File item: BUZZ0293.TXT 3/4/93 5:48PM
30696
submitted by: Terry Dahms
President-East Central Iowa Beekeepers
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THE BUZZ FEBRUARY, 1993
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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, 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 (515) 281-5736
IHPA MEMBERSHIP: Membership dues in the Iowa Honey Producers
Assn. are $5.00/year. Use the membership form on page 9 of the
BUZZ to sign up.
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HEATHER POMEROY SELECTED AS THE NEW 1993 AMERICAN HONEY PRINCESS
Iowa's 1992 State Honey Queen, Heather Pomeroy, was selected
as the 1993 American Honey Princess by the American Beekeeping
Federation at their annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri
January 23rd. As a result, Heather will travel all over the U.S.
this year assisting the American Honey Queen in promoting honey
and beekeeping. The title of 1993 American Honey Queen was given
to Tennesee's state honey queen, Gena West.
PRESIDENTS MESSAGE
Fellow beekeepers, its already February and another year has
come and gone. Its time to file taxes again; figuring your
profit, loss and deductions this time of year is not fun.
Last year the ASCS's five-year state average was 83 pounds
per colony. If your bees produced less than this in 1992 you may
be eligible to receive disaster relief payments. The filing
deadline is February 13, 1993. We hope for a better honey crop
in 1993.
February is also a good time to start preparing for spring.
Take count of what you will need for equipment and bees. Repair
and paint your old boxes. Be sure to put new foundation in your
frames so that they'll be ready when its time to go through your
colonies and make splits in April and May.
I've talked to several beekeepers who have found some of
their colonies dead. This was due to the lack of feed going into
winter. So it would be wise to check your bees' food supply
whenever we get some warm days in the next several weeks. I
really think we will have to feed as soon as we can this spring.
Our next IHPA board meeting will be March 6th. If you have
any questions or want any topic brought up, please contact your
district director or one of the officers to get it on the meeting
agenda.
- Leroy Kellogg, IHPA president
IHPA BOARD MEETING HIGHLIGHTS
The first meeting of the 1993 board was held December 5th in
Huxley at 1:00 p.m. Eight members were in attendance.
New treasurer, Bob Shepherd reported a total of $3269.33 in
revenue was received at the annual meeting but all expenses had
not yet been paid. Some of the IHPA funds will be transferred to
a money market account in order to get a higher interest rate.
Questions to be answered before the association makes a
cash grant to another organization and instructions are listed
below:
1. Do they need it? Did they send a written request?
2. What will it be used for? Who will spend it?
3. What will it accomplish? Are there long term benefits to
the beekeeping industry or bee research, particularly as related
to IHPA interests?
4. When a grant of money is sent to another organization, a
request for a copy of research results and a financial report
will be made in a cover letter to be sent with the check for the
money.
A request was made by the Honey Queen committee to pay the
expenses for sending Heather Pomeroy to the American Honey Queen
contest in Kansas City, January 19-23, 1993. Approval was made
to spend up to $500 for the hotel, meals, transportation,
registration fees, and miscellaneous expenses. Paul Goossen was
appointed as chairman of the queen committee this year, with
Hildegard Goossen, Bev Powell, Elaine Johnson and Bob Cox also on
the committee.
A discussion on the summer field day led to the suggestion
that several field days be held in different areas of the state
in June, July or August. Dates and places will be established at
the March 6th board meeting.
A motion was made by John Johnson and passed to send $100 to
the Iowa Agriculture Youth Institute. Several other promotional
items were referred to the promotions committee for action. Ann
Garber was appointed to chair the committee again this year, if
she is willing.
John Johnson was appointed chairman of the state fair
salesbooth committee again this year, with Arvin Foell and Walter
Clark also on the committee. A suggestion was made to change
some of the awards in the Cooking with Honey Division because
they have been the same for a few years. A motion was passed to
add a new beeswax art class in place of the frame of cut comb
honey (Class 12). We will now have four beeswax classes: 3
pound bulk, candles (molded or dipped tapers), poured mold art,
and handcrafted art (not from a poured mold).
A motion passed to pay mileage to and from the fair for the
chairman of the state fair committee at the rate of $0.10 per
mile. Discussion was held on the association selling honey at
the All-Iowa Store at the State Fair. John Johnson is working
with the Iowa Horticultural Society to get bids for honey to be
sold at the All-Iowa store.
