Meeting Wed Jan.18 6:30PM |
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Topic: SnoKing Beekeepers Jan 18 2023 club meeting Time: Jan 18, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84275495718?pwd=SCtZVlRWMjZCdkxKbHpvR01CZkJOUT09 Meeting ID: 842 7549 5718 Passcode: 168097 One tap mobile +12532050468,,84275495718#,,,,*168097# US +12532158782,,84275495718#,,,,*168097# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location +1 253 205 0468 US +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcOIb2p0Ob |
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Sign in Wednesday 6:30PM to share what's going on in our hives and in our club. After the very cold spell last month, the normal rain and cold appears to have returned. So let's stay dry and warm inside and "talk bees." MEETING AGENDA: We will start with a quick business update and the outlook for 2023. Then, winter is on everyone’s mind, so we will start with any questions, comments or concerns about our hives until about 7:30PM. Remember we can share screen one member at a time, so get your pictures ready to us your hives and ideas. Then we will start viewing the recording of Dewey Caron's Frame Reading/Hive Inspection presentation at the 2022 WASBA Conference last October. The closeups of frames and hives at different seasons with different diseases or conditions explained by Dr. Caron are worth watching. We can watch the 40-minute video straight through or pause it at any point that we wish. And, of course, we can't resist discussing it afterwards. The meeting is always a chance to talk bees until sunrise! Well, maybe not that late. |
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Also in this newsletter: BEE TIPS & TRIVIA IN-PERSON SOCIALS CLASSES: Journeyman, Apprentice, Beginner HIVESIDES MONTHLY TO-DO LIST WEATHER NOTES QUEEN PROJECT MEMBERSHIP PRIZE WINNERS |
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Also not to be missed: Bee Punny! will end on December 31st! If you scroll back through the blog, you can still chuckle your way to relaxation. However, in 2023, new blog posts feature Bee Trivia & Tips, one drop of sweet wisdom each day for the 365 days of the new year! |
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Our first IN-PERSON SOCIAL of 2023 has to be rescheduled to February! We had intended to start this month but will send out the new date and time as soon as possible. We will be decorating hive boxes. Stencils, brushes, acrylic paints, sealant and all supplies will be provided by the club. Bring your own painted box or help decorate the club’s boxes to be used at the demo sites in 2023. Pictured are examples of the kind of stenciling we will do. We will meet at St. Thomas Greek Orthodox Church, 4525 87th Ave SE, Snohomish, WA 98290. Our warmest thanks to the church for allowing us to hold meetings and activities there. For more information and to volunteer, contact Tawnya Sapp, tawnya.sapp@gmail.com , 253.797.0949. Ideas and help needed for more in-person get-togethers, particularly hands-on activities, including people to lead them, maybe some of the following: Wax food wraps Pollen patties and fondant frames Frame and box assembly AZ hive presentation |
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MASTER LEVEL BEEKEEPER program changes are coming! WASBA curriculum major changes in 2023 appear to be limited to development of an academic core for Master Beekeeper by WSU Agricultural Extension through Dr. Kelly Kulhanek, assistant professor. We expect WASBA Journeyman certification to be a prerequisite for the course, so take Journeyman asap if you are looking forward to the opportunity to take an in-state, "home-grown" Master option, instead of going out of state to get Master Beekeeper. |
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CLASSES: All levels start again this month. JOURNEYMAN
If any of you beekeepers are hesitating to take the Journeyman class, starting Journeyman this January may allow you just enough time to complete certification before 2024, when the Master Beekeeper online course in devlopment by Dr. Kelly Kulhanek of WSU and WASBA may be ready. JOURNEYMAN Class already started Thursday Jan 5th and but the first two class presentations have been recorded. If you want to join in, call, text or email Eli asap 206-859-7392 eliochel@snokingbka.org. The class continues to meet 6:30PM consecutive Thursdays through March 9th, covering the material for the academic test portion of Journeyman certification. SnoKing's emphasis is on beekeeping west of the Cascades but beekeepers from other areas are welcome to join us, although -- Warning! -- we may talk a lot about rain! The prerequisites for Journeyman certificate and the complete certification requirements can be found at www.wasba.org. Class info & registration can be found at www.snokingbeekeepers.org/journeymanapplication. If the information there does not tell you whether Journeyman is right for you, contact Eli before registering and paying to make sure it is. |
