Wellington Beekeepers Association Inc.

Transcription

1 Wellington Beekeepers Association Inc. Our Next Meeting: When: Monday 9 June 2003, at 7.30 p.m. Where: Terrace Centre, Union Church, Dr Taylor Terrace. Johnsonville Theme: MEAD COMPETITION Wellington Beekeepers Association Inc. Monthly Newsletter JUNE 2003 Page 1 This newsletter is available to members via using Adobe Acrobat v3 format. The reader software is available from Adobe free of charge. Contact editor@beehive.org.nz for additional details. Return Address: PO Box , Manners St., Wellington (Ph )

2 MINUTES OF WELLINGTON BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION INC REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING HELD IN THE JOHNSONVILLE UNION CHURCH HALL JOHNSONVILLE ON MON 12 MAY 2003 PRESENT: Frank Lindsay, (Pres.), Mary Ann Lindsay (Treas.), John Burnet (Sec.) and 32 members as listed in the attendance book. APOLOGIES: Chris Christoffel, Stewart Smith, Andrew Yung VISITORS: Jim Fraser (returning as a hobbyist beekeeper - currently in the pest control business) MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING: Minutes of meeting held 14 April 2003 as detailed in the May newsletter were confirmed. (Moved: Amor Walter, Seconded: Andrew Beach - CARRIED) MATTERS ARISING: Varroa Update: Frank advised that one of his hives at his railway site on Hutt Road at Kaiwharawhara and his apiary on Taupo Swamp, Plimmerton had been infected. Varroa had also been discovered at additional sites around the Wanganui, Rangitikei, and Manawatu area. Hawkes Bay and the Wairarapa were apparently still varroa free. There was no change to the Hive Movement Control line at this stage although this was currently under review. Club members were advised that they should now start monitoring and treating where necessary otherwise their hives would be dead by Christmas. Club would organise a bulk purchase of Bayvarol strips immediately as discussed and agreed at previous meetings. Varroa Control: Ivan advised that both formic and oxalic acids were used extensively overseas. Formic acid should be applied to two high boxes only. As the zip-sealed plastic bags available in NZ were not leak-proof, soup bags from supermarkets were a better alternative. These should not be placed directly on the top bars. Ivan recommended use of oxalic acid i.e. heating oxalic crystals. Cost of this treatment was 5 cents per hive. Ivan was happy to supply oxalic acid crystals and further information to any club members interested in this treatment. Frank advised Apistan strips should be placed in the middle of the brood not at the edge (as usually recommended) particularly at this time of the year. It was suggested and agreed that club members be advised of all neighbouring beekeepers apiary sites so that in the event varroa was discovered, nearby beekeepers could be warned. James will provide the members list to any interested club member provided there was no objection to this information being shared. GENERAL BUSINESS: Annual Disease Returns: these had been distributed by AgriQuality and had to be submitted by 1 June. The Club had a GPS (Global Positioning System) available for use by members which would provide the grid reference needed for each apiary site. Exotic Pests: In addition to the ADR, AgriQuality had distributed a brochure about Cape bees and members briefly discussed these. A distinguishing feature of the Cape bee was the queen was easily able to invade new hives and workers were able to lay fertilised eggs. The hive beetle was now reported to be in eastern Australia although the drought was dramatically restricting its spread. Tasmania had reported an exceptional honey crop this year. Page 2

3 Pest Management Submission: The method of levying had changed from number of hives to number of apiaries which was a significant disadvantage to hobbyists. The cut-off date for submissions had been extended to 29 May and all complaints should be directed to the local MP. Wintering Down: Mice were now becoming a problem as the weather deteriorated and temperatures reduced. To keep them out of hives, entrances should be closed right down. While eucalyptus was still flowering in some areas, hive weights should be checked to ensure sufficient food stocks over the winter. In need hives should be fed with syrup or raw sugar. Border Patrol: The recent TV program on the importation of unwanted honey and exotic organisms and the resultant threat to the beekeeping industry was discussed at some length. Meeting closed at 9:00 pm. -ooooooo- The following photos were taken during Frank and MaryAnn Lindsay s trip to Whitehorse in the Yukon during winter (July) last year. The Lindsays were guests of Yanik Freeman. (left) Extracting in the far north. Very dry honey. This was the first time in about 25 years that I had hand extracted. Tiring isn't it. (right) Yanik packing honey, His whole crop from 12 hives is sold in one day at the Whitehorse Harvest Fair. BAYVAROL STRIPS A quantity of these strips will be available for purchase at our June meeting. The strips come in packets of four, and will cost $8.00 a packet. STAINLESS MESH There are still a few of these available priced at $8.00 each. See MaryAnn Lindsay Page 3

