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SPRING NUC PROGRAM: BANVs nuc program is in great need of LOCAL SPRING NUCS! BANV is looking for ALL club members to pitch-in and make spring nucs to sell to our newest beekeepers (the 2013 students) and other club members. The law requires that the seller have an annual inspection and the program requires that the nuc be provided with a spring 2013 queen. On April 23rd, the club is having a refresher class on nucs and splits. Make the most of those swarm cells that youre nding in your active happy hives and put a smile on another beekeepers face. Program details can be found on our clubs website. Once you are condent you will have a nuc to sell, please complete the nuc producer form. Julie Waser will keep both the producer and purchase forms up on the website through the end of June 2013.
MARCH-APRIL 2013
T. S. Eliot was not a beekeeper. Had he been, he would have said April is full of promise rather than cruel. Granted, too many of us are having to rebuild from larger than normal losses, but Spring is denitely here and our colonies are full of promise. Many of you have already installed honey supers and all of us should be monitoring Varroa counts and scrounging for our SHB traps. The more fortunate among us are preparing to make splits and nucs while others are looking at buying queens or combining hives. But whatever our situation, April offers a respite from Winter grays and Summer sweat and the promise of good days in the beeyard. If you are selling bees, please check out the information in this newsletter about a local inspector who will
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supplement Bob Wellemeyer's chores. Beth McClelland will focus on nuc inspections especially; be sure to get your hives checked before any sales are nalized! Kudos to Martha Kiene and Amy Bennett for their recent Outreach efforts. Spring brings many requests for bee talks and demos to schools, garden clubs and civic events. You may tire of me beating this drum, but outreach is so important for educating the public about beekeeping. The payoff? Enlisting new beekeepers, perhaps reducing pesticide deaths, providing support for local ordinances allowing beekeeping, and generally making bees more appreciated. All this and it's fun, too!
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2013 Calendar Items of Note April 23 - Packages, Nucs and Splits The Basics 27 April (Sat), 8a 5p; Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton: Fairfax County Springfest (Earth Day/Arbor Day) **Honey Sale Event**
Queen Rearing Upcoming Events August EAS Meeting Hive Weight VSBA Update Outreach (Volunteers needed)
Write to: beekeepersnova+editor@gmail.com We prefer concisely written material, rather than suggestions & hints. Inclusion depends upon space available, timeliness, and/or relevance. Thanks
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Bee Inspection Services Available in Northern Virginia Beth McClelland will perform inspections focusing on nucs in Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria. Contact her via her work e-mail (beth.mcclelland@vdacs.virginia.gov) to schedule an appointment. Provide your phone number, address/location of hives and number of nucs to be inspected. As a backup for schedule changes/concerns, leave a message at 703-973-2783. BANV Outreach Coordinator Contact Information Upcoming Outreach Opportunities: Please contact Martha Kiene at beekeepersnova+outreach@gmail.com to help. 27 April (Sat), 8a 5p; Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton: Fairfax County Springfest (Earth Day/Arbor Day) **Honey Sale Event**
Please help BANV with our Outreach events. If you missed our March meeting, the membership approved a budget of $8,900 for the next year (slightly more than last year), most of it going to our beekeeping class, insurance and sustainability projects. That's a big chunk of money to keep BANV going, but our account still increased since the same time last year. Folks, the club is well funded. If you have a project you want to pursue on behalf of BANV, please contact your ofcers. And speaking of classes, Julie Waser and Todd Harding will nish their classes this month unleashing over 60 new beekeepers on the world! Many thanks to them and all who supported our education efforts this year: Luan Do, Chelsie Romulo, Jane Harding, Terri McPalmer, Steve Johnson, and each club member and Mentor who gave a hand. Today is rainy. April showers. Not the least bit cruel. Happy beekeeping!
