The Diablo Beediablobees.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2016-Feb.pdfThe Diablo Bee February 2016 Newsletter of the Mount Diablo Bee Association, a non-profit 501-3(c) organization

Mount Diablo Beekeepers Association • PO Box 4688 • Walnut Creek, CA 94596 • www.diablobees.org 1

The Diablo BeeFebruary 2016Newsletter of the Mount Diablo Bee Association, a non-profit 501-3(c) organizationNext Meeting: February 11, 7:00 pm @The Pleasant Hill Community Center, Perera Pavillion. 320 Civic Center Drive, Pleasant Hill, CABee Chat 7:00-7:15, Business/General Meeting 7:15-7:30, Program 7:30-8:30, Break

In this Issue

• Message from the President• Message from the Membership• February Speaker Bio• Plant(s) of the Month• New Logo/T-Shirt Orders• Member Education Corner• Community Education Corner • MDBA Library Corner and a Book Review• Club Classifieds Creek Willows are blooming!


MDBA 2016 got a nice kick-off at our January meeting and from all the signs, the rest of the year will follow suit. We’ve got agreat line-up of speakers and workshops ahead and the addition of the Focus Group activities after the speaker presenta-tion was great for our meeting.

In January, we unveiled our new website and shared it on the big screen at the end of the meeting. Andy Scheck hasworked hard and done a great job with the help of committee members Janet Kaidantzis and Ann Moser. We hope to makeit a “living” website, meaning that it will grow over time and will be a wonderful resource for beekeepers and the commu-nity. Feedback has been very positive and I look forward to seeing the website develop over time.

And those T-Shirts and new logo—what a delight to see MDBA displayed in its full glory! Janet will be informing us thismonth as to how each and every one of you can look as snazzy as the MDBA Board did at the January meeting. I plan toorder more for myself. Heck, I’m retired now; maybe I’ll make MDBA t-shirts my full wardrobe!

This month we celebrate with our first raffle of the year and the Focus Groups will return in March. I got a lot of positivefeedback from and about the Groups. Members were excited to meet people “around the corner” from them for the firsttime and to have the opportunity to get to know other beekeepers in their areas. Some of the groups expressed an interestin having “meet-ups” in their areas which would lead to feeling more support as backyard beekeepers.

We are looking at ways to have space in our meeting area for groups to gather so that it will be easier for people to hear and toshare with each other. In March, the Focus Groups will offer an opportunity to talk about the Spring Workshop on April 2 andinstalling packages. This is the time of year to make connections with other beekeepers and use each other as a resource. Bee-keeping is full of challenges, both for the bees and for beekeepers. MDBA offers an incredible community of people who lovebees and beekeeping and who are committed to sharing with others who love these magnificent, flying wonders!

I want to encourage all of you who can, to become an active participant in MDBA. There are some great ideas floatingaround, but we need volunteers to make the ideas come to light. Beekeeping can take a lot of time and energy. But if thereis something that you feel especially interested in, excited by, or committed to think about how you might get help with itfrom other MDBA members and talk to one or more Board members about getting a committee started, i.e. publicpolicy/regulations, gardening for bees, etc.

I feel excited about the new year and look forward to getting to know more of you over the course of the year. Beekeepingis so incredible, but it comes with more than a few bumps in the road. Be patient with yourselves; keep reading and study-ing; and attend MDBA meetings. Things to remember:

1) order packages at the next meeting;2) order MDBA t-shirts for you and your family members;3) bring a snack to the next meeting;4) attend the next Bee Workshop on Saturday, Feb. 13;5) sign-up for a mentor or to be a mentor;6) introduce yourself to at least one new person at every meeting;7) love your bees because they are vital, amazing, and the cutest little bee-ings ever!

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGEby Judy Weatherly

Announcement to the Membership:Dues are due for 2016. Membership dues for new and returning members are $20 until March 31. After that the costgoes back up to $25, and if you are not paid up, you won’t receive the newsletter or bees on Bee Day or other nicethings. Please don’t miss out. Get your dues in now. Mail your check with the membership form printed from dia-blobees.org to MDBA, P.O. Box 4688, Walnut Creek, CA 94596 or pay at the back table before the meeting.

