Beekeepers Guild of Southeast Virginia Bee Line...the flavor can change depending on what the bees feed on. The stingless bee honey has a stronger and more floral taste that the honey-bee

The Bee Line

Greetings fellow beekeepers:

Welcome New Members! The Guild’s Beginner Beekeeping class is now in full swing.

Although we have a smaller student population this year, as compared to years past,

we are excited for this next group of eager beekeepers to join the Guild. If you see a

new face, please take a minute to extend a welcome to our Guild! These “new-bees” are

excited to begin their new hobby of beekeeping. For those of you who have been keep-

ing bees for a while, or simply beginning your second year of beekeeping, please sign

up to share your knowledge and become a mentor. Who doesn’t need an extra set of

hands in the bee-yard? These newest members are “buzzing” with excitement and

cannot wait to see the bees up close. We have some upcoming events (Short Course clas-

ses, McDonald Garden Center’s Spring Home and Garden Show), that we need volun-

teers for. Be sure to see the articles below and consider volunteering a few hours. Re-

member, volunteering has its perks.

Best wishes,

Nick

Words from the President

Meeting: Monday, February 12, 2017 at 7:00 PM

Location: Blocker Hall Auditorium on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan University, Vir-

ginia Beach, VA

Program: BroodMinder Data Interpretation. Discover what the data reveals on

the five hives monitored by Guild BroodMinders.

Speaker: Theo Hartmann

February Monthly Meeting

Beekeepers Guild of Southeast Virginia

February 2018 Volume 10, Issue 2

www.BeeKeepersGuild.org

Apiary Notes 2

Upcoming Public Outreach

2

Virginia Flower & Garden Expo Review

3

Beekeeper’s Garden 3

Stingless Bees 4

2nd Year Beekeeping Equipment

4

Sick Bees Eat Healthier

5

Advanced Training Review

5

EAS President’s Report

6

Mann Lake EAS Master Beekeeper Scholarship

7

Dates to Remember 8

Beginning Bee Class 8

Inside this issue:

Beekeepers Introductory Course starts this month!

1st Class: 2/10/2018

2nd Class: 2/17/2018

3rd Class: 2/24/2018

Nick Delphia, President

Beekeepers Guild of Southeast Virginia

President: Nick Delphia; Vice President: Rick Fisher; Treasurer: Tammy Cobb; Recording Secretary: Cheryl Brown;

Newsletter Editor : Dave Robinson and Amy DuVall , Webmaster: Jim Sexton | Deadline for the newsletter is the 25th of each month.

February is typically the coldest winter month in

Coastal Southeast Virginia. The bees are usually

clustered in their hives waiting for warm spring

weather to arrive.

Make sure that your hive entrances are open and not

blocked by dead bees in case we get a few days of 50°

F or warmer for cleansing flights.

Continue to check the colonies for adequate winter

stores by opening them and checking the location of

the winter cluster. If the bees are at the top of the box,

they’ve gone through their stores and you will need to

feed them to prevent starvation and encourage popula-

tion buildup. Because they may not take sugar syrup at

low temperatures (below 50°F), you may have to feed

fondant, candy or granulated sugar directly over the

winter cluster.

Brood rearing has begun and the bees will need

pollen. In this area pollen is usually plentiful; only

feed pollen patties if there is no natural pollen being

brought in as pollen supplements can also boost buildup

of Small Hive Beetles once the weather warms.

Place your orders for queens and local nucs as soon as

possible to ensure timely spring delivery. Remember the

state of Virginia does not recommend purchasing stock

from any states with Africanized honey bees.

Take inventory of your equipment and order any new

woodenware to allow time for assembly and painting.

February Apiary Notes for Coastal Virginia

Page 2 The Bee L ine February 2018

McDonald Garden Center has requested the

Beekeepers’ Guild of Southeast Virginia to be a part of

their spring home and garden show on March 2-4,

2018. Over the many years that they have held the

show, they invite one of the area bee clubs to have a

table at the event to educate the customers on back-

yard beekeeping.

