June Check out our club s Facebook page

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Gerard Farmer
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buzzwords http://www.barnstablebeekeepers.

1 buzzwords June 2017 Barnstable County Beekeepers Association June Meeting MEETING DATE: Tuesday, June 13th, 7:30 pm at the West Barnstable Community Building on Route 149. Check out our club s Facebook page Speaker: Maria Cashdollar and Ask the Board Maria will be sharing a presentation of Life Lessons Learned through Beekeeping. Then we will have a panel of Board members to answer questions and provide insight before we move into our summer meeting break. Our official activity for July is participating in the Barnstable County Fair. August has no meeting, so September s meeting with Tom Seely will be the next chance to be together in one room! HIVE OPENING FOR JUNE Saturday, June 24 9 am except Falmouth will start at 10 am. All members are welcome to attend any of the locations. Please remember this is a hands-on event and protective equipment is required. We will be opening and evaluating over wintered and new hives, demonstrating sugar shakes for varroa and it is time for the making of splits or nucleus colonies. TICK SEASON SO DRESS APPROPRIATELY!! BREWSTER 869 Route 6A at the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History. Park in lot across from the museum. (George Muhlebach, gmuhlebach@comcast.net)

2 EAST FALMOUTH Soares Nursery, 1021 Sandwich Road, Hatchville located 0ne-half mile from intersection of Route 151 and Sandwich Road. Drive between two greenhouses and park behind, not in the customer lot. (Marte Ayers, Did You Know Packages May 6. Queen release 3 5 days = May 11 First eggs hatch 3 days = May 14 Brood capped 5 days = May 19 Metamorphosis 13 days = June 1 Happy Birthday New Bees! WELLFLEET Narrowland Farm. From the south take Route 6 into Wellfleet, past all the turnoffs for Wellfleet Center/Harbor. Opposite Moby Dick Restaurant, turn right onto Gull Pond Road. Travel one-half mile, take left onto Chris Drive. Bear right at top of hill onto Mayflower Drive. About 200 meters at bottom of hill take right onto dirt/gravel road Narrowland Road (home-made sign). Second house on left just before you hit the power lines. Street number is 60. (John Portnoy, jp.wellfleet@gmail.com). From the Board I remember, as most do, when I got my first package of bees. I was so excited to get them home, to put them in their new home, and get on with keeping bees. I would watch them every morning, coming and going, and watch every evening them coming home. I would wonder what they had done all day. I would check the hive quite regularly to see if everything I was taught was going as it was suppose to. At the beginning, all went just like they told us in class: comb being drawn out, pollen being brought in, the queen laying. I thought, Wow, this is a lot easier than I thought! But as things go, my plan, the one that I learned about, suddenly took a turn. My frames were too far apart and they were building up wax being between them. Some comb was built out, some not. Propolis stuck everywhere, and it was harder to get the frames out. The darn smoker wouldn t stay lit.... It went on and on. CONSIDER JOINING THE MASSACHUSETTS BEEKEEPING ASSOCIATION For more information on the event and other statewide happenings, you can download the Massachusetts Beekeepers Association brochure here. All of a sudden, all that information that I had seemed so useless. I was getting more and more confused as to what I had gotten myself into. The more I read, the more confused I got. Everyone had a different answer to the problem. Try this! Try that. Just leave them alone. Just.... My head felt like it was going to explode! But as the years went on, and I paid more attention to what the bees were doing, the more sense it made. Bees are gonna do what bees do, no matter how much you intervene. So, instead of working as a human, I tried to work more and more like a bee. I found that the more I let them do what they do, and I worked around them, the more successful I was becoming. The confusion was actually not confusion, but learning.