Bob Cox led a discussion of the proposed bee law and apiary
rule changes. A motion passed by a unanimous hand count to
recommend that bee law and apiary rule changes be pursued in 1993
(as outlined in the handouts). Marvin Trojahn agreed to contact
Senator Vande Hoef of Harris, Iowa to sponsor a bill with the bee
law changes. Bob Cox will file for the apiary rules changes on
behalf of the Department of Agriculture. These changes allow for
more flexibility because of increased mite levels and available
effective treatment options.
STATE APIARIST REPORT
Its surprising how much harsh weather we're having this
winter in Iowa. Hopefully, the snow will serve as good
insulation and a windbreak for the bees. However, the bees could
use a warmer day for a cleansing flight. The tracheal mite may
cause extra beekill this winter because of the higher percentage
of positive samples collected last summer and the poor late
season honey flow. See the article on page 7 for more details on
tracheal mite samples collected last year.
Plan on attending one of the beekeeping workshops in your
area this spring. An interesting program is planned and its a
good opportunity to meet other beekeepers in a smaller group than
at the annual meeting. If you are a seasoned beekeeper, come and
bring a less experienced friend along for an informative evening.
See the article on pages 5 & 6 for the complete schedule.
We are planning on another Honey promotion with the Des
Moines Botanical Center again this year in March and April. If
you would be willing to help man the booth under the dome for a
few hours, contact Ann Garber, promotions committee chair, at
(515) 872-2119 or give me a call at (515) 281-5736. IHPA will
provide honey candy to give away and will bring in the National
Honey Board's mascot, Buzzy Bear, for a visit on Easter day.
IN THE BEEYARD
Spacing frames in the beehive is a topic that varies with
each beekeeper's viewpoint. In nature, we find combs spaced from
1 3/8, 1 1/2, 1 5/8 inches and sometimes up to two inches apart,
from center to center.
The 10-frame Dadant hive is built to accommodate ten frames
with the 1 3/8 inch spacing. Some beekeepers use fewer frames in
this size of equipment. You, as a beekeeper, should adopt the
spacing which will give you the best results: the most brood and
honey.
Wherever wider spacing is used, there is likely to be more
honey stored in the combs in the honey supers. When wider
spacing is used in the brood nest, there tends to be more honey
stored, more drone brood and less worker brood in the comb.
Some researchers say that close spacing (1 3/8 inches) tends
to encourage the rearing of more worker brood, less drone brood
and the storage of less honey. If this is so, this is the way we
would like to have it in the brood chamber.
Finally, spacing still remains a management decision only
you, as the beekeeper, can determine.
- Robert L. Wells, Asst. State Apiarist
VARROA GETTING NASTY IN CALIFORNIA AND NEW YORK
Dr. Eric Mussen reports that many California beekeepers got
a surprise when their colonies collapsed last fall, apparently
from damage caused by the Varroa mite. Finding a mite or two
doesn't mean the colony is in immediate jeopardy, but it will
require treatment sooner or later according to Mussen.
Although it has been reported that colonies sometimes take
several years to die after being infested with Varroa, there are
exceptions. Dr. Roger Morse of Cornell University speaks of a
New York beekeeper whose hives produced over 100 pounds of honey
in July and August, yet were dead by late fall.
Dr. Mussen describes a California beekeeper's situation, who
after a good producing season, saw 75% of his colonies severely
damaged or dead by Christmas. That beekeeper is no longer in
business and had to sell out at submarket prices. These severe
cases may be caused by drift of bees from nearby, heavily
infested apiaries that were not treated. Also, the fact that
mites are hidden and protected in capped brood cells may mean
there was a serious undercount of those mites found on adults.
The technology to determine when a Varroa infestation
reaches a treatable level by any detection method currently in
use is not well developed. Detection results may vary and are
dependent on bee/mite population dynamics. For example, in the
fall, Dr. Morse says, with little or no brood, you are more
likely to find mites on adults, whereas in the spring it will be
easier to find mites in brood. Practical experience by the
Florida Division of Plant Industry indicates that when 20 mites
in a ether roll of approximately 300 bees are found, a colony
should be treated with Apistan strips. However, Dr. Harvey
Cromroy of the Entomology-Nematology Department, University of
Florida, believes more than five mites is a treatable level. Dr.
