Submitted by: Terry Dahms, Pres.
East Central Iowa Beekeepers Assoc.
internet: [log in to unmask]
sorry for the delay in posting.
------------------------------------------------------------------
THE BUZZ MAY, 1994
------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
------------------------------------------------------------------
HANDLING BEE PROBLEM CALLS
Spring is the time when insects become active and some of the
insects cause people problems. Beekeepers, pest control
operators, bee inspectors, county extension, ASCS, police and fire
department personnel may all receive telephone calls concerning
"bees" causing problems. Many of these situations do not involve
honey bees.
Problems range from bees digging burrows in the garden, to
angry hornets, to a large scale honey bee hive spill due to a
truck wreck. Your first job in fielding this type of call is to
determine, as best as you can, if it is an emergency because bees
are stinging people and what type of insect is involved.
The best way, if it is an emergency or you are close by and you
have the time, is to go over and check out the situation yourself.
However, that is not often possible and you should gather
information over the phone. Ask about the location of the caller,
the appearance of the insect, the number of insects, the location
of the bees' activity or nest and the appearance of the nest, if
they can see it.
If there has been a highway accident with honey bee hives
spilled out on the road, call a fire department to come to the
scene with water and hoses. The fire department needs to add
liquid soap or film forming foam to the water and spray bees down
with this solution. A solution of at least 3% soap or foam will
knock bees down and kill them. A fine spray is most affective for
clearing the air of bees and making it safe to rescue victims from
the wreckage.
The time of the year will give you a clue as to the type of
insect. Generally most calls in the spring and early summer
involve swarms of honey bees. These may be either hanging from the
limb of a tree or nesting inside a tree or inside the wall or
soffit of a home or other building. If their combs are visible
you will notice that they hang vertically. About 3/4 of the calls
that come into the State Apiarists office here involved problem
bees or wasps inside structures and the remainder are free hanging
swarms of honey bees.
The free hanging swarms (clusters) of bees that are low to the
ground (up to 10 feet) are valuable to some beekeepers, especially
in the month of May. Most beekeepers do not feel that removing
colonies of bees from inside structures is a profitable use of
time. But occasionally, there is a beekeeper who will remove a
colony of bees from a building for a fee.
If you determine that the caller has honey bees, call one of
the beekeepers listed on the cover of THE BUZZ located nearest to
you to obtain name of beekeeper in your local area. The county
ASCS office may also have names and phone numbers of beekeepers
registered for pesticide notification in your county.
Honey bees do not often swarm after July. Therefore most of
the calls in late summer and fall involve yellow jacket wasps and
hornets. Hornets make a gray paper nest the shape of a football
that hangs from the limb of a tree. The nest contains several
horizontally stacked paper combs connected by pedestals and
covered by several paper envelopes. An individual hornet is black
in appearance with white markings and is larger than a honey bee.
Yellow jackets range in size from smaller than a honey bee to
as large as a hornet and have bright yellow and black stripes.
Their paper nests are inside a structure like honey bees, but
unlike honey bees, some species may also nest underground. If the
nest is visible, you may see several layers of outside covering
like the hornet nest and horizontal combs hanging by one or more
pedestals. Some of these colonies may contain several hundred
thousand individuals. These insects are the ones that ruin your
picnics in the late summer and fall. They like anything sweet:
your peanut butter and jelly sandwich, soda pop or fruit. They
also eat insects and forage on car grills, eating the dead insects
deposited there while driving.
If you determine that the caller has yellow jacket wasps or
hornets, it is best to refer them to local pest control operators.
SUMMER BEEKEEPING FIELD DAY
Saturday, July 23rd the Iowa Honey Producers and Central Iowa
Beekeepers Association will hold a beekeeping field day at the
Riverside Bible Camp near Story City, Iowa. There is easy access
to the camp which is located just 2 miles off of I-35 about 20
miles north of Ames. Registration is at 8:30 a.m. and the program
will last until 4:00.