Additionally, this year, the show organizers

understand how important our pollinators are to the

health of our eco-system, so they now offer us an op-

portunity to conduct seminars over the 3 day period to

give a more thorough talk to interested people on vari-

ous beekeeping topics like “so you think you want to be

a beekeeper”, “flowers for honey bees”, or “beekeeping

basics”. These are 45 minute seminars that may have

up to 40 attendees at each presentation.

The show is free and open to the public

with no parking fees, so it usually generates quite a bit

of traffic through their flagship store on Independence

Blvd. (especially if we have spring-like weather.) An

observation hive with live bees will be provided for us to

use for the weekend, regardless of the weather condi-

tions. If interested, please sign up at the meeting, or on

the Sign-up Genius website.

Click for image for more details

Upcoming Public Outreach Event:

The Beekeeper’s Garden in February

Many thanks go out to our fabulous guild

volunteers for staffing our booth at the Vir-

ginia Flower and Garden Expo this year.

We had a tremendous amount of help with

set up and tear down in addition to show

hours. Our booth was buzzing the entire

time with visitors eager to sample local

honey and hive products from various

areas of Coastal Virginia. We sold over

300 pounds of honey, soap, ointments and

candles during the three-day event.

Guild volunteers also explained honey bee

biology and the codependence of bees

and flowering plants. To support bees, we

offered bee-friendly plants and seeds for

sale. A large number of local flowering

plants should now be brightening Coastal

Virginia landscapes and offering additional

bee forage on warm winter days. Addition-

ally, we had had kids, adults as well, mak-

ing seed “bombs” to explode color in lack-

luster areas.

A heartfelt guild Thank You is extended to

David Kvello, Rick Franklin, Henry Martin,

Leah Bedell, Rick & Pam Fisher,

Buddy Hoggard, Lemetra

Vaughan, Vi Bryan, Earl Johnson,

Vicki Roberts, Christa Sexton, Jim

Sexton, Allison, Hayden and Allie

Taylor, Diane Willis, Martha Blau,

Amy Bone, Linda Galvani, Brian

Krause, Patty Midgette, Dave and Kathy

Robinson, Steve Rose, Richard Seeloff,

Chris and Tracy Shonts, Steve and Linda

Simet, Aki Smith, and Karen Zablocki, We

couldn’t have done it without you!

rose (Primula vulgaris), Redbud (Cercis

canadesis), Red Maple (Acer rubrum),

Rosemary, Scilla, Skunk Cabbage

(Symplocarpus), Snowflake (Leucojum),

Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo), Sweet

Breath of Spring a/k/a Winter Honeysuckle

(Lonicera fragrantissima), Sweetbox

(Sarcococca), Willow (Salix), Winter Daph-

ne (Daphne odora), Winterhazel

(Corylopsis), Winter Heath (Erica carnea),

Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorum),

Witchhazel (Hamamelis)

Native redbud (Cercis canadesis) trees in bloom

indicate that its time to hang nest blocks for

native mason bees (Osmia lignaria lignaria)

Brood rearing is underway inside hives

and foragers can be found in large num-

bers on plants with good pollen supplies.

The following plants bloom in February in

Coastal Southeast Virginia:

Alder (Alnus), Barrenwort (Epimedium),

Brunnera, Bugleweed (Ajuga), Camellia

japonicas, Camellia oleifera, Carolina Jas-

mine (Gelsemium), Crocus, Dandelion

(Taraxacum), Edgeworthia, Flowering Cur-

rent (Ribes san-

guineum), Flower-

ing Quince

(Chaenomeles spe-

ciosa), Forsythia,

Fragrant Winter-

sweet

(Chimonanthus

praecox), Japanese

Flowering Apricot

(Prunus mume), La-

mium, Laurustinus

(Viburnum tinus),

Lenten Rose

(Helleborus), Lung-

wort (Pulmonaria), Oregon Grape Holly

(Mahonia bealei), Pansy, Pieris japonica,

Persian Irontree (Parrotia persica), Prim-

Page 3 The Bee L ine February 2018

The pendant flowers of Edgeworthia chrysan-tha open steadily on naked branch tips from February to April, perfuming the garden with their sweet fragrance.

