WVBA – May 19th, 2025
HELEN IS TAKING MINUTES FOR ELAINE TIMM
Rich is had some water soluble pens used for sketching, he gave away during the meeting.
A few new people came to the meeting tonight
Rich handed out the Swarm questionnaire. It’s a list of questions to ask when we are called to retrieve a Swarm. It can be added to per your own questions. I have attached this questionnaire. One item Rich carries with him to a swarm call is a large net bag with a drawstring. He uses this frequently when catching a swarms. Wes had an idea of another question to ask before going on the swarm call: Ask the queston, who is going to keep the bees after collecting the swarm? If property owner wants to keep them, then charge for your time.
Debbie Blando has more sugar for the taking. You have to be a member on record to pick the sugar up.
Rich was talking about the loss of bees again for commercial beekeepers. Not Good.
Rich said there was a lot of talk on queen manipulation and was demonstrating on a hive set up a couple different methods. One of which was the The Demaree split method.
Someone asked Rich about the holes in his supers. He says drills 5/8” holes in all his supers so the bees can access them easier during nectar flow. He doesn’t have any issues with robbing during a good nectar flow. He doesn’t have an upper entrance in the inner cover. He says once the flow is over and if you are concerned about the holes, use rubber corks or wine corks to plug them.
Rich has switched all his apiary over to 8 frame hives. He seems to think that bees do better in 8 frame brood boxes instead of 10 frames because 10 frame is a lot of area for the bees to cover. Sometimes if it’s a really large hive, he uses 3 deeps.
Rich came across a new type of “paper” called Poly Wall for mite monitoring, instead of sticky boards. Can be bought at Home Depot in 4×8 sheets and cut down to size. He is trying the treatment they do in England. They can be inserted through the front of the hives with no issue because they are thin and don’t require a layer of oil.
Question was asked about what’s better for mite monitoring, screened bottom or solid bottom. He didn’t elaborate on his opinion, but did say that neither way is any better for monitoring for mites. It basically it comes down to preference, some want more ventilation for the bees in hot weather and others want to keep bees warmer in winter. Some conversation went on about different methods to use for winter to help with moisture collecting above the bees, one of which was using a shim and adding sugar to help collect moisture in the winter helps.
Anna is has another beekeeper answering questions: Meet the Bee Whisperer “Paul Jellum” (one of our members from Newburg). He became the Bee Whisper after he received a call about a swarm. Paul said he would be interested so he went to take a look. The police had warning cones to keep people away from the area with the bees. Paul continued to tell us his story about the bees being on the ground when he arrived. He brought is a swarm catching box, put it right next to the bees, then said, “ok girls, start marching into the box”. This was the very moment he became the Bee Whisperer. All the bees turned and literally marched straight into the hive. The officer helping with the situation had to took a picture for a story. And it was later written up in the paper. Paul was also contacted by the Oregonian about the Bee Whisperer story and wanted new pictures and information to print a story. His story is available to see in the Oregonian. Paul went on to answer more of Anna’s questions: He has about 25 hives around the area. He is using 10 frame Langstroth. Favorite aspect of beekeeping: it’s technical and loves that god made bees for us to enjoy. The hardest thing he faces are varroa mites and swarming. He likes the OA Extended for mite treatments. He loves encouraging other beekeepers. He likes talking to preschool group and takes creamed honey with him when he goes. He likes Bob Binne on youtube, Randy Oliver and Kamon Reynolds on YouTube. Paul also mentioned his wife is allergic to bees. Then he told another story of taking new queens up to the bedroom to get them all marked. Then in the process of marking them, one of the queens flew off and he lost her somewhere in the bedroom. He looked all over for her and just couldn’t locate her. Paul had to leave but had to call his wife to let her know that he had lost her. Later when his wife got home and walked into the bedroom, the queen was literally right in front of her on the floor. She called Paul to ask what she should do?? Now remember she is allergic to bees, but she managed to find a queen cage, and get that queen in the cage. When Paul got home, he said, “Where is the queen”? His wife respond only by tapping on her chest. He asked again, and again, she tapped on her chest. He looked at her with a question on his face. Then she reached inside her shirt, then her bra and pulled out the cage with the queen in it. LOL, She knew how important it was to keep the queen warm. She even gave her some watered-down honey before placing her in the warmest spot she could think of. Now that’s a good wife.
Break Time
Presentation by: Denny Pedersen on Honey Bee Diseases and how to identify and deal with the conditions. The easiest are the ones you can identify with your eye like AFB, EFB, Chalkbrood, Sacbrood and Parasitic Mite Syndrome. Looking at the larva and it’s condition, are the cells full of food, are they moist, are the larva glistening? Does the capped brood have any signs of issues, are they showing signs of hygienic behavior? Spotty brood patterns can be a bad thing but not always. Depends what’s in the cells, is it bee bread, are they being back filled with nectar, can you see any eggs, etc. Denny has had AFB twice in his apiary in California. It needs delbt with ASAP because its very contagious. Don’t proceed any further, deal with the AFB hive immediately, and don’t use your hive tool on any other hives. He suggests killing the bees with soapy water, dig a hole, then burn the entire hive frames and all right in the hole. Then it’s very important to cover the hole up so the residual honey can’t be collected later by the bees thus spreading the spores to other hives. Rich chimed in and said it’s now frowned upon to burn the hives according to the DEQ. Thers suggested that it can be used for studies or testing. Not sure who you would call?? Denny continued his presentation, on EFB, treatment….using requeening or Terramycin (only available by a vet – VFD). Explained what to look for…..Chalkbrood has little white chalky mummy like looking fungas in bottom of the cells and then pulled out of the cells on the bottom board. Sacbrood is yellow, brown to black pupae. PMS has similar symptoms and capped cells have tiny holes in the cappings. Viruses are spread by the mites, if you see varroa mites on the bees, you have a big problem, mites will kill your bees over winter if not gotten under control before then. 3 methods for testing, alcohol wash, sugar shake, CO2 injection??? OA works with repeated treatment weekly for at least 3 weeks or until numbers improve. Using sticky boards to monitor mite drop gives a quick visual of mite numbers. Varroa mites they carry at least 20 viruses. Check out Honeybeehealthcoalition.org/varroatool/ dysentery, nosema, pesticide losses, colony collapse disorder, chilled brood. Conclusion – every time you are in your give be checking to if they are queenright, pests, diseases, brood patterns, food stores.
June 23rd is the picnic in the Church for the next meeting. Chicken will be provided, feel free to bring other side dishes or dessert.
One other thing Rich mentioned, that its been proven the according to Bee Biology, bees are not hygienic during a honey flow. Very interesting. Raffel drawing ended our meeting.