operatively with other organizations in bee
science projects;
-establishment of a quality assurance protocol for pollination
services.
Island beekeepers are asked for their suggestions for PEIBCA
objectives.
On behalf of the PEIBCA I would like to express our thanks to the
outgoing president Al Picketts for his continuous investment of
time and money in our organization. You done right some good
Brother!
INSPECTOR'S REPORT:- Phillip Maxwell
(Notes taken from annual meeting report)
There were 771 colonies going into the Winter of 92/93 of which
256 or 38% did not survive. There were 205 replacement colonies.
There were no Trachea or Varroa mite finds and only a very small
number of colonies showed signs of AFB and EFB. It was found
that Australian queens exhibited a larger percentage of sac brood
than NZ queens.
It is recommended that:
-An inspector be present when imported bees are received;
-All old and unused beekeeping equipment be destroyed as it may
harbour AFB spores and EFB bacterium which stand ready to infect
the occupying new colony;
-Greater efforts be invested in new beekeepers to instruct them
to detect the presence of bee diseases;
-Those commercial beekeepers who wish to rent out their bees for
pollination should create standards by which the strength of the
colony may be accessed so as to guard against supplying weak
colonies for pollination;
-The commercial beekeepers should also set up a liaison agent
between the renters and the rentees.
APICULTURIST'S NOTES:-Chris Prouse
Included please find your 1994 registration forms which must be
filled out and returned to this office.
To guard against the spread of contagious diseases to other
neighbouring apiaries beekeepers who are renting out colonies for
pollination are reminded that it is an offence against the Apiary
Inspection Act to deploy colonies which are known to be infected
with a contagious disease such as AFB,EFB, sac brood, or chalk
brood as per chapter A-12 section 5 para 2 offence.
A copy of the Apiary Inspections Act may be obtained from this
office.
PEI FLORA
Foraging for Flowers in Spring and early Summer
a botanical viewpoint from Katherine Clough.
On a recent sunny Saturday my crocuses were in full bloom but I
noticed that only the yellow ones were being visited by bees, the
purples and whites were being ignored. Was it the petal colour or
does the pollen of yellow crocuses have more allure for a bee?
These are questions that you, the beekeeper, may be able to
answer. In this article I am going to name some of the more
abundant pollen and nectar bearing flowers in our wild flora that
you can expect to encounter over the next 2-3 months. I don't
know which are the favourites of bees but I hope to alert you to
some species which you may not have known about and might
influence your placement of hives. Information on the usefulness
of these plants for pollen and nectar can be found in an
excellent book entitled 'Plants for Beekeeping in Canada' by Jane
Ramsey. Some references on our flora are listed at the end of the
article
Besides garden bulbs and mayflowers, the first abundant flowers
of spring are found on trees such as alders, birch and maple
These are not showy flowers but they bear abundant pollen which
can cause hay fever in humans and is a food source for bees.
Dandelions are not far behind and then come the tree and shrub
blossoms of the cherry and apple family (Rosaceae), apples, choke
cherries, pin cherries and the Indian pear or Saskatoon. In wet
and boggy areas there are often large expanses of the purple
Rhodora or wild rhododendron, and a little later comes lambkill.
Both plants are members of the heath family (Ericaceae) which is
listed as a source of potential agents for toxic honey. Do Island
bees visit them in significant numbers? Lambkill is common in and
around blueberry fields.
In June agricultural plants in the legume family such as clovers
and alfalfa are abundant. Red clover and alfalfa disappear into
hay bales at midsummer but the white clover flowers on in
pastures for much of the summer and red clover can be found in
significant quantities in old and late cut hay fields .
As we approach mid-July, ox-eye daisies reach their peak and look
like snow in the summer landscape. In spite of their abundance
and copious pollen they don't seem to be attractive to bees. At
this time of the year we begin to see the flowering of many
plants which are typical of the late summer and fall, I will
write about these in the next newsletter.
Useful references on wild flowering plants.
Clough, Katherine Wildflowers of Prince Edward Island.
Charlottetown: Ragweed Press, 1992.
Erskine, D.S. The Plants of Prince Edward Island. Ottawa:
Agriculture Canada, 1960. Revised and updated by P. M. Catling,
D.S. Erskine and R. B. MacLaren, 1985.
Griffin, Diane. Wildflowers of the Atlantic Provinces. Photos by
Wayne Barret and Anne Mackay. Toronto: Oxford University Press,
1984.
Peterson, Roger Tory and McKenny, Margaret. A Field Guide to
Wildflowers of North Eastern and North Central North America.
Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1968.
Roland, A.E. and Smith, E.C. The Flora of Nova Scotia. Halifax:
Nova Scotia Museum, 1969.
CONTRIBUTED ARTICLE:-Glenda Carver
The first day of Summer is also the last day of Spring. There
was a freshness in the air as the misty veils of night receded.
As the light strengthened, to illuminate the honey-tinted world
beneath the surface of a still, woodland pool, pale sunbeams
slipped unnoticed through the swordsman in the rushes to drink
the dewy beads of quicksilver gathered on the lily-pads.