The University of Minnesota Bee Research Laboratory will
present a program on queen management: finding and evaluating the
queen, queen selection, breeding, rearing methods, replacement and
introduction methods. Everyone attending will get a copy of the
new disease booklet published by the University of Minnesota. We
are planning on door prizes and honey-made snacks that you bring.
The morning will start out with a walking tour of bee plants on
the grounds. Breakout sessions in the afternoon will include
choices of Comb Honey Production, Pollen Trapping, Beginning
Beekeeping, or Bee Diseases and Pests. We will finish up the day
with a research update from the University of Minnesota and a "Hot
Topics" question and answer session.
The camp setting is a great place for beekeepers and their
families. There is a beeyard with a screened-in observation
building on the property. Some of the talks and the noon meal
will be held in an air-conditioned retreat center.
Pre-registration is required for a prepared meal or you may bring
your own lunch and eat at picnic tables outside.
For more information contact one of the committee members:
Margaret Hala, Leo Stattelman, Margaret Hala, Gordon Powell, Jim
Cherry or Bob Cox.
TO DO IN THE BEEYARD
SWARM PREVENTION - 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.
Prevention is the key!
CAUTION: Cutting out sealed queen cells may result in a queenless
colony and will not usually stop swarming anyway; it's too late.
MAKING INCREASE - Early in the month you can still make splits
to replace winter losses and increase the number of colonies.
Make them a little larger now (e.g. 6-7 frames of brood).
CHECK FOR VARROA & FOULBROOD - ignoring these will not make
them go away.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
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
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 Church Camp,
Story City, Iowa. Contact Gordon Powell or Bob Cox
for further details.
NOVEMBER
11-12 Iowa Honey Producers Annual Meeting in Marshalltown.
NEW NHB HONEY RECIPE FOLDER
A new brochure (depicted on the front cover) published by the
National Honey Board teaches cooks how to "make magic in minutes"
with honey. The three-color, eight panel brochure is a collection
of quick and easy tips for adding honey to dressings, desserts,
drinks, sauces and spreads. Recipes vary from broiled bananas to
lemonade to Dijon tarragon sauce. As the brochure cover explains:
it's easy to drizzle, to dabble, to sizzle, to dazzle -- use
honey. For a free sample of the "Make Magic in Minutes" brochure,
send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to: National Honey Board
Magic, 421 - 21st Ave., Ste. 203, Longmont, CO 80501. Quantities
are available for 15 cents each.
HAWKEYE SCIENCE FAIR AWARDS
The state-wide Hawkeye Science Fair was held April 8-9 at the
Merle Hay Mall in Des Moines. Two science fair projects involving
honey bees deserve special recognition.
Carol Fassbinder, 7th grader of Valley-Elgin school, had the
best honey bee project and received a $50.00 award. In addition,
she placed 2nd overall in the 7th grade Biology division. Carol
studied the effect of treating for nosema disease and wrapping
colonies on winter survival of honey bee colonies belonging to her
family. Carol is the daughter of commercial beekeepers Bob and
Kathy Fassbinder of Elgin, Iowa. A research article about this
project will appear in the June BUZZ.
Kristin Burgess, 10th grader from Stuart-Menlo school,
received a $25 award for her interesting project entitled "The
Smelling Bee". She obtained worker honey bees from Ken Lappe,
beekeeper from Casey, to test the bees' preference for different
fruit odors. She constructed a simple olfactometer and her
testing revealed that the bees most often preferred the pear and
least often to the orange and the apple in between when given a
choice.
EASTERN APICULTURE SOCIETY SHORT COURSE AND CONFERENCE
The annual EAS short course and conference will be held in
Lancaster, Pennsylvania July 11-15. The short course will offer a
choice of beginning beekeeping or beekeeping as a business July
11, 12 and the morning of the 13th. The conference will be held
during the balance of the week. Other activities include a tour
of Dutch Gold Honey packing business and Kitchen Kettle Village,
located in an Amish community.