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We are also offering: BEGINNER: Next session will be on 7 consecutive Thursday evenings Feb. 16 - March 30. Please also reserve the following Thursday, April 7th, for a makeup session if needed due to power outage or other unforeseen circumstances. https://www.snokingbka.org/beginnerapplication APPRENTICE: Last chance to sign up for this session! 6:30PM on seven consecutive Mondays Jan 23rd through March 6th. Please also keep March 13th open as a makeup day (due to power outage or other unexpected problem) or for test review or questions, if needed. https://www.snokingbeekeepers.org/apprenticeapplication |
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HIVESIDES: Hivesides are waiting on Mother Nature, so are mostly on hold until April or when the weather permits inspection. Think about volunteering to host a single session if you would like company or support in the installation of your package or nuc. In the spring, beginners are often most interested in nuc/package installations, and weather is usually too cool for lengthy hive inspections, anyway. Any member in Snohomish County or North King County ordering a nuc or package who would be willing to host a Saturday or Sunday nuc or package installation, please call Eli 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snoking bka.org. It is a good way to meet several other beekeepers, often in your neighborhood. HiveSide Managers: Granite Falls - Ron - beebuddy.skba@gmail.com 206-719-3604 Maltby - Eli - eliochel@snokingbka.org 206-859-7392 |
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MONTHLY TO-DO LIST by Eli Ocheltree: Much the same as December: Monitor: Clear entrances, check moisture absorbent materials and replace or fluff as needed. Check slideout boards under screened bottom boards to see how active your bees are, and what they are doing. If your day time highs are in the 30s and 40s, do not go below the inner cover, except in an emergency. Even checking below the outer cover should be limited to brief peeking. Protect bees from condensation, and feed should already be in the hive where bees can reach it. The most you can do at these low temps without harm to the bees is to add sugar or fondant to the inner cover or candy board above the frames without disturbing them further and chancing chilling them. |
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Entrances After lows in the teens and 20s F, most of the summer bees have probably died. The alarming amounts of dead bees appearing outside larger hives should have ended. Now, healthy hives should see a smaller, gradual attrition. Still keep up your vigilance. Use a tool to reach inside hive entrances to make sure bees can get out for cleansing flights. A small upper entrance can also be used for those flights if the lower one is blocked. One disadvantage of using robbing screens to reduce entrances is that the berm of dead bees just inside the hive may not be visible to the beekeeper, but may block bees when cleansing flight weather happens. So, be sure to clean behind mouse guards, robbing screens, or any entrance reducers you may be using. However, those overwintering mated yellow jackets and other vespids may wake up on the warmest of days this month, so get those yellow jacket traps ready! lA queen trapped in January or February is one less vespid hive in late summer or fall! |
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Another reason to beware of completely removing the robbing screens is robbing by neighbor hives, although that will probably not start until daily average temperatures are above minimum foraging temperature of 45 degrees F. However, the strongest hive is the first to respond to increasing temperatures and will be checking entrances of neighbors to see how well they are guarded. |
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Protection If wrapping hives, remember that top insulation should be greater than side insulation to encourage condensation forming to the sides of the hive and not dripping onto the cluster. Moisture shim or quilt board should be in place and any additional top insulation right under the top cover. Check slideout boards, solid bottom boards and landing boards for rodent or small mammal damage, as in the following photo. Despite the damage to the coroplast slideout board, the screened bottom board was intact. This picture was taken by sliding the cell phone camera under the hive. |