4 HIVES FOR SALE?? If you know of anyone wanting to sell a hive(s), please contact Frank Lindsay ( ), as people north of the line are wanting to buy. INCIDENTALLY Frank Lindsay advises that now is the time to collect Pohutukawa seeds spread the word! Has anybody else noticed that soap and hot water won t shift propolis from your otherwise white bee suit? Well, a suggestion from Ivan Pedersen is to try Turps. The following excerpts come from the June 2003 issue of HEALTHY OPTIONS, from an article entitled Healthy Honey by David Bigwood: The reason Honey is able to speed the healing of wounds is that it is hygroscopic and therefore will tend to absorb moisture readily. When applied to wounds, its absorption of water around that wound prevents the growth of bacteria and so promotes rapid healing. Among many other benefits honey also tends to prevent scarring, it does not stick to wounds, has an anti-inflammatory action which helps blood flow and so reduces pain, and it is economical. In August 2002 it was reported from the University of Illinois that Honey may also be good for your heart as it contains antioxidants that will fight cholestoral as effectively as some fruits and vegetables. While this is welcome news it must be pointed out that to equal the antioxidants from fruit and vegetables would mean consuming the same weight of honey. But at least honey will add another variant to fighting cholestorol, albiet in conjunction with the traditional fruit and vegies. The same university is researching honey s use in the fight against bacteria that cause tooth decay! Mathematicians have calculated that the bees in a hive may travel a total of between 50,000 and 100,000 miles and visit over 2,000,000 flowers to produce just one pound of honey. This equates to a considerable amount of activity to produce the 9000 tonnes of honey produced each year in New Zealand. -ooooooo- The map on Page 5 shows a low level varroa detection in the Havelock North region of Hawkes Bay. Further detections in the Manawatu, Wanganui and Wellington regions are also confirmed. Further testing is underway in all regions, and beekeepers involved in the testing programme are urged to return their sticky-boards to AgriQuality as soon as possible. Regards Paul Bolger Page 4

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6 About the Apiary The results of the latest surveillance exercise in the lower North Island has scared a number of hobby beekeepers. Varroa is here so now I might as well give up beekeeping. Clearly, this indicates there is a need for a greater understanding of mite control and interpreting the surveillance results. Sit down and reread the green Control of Varroa book that MAF sent you last year or get out the notes you took at the courses AgriQuality ran. The surveillance exercise was only designed to pick up concentrations of mites that are in high numbers hot spots. If your hives are within 20 km of one of these, then you are likely to have one or two mites in your hives. Accept you have mites and that this is nothing to worry about. You only need to worry about mites when they reach a number where they are likely to cause damage to your bees. Here in New Zealand, we have set an interim threshold of 1000 mites until local research provides us with an indication of mite reproduction with only a one-month brood break. IE the UK as set their threshold at 2500 but they have a fourmonth brood break that restricts mite reproduction. How are mites spread? Drones and beekeepers are the main vectors of spread. Drones fly for miles and will congregate in a hive that is about to requeen itself and will then depart after the queen has mated. This phenomenon has been observed in permanently mounted observation hives. Suddenly the hive fills with bees (mostly drones of all colours) then a week later the population of the hive is back to normal. The new queen has mated but a few of the guests have left a deadly package. Beekeepers spread mites unwittingly through ignorance. Traditionally commercial beekeepers after clearing honey supers of bees load their trucks and leave the supers uncovered to clear the last few bees out on the way home. Most beekeepers do not realize they have mites and unintentionally spread mites this way. A bee escaping from a truck can smell a hive a mile away, and will fly to it and will usually be accepted. I had a little example of this a month ago. We were being plagued with bees and wasps around the house from a feral hive down the road in a house or so we thought. (We live in the city and lots of bees flying around could attract complaints). So I set out to poison them. Got them feeding from a honey water solution for a few days and then put out some poison. Worked a treat, next day heaven, not a bee or wasp in sight. It wasn t until a few days later when I was visiting my nearest apiary, 1.7 km away that I noticed a few hundred dead bees in front of each of six hives. I was being terrorized by my own bees! Page 6

