1 The Newsletter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association February The President's Buzz from Tommy Helms I hope everyone’s bees are happy. I have noticed the bees working my Red Maple tree. They were all over it most of the day. They have been bringing in lots of grey and yellow pollen. With this warmer than usual weather we’re having, I think the bees are a little confused. With the bees bringing in pollen and a little nectar, it’s got the queen laying some eggs. I have seen frames with eggs, larvae and brood, even saw some drone brood. They are building up extremely fast. This might not be a bad thing if we don’t have any severely cold weather. If we do there may not be enough bees the protect the eggs and brood and it will be lost. However, if it stays warmer the hives are going to build up fast early in the season. They may start building up before the nectar starts coming in and that means more bees eating up their winter stores. Late February and early March is a critical time for your honeybees. Too many bees and not enough food. I have kept sugar and or fondant on my bees all winter. I thought I had them good until spring until I started checking hives a few days ago and everyone had eaten all the food I had on them. They were all full of bees, some had some stores of honey, some of the hives are starting to get light in weight and are probably relying on my feeding them. You must make sure the hives don’t get honey bound and the queen doesn’t have room to lay. It doesn’t matter how well you treated for mites last season if the bees don’t have enough food to make it through the winter it was all in vain. It would be a shame for the bees to die because of lack of food. VPB (very poor beekeeping) kills more bees this time of year than anything. Keep a close watch on your bees. Check for swarm cells early. Get your swarm boxes out and get those supers ready. Good Luck with your bees! Tommy Helms MeckBees President February Meeting *date change!* Bryan Fisher Beekeeping Tips, Tricks & Hacks to Save You Time, Money & Labor Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm Selwyn United Methodist Church 3100 Selwyn Road
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The Newsletter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association February 2020The President's Buzz
from Tommy Helms
I hope everyone’s bees are happy. I have noticed the bees working my
Red Maple tree. They were all over it most of the day. They have been
bringing in lots of grey and yellow pollen. With this warmer than usual
weather we’re having, I think the bees are a little confused. With the bees
bringing in pollen and a little nectar, it’s got the queen laying some eggs. I
have seen frames with eggs, larvae and brood, even saw some drone brood.
They are building up extremely fast. This might not be a bad thing if we
don’t have any severely cold weather. If we do there may not be enough bees
the protect the eggs and brood and it will be lost. However, if it stays
warmer the hives are going to build up fast early in the season. They may
start building up before the nectar starts coming in and that means more
bees eating up their winter stores. Late February and early March is a
critical time for your honeybees. Too many bees and not enough food.
I have kept sugar and or fondant on my bees all winter. I thought I had
them good until spring until I started checking hives a few days ago and
everyone had eaten all the food I had on them. They were all full of bees,
some had some stores of honey, some of the hives are starting to get light in
weight and are probably relying on my feeding them. You must make sure
the hives don’t get honey bound and the queen doesn’t have room to lay. It
doesn’t matter how well you treated for mites last season if the bees don’t
have enough food to make it through the winter it was all in vain. It would
be a shame for the bees to die because of lack of food. VPB (very poor
beekeeping) kills more bees this time of year than anything. Keep a close
watch on your bees. Check for swarm cells early. Get your swarm boxes out
and get those supers ready.
Good Luck with your bees!
Tommy Helms
MeckBees President
February Meeting*date change!*
Bryan Fisher
Beekeeping Tips,
Tricks & Hacks to Save You
Time, Money & Labor
Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm
Selwyn United Methodist Church
3100 Selwyn Road
2
Connect in Steele CreekMichael Palmer recommends: for a
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@girlnextdoorhoneyHilary KearneyAuthor of Queenspotting & The LittleBook of Bees Bee education 10 yrs of #beekeepingexp.linktr.ee/girlnextdoorhoney76k followers
@bee_nfluencerB.I’m the 1st bee influencer! Follow me guys: the more followers Ihave, the more we will save bees!#BeeFund x @fondationdefrancebeefund.fondationdefrance.org269k followers
Single flower rose:Five petals. All stamens and carpelpresent.Image from flickr.com
Semidouble flowers fall somewhere in between. They have more than
the usual number of petals single flowers bear, but less than double
flowers. Notably, they usually have some nonmutated stamens clearly
visible in the center of the flower and are therefore fertile. They may offer
some bee forage.
Depending on the exact nature of the mutation, these different flower
structures can develop into one another e.g. sepals can develop as carpels
or leaves, petals as stamens, petals as sepals, stamens as carpals, stamens
as petals, or an entirely new flower in place of carpels.
Double rose:No stamens or carpals.
Semidouble rose:More than five petals in more than onerow of petals. Some stamens present.
This image illustrates the basic anatomy of aflower.Sepal: usually a green, leaflike structurePetal: typically showy and attractiveStamens: male reproductive organsCarpel: female reproductive organ
Single flower camellia. Camelliasnaturally have five to nine petals.Stamens and carpel present.
Semidouble Camellia. Many petals inmultiple rows. Fewer stamens in thecenter.
Single flower cherry. Five petals in onerow. Stamens and carpel present.
Semidouble cherry. Many petals inmultiple rows. Some stamens in thecenter.