3 To transition that confusion, we re going to be collecting beekeeping questions from members that will be answered at the beginning of each monthly meeting ask the board! So to all the new and seasoned beekeepers, just remember, "If you're not confused, you're not learning anything."--michael Bush Mike Smith TIMELY SEASONAL TIPS New bees new hives, continue to feed sugar syrup until most frames are drawn or the bees refuse the syrup. This would be an indication that a nectar flow is on. Move undrawn frames in between drawn frames as hive numbers expand. NO queen excluder should be used if you have new frames with new foundation in your honey shallow. No syrup or medication in the hive when honey shallows are on except for MAQS and Hop Guard II. Continue to monitor brood pattern problems can occur in a short period of time. Know your varroa mite count using either the sugar shake or alcohol wash following directions on New packages, first count might be done by mid to late June. And here are some results that just came in from John in Wellfleet done on 06/01: Results of sugar shake on nine large colonies this AM (mites per 1/2 cup =~300 bees): 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, so no miticide treatments for now. I plan to check again after this nectar flow, probably mid-july, and treat any colony with more than six mites in a 300- bee sugar shake. Check your bees soon, especially if you have large overwintered colonies. Members with 2 or more hives might consider making a split into a $10 nuc box purchased from Cape Bee. Come to one of the hive openings to find out just how to do it. Watch for announcements of locally raised virgin queens for sale!! Claire Desilets Planting for Pollinators Follow-up Thanks so much for all of you coming out to learn about planting for pollinators at our last meeting. I was so thrilled to see so many of you at the Master Gardener's Plant sale earlier this month. You had your lists and were on the lookout for plants blooming in July. As July is typically a nectar and pollen dearth, we can try and add plants to our yards that bloom in July. The USDA has a wonderful article found here: that includes plenty of Pollinator Friendly Plants with July bloom times. For those of you who would like see blooms as the bees do, check out this website too!

Melissa Caughey Anyone Have a Spare Hive Laying Around? We have people looking to have hives placed on their property in Orleans near Nauset Beach, Agway of South Dennis, and West Yarmouth.

We re located straight ahead and is one of the first exhibit you see entering the event! There are late afternoon and evening shifts Monday Thursday. Friday Sunday also have an early afternoon shift.

4 Melissa Caughey Anyone Have a Spare Hive Laying Around? We have people looking to have hives placed on their property in Orleans near Nauset Beach, Agway of South Dennis, and West Yarmouth. Please contact me for details. Mike Smith There s a Fair in the Air The Barnstable County Fair is coming up, and it s time to sign up for slots to work at the Honey House. We re located straight ahead and is one of the first exhibit you see entering the event! There are late afternoon and evening shifts Monday Thursday. Friday Sunday also have an early afternoon shift. We re looking for three volunteers for each shift. Please Marte with your availability. We always get a great response from the public, and the excitement is infectious. Everyone who volunteers has a great time! Also, if you want to sell honey or bee related products, you can do so at the fair by volunteering for a shift at the Honey House. All of the proceeds of your sales go directly to you. The Association takes no money, though we hope you ll save aside your dues for next year! Marte will have the admission tickets and parking tickets with her at the June meeting for those that have signed up. Next month, we ll let everyone know through Buzzwords and when we re having our cleanup day for the Honey House. On that day, we work together to make sure everything looks spiffy. Everyone is encouraged to bring a dish for a pot luck lunch where we can socialize and decide the selling price for the honey this year. We hope to see you there! Joe McClure Having a Honey of a Time at the Honey House For as long as I can remember, going to the Barnstable County Fair has always involved a stop at the Honey House. My husband and I love the observation hive, enjoy learning

5 more about bees, and can t ever pass up the honey sticks. For years, we talked about taking up beekeeping, but never got around to it. Then, three years ago, we decide to take the plunge. We were eager newbees, and the summer after we got our first hive, we volunteered for multiple shifts in the hut. As an educator, I enjoyed the chance to share what I had learned about bees, but most of all, I loved talking to the kids! For those of you who haven t ever been to the Honey House, it s located near the garden exhibits and features information about bees, beekeeping tools, hives, and equipment. There are goods for sale, including honey and other hive related products. The highlight by far though is the observation hive where visitors are met with the challenge, Can you find the queen? My husband and I love talking about bees, and I m sure most of you do too! If you are interested in volunteering at the Honey House, a schedule will be circulated at the next BCBA meeting. Don t worry; you ll be paired with someone else, so there is no need to be an expert! If you have honey to sell or other products of the hive, the Honey House is the perfect place to do it. Give it a try! You may very well inspire others to take up the hobby as well! Maria Cashdollar Birds and Bees A few days ago I happened to look out of my window at a hive that is close to the house. It was a cold misty spring day on the Outer Cape. Due to the weather, there was not much activity outside of the hive. As I looked I saw a bird standing on the edge of the bottom board looking at the hive opening. A single bee that was outside arrived and "snap" the bird caught it and gobbled it down. I continued to watch. No more bees were arriving. The next thing that happened was very interesting and something that I have never observed. The bird moved over to the opening that was covered with a wired mouse guard and grabbed in its beak. It rattled it a few times and jumped back -- nothing -- so it rattled it again and this time the faithful guard bees came out to see what was going on. Snap, Gulp, Gulp, Gulp -- the bird was eating the bees. Once the initial guard bees were eaten, she repeated the behavior and polished off the next set of bees as well. Feeling satisfied and full of my bees, she then flew off into a nearby cedar. She was back the next day but since the sun was shining she didn't have to resort to rattling the mouse guard. She just filled her stomach with bees that were out and flying. I pulled out the bird book and am quite certain that it was a female summer tanager. Mark Faherty from Audubon confirmed that tanagers are "Bee Specialists". I wonder if anyone else on the Cape has observed such behavior from a tanager? Dan Smith