Speakers for the conference include: Andrew Matheson (IBRA),
Jim Tew (USDA), William Towne, David Fletcher, Clarence Collison,
Cliff Sunflower, and Theodor Cherbuliez; Master Beekeeper & M.D.
on Apitherapy. Workshop highlights include presentations by Kim
Flottum on "Generating Good Public Relations for Your Association
or Business" and "Writing the Perfect Newsletter," Tom McCormack
on marketing, Dennis Keeney on backyard queen rearing, Cliff
Sunflower on developing effective school programs and much, much
more.
For more information on the conference and short course
including a registration form and copy of the program, please
contact:
Joe Duffy Maryann Frazier
309 Clivden Street or Dept. of Entomology
Glenside, PA 19038 501 ASI Bldg.
(717) 885-1681 Univ. Park, PA 16802
(814) 865-4621
EAST CENTRAL IOWA BEEKEEPERS MEETING
Monday March 14 the East Central Iowa Beekeepers met at the
Fairgrounds in Iowa City. The 14 members present reported an
average of 33% winter loss out of 186 hives collectively.
An announcement was made about Paul Goossen teaching a
beekeeping class at the Amana Middle School in Middle Amana.
This is an 8-week course taught through Kirkwood Community College
and beginning April 9th at 9:00 - 11:00 a.m.
Dave Irwin lead a discussion about participating again this
year at the Johnson County Fair. It was the consensus of the group
to set up a table again with an observation bee hive if the fair
board will give permission and to hand out honey candy.
Cleo Troyer brought a video entitled Controlling Bee
Emergencies to show to the group. The group watched the video
which was produced for fire departments to instruct them on how to
handle an overturned truck load of bee hives or nuisance colonies.
The evening ended with the members attempting to assemble an
observation bee hive that President, Terry Dahms, had purchased.
The next meeting meeting is scheduled for June 13th at 7:00 p.m.
in the basement of Montgomery Hall at the Johnson County
Fairgrounds in Iowa City. Anyone interested in beekeeping is
invited.
NEW UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA VARROA RESEARCH
New research from The University of Georgia may support the
notion that secondary pathogens compound damage to bee colonies
from Varroa mites. Experimental colonies infested with Varroa
mites were treated with various combinations of Terramycin
antibiotic and Apistan miticide. Each product increased body
weight of mature hive bees of mixed ages. Additionally,
Terramycin increased body weight of newly-emerged bees.
Reduced body weight is one of the best documented effects of
Varroa mites on honey bees, and low body weight is linked to a
shortened lifespan. Since Terramycin counteracted this negative
effect, supplemental antibiotic treatments, along with Apistan
miticide, may optimize benefit to Varroa infested colonies.
(from January 1994 APIS newsletter, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville)
BAKERS WILL GET SWEET SURPRISE IN WELBILT BREAD MACHINES
Purchasers of Welbilt bread machines will soon get a bonus --
the National Honey Board's "Breads & Spreads" brochure. The
brochure includes recipes for Honey Whole Wheat Bread, Poppy Seed
Loaf, Dutch Dill Bread and Cajun Tomato Bread. Honey spreads are
highlighted in the brochure as delectable toppings for breads,
muffins and rolls. The Welbilt Corporation inserted the brochures
in 100,000 of its bread machines.
"I tried all of the recipes myself and the results were
delicious" said Mary Humann, marketing director for the National
Honey Board. Humann added that the bread recipes were developed
especially for the Welbilt machines -- adjustments to the recipes
may be required when they are used with other machines.
The Honey Board has a limited quantity of bread machine
brochures available. If you would like a free copy, please send
your request to:
Bread Machine Brochure
National Honey Board
421 - 21st Ave., #203
Longmont, CO 80501
HONEY BARBECUE SAUCE
1/2 cup minced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 can (8 oz.) tomato sauce
1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Saute onion and garlic in oil until softened. Add remaining
ingredients and bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes.
Makes 1 cup. Marinate beef, chicken or pork in sauce. Brush on
meat during barbecuing or broiling.
Quick tip: Add 1/4 cup honey to 1 cup of your favorite prepared
barbecue sauce.
