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Lining up for Pot Luck

Feb. 03-Mar. 03Next Meeting is:

Tuesday, Mar. 25, 20037:30pm

Room 107, Falls Church High7521 Jaguar Trail

Falls Church, Virginia 22042

Pres ident Alan Fiala 703-790-8044 Treasurer Bennie Liles 703-671-1010

Vice-P res. P atricia Haskell 703-560-3484 Se cretary Pearl Liles 703-671-1010

Editor Alan Fiala 703-790-8044

Next Meeting March 25.

Steve McDaniels Returns!

Steve McDaniels will speak

on Catching the Impossible

Swarm. This presentationincludes a slide talk and

many show-and-tell devicesfor catching swarms. Steve

is an EAS Master Beekeeper,the Maryland State Bee-keepers Association Vice-

President for Carroll County,

and an award-winning free-lance photographer. He spoke at the March 2002

meeting and captivated us with his photographyand knowledge. He will have more of his photo-

graphic work for sale at the meeting.

May 27 Meeting we will have Keith Tignor(state apiarist) as the speaker.

The PotLuck Dinner Meeting

January 28 was a great success. A largeattendance produced a truly groaning board ofculinary delights. There was no business

meeting, just announcements about upcoming

events. For entertainment, members had beenasked to bring in unusual beekeeping items forshow and tell. Tom Berry showed what can be

done with old solid bottom boards: use it forartists canvas! He also showed a painted nuc

box, to be donated to the joint state meeting in

Upcoming BANV Meetings

NOTE ROOM!Be Alert for Future Changes!

March 25, 2003 Room 107/9May 27, 2003 Room 107/9

Special Dates to Reserve

March 22, 2003 Extension Workshop,Ellanor C. Lawrence Park, Chantilly

June 20-21, 2003 VSBA/MSBA Sum-

mer Meeting, Northern VirginiaCommunity College, Manassas

Steve McDaniels

In this issue:

BANV Meetings 1

In the Beeyard this month 2

MSBA Winter Meeting-Notes 3

State Apiarist Letter 5

Winter Loss Survey 6

Regulations re: SHB 7

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June; a drone or queen trap, and antique beekeeping articles and books. Benny Liles brought

some antiques: bee supply catalogues from 1932 and 1935, an 8-frame drone or queen trap,and a bottom syrup feeder. Dane Hannum displayed a stand he had made to hold a double

screen filter above the bucket being filled. Alan Fiala showed a frame jig, 9-frame spacingcomb, 15-inch hive tool, and a frame hanger.

Brenda Kiessling presented an English-stylebottom board with a large winter kill, and a su-

per destroyed by wax moths. Finally, Pat Haskell

showed a Sundance pollen trap and a moveableupper entrance device.

State Meeting Shaping Up! Speakersconfirmed so far include Keith Delaplane, PedroRodriguez, Wyatt Mangum, Jeff Pettis, Mark

Feldlaufer, Keith Tignor, and possibly others.

In the Beeyard and Shop This Month

By Pat Haskell

The weather frogs are predicting a colder thanaverage March in addition to the snow storms

that have recently passed through our area. However, SPRING IS COMING! Have you checkedfor buds on the maple trees? Has anyone seen any skunk cabbage? Watch for these telltale

signs. Which brings me to what needs to be done in the apiary for spring. Here are a few of

the multiple things that come to mind.

Do your girls have enough food? If not, feed with a 1:1 sugar to water mixture and add alittle artificial pollen to the top bars. This will aid in the rearing of the new brood when bothpollen and nectar might be in short supply. Make sure they have a clean, fresh water

source, without bothering the neighbors.

It is time to reverse your hive bodies. However, check where your cluster is before you dothis. You dont want to split the brood with half on top and half on the bottom. The broodwill be chilled without sufficient worker bees to cover them and keep them warm, and at

this time of year there are not enough worker bees to perform this chore. Clean your apiary of all the debris that has accumulated. Perhaps a little sprucing up will

make your trips to the apiary more efficient and enjoyable. How about putting an empty

hive in your out yards and filling it with all the tools and replacement parts you might need.This would ensure that you would have what you need to effect most repairs without multi-

ple trips. Of course, you have built all of the new equipment you might need and have repaired all of

your old. Goodness, where has the winter gone. Time to get cracking and get those honeysupers cleaned and repaired.

