Submitted by: Terry Dahms, Pres.
East Central Iowa Beekeepers Assoc.
internet: [log in to unmask]
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THE BUZZ APRIL, 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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STATE APIARIST REPORT
With the warm weather we have had in March, the bees seem to
be getting a strong start this Spring. The more reports I hear,
the more encouraged I become about how the bees wintered this year.
I would guess that the losses will average between 25 and 30
percent over the whole state, much better than last year. Several
beekeepers are reporting only a 5 percent loss.
To Do in the Beeyard:
SWARM CONTROL - Because the colonies that survived are so full of
brood, you will need to split colonies, equalize brood or make
two-queen colonies to prevent swarming this Spring. Reversing the
two hive bodies when the top box fills up with brood, honey and
bees will also help discourage swarming.
FEEDING - It is also a good time to feed the bees a light sugar
syrup (1:1) or honey so they don't starve. Top feeders, frame
feeders or frames of honey work well. Adding Fumadil-B or Nosema-X
to sugar syrup will control Nosema disease which can retard the
build up of colonies in the spring. I would like to really
discourage open feeding, as this really spreads the parasitic mites
around to all the neighboring colonies. Reinfestation due to close
contact with mite-infested bees during open feeding could negate
the effects of expensive mite treatments.
DISEASE & MITE CONTROL - Be sure to treat all colonies with
Terramycin powder or grease patties to prevent a foulbrood
infection. If you know that you have Varroa mites or if you don't
want to check your bees for Varroa mites, please treat with Apistan
strips. Put these strips in as early as possible, so that the mite
population is knocked down before the first honey flows. If you
need help checking for mites or foulbrood diseases, call my office
(515) 281-5736 to make an appointment for an inspection or send a
sample of suspect material. Don't hesitate to call.
Be sure to get out to the beeyard and look inside the hives.
This is a great time of the year to work your bees. The weather
can be pleasant and the bees are generally agreeable. Get the bees
ready for that good nectar flow we're going to have starting in
June.
A HONEY OF A VERSE
"Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul and health to the bones."
(Proverbs 16:24)
HONEY AVAILABLE IN DES MOINES AREA GROCERY STORES
March 1 & 2, 1994
The average price for a 12 ounce clover honey bear was $1.40
and ranged from $0.99 to $1.79 at 30 Des Moines area large grocery
stores. Busy Bee was usually the lowest price and Sue Bee the
highest, with the local beekeepers somewhere in between. Only one
store did not have 12 ounce honey bears for sale. All stores
offered liquid honey for sale.
Many stores were running a $0.99 special on Sue Bee's 12
ounce cylinders and two stores had a $0.99 special on Sue Bee's 12
ounce Bears. The average price for a 16 ounce jar or plastic skep
of clover honey was $1.82 and ranged from $1.39 to $2.17. The
lowest prices on honey were store or generic brands of dark honey
in 24 or 32 ounce sizes. Some of these larger jars of honey were
partly crystallized.
Specialty honey products brought the highest prices.
Melissa's 12 ounce square section comb honey sold for $4.49.
Imported and domestic honey creme spreads in fancy 8 ounce jars
brought over $4.00 per pound. Many stores carried Sue Bee's and
Busy Bee's creamed honey in a 16 ounce tub. One brand of
honey-butter and cinnamon honey-butter in 7 1/2 ounce tubs was
found in three stores but it looked as though it was being
discontinued.
Honey identified by floral source brought a premium price
also. Basswood honey in 8 ounce jars sold in two stores for $1.49
and buckwheat honey for $1.99. Tupelo honey in one-pound jars was
priced at $3.09 and Orange blossom at $2.49. Some darker colored
honeys were labelled as "Wildflower" and usually commanded a
higher price.
Cut comb was only available in two of the stores. One brand
of cut comb honey was solid crystallized. One brand of
combination comb honey/liquid honey from Georgia was offered for
sale. This honey was partly crystallized.
Only twelve of thirty stores offered a local Iowa honey for
sale. Five Iowa beekeepers besides Sue Bee offered honey for sale.
In addition, five honey packers from Wisconsin and one each from
Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Kansas offered honey for sale.
Honey was located on the top shelf in all the stores but one.
In that store the honey was on the bottom shelf. The width of
shelf space occupied by honey was between two and five feet.