Note: The Membership Table is closed during the meeting since I want to learn from the speaker too. : )


February Speaker Introduction: "The Art of Catching Swarms" with Mike Stephanos

On February 11, we welcome Mike Stephanos as our guestspeaker. Mike has been beekeeping for some 20 years and all ofthem have been while a proud member of the MDBA. As a childliving in Greece on his grandfather’s farm for a few years, he wasintroduced to the fascinating world of the honeybee. Mike startedkeeping bees when a swarm landed in his yard in Walnut Creekand a MDBA member came to pick them up. That member wasKurt Billeter who Mike bought his first hive from. Though Kurt hasnow passed on, , Mike has taken the lessons learned from his men-tors Kurt, Major Branzel and Steve Gentry and has grown his api-aries to many hundreds of hives. Mike still likes to considerhimself a backyard beekeeper because every lesson learned aboutbees, be it in a backyard or out in the field, can be used by everybeekeeper, everywhere!

Mike is an entrepreneur and runs several businesses, one of them being Home Town Honey from which he supplies honey toa variety of retail and wholesale outlets. He is a former MDBA Board Member and still enjoys being involved in bee educationand community outreach. He maintains the MDBA display and observation hive at the Lindsay Wildlife Museum as well asspending time in schools educating children on the benefit of the honeybee.

Mike’s talk will be on swarms… catching, handling and installing. He feels this is the one of the most exciting aspects of bee-keeping and is the most visible presence of the MDBA in the community. This is where the rubber hits the road for beekeepersand where spreading the word on backyard beekeeping happens! Welcome, Mike Stephanos!

Believe It . . . Rain or Shine!Our monthly Bee Workshops are invaluable for new beekeepers, but even seasoned beekeepers leave with one or more newways of doing things. That was the case on January 16 when Major Branzel and Wayne Scott led the workshop at GaryLawrence’s apiary.

Even with little sunshine and the drizzle coming down, it was great to follow-up Major’s presentation at the January meetingwith a hands-on demonstration. It was not warm enough to open a live hive, but the information poured out none-the-less.It’s always great to experience as many apiaries as possible; just to get the feel for how different beekeepers arrange their hivesand keep their bees. Having opportunities in these workshops to see other beekeepers in action and learn from their experi-ence is not only informative, but fun!

I encourage new beekeepers to attend as many of these workshops as possible; every one of them if you can! And for the moreseasoned beekeepers, there are always things to learn and it’s a great way to get to know other MDBA members and formhelpful relationships.

February’s Bee Workshop will again be held at Gary’s apiary in Pleasant Hill and led by Gary. You can sign-up at the Februarymeeting. The focus will be on “Preparing for Swarming Season.” If all goes well, maybe the sun will shine. But remember, theworkshops go on rain or shine—believe it!


February's Featured Plant(s)

Brassica nigra, Wild Mustard, Brassicaceae, the Mustard Family

Enjoy the spread of bright yellow for months to come! Hillsides and especially drawsespecially start to bloom with wild mustard in February. These plants can reach ATLEAST waist high, and in the best circumstances grow taller than the average humanwith thick bunches of four-petaled, very symmetric flowers. This plant is not native toCalifornia, but makes it on the list of featured plants because it is a highly nutritiouspollen source for our bees. Nectar from this plant is said to granulate quickly, but thiseditor has not recognized pure mustard honey in his beehives, and instead believesthat the nectar is soon consumed to make more bees. Mustard pollen is bright yellow.It has naturalized across the entire state and has a very long bloom time.

The leaves of this particular species of mustard are edible and are best eaten whenyoung. They can bee used raw in salads, or wilted when the leaves grow too large. Thetaste is pleasantly spicy.

The mustard family is a very beneficial plant family to bees and humans. Bees can for-age on virtually all mustard plants for high quality pollen, and humans have domesti-cated quite a few species for our own foods. Kale, cabbage, radishes and broccoli, forexample, are all part of the mustard family.

