Minutes
from the East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association Meeting
December
11, 2018
President
Dave Irvin began the meeting at 6:30
New
member Chuck Smith introduced himself. Welcome to the club, Chuck!
--Dave
Irvin
Dave
announced the sad news that his mother has passed away. Our
condolences go out to Dave at this time.
He
also announced that he would like to remain president for 2019 but is
considering stepping down after that. He'll talk about that in the
fall.
--Winterization
of Bees
Some
kind of windbreak is important. Hives should face in a southerly
direction, with upper and lower entrances.
The
importance of having moisture control for winter is very important.
Floyd showed the pillows he uses as a quilt box, and Jim Davis showed
the boxes he uses which have wood chips in them to absorb moisture.
James Miller uses a candy board with burlap bags above to absorb
moisture.
James
Miller talked about comments from the annual meeting of the Iowa
Honey Producers which stressed the importance of going into winter
with healthy bees, which means having good mite control. Healthy
bees, feed, and moisture control are three important elements for
successfully getting bees through the winter.
--Iowa
Honey Producers Annual Meeting
James
Miller gave a summary of his experience at the meeting. He strongly
encourages people to attend, as there is a lot of energy, many
vendors and great speakers. He mentioned particularly discussion of
a new mite that currently is found in Asia but reproduces at a very
rapid pace (tropilaelus mite). It may take some time to get to the
US but will be a huge problem. Speakers said the bees raised in the
US are among the worst in the world for hygienic behavior.
Dr.
Ramsey talked about colony collapse disorder. It's important to note
that winter kill is not the same as CCD. CCD occurs when there is an
absence of worker bees, but the queen, brood, and honey stores remain
in the hive.
Mary
Ebert talked about the site of the meeting being a good location,
being more centrally located, but the timing with home football and
basketball games was not good planning. Dr. Ramsey talked about
research showing the mites attack the fat of the larva rather than
the blood.
James
Miller talked about the increase in small hive beetles and an
increase in the amount of European foul brood.
--Bob
Wolff introduced his guests from South Africa, who are spending a
year attending Kirkwood Community College on a grant. They are part
of the Young African Leadership Initiative and are here to learn
about agricultural practices, including beekeeping. Welcome to Iowa!
--Rendering
Beeswax
 |
| Bob talked about his homemade 'Easy Bake Oven' for rendering wax. |
Bob
Wolff gave a talk on his method of rendering wax. First, after
removing cappings, Bob works to get as much honey out as possible.
He also uses wax he removes as part of recycling frames to reduce the
amount of pesticide residue present in the hive. Bob has repurposed
a refrigerator with a light bulb and Dell computer fan to keep the
interior temperature at 120 to 160 degrees. He puts a pail of wax
cappings, with water, in the device for 24 hours. The wax, being
lighter than water, will float to the top where it congeals. A pail
of wax gives about a 1 inch layer of wax floating on top. Bob
removes this and cuts off as much black residue as he can. He then
puts these wax chunks on a milk filter (available at Fleet Farm
stores), in a basket over another pail, and again places this in his
oven for 24 hours. It is liquid when finished, and he pours it into
molds he gets by buying muffin cups and similar items at Goodwill or
similar stores. To break the wax into small pieces, to more easily
measure out small quantities for making lotions, he pours the wax
into a pail of icy water and breaks it up by hand. Bob also uses his oven to decrystallize honey as well.
Floyd
talked about the method he uses to render his beeswax. He uses a
serrated knife to remove the wax cappings, which drop into a filter
basket, with the honey passing through into a tray. He puts the
cappings into the top of a hive and let the bees clean the honey off,
and after awhile its ready to be rendered. He puts the cappings, now
cleaned of honey, into a filter bag, lowered into a deep pan filled
with water. When heated, the wax melts and floats to the top. After
all is melted, he takes the wax layer off while it is still pliable
so easier to remove. He breaks it into chunks while still warm.
Floyd uses the wax he gets to recoat his plastic frames, using a
sponge on a clamp dipped into the melted beeswax and then brushed
onto the plastic foundation. He also reminded people that if you put
wax into a mold be sure to use some kind of release product so you
can get the wax out of the mold.
 |
| Floyd shows the equipment he uses to render wax |
--Killing
mites with heat
Floyd
mentioned a beekeeper he spoke with who uses a heating element to
heat his hives to 102 degrees to kill mites. He claims it does not
hurt the bees but is fatal to the mites.
--mentoring
update
Several
people recently have requested having a mentor to help with
beekeeping. Jim Davis will coordinate this. A section has been
added to the Classes and Events page on our website.
--Planting
for Pollinators
In
response to a request at the last meeting for some information on
this topic, Floyd printed out some pages for members to take with
information on herbs and flowering plants that are beneficial to
pollinators. A section on the Resources page of our website also has
been added.
--General
Discussion
A
member suggested some of the beekeepers in Kalona might be contacted
about the need some farmers there might have to want hives on their
property for pollination purposes. Willis Mast was suggested as a
contact person.
--Drawings
Floyd
generously provided several items for the drawing. Thanks, Floyd!
Submitted
by Jim Davis, secretary