HONEY HERB BARBECUE SAUCE
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup minced onion
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon each lemon juice and
chopped fresh rosemary*
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in saucepan and bring to boil. Reduce
heat and simmer 5 minutes. Makes 1 cup. Marinate chicken pieces
at least 1/2 hour before barbecuing or broiling; brush chicken
with sauce during cooking.
*One teaspoon dried crushed rosemary may be substituted.
HONEY LIME MARINADE
3/4 cup honey
2/3 cup fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
2 teaspoons minced garlic
Combine all ingredients; mix well. Makes 1-3/4 cups. Marinate
chicken or turkey cutlets at least 1/2 hour before grilling or
broiling; brush cutlets with marinade during cooking.
(Recipes courtesy of the National Honey Board)
IOWA HONEY PRODUCERS BOARD MEETING NEWS
The board of directors of the Iowa Honey Producers Association
met March 12th in Cambridge. Highlights included planning a
summer field day, the decision to sell honey lemonade instead of
honey ice cream this year at the Iowa State Fair and selling of
the new National Honey Board's honey cookbook. These new
cookbooks are available now through the mail and will be available
at the Summer Field Day in July (see article elsewhere in BUZZ).
John Johnson asked for more help for staffing the State Fair
Salesbooth again this year. Note was also made that the Fair is
one week earlier than in recent years. Bid sheets for honey sales
will be published in the June BUZZ newsletter and the work
schedule sign-up in the July issue.
The next meeting of the board is scheduled for Saturday June 11
at 1:00 at the Royal Cafe in Huxley.
CLEO TROYER OF KALONA DIES
Cleo Troyer, just 10 days shy of his 70th birthday, died
Tuesday, April 19 at University of Iowa Hospitals in Iowa City.
Cleo had surgery for a brain tumor at the end of March and seemed
to be doing fine when he died suddenly. His funeral was April 22
at the Lower Deer Creek Mennonite Church near Kalona, where he was
an active member. The church is large and was packed with family
and friends.
Cleo was a long time beekeeper and was active in the East
Central Iowa Beekeepers. He will be remembered for the help he
gave to us less experienced beekeepers and his enthusiasm for
beekeeping. At past meetings he had demonstrated a bee removal
vacuum he purchased, a home-made video on beekeeping that starred
himself, and at the March 14 meeting a video on bee emergencies he
had purchased. We will miss him.
For a combined total of 26 years he was either on the City
Council or mayor of Kalona. In a Cedar Rapids Gazette article
about Cleo, a resident was quoted as saying Cleo knew where every
line, every pipe was in Kalona, along with the history of
everything. At his funeral service, many were wiping eyes and
blowing noses. The community of Kalona will dearly miss him too!
- Terry Dahms
President, East Central Iowa Beekeepers
FOR SALE: Approx. 75 - 5 11/16" honey supers with drawn comb,
fair condition $2.00 each. Approx. 50 - 5 11/16" honey supers w/
and w/o frames and no comb, good condition $1.00 each. Empty deep
supers (shells), fair condition $1.00 each. Several hundred
unassembled 9 1/8" and 5 3/8" frames, grooved top bars. Plus lots
of misc. equipment. Will sell cheap. Great for a beginner.
Call (712) 589-3606 in Braddyville, Iowa.
FOR SALE: CLOVER HONEY IN BARRELS OR PAILS.
CALL Lapp's Bee Supply Center. 1-800-321-1960
WARNING!!
The following warning was sent to Bob Cox, Iowa State Apiarist,
by Mississippi's State Apiarist, Harry Fulton.
Russell Apiaries, J.N. Russell proprietor, of Bolton, MS is
advertising in national bee magazines but is not certified in
Mississippi. The owner is refusing inspection. Packages from
Russell Apiaries should not be purchased for shipment to Iowa
because it would be an illegal shipment. Additionally, these bees
may be carrying diseases or parasites damaging to your other
colonies and your neighbor's.
A HONEY OF A VERSE
"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall
he beg in harvest, and have nothing." (Proverbs 20:4)
It's time to be in the beeyard preparing your bees to make honey.
|