Hairy VetchVicia Villosa

This plant springs up from no where, very quickly, and forms a mat ofvegetation that can crowd out other seedlings . A suburban gardenermay object to how quickly it grows (and in such unexpected places) butthe bees don't! Vetch is a great nectar source for insect pollinators, espe-cially during wet springs. And, as a member of the bean family, vetch is anitrogen-fixing plant that can improve soil quality. Vetch is a great exam-ple of one of the many "weeds" that pollinators rely upon throughoutthe yearly cycle.

2016 MDBA Board of Directors President - Judy WeatherlyVice President - Stacey BauerSecretary - Lois KailTreasurer - Ann MoserMembership - Janet KaidantzisMember Education - Nancy BurkeCommunity Education - Jan SpiethNewsletter Editor - Scott JorgensenEx Officio - Gary LawrencePast President - Sylvia Goemmel

Webmaster - Andy Scheck

Don't be shy, introduce yourselves to us! We like to talk about bees. We'll be wearing nametags at themeetings.


The New Look of the MDBAby Janet Kaidantzis

The MDBA has a fresh face. Over the past year, the Board and its branding committee of Andy Scheck, Ann Moser, andJanet Kaidantzis, have been thinking a lot about the look of the MDBA. Our club does so much. We are out in publicspeaking up for beekeeping, helping the community by removing swarms, teaching children and adults about the im-portance of bees as pollinators and honey makers. And we are with our membership providing resources and instruc-tion, mentoring and encouragement, and good times too.

How to capture all that? Here is what we did.

Logo. With all the community service we do as a club, we wanted a logo that was en-gaging and easily recognizable. Our new logo hits all the right notes with its cleanand bright colors, positive image of a bee, and updated style. The logo was designedby Trish Heaney, a freelance graphic designer in Pleasant Hill.

Mission: To promote beekeeping while educating the public about the vital role of bees in our environment.

Website: Take a look at www.diablobees.org

Thanks to MDBA webmaster Andy Scheck, the new website is a treat to look it, easy to navigate, and filled with home-grown content specific to our club, or linked to content that the Board finds useful. We do not want to reinvent thewheel so when we find a great beekeeping website, www.diablobees.org gets you there.

Like what you see? Please add to it by sending in photos of your bees, or consider writing a book review or article forThe Diablo Bee. Volunteers are what make this club.

T-Shirt Orders

First comes the logo, now comesthe merchandise.

As a fundraiser for the club, theMDBA is selling T-shirts. In the nextfew days, Janet Kaidantzis will sendall members a link to the GroupOrder Form for shirts. If you want ashirt, use the link to select your sizeand color, and pay with your creditcard. The shirts will be shipped tomy house and I will bring them tothe March meeting for pick up.There is no tax and no shippingcharge. You may order more thanone shirt if you would like to sharewith a friend. This is a one-time bulkorder so there are no shirts for “late-comers.” Shirts are NOT RETURN-ABLE so please choose carefully.Color choices choices for the shirts are black or blue. They yellow in the logo is the same color, but it "reads" differently.

Next year, depending on member interest and how this goes, we may do this again. If anyone wants to help, please letme know.

MOUNT DIABLO

ASSOCIATIONBEEKEEPERS


Member Education Corner

This month's program focuseson swarming. Mike Stephanoswill give us a spirited and in-formative talk at this month’smeeting. I am going to talk inthis article about the why andthe how of swarming; both fornew beekeepers and a reviewfor all the excited seasoned bee-keepers in MDBA.

Our bees are busy surviving thewinter, investing their current re-sources in more eggs and broodto mature for spring.. El Ninohas brought us rain this yearwith the hopeful promise ofplenty of nectar and pollencome spring. On days wherethere is no rain; our bees are outforaging as long as it is above 50degrees. Many colonies are stillsomewhat small at this pointand will begin building up as theweather warms. The colony cango from 10,000 workers up to 50,000 in less than two months! As the bees are busy doing all of their jobs; tending to thebrood, regulating the temperature in the hive, and guarding the colony; the queen is busy laying eggs that produce dronesand more workers.

