October-November 2005 Next Membership Meeting is Tuesday, November 15, 2005 7:00 p.m.

NOTE Change of Date, Time, & Room!

Little Theater, Falls Church High School 7521 Jaguar Trail Falls Church, VA 22042

President Pat Haskell Vice President Tom Merz Secretary Kathy Heslep Treasurer Bennie Liles http://www.beekeepersnova.org Website In This Issue Meeting programs 4H Report Highlights of state meeting Minutes of last meeting Future Meetings of BANV November 22, 2005 Dennis van Englesdorp, Penn State January 24, 2006 Pot Luck Dinner, Election March 28, 2006 Heather Mills, VA Tech May 22, 2006 Honey Show Prep July 15, 2006 (tentative) Picnic Other Meetings of Interest

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Dennis Van Englesdorp to speak The featured speaker at the next meeting will be Dennis Van Englesdorp. He is currently at Penn State and also the Pennsylvania state apiarist. He will be speaking on beekeeping in the 21st century and for the future. Dennis is a dynamic, informative speaker not to be missed. Note that the meeting is on the third Tuesday, November 15, and will be in the Little Theater. Judy Chen featured at Sept. meeting Dr. Chen is employed at the Beltsville Bee Lab. She has done extensive research on bee viruses. Her talk included a description of viral diseases, detection and quantification of viral infections, transmission by varroa, and management of infections. There are quite a few viruses, including Kashmiri, acute bee paralysis, chronic bee paralysis, sacbrood, deformed wing, black queen cell, cloudy wing, and others. Most are asymptomatic and hard to distinguish under a microscope. The transmission and infection are poorly understood and economic impact is uncertain. In test colonies with viruses, the most prevalent was a combination of black queen cell and deformed wing. Deformed wing virus may be transmitted by varroa, but whether it passes between mites is unknown. Indication of virus is a weakening colony without apparent brood disease or varroa, dead or dying bees on the inner cover, bees with a hairless upper body or a
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Judy Chen at Sept. meeting

BANV Newsletter November 2005

black oily appearance. It may resemble PMS (parasitic mite syndrome). These viruses are not thought to be of great concern to hobbyists, but we should be conscious of the possibility when diagnosing problems. 2 B A Bee 4H Club Report Brenda Kiessling, Leader 2B A BEE has been busy. The club presented a program to the Vienna Community 4-H club: with a beeyard fashion show(new clean outfit with sparkling new smoker and hive tool)AND how you dress in the beeyard for a "Dirty Jobs" beekeeper. Two club members (Jeannine Molleda and Steven Haring) gave small talks on "the bee cluster" and "Fumidil-B, an antibiotic for bees", a complete hive with all the parts and frames so you can build it and see how it works, a display of bee pests, an insect collection of hornets, wasps, yellow jackets (NON-bees), a microscope to see magnified bee parts, posters of "A beekeepers year", bee anatomy, other stinging insects, as well as posters made by club members Theresa Chick ( Products of the Hive--honey, wax, propolis, royal jelly), and Hannah Markowitz (the life cycle of the honeybee). 2 B A BEE members got lots of good questions from the Vienna Club. At the next 2 B A BEE club meeting, we are working on membership and scrapbooking. VSBA Winter Meeting Highlights One hundred twenty seven people registered to participate in the VSBA winter meeting, held on the campus of Blue Ridge Community College November 5, 2005. The general theme was Wintering Productive Hives. Dr. Rick Fell gave the keynote presentation, Wintering Bees: Understanding Stress and Biology. He gave an overview of the many facets of understanding the stresses put on wintering bees, the need to start management in late summer, and the progression through winter. Specific details were filled out by several other speakers. Dr. Tom Webster, of Kentucky State University, is an expert on noBANV Newsletter November 2005