TED GRUENHAGEN PASSES AWAY
Lifetime member of IHPA, Ted Gruenhagen of Davenport, passed
away February 2, 1994. He had been in a nursing home for four
years, not being able to walk or talk after a stroke. However, he
did look forward to Mrs. Gruenhagen bringing him the BUZZ or
anything to do with honey to read.
Ted was a real bee man for over 65 years. Many members
remember Ted from the State Fair and the Mississippi Valley Fair.
We will really miss Ted's leadership. Our sympathy goes to Mrs.
Ted Gruenhagen and the rest of the family.
Dear Fellow Beekeepers,
The warm up this past week really put me in the mood to work
bees. We had to walk into a couple of yards but the exercise was
good for us, I guess. You sure find out in a hurry what muscles
you haven't used in the past few winter months.
Out of 150 colonies we checked, we found 63 dead. Those that
winter killed had starved. Some had honey on, but never got to it.
Others didn't have any honey left. The colonies that were alive,
were for the most part very strong and were raising a lot of brood.
We made sure all had plenty of honey stores. Hopefully these will
be fine until we start feeding (which we will do by the time you
receive this newsletter). When we get these warm days, it's a good
idea to check your colonies for feed. From now on we lose colonies
for lack of feed. Honey is the best feed, but you can also use
sugar water or high fructose corn syrup. Bob Cox has the following
recipe for hard candy to feed bees:
Hard Candy Feeder Boards
Ingredients: 100 pounds sugar, 2 gallons water and 1 cup of honey.
Instructions: Boil water and honey, then add sugar gradually until
all is dissolved and boiling. Boil until mixture is about half
foam and boil another 5 minutes only. Cooking time is about one to
one and half hours with tank cooking on four gas burners.
Yield: 5 candy boards (20 lbs.@ - about 2 inches thick).
- Leroy Kellogg, IHPA President
PROFILE OF IOWA BEEKEEPERS
Listed below is a break down of the beekeepers on our mailing
list for the BUZZ. These figures are approximate and only give you
a rough idea of the make up of Iowa beekeepers.
Class Number of beekeepers
1. Hobbyists 804
(one to four and unknown number of colonies)
2. Small sideliner 289
(5 - 99 colonies)
3. Large sideliner 56
(100-499 colonies)
4. Small commercial 16
(500-999)
5. Large commercial 20
(1,000 or more colonies) _____________
TOTAL 1185
FOR SALE: 20-frame stainless extractor, 40 and 100 gal. stainless
holding tanks, stainless sump tank, gear sump pump, 100 deep
supers, 200 - 6 5/8" supers, 90 queen excluders, 100 2-gal. feeder
pails, stainless cappings melter, ca. 16 two-story colonies with
bees, and other items too numerous to mention.
SALE DATE: May 15 at 1:00 p.m. Dave Lambert, 8874 Metropolitan
Heights, Dubuque, Iowa (319) 583-8958.
FREE PAINT: Pick up at Metro Waste Authority Transfer Station,
4198 Delaware Ave. in Northeast Des Moines, 1:00 p.m. May 7th.
1993 TRACHEAL MITE SURVEY
Out of 105 bee samples examined 70% were infested with the
microscopic tracheal mite. Samples were either collected by the
beekeeper and sent to the office or collected by apiary inspectors
from several colonies in an apiary. Most of the samples had less
than 15 percent of the bees infested (71% of the samples).
However, 29% of the samples did have more than 15% of the bees
infested. According to Department of Agriculture rules, any
colonies with 15% or more bees infested with tracheal mites must be
treated before sale or transport.
Spring samples were more highly infested (16.0%) than samples
collected during the Summer (11.6%). This could be due to normal
mite population decline relative to the increasing size of the bee
population or because Spring samples were sent to the office in an
attempt to determine the cause of a heavy winterkill, whereas
Summer samples were collected at random by apiary inspectors or a
combination of both.
The only product available for tracheal mite control is
menthol. It is best to treat colonies in the spring, right now.
Be sure to remove any remaining menthol before adding supers to
the colonies.
Using "grease patties" in the hive continually, year-round
may also benefit infested colonies. When supers are on the
colonies, these should not contain Terramycin antibiotic, only
sugar and shortening. The vegetable shortening is not intended to
kill the mites but does seem to help infested colonies tolerate
the mite better than without it. The short term use of grease
patties appears to be of little value for tracheal mite infested
colonies.