Bee pheremones are produced by the queen primarily but also by workers and drones. "Trophallaxis" (write down that vo-cabulary word!) is when the pheromone is spread throughout the hive when the bees feed each other and provide thebasis for communication in the hive. The queen produces the queen pheromone which encourages the bees to buildcomb, forage, and take care of the brood.

At some point as the population increases, there are so many bees that workers may not have access to the queen and arenot receiving her pheromone signals. They may think there is no queen! The colony at this point decides to make a newqueen. Before the new queen emerges; the old queen takes off with part of the old colony to make a new nest.

This act decreases the crowding that has happened in the hive. The bees fill themselves up on nectar and form a clump asthey fly in order to surround the queen. As she is not the strongest of flyers; the swarm will often land at a staging area nottoo far from the hive. Scout bees will go from there to find a permanent home for the colony.

Over the years we have had swarms coming into our yard. Last year we went out responding to swarm calls for the firsttime. After we experienced our first swarm in our yard some years back; we were hooked. It is indeed an awesome experi-ence to stand in the middle of a swarm and feel the organized intensity of the bees. And when you catch a swarm; you getto create more diversity in your bee yard. I will leave it to Mike to tell you how.

-Nancy Burke, Member Education


February Hive TipsLook Inside! -- February is an exciting time for overwintered hives in the Bay Area. The bees are taking advantageof warming temperatures and plentiful food by dramatically expanding the broodnest. They are eating incredibleamounts of calories and WILL eat any leftover honey from winter stores, turning that energy into more bees. Thefirst rounds of eggs laid in January are now hatching out (21 days later). Now is the time to plan which colonies willbe used for honey production and which will be used for splits. Consider supering your strongest colonies to allowexpansion of the broodnest and control of the swarming impulse.

Chalkbrood -- Chalk brood is a fungal disease caused by excessive moisture inside the beehive. It is not a fatal hivedisease but can affect the rate of spring build-up. Visit here for more chalkbrood information. If you havechalkbrood mummies in your hives, it is very important to REMOVE THOSE MUMMIES from the beehive. Just flickthem out in the grass. Otherwise, chalkbrood conditions will continue much longer in your colonies. Practicesanitation. Chalkbrood comes from too much moisture! If the top of your beehive is wet with condensate, increasehive ventilation in these wet months.

Patience (just a little longer) -- Unless you really know what you are doing, it is still inadvisable to split yourcolonies just yet. Splits are not yet recommended because there are not enough fertile drones flying around thedrone congregation areas. Yes, the number of drone bees is increasing, but not enough of them yet are fertile.Drones are most fertile starting 22 days after hatching out. Any splits before late February have a significant chanceof queen-mating failure. Wait for the bees.

Start taking notes! -- Dust off your notebook and start writing down what you see. Keeping good notes can helpyou troubleshoot any problems that may arise in the season. Record what is blooming, how the weather has beenlately, conditions of the brood patter, etc. The more that you record, the more that you will be able to see andunderstand.

The American Honey Tasting Society (AHTS) is launchingtwo research projects MDBA members may be interested in:

1. The first project is the characterization of honeysthrough the whole season from a restricted local area usinga method started in France and then further developed inItaly.

2. The second project aims at the characterization of ONEsingle-origin honey of commercial value and widely pro-duced. They are starting with citrus honey from CA, AZ, TXand FL in a multi-year wide sampling effort, that aims atcharacterizing honey from US, describing the differencesbetween the production areas, filling an ideal ID card for theauthentic OB honey in order to protect it against fake honeyor honey from different geographic origin.

If you or someone you know are interested in the projects,please take a look at the AHTS website http://american-honeytastingsociety.com/project-flavor-floral-mapping/ formore information.


