June 2016 Newsletter of the Wake County Beekeepers Association WCBA Officers for 2016:

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1 June 2016 Newsletter of the Wake County Beekeepers Association WCBA Officers for 2016: Editor s note: What a wonderful summer! Across the state, everything is green and thriving. This should be a good year for honey. 19 attendees from the March Bee School have been completed the requirements to be a Certified Beekeeper. Others still need to complete the practical test with Ben Crawley on the 3 rd Sunday at the Historic Oak View Park, or provide the NCSBA ID to Susan Benton. Our mentoring program is underway. Be sure to view our Facebook group Beekeepers of Wake County. President: Mike Childers Vice President: Ben Crawley Secretary: Susan Benton Treasurer: Dawn Childers Membership: Kim Rossi Program Chair: Marc Larin Sergeant-at-Arms: Tom Underhill Board of Directors: Ricky Barbour (3 years); Sarah Myers (2 years); Sue Carson (1 year) Membership The Membership campaign has closed with 231 members. If you didn t join or renew by the end of March, you are still welcome to attend meetings and participate. We will open the time for new members and renewals in the fall/winter for Be sure to check with Kim Rossi at the meeting to pick up your new nametag and membership card for the NC State Beekeeping Association (NCSBA). The Master Beekeeper program, administered by the North Carolina State Beekeeping Association (NCSBA), consists of 4 levels; Certified Beekeeper, Journeyman Beekeeper, Master Beekeeper, and Master Craftsman Beekeeper. Please visit the NCSBA website to take a practice quiz. A new game, Honey Of A Game, has been added to test your knowledge of honey and Honey Competition. Go tohttps:// at the bottom of the home page for the practice test questions. The questions are changed each month. The written test for the Certified Beekeeper will be administered by our club as needed. Please contact Secretary Susan Benton when you are ready to take the test. Please watch the club website for more information. The practical test will be given in the club s bee yard at Historic Oak View Park, 1:00 to 3:00 pm, each 3 rd Sunday between April and September. For the Journeyman and Master levels, test is only administered at one of the State Meetings. The next State meeting is July 7-9 in Hickory, NC. A swarm in May is worth a bale of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; a swarm in July is not worth a fly. Quote heard at the May meeting. 1

2 Upcoming Meetings and Events July 12 Wake County Commons Building August 9 Wake County Commons Building Bug Fest September 2016 September 13 location TBA October 11 Annual BBQ, location TBA October 13-23, 2016 NC State Fair Monthly Workshop 3 rd Sunday of the month at 1:00 pm at the Bee Yard near the cotton field of Historic Oak View County Park, April September. Join Ben Crawley to get a monthly look inside the beehive. There are three opportunities remaining for July 17, August 21, and September 18. Anyone interested in learning is encouraged to attend. Treasurer Dawn Childers is organizing a Cooking with Honey workshop. Date and place TBD. June 2016 Meeting Summary: Club President Mike Childers conducted the June meeting. Don Graves donated some old handmade beekeeping equipment, including a smoker, veil, lid that appears to be stainless steel, that the club raffled. The picture below shows the equipment and the winner of the raffle. 2

3 Tom Underhill provided sound for the program using the new sound system. Mike Childers opened the meeting with announcements that are found in the opportunities section later in this newsletter. 3

4 Program chairman Marc Larin introduced our speaker, Danny Jaynes, Master Craftsman Beekeeper and a past president of the WCBA and NCSBA. Danny made an informative presentation using slides and equipment on Preparing for State Honey Contests. He told us many of his secrets for preparing a prize winning entry. Here is a summary of the presentation: Extracted Honey Extracted honey is classified as Light, Amber, or Dark (There are 7 shades of honey in each category of Dark, Amber, or Light honey.) Collect competition honey from your first honey, as least a ½ gallon. Let it sit. Use a refractometer (pictured below) to check the water content. You want the water content to be less than 18.6%. Strain the honey through a nylon curtain (you may purchase a nylon curtain from Roses). Straining the honey will remove some of the impurities, but not the air. As the honey sits, air will come to the top and a foam will form. Let all of it come to the top. Strain and let it sit for 30 days. 4