IOWA HONEY PRODUCTION LOWEST SINCE 1982
USDA/Ag. Statistics reports a 49 pound per colony average in
1993, the lowest per colony yield since 1982. Before 1982 you have
to go back to 1948 for a per colony yield less than 50 pounds.
Total production was 2,940,000 pounds from 60,000 colonies of bees
in Iowa in 1993. These statistics are based on a survey of
beekeepers with five or more colonies.
U.S. honey production was 230 million pounds, up four percent
from 1992. There were 2.88 million colonies producing honey in
1993, compared with 3.03 million in 1992. Yield per colony
averaged 80.1 pounds, up 7.3 pounds from the 72.8 pounds in 1992.
Prices for the 1993 crop averaged 54.4 cents per pound, down 1
percent from the 1992 price of 55.0 cents per pound. Prices are
based on retail sales by producers and sales to private packers and
co-ops.
FOR SALE: Complete bee operation - 100 two-story hives with bees
plus equipment for 150 colonies. Call Bill Eickholt (712)
225-5207.
WANTED: 1 or 2 colonies of bees to pollinate a small apple orchard
(1 acre) at 3880 NW 128th St. in Urbandale. Contact Ross Peterson
(515) 276-4995.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
APRIL
19 Southeast Iowa Beekeepers Meeting at Sirloin Stockade
in Mt. Pleasant. Meal at 6:30 and program following.
22-23 Queen Rearing Short Course, University of Minnesota,
St. Paul Campus, Call Dr. Spivak at (612) 624-2275.
23 Central Iowa Beekeepers Auction 11:00 a.m. at
Kellogg's Honeyhouse in Cambridge, Iowa.
MAY 7-8 Queen Rearing Short Course, University of Minnesota,
St. Paul Campus, Call Dr. Spivak at (612) 624-2275.
JUNE
11 IHPA Board Mtg. 1:00 p.m. at Royal Cafe in Huxley.
13 Eastcentral Iowa Beekeepers Meeting 7:00 p.m. in
Montgomery Hall, Johnson County Fairgrounds, Iowa City
18 Central Iowa Beekeepers Meeting 6:30 p.m. at Royal
Cafe in Huxley.
JULY
23 IHPA/CIBA Summer Field Day at Riverside Church Camp,
Story City, Iowa. Bee Laboratory from University of
Minnesota will present program on queen management.
NOVEMBER
11-12 Iowa Honey Producers Annual Meeting in Marshalltown.
FOR SALE: 300 singles available in May $35.00; 1500 deeps, 200 - 6
5/8" supers, a 1000-gal. feed & storage tank & stand, 50 new
4-frame nuc boxes, 500 shingle covers, 400 migratory covers & 400
bottoms, honey drums, deep boxes (shells), sugar mixer for 55-gal.
drum, 1990 F-350 5-speed diesel truck w/8'x12' flatbed, 18 h.p.
electric boiler, 8'x16' flatbed for a straight truck, plus other
misc. Call John Onstank, Creston (515) 782-9522.
AUCTION: CIBA Annual Auction April Saturday April 23rd in
Cambridge, Iowa, CONSIGNMENTS so far are Arvin Foell: several
hundred deep frames, scraped, melted, and bundles in 10's, ca. 100
entrance blocks, stainless holding tank & other items listed later.
Bob Mitchell: several 6 5/8 supers with 10 frames of foundation,
other items listed later. Leroy Kellogg: ca. 150 - 6 5/8 supers
with nine frames of drawn white comb. John Onstank: unsold items
(see ad above). Roger Smith: 100 deep boxes (shells), repaired and
painted, other misc. Bill Van Roekel: 10-15 deep supers with 9
frames of drawn comb. Tim Laughlin: 15 wooden pallets 42" x 72"
(will fit between the wheel wells of a full size pickup). Contact
Margaret Hala for consignments. 1988 Vine Ave., Marshalltown, IA
50158 phone: (515) 752-2981. Consignments will be made in the
order received.
FOR SALE: 24-frame extractor, galvanized, electric powered $525.
Call Harry Hunter (515) 266-1984.
FOR SALE: Bee hives, singles and doubles and some equipment.
Treated with Apistan, Menthol and Terramycin in 1993. Mostly 1993
queens. Bottling business has grown and do not have time to run
1,000 hives. Most equipment in good to excellent condition. Call
(608) 568-7601 Days or (608) 748-4706 evenings.