MDBA Revenue and Expenses in 2015Income

Donations 345.00Restricted Donation - MCF Grant 800.00 Extractor Rental 570.00Membership Dues 7,805.002016 dues prepaid 80.00 Raffle Sales 3,987.00Speaker /Education Revenue 1,895.00Swarm Fees 3,915.00Loss on Sale of Sound System (2,431.00)

Total Income 16,966.00

ExpenseBank and P.O. Box fee 227.29BBQ 2,830.16 Board meetings 465.01Business Licenses & Permits 184.00Dues & Subscriptions 372.00 Education Expenses/Supplies 532.43 Extractor Repairs 226.36 Insurance Expense 975.00 Nametags (25.00) Library Books 440.05MDBA Donation 800.00Newsletter/Postage/Forms 1,451.03 Raffle Supplies 3,521.55 Rent Expense 2,245.00 Speaker Expenses 937.74 Supplies 717.43 Total Expense 15,891.05

Net Increase 1,074.55

2016 SWARM VOLUNTEERS – PROGRAM,ELIGIBILITY, ORIENTATIONHave you been a member in good standing of Mt Diablo Beekeepers As-sociation for at least two consecutive years? Have you renewed yourdues for 2016? If so, you may ask to have your name listed on theSwarm Volunteer list. At the end of year calendar year, we retire the oldSwarm List and create a new volunteer roster from the current year’smembership. If you would like to participate on the swarm list, be sureto make a note on your renewal form or tell Janet Kaidantzis (Member-ship) when you pay your dues at the monthly meeting. Swarm volun-teers’ names and phone numbers are posted on the Diablo Beeswebsite, where the community looks for help in rescuing swarms fromhouse eaves or backyard shrubs.

Volunteers collect a $50 donation to MDBA from residents and get tokeep the bees. Not familiar with swarm-collection? our February andMarch meetings will feature presentations on swarms: swarm catching(Mike Stephanos) in February and swarm control (Mary Andre) in March.

Jan Spieth, Community Education

Community Education CornerBecome an MDBA Community Education volunteer!

You are invited to join the group of volunteers who present/teach/share our knowledge and love of honeybees with others.2016 brings new opportunities for education outreach in our community. Although the new year is only four weeks old, MDBACommunity Ed has already received requests for beekeeper educators at seven elementary school Science Fairs, two publiclibrary presentations, many preschool, elementary and cub scouts classes on honeybees, Earth Day seminars, Eco-Fair visits, etc.Our presentations range from informal and unscripted (Science Fairs), to classes covering specific curriculum (elementaryschool classes on honeybees), to wide-ranging discussions with small and large groups using power point slides(garden/social/fraternal clubs & associations). MDBA has resource material available for your use: educational posters, powerpoint programs, classroom curriculum to use, and observation hives. In helping children and adults learn about the amazinghoneybee, you make our children wiser, our adults more thoughtful and the world a little safer for bees.

Want to learn more? During the month of February, several informal orientation sessions will be scheduled, hosted by CommEd volunteer members. These gatherings will focus exclusively on Community Education opportunities. Prospectivevolunteers will have the chance to chat with experienced Comm Ed volunteers. Posters and educational materials used in theclassroom and at Science Fairs will be on display. You’ll view and discuss the power point programs and chat informally aboutmaking presentations to specific groups. Questions? Interested in attending a Community Education info session? Email me [email protected] or speak with me at our monthly meeting on February 11th.

Jan Spieth, Community Education


READ A BOOK!

Have you ever used the club's AMAZING library to further your beekeeping curiosity?

Some of the most valuable beekeeping lessons occur outside of the apiary and within pages of writing.

Barbara Vigil and Russ Kettering maintain our books and would be very happy to direct you towards more information.Members in good standing are invited to check out books for one month per check-out. Remember to bring a $40 de-posit in order to check out books (sorry, we've had bad experiences in the past).

