Minutes from December 9, 2019

Minutes From December 9, 2019

President Dave Irvin called the meeting to order at 6:25.

ECIBA officers were introduced, and new members invited to tell a bit about themselves. Welcome to all.

Treasurerer Jean Stallman reported on the club's funds.

Secretary Jim Davis gave a report on upcoming beekeeping classes and events. Will Swain will be teaching a Beginning Beekeeping Class. Classes will be held at the Environmental Education Center at the Eastside Recycling location on Scott Blvd, Iowa City, beginning in January for 5 months. Registration can be done at iowacitybeekeeping.com or contact Will at 319-530-3343 or at will.swain072@gmail.com.

Ed St. John will be offering beginning beekeeping classes at the Solon library, January 15 and 16, 22 and 23. Classes will be free. Contact Ed at esj178@gmail.com for more information.

Indian Creek Nature Center will be starting Beginning Beekeeping Classes in January as well and Kirkwood Community College offers a couple sessions introducing beekeeping. Go to their websites to register or get more information.

Central Iowa Beekeepers Association will host a Winter Seminar on Saturday, January 18^th, 2020, from 8:30 to 4:30 at the Grimes Community Complex in Grimes, Iowa. Speakers will include Dr. Larry Connor, Dr. Judy Wu-Smart, and Mr. Sheldon Brummel. Cost is $40 and includes a catered luncheon. Registration is required. Contact Linn Wilbur, lwilbur50201@gmail.com 515-382-4882. Download registration at centraliowabeekeepersassoc.org.

Matt Stewart gave a summary of their attendance at the Iowa Honey Producers annual meeting.

The location of the meeting at the Airport Holiday Inn, which will be the site of next year's meeting as well, was a good location. One speaker was Mel Disselkoen, who raises bees with no mite controls and uses biological methods for controlling the mites. He talked about his method of On the Spot Queen Rearing. Kirsten Traynor spoke about the medicinal benefits of honey, particularly manuka honey for skin conditions but Buckwheat honey is also very effective as is soy bee honey. Becky Tipton spoke about beehive communication and the importance of using smoke in working bees. Africanized bees are sensitive to CO2, so breathing on them can set them off. Jeannie Saum spoke about the healing properties of propolis. Patty Stewart mentioned that James Miller's honey was voted #2 best tasting honey in the state. Way to go James! Ed St. John referred to a post on the Iowa Honey Producer's website about a young woman who will do pollen analysis for $30.

Winter Management Floyd reminded people to make sure bees have some source of food on as winter is upon us. Be sure to keep close eye on the hives in late February especially to make sure there is food available.

Speaker: Bob Wolffe Bob talked about his trip this summer to Benin for three weeks working in a collaborative project that is part of the Young African Leadership program. He worked with two members of the Mandela Washington Fellowship. Highlights of Bob's talk are:

--It is difficult to breed out the aggressive African traits because the queens that have the African traits emerge first and kill those who have the more moderate European traits.

--Western African countries are in the very beginning stages of having a beekeeping industry. Poverty and availability of materials are a tremendous hindrance to development.

--Bob has applied for a grant to go to Malawi in February.

--Rather than having large apiaries, Bob sees it more likely that cooperatives, many people keeping small numbers of hives, will more likely be the means of keeping bees.

--Beekeeping basically involves taking honey. Hive management, controlling pests and diseases, hive manipulation, is not part of their beekeeping practice. They repopulate hives simply by getting swarms.

–Revenue streams from the bees includes not only honey but pollen, propolis, wax, venom, royal jelly and bee bread. Honey is 5 times more costly than oil per pound,

--Modified top bar hives are made from scrap wood, such as pallets. A major problem is the lack of quality tools and consistency in constructing parts that are interchangeable in the hives.

--Together, the members built frames and boxes and even made an extractor using bicycle wheels. They made mead with various fruits added to honey, with sometimes explosive results. Bob also taught them about bee biology.

--In Iowa, Paul Gardner at his Precious Bees business in Homestead helped show how to make frames using a machete and talked about ways to make the extractor with bicycle parts. Andy and Becky Marshall from Marshall Apiary also gave Bob advice and assistance.