Clean off those bottom boards and scrape off the bridge comb and propolis from the hive.Last year, my girls decided to collect cedar berries and the bottom boards were just covered

with them. Check your frames for old, black comb and for excess drone comb. Change out

your foundation every four years or sooner if it is needed. This assures that your bees arekeeping house on clean wax as free of diseases and toxins as possible. On a quiet, warm day (75-80 degrees), check your hives clear down to the toe nails.

While doing this look for a number of things: stores, population, brood pattern, presence ofthe queen, diseases, and mites. Do a mite drop on a sticky board (or a sugar roll test) and

check for the presence of Varroa and evaluate the need to treat. Consider having our local

apiarist, Bob Wellameyer, inspect your hives for your peace of mind. Check the strength of your hives. A strong hive may need the additional space of an extra

hive body. Look for swarm preparations and start preventative and control measures if pre-

sent. If you are anticipating making increases (splits) in your apiary, wait until the weather is

Pat Haskell show ing and tel l ing

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warm enough so that the brood does not get chilled. When I observed my hives on March 1s t, a day bright and still with temperatures in the low

40's, I found my girls out and about. Ive got to quit dreaming and watching the bees and

get back to spring management myself. Both you and I know there are myriad tasks Ifailed to mention. I have only tried to hit a few of the high spots. See you at the next

meeting and we will compare notes on what needs to be done.

Presidents CornerSounding like a broken record: Still no volunteers to be recording secretary or newsletter edi-

tor.

We will need volunteers for the state meeting in June, to round up door prizes, help with re-freshment setup, registration, go-fering, AV, and all those little meeting tasks that pop up.

Alan

Notes from the Maryland State Beekeepers Association Winter Meeting.

This meeting was held Saturday, February 22, 2003 at the Howard County Fairgrounds. Notes

by Alan Fiala.

Jerry Fisher, Chief Inspector for Maryland, opened with his report. He said that it had not been

a good year for beekeeping nor honey production in Maryland. With the new administration, the

state Dept. of Agriculture had its budget cut 9%, and the amount depends on number of hivesregistered. He is operating on contract, not as a state employee.

Lloyd Spears of Ross Rounds spoke on pollen. Fresh pollen is not found in stores. The pollensold in stores mostly comes from China, and is over-dried to prevent spoilage.

Plants that have to compete for pollinators (insect-borne pollen) provide protein. The proteincontent of insect-borne pollen is 25% to 40%. By comparison, foods that humans eat are lessthan 25% protein.

Protein is important to honeybees. The egg is tiny, no protein is built into it. There is no protein

in honey. Bee bread contains honey, pollen, and bee-produced enzymes. A honeybees lifetime

consumption of pollen is primarily as a larva, then some as a young nurse bee. In the first two

weeks after hatching or emerging, a honeybee develops wing muscles and finishes developingits nervous system. After that, bees dont consume protein, only carbohydrates.

In North America generally plants produce pollen and nectar at the same time. Hence, whenfeeding syrup, ALSO FEED POLLEN!

Does trapping pollen deprive bees? Honeybees seem to be programmed to fill 15% of cellswith pollen. Usually, 20% of foragers are idle in the hive. Therefore, if you trap pollen, the idleforagers can go for more. A trap collects about 75% of pollen coming in.

What about insecticides? They are contact chemicals, and bees coming into contact with them

dont get back to the hive. The effective life is about 4 hours, unless it is timed-release. Corn

pollen, being airborne, can be a problem traps should be turned off when it is out.

Uses of pollen: eat it; use it in pollen patties; feed it directly bees wont break cluster to getit. Start feeding 3-4 weeks before maple bloom.

Freeze it as soon as its collected. This is critical. Pollen is 25-40% protein, 4% fat, vitamins,

but also contains bacteria and fungus. Ants love it. After it is frozen, then clean it, dry it, and

refreeze it.

Drying pollen: In the trap it is about 18% humidity (moisture). It must be under 10% to pre-

vent clumping and molding. Dry it on a regular 30x60 window screen set up on blocks. In thesummer when relative humidity is 50-60% it dries in 2 days. In winter it may dry in one day or

less. At the start, squeezing the grains will turn them to powder. When it is dry enough, the

pollen will remain in pellets when squeezed.

