CCBA April 2015 Newsletter - Chester County Beekeepers

Inside this issue:
Vice President’s Report
2
Secretary’s Report
3
Classified Advertisements
(please see ad details on pages 6)
3
Treasurer’s Report
4
Nature Notes
5
Beeginners Corner
5
The Plant Guru
5
Ads; Don Coats phenology outreach 6&7
MARK YOUR
CALENDARS
2015 Meetings at Stroud 9am
April 11th
May 9th
June 13th
July 11th
August 8th
September 12th
Annual Picnic—hold the date!
July 18 at Ridley Creek State Park
Visit chescobees.org for more information.
Send newsletter contributions to
chescobees@gmail.com
Submissions may be edited for
length.
Ads-free for CCBA members/$5
for non-members.
Please be sure to submit before
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 avoid
disappointment.
President’s Report- Keith Jardine
Email: CCBAKeith@gmail.com
Spring has started (stutteringly) with some
much needed warmth, but mixed with cold
and rain after one of the most brutal winters
on record. The CCBA committee would like
to express a warm welcome to both our
beginners and the more experienced beekeepers. The Maple and Alder trees have
just started with yellow and orange pollen
entering the hive. This influx of pollen will
stimulate the queen into laying more eggs
for our summer bounty. My formula for predicting the first swarm now places the start
date on 2nd May, much later than even last
year.
April 11th meeting at the Stroud Preserve
9:00 am:
454 North Creek Road
West Chester, PA 19382
Please enter from Lucky Hill Road –
check the map on www.chescobees.org
Remember to bring your own chair and
coffee container as the venue is outdoors
(indoors if rain). T-shirts will be on sale for
$20, George will be bring plants for sale, a
raffle with be held and seeds for bees will be
on sale. The topics will be ‘Installing a package’ , ‘Starting your Nucleus Hive’ and
‘Preparing for the honey season’. Warren
will open the hives for us to view, so please
bring your bee protection.
Queen Cell Project: The CCBA will purchase
queens from the best queen breeders, and
use these to create our own queen cells for
your hives. You collect the cell placing it in a
nucleus hive, the new queen will emerge,
mate with the drones in your area and start
laying. This is an excellent way to start your
own nucleus hive. We aim to provide the
best queen genetics for our local area with
careful selection and breeding. We need a
person to head this project and a sound
team to work closely with Warren Graham.
Please contact me if you can help. We will
organize a lecture on queen rearing to
compliment this project.
What our Bees are doing: The queen has
started laying worker bee eggs and also
drone eggs in our strong colonies. Crocus,
Snowdrop, Alder, Maple and Winter Aconite flowers have been so far visited this
year. The bees are having to maintain high
brood temperatures, so make sure they are
well provided for and do not run out of
supplies.
What I will do with my Bees this month: I
am moving my nucleus hives to different
apiary sites from their winter locations
above strong colonies. The queens of production hives will be evaluated for performance and breeding potential. I have
started liquid sugar water feeding with the
1:1 mix. This is normally between the 1st
and 15th March, but this year I only started
at the end of March. This will stimulate the
queen to lay more, resulting in a larger
work force for honey collection later. Our
main nectar flow occurs in May with Dandelion, Black Locust, ‘Wild / Russian Olive’
and Linden (Tulip Poplar as well?). Feeding
could cause the hive to be more swarming
ready, requiring more effort with swarm
prevention. If the queen is performing well,
I will also reverse the brood chambers later
in the month to give her extra laying area. I
will harvest sugar water honey for nucleus
hives later in the season and to prevent the
contamination of the honey. I will continue
to wax dip my woodwork on Saturday April
4th at John Mc in Exton.
What should a Beginner do now? Prepare
your hives for your
Cont’d on Page 2
Page 2
President’s Report- Cont’d from Page 1
new babies and install your package of
bees. There has been an ‘expected delay’
in some package delivery due to the cold
weather. Georgia has not been impacted
as heavily as our area by the weather.
Make sure you have your hives ready, your
Apiary site in place and the neighbors
bribed. Be aware of buying used equipment as it can contain American Foulbrood
spores that could infect your hives.
Beeginner Group: Michael Langer is doing
a wonderful job with the beginner group.