Morse concludes finding 30 or 40 per hundred bees (by the ether
roll method) is serious and the colony may be beyond saving. The
ability to correlate ether roll data with other detection methods
is not presently available. (Information taken from the Florida
apiculture newsletter, "APIS", edited by Tom Sanford, Extension
Apiculturist, University of Florida)
BEEKEEPING COURSES IN RAPID CITY
Beekeeping courses for beekeepers in the central U.S. will
be taught at Western Dakota Vocational-Technical Institute in
Rapid City, South Dakota this winter and spring. The courses
will be taught by Dr. Charles P. Milne, Jr. Dr. Milne has over
20 years of beekeeping experience, has taught beekeeping at
Washington State University, and is now a commercial beekeeper.
Three different weekend short courses will be offered for
beekeepers in the central states area. The dates are February
20-21, March 6-7, and March 20-21. The weekend schedule allows
for travel to Rapid City on Friday, and a mixer is planned for
those arriving early. The instruction will take place Saturday
8-12 noon, 1-4, 7-9; free time Sunday morning; and last session
1-4 p.m. on Sunday. Attending all short courses will provide
beekeepers with a broad knowledge base on beekeeping. The first
short course provides essential information on the honey bee and
the colony, and some beekeeping basics. The second short course
emphasizes colony management. The third short course discusses
hive products, queen rearing, diseases, and the Africanized honey
bee. Any single short course can be taken independently.
For further information on the courses, contact Dr. Milne at
(605) 393-0049 or Kelley Osborn or Jerry Johnsen at Western
Dakota Vo-Tech at (605) 394-4034.
BEEKEEPING WORKSHOP IN MASON CITY
The Apiary Bureau in cooperation with ISU Extension Service
will be presenting a beekeeping workshop at the Extension Office
in Mason City on two Thursday nights, February 18th and 25th.
The program will be presented by Leo Stattelman, beekeeper from
Clear Lake, and Apiary staff of the Iowa Department of
Agriculture. For more information, call the local extension
office or the State Apiarist at (515) 281-5736.
SCHEDULE
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 18
6:30 p.m. Registration
7:00 p.m. Getting Started with Bees & Spring Colony Management
8:00 p.m. Break (Bring your favorite honey treat to share)
8:10 p.m. Honey Harvest, Preparing Colonies for Winter and
Marketing the Crop.
9:00 p.m. Adjourn
THURSDAY FEBRUARY 25
6:30 p.m. Registration
7:00 p.m. Races of Bees and Their Characteristics
7:30 p.m. Urban Beekeeping: Its Joys and Trials
8:10 p.m. Break
8:20 p.m. Disease & Parasite Diagnosis & Treatment
9:00 p.m. Adjourn
FOR SALE: 48 colonies, supers and extracting equipment for
100-150 colonies. 20-frame stainless extractor with variable
speed control. Stainless cappings melter and chain uncapper.
CONTACT: Ron Silliman (515) 989-0161
FOR SALE: Package bees. Pick up at Aurora (near Manchester)
April 12th. Shipped with Apistan strips. 2-lb. package $23.50
Contact: Douglas Child in Aurora, IA (319) 634-3682.
AUCTION: Central Iowa Beekeepers Annual Auction to be held in
April. Looking for quality bees and beekeeping equipment for
sale. Contact: Margaret Hala, 1988 Vine Ave., Marshalltown
50158 phone: (515) 752-2981.
REMINDER: DISCOUNT ON NEW EDITION OF THE HIVE AND THE HONEY BEE
IHPA members can purchase a copy of the new Hive and Honey
Bee for $27 if we can get at least 8 orders (regular price $36).
DEADLINE: To order, contact Walter Clark before February 15th at
P.O. Box 30008, Des Moines, IA 50310 phone: (515) 253-0525.
WANTED: Your favorite honey recipes. Plans are to explore
publishing a new honey cookbook with your favorite recipes, and
excellent recipes from the State Fair and other honey cooking
events. Type or print them on a 3x5 index card with your name.
SEND TO: Paul F. Goossen, RR 5 Box 198, Mt. Pleasant, IA 52641.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
FEBRUARY 18 & 25 Beekeeping Workshop 6:30 p.m. at Cerro Gordo
County Extension Office, 2023 S. Federal, Mason City, Iowa.