John Fraser
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goal of spreading nationwideto meet a critical need for data collection and to provide opportunities for the public to learn more about these ecologically essential organisms. May Berenbaum is Professor and Department Head of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Tickets are $10, or $7 for students. Advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended as space is limited. Tickets may be purchased online or by calling the Koshland Science Museum at 202-334-1201. Admission includes light snacks. Paul Steblein Chief, Branch of Policy USFWS - National Wildlife Refuge System 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Room 655 Arlington,VA 22203 P: 703-358-2678
priority for the Nucs. If anyone is interested in assisting Julie with her beekeeping class graduation plans please contact her. After a short break Dr. David Tarpy gave a talk on the benets of genetic diversity within your hives. Among the ndings of his studies, they have shown that genetically diverse bees are better able to resist diseases that were introduced into the hive. He also talked about the interface extension ideas that NC State is doing with beekeepers in NC. The benets available to beekeepers in that state are quite impressive. Results of studies, guides and PowerPoint presentations for beekeeping classes and individuals are available online. They have a Master Beekeeper program available to those who wish to pursue further knowledge about bees. They also have a cost sharing program for new beekeepers. At savethehives.com people are able to use an IPhone app and Google maps to locate feral bee hives. They also offer a bee breeding short course. Online webinars are also available. A third topic Dr. Tarpy talked about was their Beekeeper Education and Engagement Systems, that allows folks who donate $25 to access online courses. Information about all their various services is available at http:// www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/apiculture/ The meeting ended @ 9:00 pm. David Thompson, Secretary
FAIRFAX COUNTY Event April 25 At SPRINGFEST Koshland Science Museum CELEBRATION (ANNUAL EARTH April 25, 6:30-8pm at the Koshland DAY, ARBOR DAY Science Museum http:// and CLEAN FAIRFAX beespotter.eventbrite.com/ CELEBRATION) Where: The Workhouse Arts Center, Lorton,VA ***Honey Sale Event**** When: 27 April 2013, 8:00 am 5:00 pm Where: Workhouse Arts Center, 9601 Ox Road, Lorton VA 22079 (old Lorton Prison) What: Approximately 20 volunteers all levels of beekeeping experience are needed to man our BANV table throughout the day. 3-4 per shift is ideal. 2-BeA-Bee 4-Hers are highly encouraged to attend. Dozens of organizations, exhibitors and vendors from northern Virginia will participate in this "Green" Environment focused event. This year we are allowed to sell honey, so if you would like to, please let Martha know. Details: What better way to celebrate Spring and Earth Day by participating in this dynamic and growing event!! Volunteers should coordinate what hardware, gear, and observation hives to bring. 2 hives were perfect last year. Join noted entomologist May Berenbaum, Ph.D., for a fascinating investigation of bee ecology and learn how to become a Beespotter. Learn how to identify bees and nd out how you can participate in bee ecology throughout the year. Dr. Berenbaum will discuss the broad patterns that are visible after ve years of data collected by citizens. This data may serve as a baseline for bee ecology shifts in the future due to climate change, human land use changes, and other impacts. Beespotter is a Web-based partnership between the professional science community and citizen scientists starting in Illinois exclusively but with the
BANV Meeting - March 26, 2013 President Rob McKinney opened the meeting at 7:03 pm with 50 members present. He began the evening talking about the proposed budget for 2013. The club spent $ 8,364 in 2012 and the new budget proposal is for $8,900. There followed a short discussion of some of the details of the proposed budget. A motion was made to accept the budget, it was seconded and passed. Rob then discussed some of the upcoming events that are available to club members. In May Pam Fischer will talk about Management and Marketing Naturally. In June Bjorn Solace will talk about beekeeping in Germany and Whitney Long will give a talk on How to Read a Mite Board. Other upcoming events include a talk by Rick Haynes on Beeswax Creams and Balms. Paul Diehl announced they had 10 students in the latest class in Arlington. Brenda Kiessling spoke briey about her map that shows hive locations of club members in the Northern Virginia area. Members are urged to mark on the map the location of their hives if they have not already done so. John Fraser announced the deadline for submissions for the next newsletter is April 14th. Julie Wasser announced that the forms for sellers and buyers of Nucs from the club are up on the website. Students will have rst
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VSBA Spring Meetin g