Meetings, emails with hints and tips and
much more. We want your first year with
the bees to be a success. Please join the
group.
Advanced Session: We will be holding an
event for advanced beekeepers to discuss
queen rearing, finding drone congregation
areas, tactics to prevent swarming, the
new honey ‘Flow’ system, redesigning the
nucleus hive for wintering and much more.
Let me know if you would like to host an
event on a Saturday morning.
CCBA Conference: The CCBA Conference
on the 14th of March was a huge success
with Dr. Dewey Caron for the Beginners
session and Michael Palmer and Dr. Tom
Seeley as speakers for the Advanced session. I would like to thank all who contributed to the best conference to date.
CCBA Survey Results: I would like to thank
all our members for returning their surveys
Ap ril 2015
and especially Walt for compiling the questions, an example option was: ‘getting
ahold of my mentor is like trying to catch a
greased pig’. The most popular areas from
your survey were: How to start Nucleus
Hives, Working with beeswax and making
wax products, Preventing Swarming, Extracting and bottling your Honey, Hive
checks like the Hive Crawl where we inspect colonies as a group, Beekeeping
courses and ‘Tree and Seed mixes’.
Hive Assembly: We held a hive assembly
demo on the 28th February. We showed
how to assemble frames, hive bodies, a
nucleus box and a wooden hive stand.
Bee Plant Seeds: I have assembled a list of
plants that are of benefit to our bees and
that flower throughout the season. I have
ordered the following seed mix:
Blanketflower, California Poppy, Cape Forget-Me-Not, China Aster, Chinese ForgetMe-Not, Corn Poppy, French Marigold,
Lacy Phacelia, Lance-Leaved Coreopsis,
New England Aster, Prairie Coneflower,
Purple Coneflower, Purple Prairie Clover,
Rocky Mountain Penstemon, Scarlet
Cinquefoil, Siberian Wallflower, Sulphur
Cosmos, Sweet Mignonette and White
Upland Aster. Please let me know if you
would like a quantity or if there are other
flowers that I could add to this for our area. I will be planting these seeds in Spring.
I will be looking at planting Alsike Clover
and Sweet Clovers later.
Flowering dates for last year: March 28th :
Vice President’s Report – Walt Talunas
Maple, April 2nd : Alder, April 22nd : Bradford
Pear, April 27th : Dandelion, May 2nd : Wild
Olive, May 20th : Black Locust, May 22nd :
Clover, June 15th : Linden and June 22nd :
Chinese Chestnut.
Beekeeping Mentors: We have had a tremendous response to our mentoring service initiated by Charlie. Please take the
time to contact your mentor as they will be
an invaluable source of information when
you need it. Charlie needs more mentors,
so please volunteer.
Events: Keep Saturday the 11th April open
as Warren Graham will be showing us how
to install a package and holding an Open
Hive event. Please bring your veils. A Beeginner Meeting was held on the 29th March
with more events to be announced. John
Mc in Exton will hold a hive wax dipping
session on Saturday April 4th.
Stroud dates are the second Saturday of the
month:
April 11th
May 9th
June 13th
July 11th
August 8th
September 12th
the cinder blocks over to their new location and brushed the bees onto their respective entrances. They promptly
First, I'd like to extend a warm welcome
To those of you who followed the picmarched right into the hive.
to all of the new members! For the new
tures of the hives being moved on Face- Thanks to everyone to participated in the
beekeepers (and anyone else if they
book, those were my hives. The 100 foot winter loss survey. We'll be tallying the
wish), please contact Charlie Hall
move was an almost total success. I
results soon and share what we've
(chall201@msn.com) if you desire to have moved three hives, but it seems that
found. We're hoping to see if any trends
a mentor. The first year of beekeeping
some of the bees didn't get the memo
can be seen.
can bring many questions and a plethora
that their home had moved and returned We've had some interest in having a kid's
of learning opportunities. On the flip side, to the original location. When I checked club. We just need a volunteer (or two or
we also need more mentors. So for the
in the early evening after they were rethree) to coordinate it. Please contact me
more seasoned folks who are not mentors leased, about 100 bees were congreif you'd like to help with the set up and
yet, please sign up to help make
gating on the cinder blocks that funcorganization.