MARCH 1 & 8 Beekeeping Workshop 6:30 p.m. at Pottawattamie
County Extension Office, 2719 E. Highway 6, Council Bluffs, Iowa.
MARCH 15 & 22 Beekeeping Workshop 6:30 p.m. at Indian Creek
Nature Center, 6665 Otis Road S., Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
APRIL 5 & 12 Beekeeping Workshop 6:30 p.m. at Putnam Museum,
1717 West 12th, Davenport, Iowa.
IOWA HONEY QUEEN PROGRAM
Wanted - Beekeepers who are willing to work and have a
vision of future possibilities. You must be willing to invest
time, effort and a personal interest in another person without
expecting to see a dollar in return (at least, in the short run).
But you will be investing in the lives of young people and the
future of the honey industry. Do not expect to receive a "thank
you" for your efforts, but you will receive a sense of having
served for the good of others.
The assignment is to encourage, sponsor and educate young
ladies to be honey queens to represent the honey industry in your
community, in Iowa and even, in the United States, if you do your
job well. If you decide to accept the assignment, you can
identify an interested young lady, age 10-16 years old, sponsor
her and we, as the honey queen committee, will give you some help
and guidance.
Hopefully, we could have a number of local queens as
candidates for the state title and hold a special honey queen
seminar for them, covering: 1.) basic beekeeping, 2.) uses of
honey, and 3.) public speaking. What a wonderful way to help a
young person develop invaluable leadership and public relations
skills! What a wonderful way to bait a hive and catch a swarm of
honey sales in the future!
To do this, we will need to be willing to look beyond our
immediate, individual interests to tomorrow and other people.
Thus the saying, "One sows and another reaps" is true. After
all, it is also true that we have benefited from others also ("I
sent you to reap that for which you have not worked. Other have
done the hard work and you have reaped the benefits of their
labor". If anyone understands this principle, it should be the
beekeeper, as he gathers the bees' honey and comtemplates this
principle in other areas of life.
- Paul F. Goossen, Chairman, Honey Queen Committee
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FOR SALE: "Honey Bee Diseases and Pests" booklet by Canadian
Association of Professional Apiculturists (CAPA).
Good color photos on the subject. 17 pages - $1.75 @
Contact Bob Cox at (515) 281-5736.
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TRACHEAL MITE INFESTATION IN IOWA
The laboratory test results for tracheal mites is listed in
the table below: 1.) the number of samples tested, 2.) the number
of infested apiaries and 3.) the number of beekeepers with
infested apiaries for 1989-1992 in Iowa.
The percentage of apiaries and beekeepers with infested bees
is shown in the next table. The level remained fairly constant
around 30% for the first three years. However, in 1992 it
increased, with 75% of the samples infested and 81% of the
beekeepers having at least one infested apiary. This may not be
a fair sampling because of the small sample size, therefore, this
may not be an actual increase.
Also listed in the second table is the percentage of
infested apiaries that exceeded the 15% allowable mite
infestation level. This percentage seems to have been lower
during 1990 and 1991, but up again in 1992. These 30 beekeepers
with infested colonies were required to treat for the tracheal
mite because their apiary(s) posed a threat to neighboring
apiaries.
If this apparent increase in tracheal mite infestation is
real, we may see a larger than normal winterkill this spring.
However, if the infested apiaries were treated in a way that
resulted in lower mites levels before winter, then the mite may
have little effect on wintering loss this year.
In order to better evaluate the health of Iowa's honey bee
population, a larger number of random bee samples should be
collected and examined in 1993. If you would help, we could get
samples from most of Iowa's 99 counties and from a larger number
of beekeepers, perhaps 250-300 samples total. Contact the state
apiarist's office to get instructions on how to collect the
samples. We need random samples, rather than only samples from
weak colonies likely to be infested with the mites.
NEW LABELING LAWS FOR HONEY
Although honey may have the image of being an unprocessed
natural product, it too will be required to provide nutrition
information on its' label in accordance with the Nutrition
Labeling and Education Act of 1990. Honey is traditionally
processed to 145 F for 30 minutes to kill yeasts and prevent
fermentation. This heating process is included in the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) definition of a processed food and
requires adherence to the new labelling regulations.
