Door County Beekeepers Club

Promoting beekeeping in Door County

Door County Beekeepers Club

Promoting beekeeping in Door County

Max’s Minute 01-20-2020

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January 20, 2020 – The bees are in their winter cluster, except for very warm and sunny days (roughly 50ºF and above), when they might leave the hive for a cleansing flight. Queens may lay a few eggs, in which case the cluster will need to keep the brood warm. Dead bees may pile up on the bottom board; on warm days, the bees may remove the bodies, and other bees may fly off to die. Dead bees scattered on the snow outside the hive are therefore a good sign.

Inspection
When inspecting a colony in winter, it is not necessary to open it. Do a quick external inspection, visual and auditory, to check the cluster. Listen for the bees with your ear directly on the upper part of the hive; if you do not hear anything, tap the outside of the hive and the bees should respond. You can open the hive if it is relatively warm and windless outside, but do not pull frames or break open the cluster if it is below 50ºF. If you open the hive, check for moisture around the inner or outer covers. Check if the colony is light on food stores (you can tell by gently hefting the hive)… If so, add warm fondant, or a warm candy board on a warm day.

Equipment
Order any replacement bees (packages, nucs, or queens) as soon as possible; producers generally run out fast. Check any stored equipment for pests such as wax moths. Take inventory. Fix, clean/sterilize, purchase, assemble, and paint equipment as needed.

Yard maintenance
Ensure that the hive cover is properly secured. Check for evidence of critters living in the nice, toasty hive. Remove ice blocking the hive entrance, and clean away dead bees on the screened bottoms front few inches to give the colonies better ventilation. A few dead bees or a small amount of fecal matter outside the hive is nothing to worry about, especially after a warm day; this is a sign that they are still alive inside.

Education
Don’t forget to renew your membership in your local beekeeping club DCBC and the WHPA (Wisconsin Honey Producers Association, get their meetings on your calendar. Sit by the fire and read a good beekeeping book!

Max’s Minute 2019-12-27

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December 27, 2019 – It is supposed to be in the 40’s today! Take some time to visit your hives. I cleaned out all my entrances and the dead bees for the depth of what a hive tool would reach yesterday. Two dead outs already (both hive were weak going into the winter) cleaned the dead bees out of the frames and bottom board to try to reduce the chance of molding. Also lift you hives to get a feel for honey left, two of mine were light so I put on my first hard sugar candy (hard candy is 2 cups water, 1.5 lbs lite Caro syrup, 8 lbs of sugar, and ¼ tsp of cream of tarter, heat to 252 F and pour into a 11x 14 pan). Be sure the candy is warm when you put it on top of the frames.

Happy Holidays to all!

Max’s Minutes: July 2019 – Bees and the Beekeeper

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July 19, 2019 – Bees and the Beekeeper

Honeybee colonies hit their peak during this month. Add supers as needed. You can harvest honey when the honey flow slows (usually near the end of August) or hold filled supers on the hive until you are ready to harvest all of the honey at the end of August.

Monitor for Varroa mite populations. A mite treatment may be necessary prior to the August nectar flow.

If you get a chance, check your hive(s) to be sure they are queen right. Remember, you don’t need to see the queen, just eggs or larva.

The recent rains should help keep the wild flowers blooming for a few more weeks. Make sure your hives have space to put the honey!

2019 WI State Fair

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July 11, 2019 – The WI State Fair is just around the corner August 1-11. We are in need of volunteers to take a shift at the State Fair Honey Booth located in the WI Products Pavilion.
* Day shifts 9am-5pm or 9am-1pm
* Swing shifts 1pm – 6pm
* Evening shifts 5pm – 10pm
THANK YOU to those members that have already signed up, but we still have lots of openings. We have shift openings EVERY DAY of the Fair EXCEPT Aug. 2, 3, and 5.

Please consider volunteering. The Booth has managers that work alongside volunteers, assign breaks, and provide overall supervision. The WHPA provides all volunteers with an admission ticket into the Fair (mailed to you). Many folks make a day (or night) of it and see the sights before or after their shift. Clubs and groups are encouraged to pick a day or night to work together (this comes in handy for carpools). Please call or email me with your time selections or SIGN UP ONLINE at https://signup.com/go/BmpYDXY. Thank you!

**Can’t volunteer but still want to help? 6 or 7 five-gallon pails of honey are needed for WHPA’s #1 selling item at the Fair – honeystix! If you’d like to donate a pail of honey, please contact Nick Thill at 262-689-1484 asap.

Tracy Malterer (WHPA – State Fair Committee Volunteer Coordinator)

DCBC Meeting – May 28, 2019

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May 28, 2019 – Hope you all got a chance to do some mite checks on your packages and your overwintered hives!!

If you are looking for instructions go to the Minnesota Bee Lab and look at Mite testing.

The State Bee inspectors will be in Door County on Tuesday and Wednesday and at our meeting.

If you want Dan or April to check your hives out come and sign up for a visit.

If it is above 60 degrees we will do a short hive dive at the Cross Roads hive just to check on the queen, eggs, larva and brood at 5:30pm. Meeting will be at 6:30.

Hope to see you at the meeting this Tuesday!

DCBC Meeting – May 27, 2019

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May 27, 2019 – The May meeting of Door County Beekeepers Club will be held at the Crossroads in Sturgeon Bay at 6:30pm on Tuesday, May 28th.

Topic: Maintaining Your Bees Against Disease
Presenter: State Apiary Inspector Dan Ziehli

If you have questions concerning your bees there will be an open forum to ask questions during the presentation.

May 2019 State Bee Inspections

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May 20, 2019 – Members, if you would like to have our State Bee Inspector, Dan Ziehi, inspect your hives (I highly recommend this) please email Dennis Marquardt at dennisMarquardt1929@gmail.com.

Dan Ziehli will be in Door County on May 27th & 28th. Please indicate the date, the address location of your hives and your phone number when contacting Dennis.

Dan will also be our speaker on May 28th at Crossroads.

DCBC Meeting – March 26, 2019

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March 15, 2019 – Our March meeting will be held on January 22 at 6:30pm at the Peninsular Ag Research Station Classroom, 4312 Highway 42 in Sturgeon Bay.

Topic: Honey Color, the How and Why, and their Plants
Presenter: Kent Pegorsch

Kent is the president of the Wisconsin Honey Producers Association (WHPA). His program will cover honey flavors and color from different nectar sources. Kent will also have a collection of honey from around the world that he will provide samples and share. He will conclude his program with a brief overview of the WHPA and the benefits of membership.

DCBC Meeting – February 26, 2019

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February 26, 2019 – Hope you got a chance to get out and check on your hives during this last Friday and Saturday (February 22nd and 23rd) warm-up! All my hives have hard candy above the top frames. I had a disappointment in losing a hive, it had consumed all the hard candy before I added more. I also had a pleasant surprise, a hive I had thought was dead and was going to clean out had a nice cluster of live bees in it!

Be sure to clean out any dead hives while it is still cold! It will be a moldy stinky mess if you wait. Learn from my mistakes!

Hope to see you all on Tuesday, February 26 at 6:30 PM at Cross Roads.

We will be doing some frame assembly and general talk about preparation for the arrival of the bees.

If you have any tips or tricks to share please bring them along!