6 Can You Dig It? Agway of South Dennis carries a small section of beekeeping supplies. Josh Wile, the owner and president of Agway Cape Cod, has extended a 10% discount to BCBA members at their Agway stores in Orleans, Chatham and South Dennis. You cannot use your Agway card in conjunction with this discount, (the card allows you to earn a $5 Coupon for every $100 spent). Before the transaction starts use "AGCLUB" as your customer ID It gives 10% off green goods only! Other discounts take precedent. This cannot be combined with other discounts. This in no way is a promotion of or endorsement of where you buy your plants. Mike Smith 2nd Annual BEE BALL: 9/30/17 Planning meetings are held monthly in Yarmouth and Brewster alternatively. Our next meeting is June 19 th at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod, South Yarmouth. If you re interested in helping organize the 2017 Beekeepers Ball, please contact Kim Concra klconcra@msn.com or phone: for more info and directions. Kim Concra Volunteers Needed for Tuesday Sept 12th! Dr. Thomas Dyer Seeley will be presenting his work on wild honey bees at the September 12th BCBA meeting. Since we're expecting a large turnout, we'll be asking folks to pre-register

7 and check in upon arrival. That's where you come in! We need volunteers to help check folks in and direct cars in the parking lot to fit everyone in. If you can arrive 45 minutes early to help, please Mel Sanderson: We are still working out a location, but will likely be mid to upper Cape. Dr. Seeley is a honey bee biologist at Cornell University. He will be talking about what he is learning about the honey bee living (and thriving) wild in the Arnot Forest. It is a fascinating story with four sorts of actors: humans, bees, mites, and viruses! His findings are very informative for the future of beekeeping. Mark your calendars! Melissa Sanderson buy sell trade New feature to our newsletter- buy sell trade. Members can post ads for beekeeping equipment that they are looking for or to buy, sell or trade with other members. Got to many hive bodies? Got that extra smoker that you are not using? Maybe some extra foundation? Or maybe you are looking for some equipment. You can me with the item, description, whether you re looking to buy/sell/trade or and have your ad placed in the next newsletter. Please include your contact info as this will be between members. Mike Smith HIGHLANDS FEST 2017 Would there be a few lower Cape members that might like to contribute some time on behalf of our association? My name is Victoria Babcock, I'm an AmeriCorps Cape Cod member and am serving with the Cape Cod National Seashore to coordinate our annual Highlands Fest. This year's theme is "Bee Dynamic", and will focus around protecting and preserving pollinators of all shapes and sizes. We are planning to have our event on June 24th at the Highlands Center. I wanted to reach out and see if your organization would be interested in celebrating with us and providing information and education to attendees. Please contact Victoria directly. Victoria Babcock

2018 Barnstable County Beekeepers Calendar We have a fair number of photographs. I still need a LOT more!!! I know packages are installed and bees are flying.

Do you have a saying or catch phrase related to bees, beekeeping, honey, wax, etc? I m not looking for poetry, but the practical. Whichever you can supply, please email joegetsmail@gmail.com.