7 The other main spread is through hive movements. In areas where there are hive movements for pollination, mites tend to spread quickly but they can also be spread by accepting a gift swarm or hive. Early detection is difficult. If you are on the Beekeepers list you would have noted how David Yanke found his first varroa while checking queen pupa. A very improbable find as varroa are mainly attracted to drone brood and he only detected a mite in the suspect hive after 73 hours of monitoring with strips. Hence early detection is difficult but you must take the first steps to monitor your hives. You have a number of options: a. Remove approximately 100, 12 day old drone pupa with an uncapping fork every few months (minimum spring, summer and autumn). b. Sugar shake or use a strip in a jar of 300 bees shaken off brood frames. c. Use strips and sticky boards twice a year but this is expensive. d. Make a mesh floorboard or a mesh screen to fit in just above the floorboard. Place in a piece of tin or plastic coreboard to collect debris and check and clean every few months. Mites are fairly easy to see amongst the refuse as they reflect sunlight. Hold the tray at an angle to the sun and the dots that reflect light are mites. There are only a few beekeepers in the Southern North Island who should be treating hives and these are located around known hot spots. The rest should be monitoring hives to determine mite numbers and only when they indicate they are going to reach a threshold should they treat their hives. Three mites falling naturally a day at this time of the year indicates your hives may need treating (UK MAFF information: May Aug - daily mite fall X 400 = estimated number of mites in colony). If you want to work out another method of determining numbers (as a rough guide), about this time of the year 75% of the mites are sitting on bees. If you used the sugar shake method, times the number of mites in the jar by 0.25% to account for mites in the cells and times this by100 to give an approximate number per hive for the average 30,000 (two super) bee colony. (Page 90 in the Manual). Dr Mark Goodwin s research this year (personal ) indicated that the average brood multiplier for warmer zones is 3 and 4.6 for cold zones. It will take another year to confirm this research. If there is no brood in the hive delete the brood multiplier value. Mite numbers double every 30 days ( Gerrit Hynik 27 Sept 2002) so you can work out when your hive will reach the 1000 mite threshold. Page 7

8 Of course if you are near to or in an established mite area where hives are beginning to collapse you have to throw this information out the window and treat spring so that strips are out before the start of the early flow (September where I live), summer (February) and autumn (May) to combat reinvasion. An example: I moved mite free hives into the restricted area for manuka honey in October and by April, one hive had at least 1000 mites on the sticky board. (Mite numbers varied from in most hives but another two were high, 380 and 500). It doesn t take very long to reach the threshold. If you re not at all sure what to do, take the advice given me by a British beekeeper. If mites are within 20 miles blanket treat your hives and sleep well at night. What hobby beekeepers should be doing is getting together and working out what s happening in their area. Set up contact phone lists and then get an agreement that in future they will always try to treat hives at the same time. Consider working together to use the alternative methods of treatment in winter to prevent resistance to the strips. If you haven t already done so, start cleaning up your brood frames. Any that have more than 5% drone brood should be removed from the brood nest. However bees need to produce drones so concentrate drone brood on to just a couple of frames. Things to do this month: Go through the stored combs and scrape off the propolis. Select out old, broken, dark combs for rendering down. (If you don t want to do this they really put out the heat in an enclosed fire. An old frame makes an excellent fire starter). Make up new equipment for the coming season. Plan your budget for next year then half the expected honey crop to be on the plus side. Take a holiday somewhere warm. Frank Lindsay Don t forget this month s theme is the MEAD Competition. Brush the cobwebs off your old wine bottles and check out the more dubious contents. (auditing of contents is best conducted over a period of days, and should not be conducted in one session). Wipe the bugs off the wormy corks, smile sweetly at your bees, then front up with your entry. You never know your hard-earned endeavours might just appeal to the Judges palate. Good brewing! Annual Membership Membership of the Wellington Beekeepers Association runs from June to May of each year and costs $20.00, or $15.00 if you receive your newsletters by . Page 8