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Cleaning pollen: Hives are dirty. A trap must be covered, and then hive debris removed from

the pollen. Front mount traps are really dirty. For up to 100 pounds of pollen, pick debris outmanually after freezing. It is visible, especially on a white surface. Over 100 pounds, it is easier

to pour it in front of an air stream, as 90% of the debris is lighter than pollen and will blow out.

Question: If you sell pollen, what is a convenient size container and are there any labeling re-

quirements? Most convenient sizes are 8 ounces (1 pound honey jar) and 4 ounces (8 ounce

honey jar). The price is around $20/pound, or $7.00 and up for 4 ounces. It is a food, so mustmeet food labeling requirements. The substance is pollen; you may make NO health claims.

If you feed pollen to your bees, it is unwise to use pollen from an unknown source, for it maycontain AFB spores.

Pollen contains protein and deteriorates with time. The average colony is thought to collect

about 50 pounds of pollen per year; Lloyd traps about 15 pounds per colony.

Dew ey Caron, U. of Delaware, reviewed brood disea ses. He noted that the problems with

mites and AHB have taken over funding and research away from diseases, management, andnutrition. These are still important issues! The beekeeper still needs to know about diseases:

what stage of life of the honeybee is attacked? What is the pathogen? What are the symptoms,

and the treatment? The beekeeper should be making corrections and enhancements to whathoneybees are doing naturally and help manage the diseases, overwintering, etc.

Inspection is a snapshot of conditions in the colony. Is it normal? What happens next? Is therea potential problem? What do I need to do, if anything? What to look for: 1. Is there evidence

of a normal, functioning queen? 2. Are all stages of development present? There should be

roughly twice as much capped as open brood (think of the relative development time perstage). 3. Is there honey? 4. What is the brood pattern?

After that, he reviewed all the brood diseases in terms of what causes it, whether it is bacteria,

virus, protozoa, etc., what life stage it attacks, symptoms, and treatment. All this information isavailable on the MAAREC web site. He also had samples of various diseases and pests for ex-amination as a quiz. For inexperienced beekeepers, he pointed out that if you are at least able

to recognize that something isnt right, then you can call in the experts your inspector, andthe laboratories.

There was quite a long discussion of AFB. Some important points are how to diagnose (appear-

ance and smell), how to prevent, and how to treat. Prevention is problematic; only hygienicbees are resistant. Antibiotics are not a treatment, they do not kill the spores, they just make

the symptoms go away. AFB attacks only in the very early stages of the egg. Once the devel-oping bee is consumed and the food is gone, a protective spore forms that is highly contagious.

The spore is nearly impermeable, and can last for 70 years or more. There are few effective

treatments. In all cases, it is best to destroy the bees and burn the infected brood comb andframes. The remaining equipment can be treated in a gas chamber with ethylene oxide, orbombarded with gamma radiation.

Jeff P ettis, Greenbelt Bee Lab, spoke more on AFB research. Studies by Bob Cox, now at

Westlaco Bee Lab, showed that AFB spores could be widespread in honey and hives even whereno symptoms appeared.

New antibiotics (tylosin, lincomycin) are being tested. They are only to be used as preventa-

tives in a dust. They dont kill brood, as does terramycin. Both are persistent and stay longer inhoney, the half life is over six months, whereas terramycins half life is three weeks. To control

AFB, it is better to use hygienic stock and use sanitation. If AFB appears, always burn the broodcomb, then treat the rest of the equipment by other methods.

Queens wont lay on infected comb, and hygienic stock will chew out the infected comb. He isconducting an experiment. Forty colonies were infected (not easy to do). Then they were re-

queened with four types of queen: Italian, hygienic, Russian, and Italian plus lincomycin. The

AFB level was monitored regularly through the summer. The occurrence peaked over the sum-

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mer and then declined. On average, none stood out as resistant, although the Russians looked

pretty good.

All colonies were tested for hygienic behavior and rated at 24 and 48 hours. Hygienic behavior

is defined as recognizing the difference from the norm in brood. The colonies that tested as hy-gienic, regardless of type of queen, also had a good score in reducing AFB. Hygienic behavior is

also good against chalkbrood.