8 2018 Barnstable County Beekeepers Calendar We have a fair number of photographs. I still need a LOT more!!! I know packages are installed and bees are flying. Spring flowers and blooming trees are going strong. Let us see what you see! What photograph will make the cover this year? Non-photographic contributions are also good. Do you have a saying or catch phrase related to bees, beekeeping, honey, wax, etc? I m not looking for poetry, but the practical. Whichever you can supply, please joegetsmail@gmail.com. Joe McClure Honey bee 911 Nick Catania I designed a new program for beekeepers and swarm season called HoneyBees911. If someone in the community sees a swarm, they can report it to HoneyBees911.com and they will be given a list of all of their nearby beekeepers who can come and rescue the swarm. We will be using this collected data to gain further insight into the decline in honey bees throughout the country, and hopefully discover new ways to promote their survival. I live in the Hudson Valley and we currently have a couple hundred beekeepers signed up throughout the northeast with strong coverage in New York, MA, CT, and VT. (There are many others continuing to register throughout the country.) Please feel free to call me to learn more about the program Barnstable County Beekeeper s Association Swarm Club Over the past several months, a few people have asked me about the appropriateness of ordering Georgia bees and questioning the survival rate. What is better than ordering bees from down south is creating a network of beekeepers interested in propagating local colonies from our over-wintered queens.

9 While I didn t have the survival rate I d hoped for this winter, I was able to create one split. I stuck two frames of brood with eggs, shook in extra bees for good measure, added some beebread frames and a little honey into a deep and walked away. They made two queen cells within the first week, and I found three more since then. Alas, they re all on the same frame, so I m not sure I can safely cut them out to make another. When the weather gets better, I will see what I can do. Making a split is that easy, and these queens will be from overwintered stock. It s not a guarantee that the hive will overwinter, but it will increase the probability. It also means that the decrease in population of your hive can help prevent swarming as you re doing a controlled simulation of a swarm! I ve only had one person contact me so far, and we need more than that to get started. Please see the last newsletter for details. If you re interested in being involved, please let me know. Joe McClure Salted Honey Peanut Brittle Yield: Makes 24 pieces Ingredients 4 tablespoons (½ stick) - unsalted ¼ cup - heavy cream butter ¼ cup - granulated sugar ¼ cup - honey 2 teaspoons - coarse salt 1 ½ cups - dry-roasted, lightly salted peanuts

10 Directions Line a sheet pan with lightly buttered aluminum foil or a nonstick baking mat. Combine the butter, sugar, honey, cream, and 1 teaspoon of the salt in a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan. Heat over medium-low for 4 to 5 minutes, until the mixture turns a deep amber color. Adjust the heat to maintain a steady boil and stir to keep the mixture from boiling over or scorching. Stir in the peanuts and immediately scrape the mixture onto the lined sheet pan, spreading it in a single layer with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle the surface evenly with the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Let the peanut brittle cool thoroughly for about 1 hour, or until hardened. Lift it from the pan and break into irregularly shaped pieces about ¾ inch across. Cut waxed paper or plastic wrap into 2-inch squares and wrap each piece individually. Stored at room temperature in a cool, dry place, the brittle keeps indefinitely. Recipe courtesy of Taste of Honey by Marie Simmons/Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC. Honey Lemonade by Beetrix Royale Servings 4 4 cups water 4 large lemons juiced 4 tbs honey (to taste) This makes fairly concentrated lemonade that you can dilute. Use 1/2 or 3/4 of the amount of lemon & honey, in proportion to the water i.e. 3 lemons and 3 tbs honey to 4 cups water. RESOURCES (accurate as of 1/17) The following officers and directors are a great resource to answer questions and requests for assistance.

11 Officers President Michael D. Smith Vice President Kayleigh Cronin Corresponing Secretary Claire Desilets Recording Secretary Kathy Clobridge Treasurer Lynn Heslinga Directors Marthe Ayers Julie Lipkin John Beach Mary Anne Mann Deborah Carmel Joseph McClure Maria Cashdollar Andy Morris Todd Cashdollar Brian O'Donnell Melissa Caughey Steven Pelletier Kimberly Concra Melissa Sanderson Peter B Cooper brpbc1@gmail.com Lisa Sheehy lisasheehy@msn.com Claire Desilets beekeepr@gmail.com Mark Simonitsch fishweirs@capecod.net Lynn Heslinga lynneheslinga@gmail.com Michael Smith michaeldgetsmail@gmail.com Mary Johnson mrj9922@msn.com Miguel Zamora zamorasmiguel@gmail.com Paul Lefebvre lefbvr@gmail.com

buzzwords Upcoming Meetings

buzzwords Upcoming Meetings buzzwords http://www.barnstablebeekeepers.org September 2017 Upcoming Meetings MEETING DATE: Tuesday, September 12 th Note the change in location from usual meetings! Click here to sign up for the Seeley