Forsythia is a rapid growing long-lived deciduous shrub up to 10 feet high and wide. Forsythia blooms best in full sun with brilliant yellow flow-ers followed by green or var-iegated foliage. It thrives in well drained loose soil but is tolerant of many soil con-ditions. Due to its size and

rangy hab-it, Forsyth-ia should be used as a specimen

VA Flower & Garden Expo Review

Stingless Bees Build Spiral Hives by Dave Robinson

Australia has a type of bee,

Tetragonula carbonaria or locally

named “sugarbag bees”, that does

not have the ability to sting. The

unique feature of this specific

stingless bee species is that they

build their hive upward, in a spiral

pattern.

Stingless bees are closely related

to the honey bee, carpenter bee,

orchid bee and the bumblebee.

The Australian stingless bees are

black with white fur on their faces

and sides and are found in tropical habi-

tats of the northern and eastern parts of

the country. They are highly social, with a

ratio of one queen to thousands of worker

bees. Beekeepers maintain colonies of

this species to harvest small amounts of

honey, fewer than four cups per year.

In addition to the difference in the hive

construction, which is a broad, flat, spiral

construction that gradually ascends, indi-

vidual cells must be built at different

heights to keep the structure going. Addi-

tionally, the honeycomb cells are egg-

shaped vice hexagonal. The colony of

bees will synchronously build and provi-

sion cells in batches of 80.Then the queen

will come along and lay eggs for five

minutes before the worker bees come back to

cap them.

Although the nearly 500 species of the sting-

less bee are unable to defend themselves by

stinging, they can bite and through their bite

inject an irritating formic acid into their ene-

mies.

The honey created by these bees has a high

concentration of water, which leads it to fer-

ment faster. Just like locally produced honey,

the flavor can change depending on what the

bees feed on. The stingless bee honey has a

stronger and more floral taste that the honey-

bee honey.

For more information, visit “Why These Sting-

less Bees Build Spiral Hive” by Elaina Zachos

Page 4 The Bee L ine February 2018

Second Year Beekeeper Equipment Needs In your second year, you can plan on your

colony requiring more storage space for

nectar and pollen. Adding honey supers to

your hive gives the bees room to store the

larger amounts of reserves typically gener-

ated by a second-year hive. This is also a

good time to add a queen excluder to your

set up, which is designed to prevent the

queen from laying eggs in your new honey

supers.

If you are a new beekeeper and have

made it through the winter months, con-

gratulations.

During their first year, the colony spent a

good deal of time and resources drawing

out new comb and building up population

numbers. The colony should come out of

the winter months having a large number

of workers ready to start collecting nectar

and pollen come spring.

Sick Bees Eat Healthier by Dave Robinson

In the study that compared the feeding habits of

healthy bees to those infected with the gut parasite

Nosema ceranae, researchers found that the sick

bees, not the healthy ones, lived longer when the

had access to pollen that was more nutritious;

even though the number of parasites in their gut

also increased in number. This parasite increases

the energy needs of the European or Western

honey bee; but little is known what the effect has

on the foraging habits of the unhealthy bee.

Through caged experimentation, it was found that

infected bees that had access to high quality pol-

len were more likely to survive than those that only

had access to lower quality pollen or no pollen at

all. Non-infected bees showed no difference in

survival based on pollen quality. A study of free-

flying bees revealed that twice as many infected

bees went after the higher quality pollen while

healthy bees showed no preference between the

pollen qualities. This would indicate that the infect-

ed pollen foraging bees are more likely to forage

on pollen that would increase their longevity. At

the hive level observations, although the infected

bees benefitted from the increased pollen quality,

the infection status did not lead to increased pollen

foraging at either the hive or individual level.

Page 5 The Bee L ine February 2018

Reference:

Ferguson, J. A., Northfield, T. D., & Lach, L. (2018). Honey Bee (Apis mel-lifera) Pollen Foraging Reflects Bene-fits Dependent on Individual Infection Status. Microbial Ecology. doi:10.1007/s00248-018-1147-7 More article details

Many thanks to the Virginia State Bee-

keepers Association, Southeast Region for

sponsoring our advanced training with

special guest speakers; Master Beekeeper

Erin MacGregor-Forbes, from Portland,

Maine and Samuel Ramsey, from the Uni-

versity of Maryland. These two put out

some valuable information on artificial

swarming, varroa mite prevention, queen

rearing and other useful beekeeping in-

sights.