someone's first year a great experience.
tioned as their old hive stands. I brought
Email: wtalunas@gmail.com
Page 3
Ap ril 2015
Secretary’s Report – Sharon Jardine
Email: ccbasharon@gmail.com
We had another great turnout for our
March meeting with well over 100
people. Keith Jardine gave a presentation on Hive Management through
the seasons. George Datto our plant
guru, gave us insight into the different
bee plants. He also sold all the seedlings of the Bee Bee trees and the
Hyssop. He kindly donated all the proceeds to the CCBA. Michael Langer
gave a talk on the Beeginner Group,
created to help the new beekeepers
with their bees. Warren Graham discussed the packaged bees and how to
install them. Thank you to Kelly Jardine
for securing a donation of 4 large bags
of donuts from a local fast food chain!
Our summer picnic date has been finalized, it will take place on Saturday July
18th at Ridley Creek State Park. Save
the date, more details will follow closer to the time.
CCBA Welcomes New Members
Kevin
Abromaitis Phoenixville PA
Melissa Abromaitis Phoenixville PA
Rob
Adriaanse Nottingham PA
Laura
Alarion
East Fallowfield PA
Angie
Alderman Spring City PA
Bill
Anderson Phoenixville PA
Karen
Arbaugh
Kennett Square PA
Jim
Bobb
Lansdale PA
Timothy Bouffard
David
Burt
Spring City PA
Barbara Cairns
Kennett Square PA
Michael Carroll
Thornton PA
Alexia
Cole
Downingtown PA
Mark
Cole
Cochranville PA
Sean
Coughlan Hockessin DE
Cocina Cupcakes Downingtown PA
James
Farnsworth Pottstown PA
Margaret Friese
West Chester PA
Thomas Friese
West Chester PA
Steve
Garrett
Garnet Valley PA
Jane
Golas
Wayne PA
Paul S. KCGC
Kennett Square PA
Sean
Grady
Pottstown PA
Kevin
Green
Collingdale PA
James
Hammerman Westtown PA
John
Jackomin
Phoenixville PA
Michael Kahler
West Chester PA
David
Kerr
Kennett Square PA
Rock
Kimber
Worsester PA
Bill
Laird
Coatsville PA
Deborah Laird
West Chester PA
Bill
Lien
Chester Springs PA
Jerome Liss
Cochranville PA
Debbi
Mathers
Oxford PA
Chris
Maxwell
Lehighton PA
Ashley McAlum
Malvern PA
Kathy
McNeal
West Chester PA
Tina
Mekinc
Glenmoore PA
Rodman Merrill
Elverson PA
Tim
Murray
Birdsboro PA
Rory
O'Brien
Malvern PA
Janet
Owens
Jim
Parsons
Kai
Pederson
Tracy
Phelan
Dominic Pointer
Chris
Powers
Joe
Rassman
Catherine Renzi
Kate
Riddle
Bill
Rutter
Judith Beth Rzucidlo
Dennis Schuelkens
Cynthia Sciotto
Deborah Serrano
Mike
Simard
Jared
Spidel
Myrl
Stone
Katie
Stracke
Anthony Taylor
Michael Thompson
Donald Tiberia
Mark
Todd
Donald Wilkins
David
Williams
Brian
Woodcock
Daniel Yee
Erica
Young
Chris
Zaro
Jessica Zaro
Meg
Zaro
Elverson PA
Glen Mills PA
Chester Springs PA
Downingtown PA
Coatesville PA
Holtwood PA
Downingtown PA
Chester Springs PA
Chester Springs PA
Pottstown PA
Lincoln University PA
Fleetwood PA
Lincoln University PA
Lincoln University PA
Berwyn PA
Downingtown PA
North East MD
Spring City PA
Coatesville PA
East Fallowfield PA
Newtown Square PA
Spring City PA
Malven PA
West Chester PA
Yorklyn DE
West Chester PA
West Chester PA
Wayne PA
Wayne PA
Malvern PA
CLASSIFIED ADS
(see back pages for more information)
Hive placement on property
Property owner of 12 acres located off 926 near
Chadds Ford looking for beekeeper to place and
maintain hives.