5 You will want to use a 16 oz. plain line jar, a competition container. Strain the honey and pour into the container. Overfill by ¼ inch. Find out where the fill level is for the competition you are entering. Put saran wrap over the top to take off the bubbles. Use a spoon to take honey down to the correct level. Look at the entry through a polariscope (pictured below). Hint: you may heat the honey to help get the air out, but it will not impact the taste. Preparing Chunked Honey Strain, check water content, cut chunks straight and the length of the container. Use a 1 lb wide mouth jar. Get the honey from a shallow frame. Hint: you may heat the bottom of the jar so the comb will stick to the bottom. Chunks should be free of wax particles. Cut the chunk, let the wax fall off, filter the honey, then pour back into the jar. Place the chunks (2 or 3) into the container. Make sure they are long enough to fill the container and there is no space above or below the chunks. 5

6 Preparing Wax Don t throw away any wax. You can swap your wax for foundation. For the competition, use a wax melter. Do not use an open flame to prepare wax. Use only capping wax. Wash honey off caps, put in wax melter, and heat. Wax melts at 140F. Keep the heat between 140F and 160F. Above 180F, the wax will discolor. Don t stir it. Let the debris stay at the bottom. Strain through nylon curtains 2 or 3 times. A block of wax entered in the State Fair needs to be 8 pounds or more. In the picture above, the block on the left has been strained once. You can see some of the debris that remained on the bottom. The block on the right was strained more than once. When you use a mold, make sure the wax temperature is correct for the mold you are using. Don t buy a metal mold. Dadant is the best supplier for molds. Make sure your figurine is not hollow. Pictured below are some of the wax figurines and candles that Danny Jaynes displayed. 6

7 The pine come is difficult to remove from the mold because you want to keep the petals from breaking. Observation Hive For the observation hive, presentation is more than 50% of the competition. The observation hive has two chambers, one for a frame of capped honey and one for the brood and marked queen. You must have a marked queen (this year s color is white). You need a good brood pattern. The blue ribbon prize is $50. 7

8 Gift Basket The gift basket should contain your products from the 2016 harvest, not commercial items. The basket must be portable and easy to handle. Place as many products from the hive in the basket. Display booth The display booth should contain entries from all or most all of the categories to get the most points. When you prepare your entry for the state fair, prepare one for your individual entry and one for the club booth. The club should pick a theme that is relevant to the year. For example, a theme from the past was The Lost Colony. Prepare and volunteer for the State Fair Committee. 8

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10 There is a Junior competition for the state fair, so get the young people involved. There is a category for cooking with honey. Questions How do you get your entry to the fair? Answer you take it there. Put saran wrap between the honey and the lid so honey doesn t get on the lid. Be careful not to shake the honey jar. Can wax that was infected by wax moth be used? Yes, you strain out the impurity. There is a difference in straining and filtering. Straining removes the impurity, whereas filtering removes the pollen and nutrition. Sign up for all the entries that you think you may use. You can always turn in those tags not used, with no penalty. This presentation should inspire all club beekeepers to prepare an entry for the NC State Fair. We are lucky to live so close to the fair. Pictured below: James Knox explains what is going on in the hive in June. Mike Childers is pictured on the right wearing a new club hat. 10