sema. He described the biology of nosema, its cause, and its control. In a second presentation, he presented new ideas on why we should use screened bottom boards. Conclusions: they are good in the long run; they are most effective during mite treatment and hot weather; they may assist in eliminating resistant mites; they require minimum maintenance; and they dont have to kill mites to be effective. Dr. Gordon Wardell is president of a private research company that works in conjunction with the Tucson Bee Lab. His specialty is nutrition of honey bees, and the search for a better honey bee supplement. In his first presentation he described the history of dietary supplements for honey bees, and the challenge to develop a liquid protein-carbohydrate diet. It must contain all the necessary lipids, carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals together; permit rearing brood for extended periods; be simple to store, mix, and feed to bees; and must have the bees like it. He has developed such a product and it is in the patent process with the name MegaBee. In his second presentation he discussed the many attempts at using essential oils to control varroa. His conclusion: Its in the delivery system, and that depends on whether it is used as a vapor, a contact, or a systemic application. Wyatt Mangum, University of Mary Washington, reported on Resistance Evolution in Varroa Experimental and Theoretical Insights. Dr. Mangum described the migration of varroa from its original host to apis mellifera, the development of chemical treatments, then the development of resistance. He found so far that a colony with small population of mites makes it seem as if miticide is working, when in fact it may not be and the colony will crash. The scientific presentations concluded with a 10-minute video on the use of Mitea-Way, the newly approved one-time formic acid treatment. The state apiarist report had both good and bad news. The good news is that in the past year, three new clubs have formed, and that in February, nine beginning classes will be offered across northern Virginia. Also, two new chemical miticide treatments
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have been approved this year: ApiLife VAR, and formic acid. The bad news is very high losses of hives not only in Virginia, but nationwide. The weather has been quite erratic, and has reduced production of honey in many areas. The worst news is that Small Hive Beetle is now becoming prevalent over Virginia, and africanized honey bees are now established in Florida and are expected to move north and reach Virginia. The time frame is still unknown. All pests seem to be spread by commercial pollinators and perhaps package producers. Since the economic value of pollination is in the billions of dollars, and the value of honey production is in the millions, control of the spread is difficult. The next VSBA meeting will be June 910, 2006, at Smith Mountain Lake, a 4H conference center near Roanoke. An outstanding program of high-powered speakers is already well in the works. Thoughts on overwintering on screened bottom boards Alan Fiala In the past couple of months, Ive heard Rick Fell, Jeff Pettis, and Tom Webster speak about SBB over the winter. Rick and Jeff both think there are drawbacks to open bottoms when the queen resumes laying in late winter. Rick thinks she moves too far up in the hive, into the stores area; Jeff thinks the start of laying is delayed. As a result, after closing the bottoms for menthol and ApiLife VAR, I intend to open them until mid-January, then close them until March for a couple of months. BANV Minutes for September 27, 2005. President Pat Haskell called the meeting to order at 7:30. Pat introduced our speaker, Judy Chen, of the Beltsville Bee Lab. In order to give her more travel time, the meeting began with Dr. Chens talk on viruses of bees, and their detection, transmission, and management. The business meeting followed this presentation. Business Meeting The minutes were distributed in the newsletter. Alan Fiala moved to accept the
BANV Newsletter November 2005

minutes. carried.