Contact Sharon Jardine at ccbasharon@gmail.com
The swarm list draw for the order in
which the names will be placed will
now take place at the April meeting. If
you have already signed up please
make sure that your dues are up to
date if you want to be included.
A bag of goodies was forgotten at the
CCBA table after the conference. I will
take this to the next meeting in the
hope that I can return it to its owner. If
it is yours please let me know.
I have spent some time painting my
nucleus hive and it is now complete.
Hold thumbs as I install my bees in the
next fortnight.
Nucleus Colonies with Survivor Queens—
Swarmbustin’ Apiaries (see p.6 for ad)
Pick-up location:
Swarmbustin’ Honey, 190 Thouron Rd West
Grove PA 19390.
For questions or to place an order please
contact Swarmbustin’ Honey at
swarmbuster@911honey.com or
(610) 384-2384
Spring Packages and Beekeeping Class—
from Jim Bobb (see p.6 for ad)
Call 610-584-6778, or visit
www.pabeekeeper.com
Local Survivor Nucs—Warren Graham
Local survivor stock nucs for sale in Spring
and Summer. $145 each. Delivery and one
installation offered.
Call Warren Graham (610) 565-2032
Forest Hill Woodworking supplies all your
beekeeping needs!
Visit http://foresthillbeesupply.com/
Closed on Sundays
5 Frame DEEP nucs available
Pick up fourth week of April, $145
Dennis Schuelkens
Crisscross Road Bee Yard
610-216-8522
denschue165@aol.com
www.ccrdbeeyard.com
Drone Brood Frames – Howard Frysinger
5 deep, green, drone brood frames for sale. I
was sent the wrong size. $3 each, and no
shipping if you catch me at a meeting!
hfrysinger@gmail.com
Page 4
Ap ril 2015
Treasurer’s Report – Jack McMichael
Email: jmcmich552@aol.com
While our bees may not have been able to
do much flying in the last month, the
CCBA Officers and other members of the
Conference Committee certainly were all
"a-buzz", pulling everything together in
preparation for and during our annual
Conference held this year on March
14. Although you'll be hearing more details about it elsewhere, from everything I
observed and heard, it was a "smashing"
success. We're still in the process of accumulating receipts and accounting for all
the Conference expenses, but our 250
paid registrations brought in $15,000 in
revenue. Add to that a few hundred dollars in sales of "Bee-Ducks", Tee-Shirts and
other miscellaneous items, and we did
quite well. We should have a final accounting of the Conference income and
expenses for next month's Newsletter.
The Conference also featured some fascinating and highly educational presentations by our great Speakers: Dr. Dewey
Caron, Dr. Tom Seeley and Michael Oliver. Dr. Dewey Caron taught the Beginner's Session, covering a variety of topics
key to those just getting started or in their
first year or two of beekeeping. In the
Advanced Session, Michael Palmer taught
us how to overwinter northern bees in
nucleus colonies and the many reasons it
makes sense to do so, as well as how he
raises quality queens from survivor
stock, and why it is important to
do so. Dr. Tom Seeley spoke to us about
the bee hive as a honey factory, demonstrating how through a series of "dances"
"head butts" and "beeps" the workforce
in the colony is energized in the appropriate division of labor, constantly adjusting
to maximize their efficiency in the collection of nectar and pollen and in making
honey during heavy nectar flow as well as
in dearth periods. Dr. Seeley also shared
a presentation with us about the studies
he has been conducting since 1978 on
about a dozen feral bee colonies in the
Arnot forest near Ithaca, NY, and how
those colonies have managed to survive
the arrival of varroa mites and what characteristics about those colonies may have
improved their ability to tolerate certain
levels of mites without failing. With his
permission, I've included photos of the
final two slides of Dr. Seeley's presentation on this topic in this Newsletter.
Starting with this issue of the Newsletter
we're also going to publish a list (name
and city) of our newest members. Each of
us should try to make a point of meeting
these individuals and welcoming them
into the Association. Since this is the first
time we've done this, we're including the
list of all 71 members who have joined us
thus far in 2015. Henceforth, we'll share
the list of the members who have joined
within the last month.