11 What to do in the hive in June: Mr. Knox said if you see bees on the outside of the hive, it is ok. It doesn t mean they are getting ready to swarm, but it is hot in the hive and they prefer to sit out on the porch. The honey flow in Wake County is over. In July and August no nectar will be available. Now is the time to harvest honey, if you haven t already. However, don t take too much honey. You don t want to starve the bees in July. If you found that the queen laid 3 frames of brood in the top, reorganize the frames. Don t give them too much space because now is the time the wax moth is looking to enter the hive. Opportunities to Serve Mike Childers announced these opportunities to serve. Please contact Mike (president@wakecountybeekeepers.org ) if you want to volunteer: Cary Theater needs a speaker for August 4 for Pollinator Day Someone wants to buy an extractor JC Arboretum needs a speaker on June 30 to speak about honeybees SARE Grant Cooperating Beekeeper needed to take care of hives (lab rat) Cypress of Raleigh, a retirement community wants someone to put bees on their property Looking for 35 beehives to pollinate watermelons in the next week or so. Mike has a trailer and will help move the hives if anyone wants to participate. The farmer is paying $45 per hive. NCSBA meeting July 7-9, 2016 in Hickory, NC Advance registration (discounted $10) for the NCSBA summer conference, July 7-9 in Hickory, NC, hosted by the Catawba Valley Beekeepers, is available through JULY 1. See Discounted hotel rates will be honored through JUNE 23. The Summer 2016 NC Bee Buzz has details for the conference. The summer conference is a great time to get your honey in for that blue ribbon needed for you Master Sub Specialties. Rules for Honey Judging can be found on the NCSBA website under the Members Only section, Contest and Awards, Honey Contest Rules. NC License Plates support Honeybees There are two options for a specialty license plate. Save the Honey Bee was sponsored by Franklin County Beekeepers. Proceeds from the sale of this plate benefit NC State University Apiculture Program. This plate features a white background, SHB suffix HB is the date the NCSBA was started. It is available on the DMV website. 11

12 A second plate is sponsored by the Proceeds from sales benefit educational outreach materials and expenses related to the Honey Bee Habitat on Grandfather mountain, as well as supporting honey bee research at NC State University. This plate has a yellow honeycomb background, STB suffix SB if you plan to order this one. (It is not on the website yet, as I write this newsletter. This image is from the beeaware website.) You may order either plate from the North Carolina DMV specialty plate section. The cost of the standard plate is an additional $15 and an additional $45 for the specialized plate. For either plate, $5 is donated to the organization (either NCSU Apiculture or Beeaware, depending on the 12

13 plate selected). $10 goes to the DMV Special Plate Fund; For the $45 plate, the extra $30 is designated as $15 to the Clean Water Management Act Trust Fund; $5 to Recreation Park Fund; and $10 to the Highway Beautification Fund. Meet a Beekeeper Justin Wahrenburg has recently earned his Certified Beekeeper designation from the NCSBA. He is a certified honey producer by the NCSBA. I recently visited his Apiary Cluck and Hive where I had a tour and received some water plants. His light colored, wildflower honey is delicious! I asked him about beekeeping. The photo above was taken in Justin s apiary. 13

14 How did you get interested in beekeeping? My mother is an avid gardener, and we share plants, ideas, and thoughts on gardening. I started to take notice in plants that had bee activity. I build a Top Bar Beehive a few years ago out of scraps and sold it for $150 on Craigslist. I would soon regret it, never knowing what I missed. I agreed to take a Beekeeping course with a fellow beekeeper Lucas Schvindt. I missed the class, however, he knew I was bummed and suggested he bring a hive to my yard to observe and learn. I was instantly addicted! Of course, Chickens being my gateway drug, it seemed only natural. Within a few months I had 3 hives that I was preparing for winter. How many hives do you currently have? My hive count fluctuates so I have hives on a regular basis. I started this year with 3 over wintered hives. I helped a few new beekeepers get started this year with nucs. You told me that keeping chickens is a gateway to beekeeping, and keeping bees is a gateway to chickens. Which did you first have? How are the two hobbies related? I have raised chickens my entire life. When I was younger I had turkey, chickens, peacocks, dove, geese, all kinds of various birds. They keep you grounded, in the yard, around the earth, and bring things into your life like bees, snakes, hawks, rodents, flowers, gardens. It s amazing what chickens can do for stress. It s the same with bees. I find that I worry more about my hens and bees than stress at work or sales quotas! Are you growing a garden? I know you have a giant banana tree. Yes, I have 3 raised beds, lots of large bananas, and I am slowly turning the entire yard into a bee friendly yard. I am focused on more natives, and trying to vary my yard to provide for bees year round. I have started Hellebores, Aster, Golden Rod and Clover for Fall/Winter food and have a variation of things that will bloom from early Spring to Late Summer. My most exciting editions are my two Vitex Trees! Vitex Agnus-Castus or Chaste Tree. What about Standard Foods in downtown Raleigh? What is their concept and how is it related to beekeeping? Standard Foods is a very exciting endeavor for Cluck & Hive! It s our first retail relationship, thanks to Marty Hanks from Just Bee Apiary, who introduced us to Standard Foods when they asked him who had good local honey that was a small operation. They sell farm fresh eggs, Bison, local farm produce, and strive to provide clean Southern food. I think it s only fair to post an excerpt from their website that best 14