The motion was seconded and

Bennie Liles, Treasurer, reported that the balance is $2200.00 and we are solvent. Tom Merz gave the report on the Arlington County fair: Thanks to all who participated. Total sales were $5303.50 which was around $300.00 less than last year. Tom noted that the traffic was slower and there were fewer people as customers. Pearl Liles reminded the Club that BANV needs to have more entries in the honey judging contest of the Fair. Because our club is based in Arlington, all members can enter the Arlington County Fair even if they do not live in Arlington County. There was some discussion of the club sponsoring prizes to winners but the discussion was tabled for further consideration. Tom Merz, Kathy Heslep, and Benny Liles volunteered to be the Arlington County Fair Committee for BANV in 2006. New Business: 1. Upcoming Meetings: The November speaker will be Dennis van Englesdorp. Dennis is an entomologist educated at Guelph University in Canada. He was then at Cornell and is now at Penn State. He is also the State Entomologist for Pennsylvania. Those who have heard him give presentations spoke very well of him. To better fit his schedule and get away from Thanksgiving conflicts, the meeting will be moved to November 15, a week ahead of the usual date. Other clubs will be invited to join us. We will set up for refreshments at 7 p.m. and our speaker will start at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments are by volunteers to include snacks or hors douevres. A sign-up sheet was sent around and members were encouraged to bring things. The January 24 meeting will be our potluck and election of officers. The March 28 meeting will be a presentation by Heather Mills, a graduate student of Rick Fells at Virginia Tech. The May 23 meeting will include a presentation by Alan Fiala on preparing entries for the honey show. Another member will also have a presentation.
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The July meeting will be on the 15th and will be our picnic. We are combining with the Prince William/Stafford club and will relocate the picnic to a park convenient for the two clubs. People are needed to help organize the picnic. 2. Other items The new classes for beekeeping will be starting in February 2006. Pat asks that BANV members sign up to be mentors and bring refreshments to the first class. Falls Church High School is one of several locations for classes. The Nominating Committee is composed of Brenda Kiessling, Chair, Dane Hannum, Don MacIntyre, and Benny Liles. [Please submit your name if you would like to run for office. If you submit another persons name, please be sure you have spoken with the other person first and they agree to have their name submitted.] Virginia is preparing to bid for the Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) meeting in 2008. Volunteer to make this a great event! You can do so as an individual and the club can also take on a part of the planning. Contact Pat for details. The State Association meeting will be in Weyers Cave, VA, on Nov. 5 at the Blue Ridge Community College. If you send in an early registration you can save $5.00. Alan spoke about the honey show at the Maryland State Beekeepers meeting. He also asked that questionnaires on your costs of beekeeping be returned to Rick Fell. In addition, Ricks tracheal mite survey is still going on. Send samples to him to help determine if the problem still exists. See Alan for details of either item. Denise has volunteered to set up a telephone tree to notify members in case of an emergency. A discussion of nametags was held without a resolution. Dane reported on the Small Hive Beetle (SHB). There have been infestations in Winchester, along route 66, New Market, Page County and Rappahannock County, and Culpeper. Pat suggested treating like wax moth: keep colonies big and healthy. SHB exploits weak colonies. Dane further advised that in spring and summer SHB attack the weak hives, but in fall they go to
BANV Newsletter November 2005

the strong colony so that they can overwinter in the cluster. Dane developed a Coumaphos trap, with cardboard, to staple to the underside of the inner cover if one is using screened bottom boards. Gardstar can be used as a ground drench. Follow directions on the label. It should be applied when the bees are inactive. It is only effective for 2 months and then must be reapplied. Use a watering can to sprinkle it on the ground in a 3-5 area around the hive. Do not use a sprayer as Gardstar is toxic to bees. Larry Kelley announced that he and Dane will be taking orders for spring packages and queens. They usually bring up 2 loads of 450 packages, delivery about 1 week apart. Book now for packages as Reg Wilbanks is now only taking orders for those who will come down to pick up the packages and he fills up fast. Cost will be around $48 with a $2.00+ charge for the gas (which is still considerably less than the $70.00 if you buy through the mail.) Paul Diehl mentioned that the Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, Apple Butter Festival has no honey sellers at the festival. Its in Morgan County, WV. Look on their website for more information. Sylvia reported that her review of 50(c)(3) status looks to be inappropriate for us as it limits the ability of members to sell honey for their own personal benefit. New member Paul Kent suggested that we look into 501(c)(7) which does allow selling. This topic was tabled for more investigation. New members were introduced [and I hope their names are correct]: James Blodgett, Dan Sperling, Tom Grines, Kathleen, Carl, George Wagner, Roger Brook, Joe Barry. Larry Kelley moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by K. Heslep. The motion carried and the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully submitted, Kathy Heslep, Secretary