What's the Buzz?
AT YCBA
In the know......
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6kTA4teRMl8UU5LMVhUSXF1OWQwTjlXcWtreWhNb0FBUTRR/view?usp=sharing
Foundations
Meeting the Masterzz
He did the bee class and was hooked, he had three hives and sold all his honey! The next year he had 15 hives and quickly sold all of that honey. Through the years he has had anything from 3-48 hives. In recent years it has become challenging to maintain so many hives because of diseases and mite control. He buys and sells honey to to 5-6 stores.
In YCBA John has been an active board member serving in each role. He started the co-op at our club, it was a way to get the essential stuff beekeepers really need; at a discounted cost, close to where you live.
John says that bees are his daily proof of God-this insect flies 2-5 miles finds nectar and pollen returns to the hive and communicates the source to other bees, "they dance to share the wealth!" The bees sacrifice their lives for one goal; survival of the rest, they work themselves to death.
John and his family live a busy life on their farm they have chickens and muscadines and goats. At one time they even hand reared orphaned deer.They have two huge dogs to protect their livestock.
Pearls of wisdom,
- fire ants under a hive will eat all the beetles, mites, moths and stuff that fall out of the hive.
- 2 10 frame deep boxes and one medium super-is his personal preference and seems to promote a stronger hive
- Used powdered sugar to promote grooming against Varroa; helps but is time consuming, Oxalic acid is his preferred method.
York County Beekeepers Assoc.
Here is a video of our hive in the spring.
Summer Bee Conference in Anderson.
We had three wonderful speakers Randy Oliver, Dr. Keith Delaplane, and Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda.
Takeaways
Randy Oliver-you would not leave a mite problem unchecked on you puppy! You have a responsibility to other beekeepers to check and control mites, when you're in the market for a new queen, get one that's Varroa resistant. You can check our more on his website
http://scientificbeekeeping.com/
Dr. Delaplane: Spoke about the origin of bees and how tied their growth and movements are to human migration. One study they conducted suggested that hives packed closely together were more likely to have mites than hives a 100 feet apart.
Dr. Jennifer Tsuruda: From Clemson Diseases spread just like flu or a cold, take notes about your hive, keep hives healthy, germs don't spread easily when bees are healthy. you can check out more on her webpage
https://www.clemson.edu/extension/beekeepers/contact-us.html
Creating a mentor master list
New Officers needed
President and Vice President, we ask that you search your hearts and hopefully find time in your life to help the club out.
Here is a list of our current officers
President---------------------Steve McNeely
Vice President---------------Vacant
Secretary---------------------Deann Segal
Treasurer--------------------John A. Gardner
Chaplin----------------------Ted Oldaker
Representive----------------Bennie Copeland (vacant soon)
Web site Manager----------Josh Peal
Co-op Manager-------------William Copeland
School/Equipment--------Ron Fletcher