According to the proposed regulations, the serving size for
honey is one tablespoon, which will serve as the basis for the
nutrition information on the label. The proposed regulations
also stipulate that the honey industry use a simplified nutrition
label which lists just calories, total fat, total carbohydrates
(sugar), protein and sodium.
This nutrition information can be provided in column or in
paragraph form.
Please note that 60 calories is listed as the appropriate
value for honey using USDA calculation of 3.68 calories per gram
of honey. Honey contains 17.3 grams of carbohydrate resulting
in 53.66 calories per serving size. This number is rounded to 50
calories, the nearest 10 calorie increment. Grams of
carbohydrate are expressed to the nearest gram, making the
carbohydrate declaration 17 grams.
Exemptions to this proposed labeling law include a small
business exemption; bulk foods shipped for processing, repacking
or labelling; foods in packages with less than 12 square inches
of label space, provided that nutrition information is supplied
at point of sale*; and food for institutional use if nutrition
information is provided directly to these institutions.
*(If this exemption is used, a company cannot make any
nutritional claim on its' label. Additionally, FDA knows of no
reason why firms could not provide nutrition information on
placards in a clear and conspicuous way at the point of sale.)
This information was provided by Richard Sullivan of the
National Honey Packers and Dealers Assn. from Focus on
Value-added Agricultural Products, Vol 1 #11 Kansas State
University Cooperative Extension Service Sept/Oct 1992.
For example, in column form, the In paragraph form, the
label would
label would appear as shown: appear as follows:
Nutrition Information Per Serving Nutrition Information
Per Serving
Serving size: 1 Tbsp. (21 g.) Serving size: 1
Tbsp. (21 g.)
Servings per container: xx Servings per
container: xx
Calories 60 PER SERVING: 50
calories, 0 g total
Total fat 0 g fat, 17 g.total
carbohydrate (17 g.
Total carbohydrates 17 g sugars), 0 g. protein, 0
mg. sodium
Sugars 17 g (Percent of DV and
Daily Reference
Protein 0 g Value must be
inserted in this
Sodium 0 g paragraph).
(Additional columns may be required
to show percentage of DV and Daily
Reference Value (DRV).
1993 IOWA HONEY PRODUCERS ASSOCIATION
MEMBERSHIP DUES:
Iowa Honey Producers Association $ 5.00
$_________
American Honey Producers 1-50 colonies $20.00
$_________
51-500 colonies $75.00
$_________
American Beekeeping Federation-Minimum $20.00
$_________
First time [] Renewal [] (Check one)
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
American Bee Journal One Year $15.60* $11.70
$_________
Two Years $28.96* $21.72
$_________
First time [] Renewal [] (Check one)
Gleanings In Bee Culture One Year $15.00* $11.25
$_________
Two Years $28.00* $21.50
$_________
First time [] Renewal [] (Check one)
QTY BOOKS 1-9 10 or more
____ Large Honey Recipe Book $3.00 $ 2.50
$_________
____ Small Honey Recipe Book $1.00 $ 0.65
$_________
____ Honey Pamphlet $0.03 Same
$_________
===============
==
TOTAL
$_________
*PRICE YOU WOULD PAY FOR MAGAZINE IF YOU DID NOT BELONG TO IHPA
CHECK PAYABLE TO: IOWA HONEY PRODUCERS ASSN.
SEND CHECK TO: Robert E. Shepherd, Jr.
917 N. Iowa
Washington, IA 52353
(319) 653-4888
NAME______________________________________________________________
__
ADDRESS:__________________________________________________________
__
CITY:____________________STATE_________________ZIP________________
__
PHONE(____)_______________________________________________________
__
NO. OF COLONIES_______________
12/22/92
No. of No. of pos. No. of
pos.
Year samples apiaries
beekeepers
tested
1989 208 64 41
1990 258 74 51
1991 113 37 23
1992 60 45 30
% of apiaries % of beekeepers %
apiaries
Year positive positive above
allowable
level
1989 31 29 60
1990 29 32 46
1991 33 30 41
1992 75 81 51
--THE BUZZ--
Apiary Bureau
IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
AND LAND STEWARDSHIP
Wallace Building
Des Moines, IA 50319
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