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Another mammal appears to have clawed or bitten on the edge of this coroplast board of another hive. |
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Inside the hive, the inner cover should NOT have been removed unless it was replaced by another "ceiling" such as the bottom of a "candy board" or "vivaldi board". An inner cover (or another wood panel with vent opening) forms a useful "ceiling" above the topmost frames of the hive because: (1) it slows the escape of heat generated by the cluster upward. Lifting the outer lid to peek at stores will not bring up a rush of cold air past the cluster as warm air escapes. (2) it can catch any condensation dripping from above. A quick look to see if it is wet or dry can tell you if ventilation needs adjustment. (3) if treating with oxalic acid vaporization (OAV), that "ceiling" is necessary to keep the gas in the brood chamber instead of rising past the cluster to the moisture/feed shims. (4) it is easy to use as a granulated sugar tray for dry feeding ever and you can see the bees eating into the sugar you pile near the opening in the inner cover. |
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A cinder block or paving stone placed on top of a hive, and strapping the hive stack to the hive stands are extra insurance against windstorms and varmints. There have been a number of reports of hives blown over by rogue wind gusts; sometimes a full-sized cinder block has not been enough to hold the lid on! Feed Dry feed (fondant, sugar blocks, dry sugar, and or pollen patty) should be below the moisture absorbency and insulation so that bees can reach it. If hefting or weighing the hive or just nerves! lead you to think that the bees need more, dry feed can be added to top side of inner cover or candy board. Then, |
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RELAX & PLAN: Stop stressing, biting nails, etc. This is a beekeeper’s “down time”. Attend SnoKing Beekeepers monthly meeting this Wednesday. Check out benefits of joining local clubs by attending their meetings, checking their websites and facebook pages, etc. Share information, catch up with current articles and research. Evaluate last season and plan next year, ordering equipment and bees as needed. |
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We hope the bees have not used up too much of their winter stores up before the coldest part of the winter. That would usually be December and January but I’m no longer assuming anything will be normal this winter. The weather we are experiencing in my part of Snohomish County (near Maltby) was colder than December than in years past, but every year is different in Western Washington. Here's a photo of 6 young queens overwintering in double nuclei and single westerns at the Maltby hives demo site: |
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QUEEN PROJECT: Queen rearing and overwintering in double nucs update: Nothing to add since the last newsletter. We wrapped the hives after the first hard freeze, a freeze in the 20s. Below are the FLIR pictures before and after the wrapping. Black bee cozies on the center 2 show as warm, partly because the black plastic absorbs heat in the daylight. Reflectix wrap may not be more efficient but shows as colder in the flir pictures. Here's hoping our plan to test overwintering them as smaller colonies in double nuclei stacks was the best method to overwinter them. Overwintering reserve queens would greatly increase success and sustainability of any apiary, given our unreliable Western Washington weather. |
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MEMBERSHIP DRAWING: The winner of the gorgeous quilt pictured above is Brandy Eckman! The winner of the Guardian Bee jacket with veil was Sarah Wright. Congratulations to our winners and thanks to all who remembered to renew membership, getting us off to a solvent start in 2023! |
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Hope to see you all 6:30PM Wednesday Jan 18th. Just as our bees will do this winter, it is important for us beekeepers to winter together, cluster, network and pass items to each other! Looking forward to talking bees with you, SnoKing Beekeepers Association. Topic: SnoKing Beekeepers Jan 18 2023 club meeting Time: Jan 18, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84275495718?pwd=SCtZVlRWMjZCdkxKbHpvR01CZkJOUT09 Meeting ID: 842 7549 5718 Passcode: 168097 One tap mobile +12532050468,,84275495718#,,,,*168097# US +12532158782,,84275495718#,,,,*168097# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location +1 253 205 0468 US +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcOIb2p0Ob |
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HAPPY NEW YEAR! LET'S HAVE A BEE-UTIFUL YEAR! |
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