Different lines of bees have different susceptibility to AFB. Hygienic behavior helps them fight

off AFB longer, although some colonies did not take infection easily to start with.A panel of EAS master beekeepers discussed the pros and cons of different sizes of

brood supers. Jerry Fisher emphasized the many variables, and the need to define priorities

and goals. Pollination is different from honey production; do what works. In particular, he advo-

cated using 8-frame hives as particularly good for pollinators because of the smaller size. Healso thinks bees overwinter better because the chimney effect makes better use of available

stores.

Jeff P ettis spoke on the Effects of Miticides on Queens. A study on coumaphos by Pettis,

Wilbanks, Feldlaufer, et al indicated early supersedure and inability to raise a queen from intro-

duced brood. Was miticide a problem?

Questions: Apistan and Coumaphos applied during queen rearing had an adverse effect, e.g.,

smaller bodies. Was miticide in the wax, brought in by bees, what? Was it affecting nurse bees,or were the nurse bees bringing it to all?

Test: wax in cells were impregnated with various levels of miticide, and the nurse bees were

clean. Eggs for queens were grafted into cups, so the only effect studied was miticide in thewax.

With artificially high residue, grafts mostly died or produced severely underweight queens. The

dropoff effect occurs right at the maximum residue in beeswax permitted by law, 100 ppm. Thisexperiment is still under way, and final results may be reported at the VSBA/MSBA meeting in

June.

Letter from Keith Tignor, State Apiarist

February 26, 2003

Dear Beekeepers,

March is just around the corner and so is a beekeepers most active season. Besides assemblingthose frames put off all winter, they must feed the bees, install packages, split hives, combine

weak hives, requeen hives, check (and treat) for disease and pests, prevent swarming, capture

swarms, move hives for pollination, replace rotten and broken equipment, paint boxes, superhives, and countless other jobs. Spring is a time of growth for a beehive. This translates tomore work for the beekeeper.

Unfortunately the workload may not be as great as your club members were anticipating. Vir-ginia experienced a true winter this year. The past several Januarys and Februarys have been

Bob Wellemeyer,540-937-7775

is still taking ordersfor package bees and

queens from ShumanApiaries. Call and

leave a message withyour order before

March 26.

Rene Garcia,703-925-0614

Leesburg areaRent-a-

Beekeeperservices and

high-qualityqueens for sale.

Jerry Cottrell703-978-2026

is selling hisequipment. He

has enough forfour hives and

miscellaneousitems.

John Ferree703-922-6744

knows of a locationin the Burke area.

Please call if youneed a place for your

bees. Homeownerwould like to share

expenses and honey.

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mild. Low snowfall and higher than normal temperatures dominated Virginias weather. This

winter below normal temperatures were the norm rather than the exception. A week rarelypassed all winter without some type of precipitation falling, usually in a frozen form. This fol-

lowed a summer drought with poor nectar and pollen sources. Most hives entered the winterwith inadequate honey and pollen stores and aged honeybees. As a result, winter hive lossesare anticipated to be severe.

To get a better idea of the extent of winter losses, I am asking local associations to survey their

members for hive losses. Enclosed is a survey form asking beekeepers the number of hivesthey lost and their management practices. This is a similar survey to the one conducted lastwinter. Your members should write in the number of hives they had last fall, how many they

lost over the winter, and check all appropriate boxes for hive treatment and requeening prac-

tices. Please, use your meeting in March or April to have your members complete the survey. Iwill make the results available as soon as possible. [Editors Note: see announcement followingthis letter.]

The Plant Pollination Advisory Board met in February to discuss pollination and beekeeping con-cerns. They discussed recruitment of individuals into beekeeping, organic certification require-

ments, loss of hives resulting from pesticide exposure, and controlling the spread of the smallhive beetle (SHB) in Virginia. The latter discussions resulted in the Board presenting restrictions

to the Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services for moving hives infested with SHB.

Enclosed with this letter are the restrictions proposed by the Plant Pollination Advisory Board.Please, distribute copies among your members. The apiary inspectors will be checking hives forthis pest and taking appropriate measures to control SHB infestations.