Speaking of members and numbers, as of
3/25/2015 we have $29,177 in our
coffers, and 257 memberships consisting
of 15 honorary
(lifetime) or courtesy memberships, 171 paid renewals from
2014 plus the 71 new memberships thus
far in 2015. For those existing members
who have not yet renewed for 2015, you
may do so by paying your $10 renewal
dues via cash or check at an upcoming
CCBA meeting, or by sending a check for
$10 payable to the Chester County Beekeepers Association to my attention at
1118 Cotswold Lane, West Chester,
PA 19380.
Finally, thanks in very large part to the
efforts of past Secretary Dan Borkoski, the
CCBA was chosen by the staff of the Whole
Foods Market in Glen Mills, PA to be the
beneficiary of their quarterly "5%
Day". One day each quarter they select a
qualified 501(c)(3) non-profit organization
to come in and set up a display in their
store to educate the Whole Foods customers about the how the non-profit organization benefits the local community. In addition, Whole Foods donates 5% of the
store's sales of that day to the chosen nonprofit organization. On Wednesday, March
25, Dan Borkoski, Ed Pieters, Keith & Sharon Jardine, and yours truly, staffed a table
with various brochures, posters, beekeeping equipment and the Association's observation hive, greeting store customers and
staff, answering any questions they had or
just generally teaching them about the
benefits of honey bees and beekeeping. For these efforts we will be receiving a
check from Whole Foods in the amount of
$4,520. Thanks to all the CCBA members
who came out and shopped the store that
day. And a BIG thanks to Whole Foods for
their generosity! Be sure
to thank them yourself on
behalf of the CCBA whenever you shop there.
Here's hoping Spring gets
"sprung" soon and the
bees get going!
Page 5
Ap ril 2015
Nature Notes: Tim Sterrett
Email: timsterrett@verizon.net
Spring may be late but it never gets left
behind! Sunny warm days will bring an
explosion of leaves and flowers.
Goldfinches at the bird feeder are
showing more gold and losing their
drab winter colors. Chipping sparrows,
with unstreaked breasts and rusty
caps, return to forage on grassy areas
under evergreens. House wrens, barn
swallows, and chimney swifts return in
April.
What are all those worms doing on
walkways after a rain? During a soaking
rain, worms come to the surface to
keep from drowning. Crawling onto a
walkway probably puts part of their
tubular bodies above the water line.
Many do not make it back into the
ground. Why do robins and other small
critters pass up this feast?
Charles Darwin wrote a book about
earthworms, saying that we should
value them for plowing the ground and
turning leaves and litter into fertile soil. About
one third of our earthworm species are not
native to North America. Introduced earthworms have colonized parts of the great north
woods, eating leaf litter that has, since the
retreat of the glaciers, been important to forest health. When worms digest this protective
layer of decaying leaves, they change the ecology of the forest.
White-tailed does give birth to fawns when
blackberry buds open to provide a healthy
food source for nursing deer.
Spring beauties, dog-toothed violets, hepatica, trillium, and bloodroot all bloom in April.
Google can teach us what each one looks
like. The locations of many spring wildflowers
are kept secret to protect them from being
dug out of the ground. By and large, spring
wildflowers cannot be moved, so transplanting
is not an appropriate description of this flower
-napping.
Mourning cloak butterflies (dark wings with
gold edges) winter over as adults (not in cocoons) and fly on warm early spring days.
Spring azures, sky blue and nickel-sized, also
Beeginners Corner – Michael Langer
Email: mlanger452@aol.com
March Madness!
Basketball or beekeeping? I think beekeeping (I never did get into the bracket
thing).
Beekeepers all over the North East know
that March is the make or break month
for existing colonies. To top that, new beekeepers are buying hives, making stands
and doing some page bending in catalogues and pondering what else will be
needed. Then there are the bees. Nucs on
order, packages due but running late (I
understand they always run late due to
weather) and what will I need when they
eventually do arrive? Madness!
Doing all this for the first or even the second time is tough. I know, we get a bit
anxious and fear of making a mistake. The
best advice I can provide is preparation.