--They did discover hive beetles and some large wax moth larva. Bob brought samples of each back to be studied.

President Dave Irvin was given a card and gift certificate in recognition of the time he has served as president of ECIBA. Dave has done a lot for the community in swarm removal, education, managing our club's presence at the county fair and serving as president. Thanks Dave!

Floyd Otdoerfer will step in as president. James Miller nominated Joseph Klingelhutz to be vice-president. Joseph was voted in unanimously.

Jim Davis asked for a committee to be formed to draft a set of by-laws for the club, to be read at the March meeting. Additionally, members were asked to think about how we might consider raising dues and income so we might be able to support some members attending various state events.

A raffle was held to give out boxes of honey containers that were donated from the estate of Jim Clark, a former ECIBA member. Much thanks to the Stewarts and the Clark family for makng that possible.

The next meeting of the East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association will be March 9, 2020 at the Coralville Public Library.

Reminder: Dues will be collected at the March 9^th meeting.

Also, please notify Jim Davis either by phone 319-331-9542 or email (davisjk@southslope.net) if you no longer wish to be on our membership list. Thank you.

Minutes submitted 12/10/2019 by Jim Davis

http://eastcentraliowabeekeepers.blogspot.com

*******************************************************************************

Interested in learning about beekeeping?  Now is the time to enroll in one of the 

east central Iowa beginning beekeeping classes.  For more information, go to our 

Classes and Events page.

Agenda for December 9 Meeting

Meeting AgendaEast Central Iowa Beekeeper's AssociationMonday,  December 9^th, 2019
Doors open at 6. Meeting 6:30-8:00

* Speaker: Bob Wolffe --"Benin-Iowa Beekeeping Project"
* Election of Vice President
* Events—beekeeping classes and seminars
* Honey Producers Annual Meeting
* Winter Management and beeswax production
*Raffle: donated Honey containers $1 per ticket and door prizes

Coralville Public Library, Meeting Room A, Lower Level

*****************************************************
Interested in learning about beekeeping?  Now is the time to enroll in one of the east central Iowa beginning beekeeping classes.  For more information, go to our 
Classes and Events page.

Minutes from September 9, 2019

Interested in learning about beekeeping?  Now is the time to enroll in one of the east central Iowa beginning beekeeping classes.  For more information, go to our Classes and Events page.

*************************************************************************

Minutes of East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association

September 9, 2019

The meeting was called to order by president Dave Irvin.

New members were introduced and welcomed.

Dave said he will not be working the Johnson County fair next year. He cancelled the liability insurance we’ve had for the event. We will discuss at the March meeting whether or not we will choose to continue our presence at the fair.

Dave also said this will be his last year as president, due to health issues. We thank Dave very much for his service and dedication, particularly with helping set up and organize the tent at the fair each year. There will be elections for a new president at the December meeting.

James Miller worked at the Iowa Honey Producer’s booth at the Iowa State fair and encouraged all to consider volunteering there, as it’s an enjoyable 4 and a half hours and you get into the fair for free.

Jim Davis spoke about the film Honeyland that is currently playing at the independent movie theater in Iowa City called Film Scene. The film centers on a woman living in a mountainous region of Macedonia, surviving by raising honey bees. It’s a beautiful film.

Floyd Otdoerfer talked about the honey flow this year, which was very strong if you had a strong hive. Matt Stewart pointed out that the flow is still going on and bees continue to bring in nectar. Some brought in more honey in one hive than they collected all of last year.

Floyd also mentioned that many had difficulties with packages this year, which was probably a result of poor queens due to bad conditions for mating this spring, in California as well as Iowa.

Floyd mentioned the dates of the annual state meeting of the Iowa Honey Producers, the 8^th and 9^th of November, in Des Moines.

He also cautioned about making sure that colonies have sufficient honey supplies for winter, especially if honey was taken from the hive. Floyd is also a strong proponent of having nucs on hand to help support colonies that may be struggling.

Ed St. John—guest speaker. Ed is the district 3 representative from the Iowa HoneyProducers Association. Ed gave a talk on winter preparation and issues surrounding that topic. Below is a summary of his points. His powerpoint presentation is available on our website, on the resources page.