Later, when the morning had put on her fine petticoats of green
and yellow, there came others, dressed in smart velvet and black
satin. They, too, stopped to sip at the gleaming droplets.
Without a city there is a house
That's made entire of wood,
Where live ten thousand daughters
That work for common good.
One mother hath these daughters
And on her wedding day,
She became a widow
And royal sisters did she slay.
The sun rose into the sky and spread its warmth all about and the
citizens grew restless to be abroad.
RECIPE:-Melanie Maxwell
Spinach Salad
Spinach, hard boiled eggs,
Onion rings,
Bacon bits,
Mandarin oranges (drained),
Fresh mushrooms (sliced).
----
Dressing (make first);
1/3 cup of honey,
1/3 cup olive oil,
1/3 cup vinegar,
1/8 teaspoon garlic salt,
1/2 teaspoon basil.
Sounds delicious, no?!!
NNSBA 36TH ANNUAL MEETING March 25-26/94
Cornwallis room at the Agriculture Centre in Kentville was the
site of this years meeting. Among many interesting presentations
was one from Dr. Keith Delaplane from the University of Georgia
and author of a column in the American Bee Journal.
Dr. Delaplane lectured about "Queen Rearing, Queen Quality, and
Queen Management" in which he stated that Georgia is facing not
only the problem of Varroa and Trachea mites but also the
continued encroachment of Africanized Honey Bees. Research has
shown that AHB can survive cool temperatures and that matings
between EHB and AHB produces offspring skewed in favour of the
AHB genetic traits.
He promoted the requeening of colonies on an annual basis to
sustain a higher output of queen pheromone to "unify" the colony,
high egg production, high level of hoarding, decrease in disease
levels, and that it was more natural for the colony to have a
young queen.
Dr. Delaplane gave a startling statistic about AFB. He stated a
single scale (dead honey bee pupa killed by AFB) can play host to
50 billion AFB spores. It only takes 10 spores to start an
outbreak of AFB -- food for thought.
A panel discussion was presented by Don Amirault (using his
modified version of the New Zealand "door" method of cell
starting and finishing for the Mity Bee Project), Gerry Draheim
(production of Karmo bee stock--as in Endel Karmo who developed
the strain originally), and Monique Van Staten of Kriskey Farm
who has done considerable queen rearing work in Nova Scotia.
One particularly interesting presentation was by Phil Janz the
new NSBA President on "Planting for Bee Forage in Nova Scotia.
In his presentation Mr. Janz spoke about planting bee forage
crops as well as various trees and shrubs for hedgerows which
will yield a good honey flow. He also addressed the problem of
the August dearth by suggesting various plants which bloom during
this period and keep the bees busy hoarding honey.
Mr. Janz has produced a brochure under the sponsorship of the
NSBA which could be obtained if anyone was interested.
Our own Al Picketts gave a talk on production in his Phacelia
fields.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Spring Workshop; May 14/94 at Al Picketts place in Norboro
beginning at noon. There will be hands on brood inspection,
queen rearing demonstration re: grafting methods, discussions
regarding starter/finisher colonies and a good old fashioned pot
luck fest at the conclusion. Everyone is welcome!
AGRICULTURE CANADA HONEY BEE IMPORTATION DISCUSSIONS
Prior to 1984, the Canada/US border was open to the importation
of packaged honey bees. Since 1984, when tracheal mites
(Acarapis woodi) were first reported in the U.S., no importation
has been allowed into the provinces east of the Manitoba border.
However, packaged bees from the continental U.S. continued to be
available to beekeepers in the western provinces until prohibited
by Ministerial Order following the identification of the varroa
mite (Varroa jacobsoni) in the U.S. in 1987. All importations
from the U.S. were stopped as of January 1, 1988, and the 2-year
embargo has been twice renewed. The current embargo will expire
at the end of 1993. On September 11, 1993, a Bee Consultative
Meeting was held in Calgary to discuss issues concerning the
border closing. Based on discussions held, the following
recommendations were made:
1. It is recommended that the existing Honey Bee Prohibition
Regulations, 1991 be extended beyond December 31, 1993 for an
additional two years. Further, it is recommended that, subject
to the satisfactory completion of the actions listed below and of
a formal risk assessment, the decision to be taken and announced,
as soon as possible after the summer of 1995, that the border
will be opened.
2. It is recommended that consideration be given to allowing
queens only to be imported from the continental U.S. under
tightly controlled experimental conditions in 1995.
3. It is recommended that the beekeeping industry, under the
leadership of the Canadian Honey Council, give high priority to
resolving the uncertainties that exist, and to developing a
strategy to enhance the long term viability and competitiveness
of the industry.
A list of suggestions was included that would augment the
implementation of the recommendations made.
SOURCE: Agriculture Canada, Food Production and Inspection
Branch, 2255 Carling Avenue, 3rd Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0Y9
UPDATE: ALL NEW ZELAND BEE ORDERS WITH THE COOPERATIVE ARE
CANCELLED DUE TO SHIPPING DIFFICULTIES AND COSTS. REFUNDS ARE TO
BE INCLUDED WITH THIS NEWSLETTER MAILING.
Harvey Hyde
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