Prepare well in advance of your bees and
know what to expect. One nice way to do
this is spend some quality time watching
instructional videos. Stick with the basics,
there is every form and flavor of advice
out there. Two really good basic videos I
like in the getting started category are
from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm. The
first video is aptly named “Getting Started” and the second is “6 Weeks In…Now
What?” Both very instructional to the
new beekeeper. They also have 37 other
videos and Webinars that are accessible
through their website or YouTube.
So now you have a better idea on what to
do and how to do it. The videos and
CCBA meetings helped! But the bees are
coming! Hands on experience is neces-
are early fliers.
Full Moons rise just after sunset. By staying
in one spot, we can see the Moon moving
upward behind a network tree branches.
What we are seeing is the turning of the
Earth. Yes, the Moon moves around the
Earth a bit each night, but the Moon is
moving toward the horizon as it rises. We
are watching the motion of our planet as
the Moon appears to creep upward
through branches.
Why does the full Moon look so big when it
rises? Turn away from the full Moon, bend
over, and look at it between your knees.
Changing your perspective spoils the optical illusion that makes the Moon appear to
be larger.
The Big Dipper stands on its handle in the
northeast. Follow the arc of the handle
down and right to Arcturus and then
“speed on to Spica.” High in the south is
bright Jupiter, reflecting sunlight back to
us. Below Jupiter is Regulus, the dot at the
bottom of a backwards question mark. The
backwards question mark, the fluffy head
of Leo the Lion, is up and left from the dot.
Super-bright Venus is the evening star in
the west.
sary. It is one thing to learn but we all must
be able to apply the learning. It is really a
good idea to get some hands on help too.
Having a mentor that can help with on site
support is invaluable. Fortunately, your club
has an organized mentor program under
the leadership of Charlie Hall. Contact Charlie is you want to be part of the program
(CHall201@MSN.com).
Are you not a member of the Beeginner
Group? Join in! We will meet regularly,
share questions on line and help each other
with the basics. Feel free to email me at
Mlanger452@aol.com.
Annual hive losses average around 30%, for
the new beekeeper, that figure doubles to
60%. The first year is a tough one for sure
and can be very discouraging. But help is
available and it has been well shown that
being part of a club, having a mentor and
fully utilizing resources all help. So let’s
calm the March Madness and look toward a
warm spring and thriving hives!
what you can grow in your backyard?
We will be selling potted little leaf linden,
black locust and sumac trees at the May
meeting. Bareroot trees will be available at
Email: oldbrickfarm@verizon.net
improving your soil by planting nitrogen the end of April. Taylor and BP-1 raspberry
fixing plants of which clover is a great
plants will be for sale through the summer.
Now is the time to start planning what you one. This is also good time to start
We chose these varieties because they
planting site preparation. Do you want to flower in mid-summer to produce fruit in
want to plant for the bees in the spring.
Do you want to overseed some clover into a bed blueberries or raspberries bushes
late summer; a little extra forage for the
your lawn? It will result in less lawnmower for you and your bees? Is there a spot
bees during the dearth of summer.
use and more nitrogen into your soil. The that can use a tree? Have you got a copy I will need some help putting potting the
and read Peter Lindtner's book, Garden
United Nations has declared 2015 as the
trees and raspberry plants in late April or
Plants for Honeybees, to inspire ideas of early May.
international year of soil. You can start
Watch the Facebook site for a call for help!
The Plant Guru – George Datto
Swarmbustin’ Apiary is selling Over-Wintered Survivor Stock
Honey Bee Nucleus Colonies in Spring & Summer 2015!
NUCLEUS COLONY: will contain – 4 frames; An overwintered laying Survivor Queen Honey Bee or 2015
Daughter Queen Bee bred from our apiaries stock of Chester County Breeder Queens; 2-3 frames of brood; Ample population of bees; Adequate food stores
Please note that each Box houses two Nucleus Colonies & understand you will need your own equipment to install the bees into. We will require the return of the Box only (no frame exchange) in a timely fashion after installation.