We had over 100 beekeepers attend this

event, providing an opportunity to not only

gain this valuable knowledge but share

recent beekeeping experiences with the

other beekeepers in the region.

A heartfelt guild Thank You is extended to

Rick Fisher for organizing and making this

event happen and to Cheryl Brown, Mi-

chael Brown, Theresa Orr, Tammy Cobb,

Kathy Robinson, and Tracy and Peyton

Shonts. The hospitality and hard work you

put forth into this event received the high-

est praises by the attendees and other

beekeeping guild associations.

Advanced Training Review

Page 6 The Bee L ine February 2018

EAS President’s Report-Winter 2018 by Pam Fisher, EAS President

I hope that each of you have submitted your vacation requests for Au-

gust 13 – 17, 2018 to join us for a combination family vacation and Bee Camp

at EAS 2018 in Hampton, Virginia. It’s not too early to start making plans to

enjoy a seaside holiday AND increase your beekeeping knowledge and skills at

the same time. We have an incredible lineup of speakers who will present not

only lectures, but also workshops in the classroom and in the onsite apiary. For

those of you who have never attended an Eastern Apicultural Society’s Short Course and Conference, the scope

is hard to imagine. At any given time, there are four to six educational opportunities from which to select – I fre-

quently find myself wishing I could attend more than one!

The first two days of the EAS meeting are devoted to the Short Course offering multiple concurrent educa-

tional tracts from the beginner to advanced level. You may attend any presentation that interests you regardless of

your experience level. The following three days are devoted to the conference which features keynote speakers

and award winners, the rock stars of the beekeeping world, followed by additional concurrent educational lectures

and workshops. Testing for the EAS Master Beekeeper Certification is available to attendees who apply in ad-

vance.

Field trips and social events to appeal to both beekeepers and their families are planned throughout the

conference. Explore the site of Historic Jamestown where the first honey bees arrived in North America; quaff a

specialty brew made with honey from hives on a brewery’s premises; or simply enjoy a Beekeeper Beach Bash

complete with Bee Olympics. Make sure to brush up on your smoker lighting and drone-spitting talents if you want

to participate (yes that is drone-spitting, not a typo!).

Plan to participate in the Honey Exchange by bringing three jars of your own honey to exchange for three

jars of someone else’s honey. And don’t forget the Honey Show – you have to be in it to win it! We all know that

Virginia honey is some of the finest in the nation; it took the top honor for taste in the prestigious Black Jar contest

twice in the past. We Virginians have an advantage as our entries do not have to travel as far as other competitors

so make Virginia proud and bring your finest honey, beeswax and mead along with you to Bee Camp.

If all this sounds wonderful, consider volunteering to be a part of EAS from the inside. It takes many volun-

teers to plan a conference for 600+ people so please let me know if you would like to assist in any capacity. To

volunteer, send an email to [email protected] or call 757-620-0945. To learn more about the Eastern

Apicultural Society in general or explore conference specifics as they are posted, visit the EAS website at

http://www.easternapiculture.org/. Please help us celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Virginia State Bee-

keepers Association by being a part of EAS 2018 as either a volunteer or attendee. We look forward to including

you in EAS 2018 “Where it All Began”.

EAS Mission:

Education and Conferences,

Master Beekeeper Certification,

Honey Bee Research Grants

Page 7 The Bee L ine February 2018

Mann Lake EAS Master Beekeeper Scholarship

This scholarship, sponsored by Mann Lake

Ltd. and created and administered by the EAS Mas-

ter Beekeepers, was established to encourage a wor-

thy young individual to pursue an interest in honey

bees and beekeeping. The Scholarship will provide

financial assistance for the selected candidate to at-

tend an annual EAS conference.

In addition to the waiver of registration fees

by EAS for the short course and the main confer-

ence, the Scholarship will provide up to $1,000 to

offset other conference expenses.

Scholarship Eligibility

The candidate may be any young person

between the ages of 18 and 25 who is a full-time stu-

dent, or is not a full-time student but is current-ly em-

ployed by a commercial or sideliner beekeeper and

plans to pursue a career in apiculture. If the candi-

date is a veteran of any branch of the U. S. armed

forces, the age limit is 30.