The SHB has received a lot of attention from Virginia and other states since its discovery in theUnited States in 1998. Many beekeepers have questioned our apiary inspectors activities in

their attempts to identify and control SHB. By law the inspectors are required to eradicate or

control contagious honeybee diseases. SHB definitely meets the definition of a honeybee dis-ease, which includes pests. In my dealings with various beekeepers and groups I have come torealize most beekeepers are unfamiliar with Virginias beekeeping regulations. Many beekeepers

are unaware that Virginia has regulations for beekeeping. [Editors Note: the regulation is at-

tached following this letter.] I hope to address this in the coming months through the VirginiaState Beekeepers Association newsletter. In the interim, please, contact me if you have ques-

tions about SHB and its control.Be sure to remind your members about the upcoming summer VSBA meeting in Manassas, VA.This is a joint meeting with the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. It promises to be a

memorable meeting for Virginia. Ronnie Henk, VSBA president, has arranged for many note-worthy speakers, including Keith Delaplane, Mark Feldlaufer Jeff Pettis, and Pedro Rodriguez. Ilook forward to seeing all of you at the summer meeting on June 20 th and 21st.

Winter Loss Survey

The form that Keith mentions in his letter will be passed around at the meeting on March 25. If

you are unable to attend the meeting, please provide the following information to Alan Fiala to

be included in the report. Either email it to fialaalan@earthlink.net, or leave a message at 703-790-8044. It is the same format as last year. It is important that we gather this information

from as many members as possible.

Provide: Your name, Number of hives you had last fall, number you lost during the winter.

What hive treatments did you use out of the following list: none, sugar feed, pollen feed, ter-

ramycin, fumadil, grease patty, menthol, apistan, Checkmite+, Formic acid, other; and when

did you requeen last year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years or more.

The next page is the Virginia state law as it applies to Small Hive Beetle, provided by Keith.

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Small Hive Beetle, Aethina tumida, Regulations

In accordance with the Virginia Beekeeping Law, 3.1-610, the small hive beetle, Aethina tu-

mida, meets the definition of a bee disease prohibited from introduction and spread within the

Commonwealth of Virginia.

Any persons in this State receiving knowledge of small hive beetles in their own or other apiar-

ies shall immediately notify the state apiarist or apiary inspector.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall undertake suitable measures toeradicate or control infestations of the small hive beetle in apiaries, honey houses, and other

facilities used for the maintenance, storage, or processing of honeybees, hive equipment, and

hive products.

When fiscally feasible, the Department shall assist beekeepers by the purchase and application

of control measures, including but not limited to application of CheckMite+ and Gardstar, forthe eradication or control of the small hive beetle.

The movement or sale with intent of removal of bees, hives, wax, comb, or associated equip-

ment and hive products from an apiary, honey house, or facility used for maintenance, storage,or processing of hive contents and products within a two mile radius of a known infestation of

small hive beetles is prohibited.

The movement or sale with intent of removal of bees, hives, wax, comb, or associated equip-

ment and hive products is permitted within an infested area, provided such action does not ex-

tend the area affected by the occurrence of small hive beetles in the intended location, and thestate apiarist or an apiary inspector is notified of the intended movement and location.

The movement or sale with intent of removal of bees, hives, wax, comb, or associated equip-ment and hive products is permitted from one infested area to another, provided such action

does not extend the area affected by the occurrence of small hive beetles in the intended loca-

tion, items being transported are enclosed under netting or in a suitable vehicle, and the stateapiarist or an apiary inspector is notified of the intended movement and location.

The movement or sale with intent of removal of bees, hives, wax, comb, or associated equip-

ment and hive products from an apiary, honey house, or facility used for maintenance, storage,or processing of hive contents and products beyond a two mile radius but within a four mile ra-

dius of a known infestation of small hive beetles is prohibited without prior authorization fromthe state apiarist or an apiary inspector. Such authorization may be issued if the apiary, honeyhouse, or facility is determined to be free of small hive beetles and other contagious or infec-

tious diseases. The beekeeper must notify the state apiarist or apiary inspector of the intended

movement and location.

The restrictions and responsibilities regarding the small hive beetle shall remain in place untilsuch time as this insect is reported to occur in fifty or more of the counties in the Common-wealth of Virginia.