Book Review Honeybee Democracy by Thomas D. Seeley, published 2010Reviewed by Janet Kaidantzis on 1/26/16

With swarm season approaching, Honeybee Democracy makes for timely read-ing. The author, Cornell University biologist Thomas Seeley, describes howhoneybees choose the best nesting site. While a swarm hangs out in its tem-porary assembly place, hundreds of scout bees explore the surrounding 30-square miles locating over a dozen potential homes. How the scout beeseventually reach consensus and choose the optimal site is the crux of Seeley’sbook. I found Chapters 1 and 2 to be the most fascinating because they hit thehighlights of honeybee behavior. The middle chapters describe Seeley’s fieldexperiments on Appledore Island, Maine. In Chapters 7 and 8, Seeley enter-tains with how the swarm prepares for takeoff and steers to its new home. Theswarm bees pipe, waggle, shake, heat up, and buzz run to lift off. Then theycruise along at 5 mph to their destination and quickly march in. Neat-o! Chap-ter 9 explains how a swarm is like a primate brain; (heads up, its cerebral). Thelast chapter details what bees can teach human society about effective deci-sion making. This being an Election Year, read it. No, your bees won’t tell youwho to vote for, but they will show you how to decide.

Editor's Corner

February is here, and February is a time of hustlefor California beekeepers. Some of us are in thealmond fields in the Central Valley with a greatmany beehives, others are at their homes, gettingready for the swarm season and finishing our win-ter woodworking projects. Still others are just be-ginning their forays into the experience ofkeeping honeybees. I hope that everyone has thebest possible year to come. Any extra prepara-tion that we can put towards our beekeeping inTHIS MONTH will have great beneficial effect onthe rest of our beekeeping year.

Let's get out there and happen to things! Get that honeyhouse in order! Paint your woodenware! Refresh your ant-bar-rier systems! PLANT YOUR GARDENS! And most of all, take time to enjoy your beekeeping. : )

-Scott Jorgensen, Newsletter Editor

PS. I'm taking off my Newsletter Editor's hat right here only to tell you about over-wintered top bar colonies for sale(likethe one pictured above). Please follow this link to learn more about this.


WANTEDCappings RequestedIf you have unwanted cappings I will melt and clean them forthe beeswax.AND: Bee Suit RepairsPlease contact Lois [email protected] or 925.356.2602

WANTED: Help in the kitchen before and after the monthly meetings!We are a volunteer-run organization.

FOR RENTThe MDBA honey extractors (electric)$10 for 1st day and $5 for days 2-5$10 per day thereafterFor Concord area contact Lois Kail 925.356.2602 [email protected] Alamo area contact Leo Tscharner [email protected]

FOR SALEBEESWAXLemon-yellow, candle grade$7/lb or $6/lb if 20lbs or moreBill Cervanka, Cervanka Apiaries650.365.5548 or [email protected]

Bee Happy SolutionsHoney Bee AttractantGreat for marking bait hives.Chemicals derived from lemon grass extract$22 for 0.5 oz bottle415.272.0596 or [email protected]

Beekeeping LessonsSecrets of Beekeeping, given in four classes2/20, 4/18, 5/18, and 6/16Bee suits provided if necessary, lunch provided, located atBeautiful Country Flat Farm, Big SurCost $100, three for the price of two for MDBA membersInstructed by Peter [email protected]

FOR SALEApprox. 500 back issues of American Bee Journal and Bee Culture $200 for the lotContact Major Branzel707.643.9433

Hercules BeesSELLING-OVERWINTERED TOP BAR COLONIESBeginning NOWwww.herculesbees.biz

MarElla Honey B'sBeekeeping Supplies and HoneyAuthorized Dealer on Mann Lake Ltd. Supplies!950 Detroti Ave, Suite 12, Concord, 94518www.marellahoneybs.comhttp://www.marellahoneybs.com/Bees-for-sale---2016.html925.575.7444

Concord FeedConcord Feed now sells basic beekeeping equipment.10-frame beehives of the Little Giant brand. Smokers andprotective gear as well228 Hookston Road, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523925.940.1200

To Submit Articles or Classified AdsHave you got something to share about bees?Contact Scott Jorgensen at [email protected] for submission is the 25th of each month

The Diablo Bee Classifieds

Documents

The Diablo Beediablobees.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/2016-Feb.pdfThe Diablo Bee February 2016 Newsletter of the Mount Diablo Bee Association, a non-profit 501-3(c) organization