What are the advantages of Over-Wintered Survivor Stock Nucs? Our Honeybee stock has been bred and
tended to in a way to acclimate them to the climate and conditions found in our area. Think Local! Offering up
Survivor Queens challenges the concept of Nucs beeing mothered by 2015 Queens, which is customary in the
market. With understanding of our Beeloved Honey Bees tendency towards superseding more so than ever
beefore as their method of auto self correction, these highly acclimated 2014 Survivor Queens and their subsequent Daughter Queens will make excellent mothers for our Nucs. The first round of Nucs will contain an overwintered Survivor Queen with subsequent Nucs beeing mothered by our apiaries stock of Chester County Breeder
Queens.
PRICE:
$159.00 / per Nucleus Colony
&
$35.00 / deposit per Box
ORDERS & QUESTIONS: For questions or to place an order please contact Swarmbustin’ Honey at swarmbuster@911honey.com or at (610) 384-2384. We will bee available to answer email or telephone questions and
concerns after Nucleus installation. We will also bee holding three workshops here at Swarmbustin’ Honey catered
to Nucleus questions free of charge for 2015 Nucleus customers. Please come out and utilize this resource!
April 11th (rain date April 18th)
/
May 9th (rain date May 16th)
/
June TBD
PICK-UP INFO: Swarmbustin’ Honey, 190 Thouron Rd West Grove PA 19390
Nucs will bee available ASAP; likely late March, weather depending. So everybody consult your Farmers Almanac
& wait for updates from swarmbuster@911honey.com
Southeast Pennsylvania SPRING PACKAGES
Pickup dates are Saturday, April 4* or Saturday, April 25*.
(* Actual date depends on weather.)
There are packages available for Saturday, April 4* or Saturday, April 25*. At 2:00 P.M and 3:30 P.M. on the day of pickup, see a
demonstration on installing package bees. Conveniently located in the exact center of Montgomery County near Valley Forge, Norristown, and Lansdale turnpike exits. Package includes 3-pound workers with Italian queen. For more information or to download a
package order form, visit www.pabeekeeper.com, email
packages@pabeekeeper.com, or call 610-584-6778.
Worcester Honey Farms, 2011 Shearer Road, Lansdale, PA 19446
Southeast Pennsylvania Hands-on Beekeeping Class
This course is scheduled for five Sunday sessions from February thru July at Worcester Honey Farm and apiaries in the area. Only
25 people for each group of classes will be accepted and advance registration is required.
The instructor is committed to present a knowledgeable and enjoyable, interactive, and intensively hands-on workshop. We are
friendly and encourage you to contact us throughout the course for advice, help, or a sympathetic ear.
To reserve a spot or get more information, visit www.pabeekeeper.com and download a registration form, email
HandsOn@pabeekeeper.com, or call 610-584-6778.
Bee forage monitoring with CCBA
As we endure the torment,
Of the winter that won’t relent
And we all wait for forage to present
I could use member assistance to help document
a list of blooms that we could crowd source for photos,
With or without bees in resident.
When you first see the following plants show blooms - photograph them if you can. And please
collect two or three of the blooms in a simple mailing envelope for me. I need them for confirmation in my collection and to improve the views of the pollen dimensions and surfaces, confirming that I have them in my collection as originals.
Also, please share your observations of:
-date of first bloom,
- date of first forage action
-what level of forage activity you see on any particular plant –(bee population), including native
bees, ----date of when the blooms wilt and wither and are not visited anymore
-and if you perceive nectaring or pollen gathering or both.
So that is a lot of data, but think of it as group enrichment!!!
I hope to have preliminary photo sets of pollen and blooms (forage) in a Flickr album for all of
you to access by the end of this month. But it will be a growing project, adding through the seasons (phenology) and likely in subsequent years.
Early list:
Skunk Cabbage
Witch Hassel
Spicebush
Trout Lily
*Dandelion
*Henbit
*Orchard trees
Spring Beauty
*Wild Black Cherry
*Russian Olive
Crocus
*Red Maple
Wild Mustard
*Blueberry
Dead Nettle
*Black Locust
*Autumn Olive
*Willow
*Silver Maple
Redbud
Bramble berries
Aconite
Bluebells
*Tulip Poplar
* = predominant forage targets and you may add to this list as you observe – but do remember
our advocacy of native plants will leverage our needs by gaining the support of other groups,
meadow gardeners and conservationists who have great concern for native bees.
Thank you very much for your consideration and help - doncoats@verizon.net