When: June 21-22, 2013 W here: Greenbrier Middle To develop and support a system to produce and distribute locally raised, high School, 1016 Greenbrier Parkw ay quality queens. Focus will be to obtain a desirable combination of temperament, Chesapeake,VA 23320 hygienic behavior, disease/pest resistance, survivability, brood and honey Advance registration: Po stmarked by production. May 30 This springs VSBA meeti ng will be held The QRG is now accepting requests for queen cells. in Chesapeake,Virginia, ho ste Beekeepers Guild of South d by the We hope to have queen cells available at various times throughout the Spring/ east Virginia. Speakers include Dennis Summer. We expect to have them beginning in mid-May (weather permitting) Van Engelsdorp, Wyatt Mangu m, Dr. Troy through early July (if the demand for them continue). The queen cells are not Anderson and Dr. Buddy Ma rterre. guaranteed; they may emerge early, if so, they will be distributed as virgin queens. There will also be works hops Saturday afternoon, including one The queen cells will be available at no charge to current 2013 members of on Queen Rearing. Registration op ens Friday, BANV, but we will be expecting to receive feedback on their performance at June 21, at 12 noon and the meeting various times of the year. begins at 1pm. A request form is currently available on the BANV website and a message will be Registration will re-open at 8:00 Saturday morning, with the meeting sent on Yahoo Groups. starting at 8:45a.m. The schedule includes presentations fro m speakers, a business meeti the ng with elections and a proposal req The BeeInformed Partnership funding, the State Apiarist uest for s Report, and an update on the Maste The BeeInformed Partnership in association with the USDA and state agriculture r Beekeeper Program. Check the VSBA agencies is conducting a survey for winter hive losses and management practices. If you website for up dated information and age have not already done so, please, participate in this year's survey. The winter loss survey http://www.virginiabeekee nda: takes approximately 10 minutes to complete, management survey 20 minutes.You may pe Vendors attending also wil rs.org. take the winter loss survey by itself or complete both surveys together. Participation is l be listed on our website as they con anonymous with only enough information requested to separate data into regions and rm their attendance. Hope to see states. The link to the online surveys is: you there! De b Parker http://10.selectsurvey.net/beeinformed/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=BIP2012 VSBA Meeting Chair Sincerely, Keith Tignor Ofce of Plant Industry Services Virginia Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services
Rob McKinney Rick Haynes David Michaelson David Thompson Steve Johnson
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Librarian
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Mentoring
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Queen Program
Recognition
Spring Nuc Program
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Chelsie Romulo & Jeny Beausoleil
Frank Linton
Terri McPalmer
Amy Bennett
John Fraser & Chris Dugmore
Martha Kiene
Norma Epley
Carolyn Foley
Julie Waser
Kamalesh Kalarickal
Workerbees
beekeepers+gis@gmail.com beekeepers+librarian@gmail.com beekeepers+membership@gmail.com beekeepers+mentoring@gmail.com beekeepers+editor@gmail.com beekeepers+outreach@gmail.com EpleyBeeks@yahoo.com beekeepers+recognition@gmail.com beekeepers+nuc@gmail.com beekeepers+webmaster@gmail.com
The keynotes will be delivered on Wednesday, August 7, 2013 . . . but wait, let me take a step back for those of you who haven't been to an EAS Conference week before. The format of this annual event follows: This year, the "Short Course" spansMonday through Wednesday.The tracks in 2013 will include Core and Advanced Sessions, and a curriculum on Queen Rearing, Top Bar Hive Management, Natural Beekeeping, Sideliners and Train-the-Trainers. On Wednesday, though, the Conference and Workshop Series beginswith the keynote addresses and ends with a social gathering at a local picnic ground. If you're not too tired by quittin' time on Thursday, you should attend the annual Auction Dinner, which is a fundraiser for the research grants that EAS awards each year. Starting Wednesday, your favorite vendors of beekeeping supplies, books and gadgets will be on hand with their wares. In the samevendor area will be bee fabric for the quilters, bee art & jewelry andmuch, much more! And, oh yeah - there's a HONEY SHOW with prestige and prizes to be won. Admit it, you're proud of your bees' work! So bring it, enter it and show it off! By Friday, you will have met so many new and interesting people, you will want one last chance to get together with them before it's over - the Annual Banquet! Pennsylvania's own Maryann Frazier is ably organizing the program for Wed. through Fri. Invited speakers are conrming their intention to be with us and pinning down the titles of their talks and workshops. Check the EAS websiteoften for conrmed speakers, lodging information andotherupdates. There's so much to see and do in and around West Chester, PA that you may want to make it your family vacation! Spend a day or two touringtogether inPhiladelphia,Valley Forge or Dutch Country. By Wednesday, they'll know their way around on their own and you can get back to the conference! Or stick around an extra day at the end and enjoy the PA State Beekeepers Association Picnic, complete with a "hive crawl" and mead tasting, in a nearby urban area on Saturday August 10. Pennsylvania beekeepers will welcome you warmly! See you in August!