15 explains their concept. Standard Foods objective is to reintroduce people to the food, farmers and artisanal production methods of our region. The South s rich, agrarian history has been lost in the push for mass-production and cheaper, faster ways to bring products to the market. There is a small but burgeoning group of farmers and artisans who have gone back to the old methods and those who never left. We will seek them out and give them a place to highlight their life s work. The restaurant and market will showcase the unparalleled quality of their products. Standard foods concept of local farm to table is right inline with most beekeepers as we strive to keep our bees healthy. Cluck & Hive s honey is certified by the North Carolina State Beekeepers Association Certified Honey producers program. The extraction process does not include any form of heat in any way, and we extract hives separately so that I can send them a photo of the hive that my honey came from. I feel this brings customers the most raw, pure, and natural honey possible with a very consistent flavor and puts a grounded feel to what they are buying. As a bonus, the Raleigh City Garden is located right next door to Standard Foods, so it is fun to walk through when I deliver. Does your family also enjoy your bees? My 6-year-old daughter, Emrie, is my extraction partner. She stays up late until we are done. We must taste test every frame! She works the honey gate and keeps the honey flowing. My 5-year-old son, Braden, helps with moving equipment from the garage to the hives and refuses to wear protective gear. He is fearless! They are both very active in my hobby and always keep an eye on the hives. My wife, Mae, makes lotion bars, soaps and moisturizers from our wax and honey. We have several products in testing at the moment. This Spring we were blessed to be in the garden as a family and witness a few good swarms! It was quite a sight and was very exciting as a family to see our bees do what they do naturally. What do you do in your work life? I am in sales with Verizon Wireless. So bees and chickens are my outlet. What have you learned this year about beekeeping? The biggest lesson learned was that bees are not reading the same books that we are! They break the rules and they still do what bees do! I did splits early on but learned about Virgin queen swarms the hard way! I have become a lunch break beekeeper! This year was my first year raising my own queens and mating them! It was also an exciting year with swarm catching and I stayed busy early Spring! I hope you enjoyed this interview with Justin. I would like to spotlight a beekeeper in each newsletter. 15

16 North Carolina State Fair October 13-23, 2016 Nothing Could Be Finer The premium book will be available the first week of July. The premium book tells the categories of entries for the State Fair. Bees and Honey is Department I01. Generally, entries may be submitted between August 1 and the middle of September. Now is the time to plan to enter. There is also a bee photography contest. June Hands on Workshop Each 3 rd Sunday at 1:00 pm, everyone is invited to attend our monthly workshop where we examine the club beehives at the Historic Oak View Park. In June, Ben demonstrated how to do the sugar test for Varroa mites. And yes, we did see some mites. In fact, Ben spotted one on a bee and I took this picture with my cell phone. Can you see the mite? I ve learned to take pictures when doing a hive inspection, then later, look at the pictures. The camera on the smart phone is pretty good for this, and easier than using a SLR camera. 16

17 Here is a picture of a nice frame of capped brood. 17

18 Picture of the month: This picture was posted by Justin Wahrenburg in the Facebook group Beekeepers of Wake County. It shows this year s white mark for a queen. 18