The candidate must have been keeping bees

for a minimum of one year by the time the confer-

ence for which the scholarship is requested begins.

The candidate may have a beekeeping men-

tor, but must be primarily responsible for the care of

his or her bees.

The candidate must have participated in a

local short course in beekeeping.

Scholarship Application

Qualified candidates must complete an appli-

cation form providing their basic contact information,

brief bee-keeping experience and education, and

other relevant data. Applications must be received by

the Chairperson of the Master Beekeeper Scholar-

ship Committee by April 1 of the year in which the

applicant plans to attend the EAS conference.

Candidates must provide letters of recom-

mendation from at least two experienced beekeep-

ers, preferably a mentor and another beekeeping

individual familiar with the candidate’s experience

and qualifications.

Candidates must write an essay of no less

than two, and no more than three, double-spaced

typewritten pages describing their reasons for want-

ing to attend the EAS conference. The essay should

also outline the candidate’s ambitions with respect to

beekeeping, including both short and long-term plans.

Award Criteria

Preference will be given to candidates who,

in the judgment of the Scholar-ship Committee, are

serious in their commitment to apiculture. For exam-

ple, a serious candidate may be planning to pursue a

career as a commercial beekeeper, an entomologist,

a researcher in apiculture, a queen breeder, or similar

profession. A dedicated hobbyist may also win the

scholarship, but preference will be given to candi-

dates planning to pursue a career in apiculture.

Following the conference, the scholarship

recipient will prepare an article for the EAS Journal, of

at least one column in length, or as indicated by the

Journal Editor, describing his or her experiences at

the EAS conference. The article should include pho-

tographs and discuss how at-tending EAS has influ-

enced the recipient’s beekeeping knowledge and

post-conference experiences.

The application, along with full requirements

can be found on the EAS website,

https://www.virginiabeekeepers.org/images/pdf/EAS_

Mann_Lake_Scholarship_application_package_2016-

1.pdf

Help with Beekeepers Intro Course

Page 8 The Bee L ine February 2018

The first week of the Bee-

keepers Intro Course is in

the books now. We have

about 44 new beekeepers

taking the course this year.

For many of us, our first

experience with the Guild

was walking into this Bee-

keepers Introductory

Course. You were met by

beekeepers who were hap-

py to see you and excited

to help you join the fasci-

nating world of apiculture.

A yummy buffet was of-

fered during the breaks,

plus plenty of Guild mem-

bers were present to an-

swer your many questions.

Now it is time for this event

to happen again and your

assistance as Guild mem-

bers is requested. Come

help us welcome the new

group of beekeepers and

sit in on the lectures for a

little refresher training.

Fortunately there is seating

for everyone!

The remaining classes will

be held at the Virginia

Beach Law Enforcement

Training Academy (LETA)

on 17 and 24 February.

Doors will open at 7 AM,

classes will start around 8

AM and run until about 2

PM. The LETA is easy to

access right off Birdneck

Road and interstate 264 in

Virginia Beach at 411 In-

tegrity Way, Virginia

Beach, VA 23451. It is

very near the Virginia

Beach Convention Center

where we participated in

the Virginia Flower &

Garden Expo.

We always can use the

help with providing the

snacks, set up, clean up,

and registration of stu-

dents as well as mem-

bers being available to talk

to new beekeepers during

intermissions. Contact

Kathy Robinson, dkdrobin-

[email protected] for refresh-

ment needs. We hope to

see you there!

Dates to Remember

• February 8- Board Meeting -

Members welcome!

• February 5 - Chesapeake 4-H

Beekeeping Club Meeting

• February 10- 1st class of Beekeep-

ers Introductory Course at LETA

• February 12- Guild Meeting

• February 14 - Happy Valentine’s

Day!

• February 17- 2nd class of Bee-

keepers Introductory Course

• February 19 - President’s Day

• February 20 - Virginia Beach 4-H

Beekeeping Club Meeting

• February 24- 3rd class of Beekeep-

ers Introductory Course

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 Board Meeting

9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28

February 2018