BEEKEEPING INFORMATION SHEETS
(Individual sheets available upon request from State Apiarist)
1. Africanized Honey Bees
2. Agricultural Diversification & Beekeeping
3. American Foulbrood Disease / Terramycin recipes
4. Basic Beekeeping Equipment / H-Frame Hive Stand
5. Beehive Plans - Drawings & Measurements
6. Beekeeping in the City
7. Beekeeping Supply Dealers Address list
8. Beeswax Production & Uses
9. Differences Between the Mites
10. Disinfecting Diseased Equipment / Comparison of Bee Diseases
Chart
11. Extracting and Bottling Honey
12. Feeding Bees - methods
13. Honey Bees and Beekeepers - Pollination
14. Honey Bee Pollination of Fruits and Vegetables in Iowa
15. Manufactured Food Products with Honey
16. Marketing - How to Create and Maintain Direct Markets
17. Observation Beehive Plans
18. Solar Wax Melter Plans
19. Spring Management
20. Summer Management
21. Tracheal Mite Control
22. Tracheal Mite Detection
23. Varroa Mites: Biology, Detection and Control
24. When Honey Bees Become Pests
25. Wintering Bees in Iowa
OTHER BEEKEEPING INFORMATION SOURCES
BEEKEEPING BOOKS:
ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. 1974 Edition. A.I. Root Co., Medina,
Ohio. 712 pp.
The Hive and the Honey Bee. 1992 Edition. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton,
Illinois. 1324 pp.
The Dancing Bees. by Karl von Frish. 1953. A Harvest/HJB Book.
Walter T. Kelley Co. Clarkson, Kentucky. 182 pp.
500 Answers to Bee Questions. 1978. A.I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio.
96 pp.
How to Keep Bees and Sell Honey. 1983. Walter T. Kelley Co.,
Clarkson, Kentucky. 148 pp.
First Lessons in Beekeeping. 1976. Dadant & Sons, Hamilton,
Illinois. 127 pp.
Beekeeping in the Midwest. by Elbert Jaycox. 1976. University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Cooperative Extension Service. 168 pp.
Hive Management by Richard E. Bonney. 1990. Garden Way Publishing.
Pownal, VT 05261. 152 pp.
Bees and the Law by Murray Loring. 1981. Dadant & Sons. Available
from Wicwas Press, PO Box 817-L, Cheshire, CT 06410-0817. 128 pp.
Honey Bee Diseases & Pests. 1991. Canadian Association of
Professional Apiculturists. Dept. of Environmental Biology,
University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G2W1 16 pp.
Insect Pollination of Cultivated Crops Plants. 1976. S.E. McGregor.
Agriculture Handbook No. 496. Out of print. 411 pp.
BEEKEEPING PERIODICALS:
American Bee Journal. Dadant & Sons. Hamilton, Illinois 62341.
(monthly)
Bee Culture. (formerly Gleanings) A.I. Root Co. Medina, Ohio 44256.
(monthly)
The Speedy Bee. P.O. Box 1038, Jesup, Georgia 31545. (monthly)
The Buzz. Apiary Bureau, Iowa Dept. of Agriculture, Wallace Bldg.,
Des Moines, IA 50319. (monthly)
Bee World. Internation Bee Research Association, 18 North Road,
Cardiff, CF1 3DY, UK. (quarterly)
Bee Science. Wicwas Press. PO Box 817-L, Cheshire, CT 06410-0817.
(quarterly)
NHB COOKBOOKS ARE HERE
The National Honey Board Cookbook Sweetened with Honey -- The
Natural Way is now available for purchase. The cookbook contains
over 100 delectable honey recipes plus full-color, mouthwatering
photographs throughout! The cookbook will be sold at supermarket
checkout stands throughout the country this month at a cost of
$2.95 each. You can sweeten your honey sales with this cookbook
available from the Iowa Honey Producers or the National Honey Board
for $2.50, including shipping. To order a single copy of the
cookbook, send a check or money order for $2.50 to:
Iowa Honey Producers Assn. National Honey Board
Gordon Powell, Treas. OR Dept. BK
4012 - 54th St. P.O. Box 7760
Des Moines, IA 50310 Marshfield, WI 54449
(515) 278-1762
Call or write for prices for large quantities.
HONEY CHICKEN
1 fryer chicken
3/4 cup Honey
1/4 c prepared mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp salt
Dash of soy sauce
Cut up fryer. Mix ingredients and pour over
chicken. Bake uncovered for one hour at 325
degrees. Baste every 1/2 hour.
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