--Ed presented a calendar of fall and winter preparation. He stressed that prep needs to begin as early as August. Watch for robbing, do mite treatments, and remove capped honey.

--Described the differences between summer and winter bees, with winter bees having larger fat bodies to help them survive the winter. Having a good population will ensure enough nurse bees to develop winter bees, which can live much longer than their summer counterparts.

--Keeping mite numbers low is key to healthy nurse bees and larva

--New research indicates the varroa mite attacks the fat bodies of the bees, which limits their ability to survive the stresses of winter

--Ed covered the various mite products, discussing the pros and cons of each. (Refer to the notes on his powerpoint for specifics).

--Various stressors have to be noted by the beekeeper in the fall, such as drought (dearth), rain, cold spells, wind and ventilation.

--Hive preparations include replacing the screened bottom board, assessing hive weight and feeding needs, making sure there is proper ventilation, moisture control and insulation. Top cover insulation is very important. Styrofoam insulation the top and sides can be effective, but there are other methods such as roofing felt. Various methods can be used to provide moisture control, but upper entrances and a means for air to move through the hive and out are vital.

Jim Davis asked for a volunteer to serve as treasurer. Jean Stallman stepped forward and will serve as treasurer. Many thanks to Jean!

Jim also gave a short demonstration of how to do a mite count. Pollinators.org is conducting their annual Mite-A-Thon September 7 through 21. Members are encouraged to participate by taking a mite count and submitting the results to the pollinator.org web site.

James Miller talked about a hive tool he really likes, which has a hook on the end that makes it very easy to lift frames.

Floyd talked about a technique he uses in July to help reduce swarming, by putting in partial frames so bees have something to do.

Bob Wolff emphasized the need to treat bees. With exponential growth of mites this time of year, treating is essential for winter survival.

Bob also has been talking with Robb Hogg, state representative, who is concerned about pollinators and what we are doing in Iowa that affects them. Using the honey bee as the “canary in the coal mine”, Rep. Hogg is wondering what are the one or two issues beekeepers see in our environment that affect the honey bee. With data, he would like to go to the legislature and pursue legislation that will be beneficial to bees. Bob will develop an on-line survey. A link to the survey will be sent to members so we can provide direct feedback that may, hopefully, result in positive legislation or action on the part of the state that woiuld be beneficial to our bees. The survey will be up for about three weeks.

Minutes submitted by Jim Davis, Secretary

Eastcentraliowabeekeepers.blogspot.com

******************************************************************************

Film "Honeyland"--now playing at Film Scene in Iowa City.
A woman utilizes ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of Macedonia. When a neighboring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice.
For a link to Film Scene, click here.
Click here to view the trailer of the film.

Agenda: Monday, September 9 Meeting

Meeting Agenda East Central Iowa Beekeeper's Association Monday,  September 9th Doors open at 6. Meeting 6:30-8:00 Speaker: Ed St. John, Director, Iowa Honey Producers District 3 * Mite check. How-to. Mite-A-Thon, Sept 7-21  Help develop a database of mite counts in North America. *Fall treatments *Winter prep.  (colony strength, feeding, protection) *Summer Field Day summary *Upcoming Events * Elect Treasurer/discuss dues *General Discussion/questions Coralville Public Library, Meeting Room A *************************************************************************************** A New Film About Bees--Coming Soon to Iowa City's Film Scene Opening Friday, August 30th A woman utilizes ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of Macedonia. When a neighboring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice. For a link to Film Scene, click here. Click here to view the trailer of the film.

Minutes from June 10, 2019

A New Film About Bees--Coming Soon to Iowa City's Film Scene
Opening Friday, August 30th
A woman utilizes ancient beekeeping traditions to cultivate honey in the mountains of Macedonia. When a neighboring family tries to do the same, it becomes a source of tension as they disregard her wisdom and advice.
For a link to Film Scene, click here.
Click here to view the trailer of the film.

Minutes from East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association

June 10, 2019

Approximately 40 in attendance

President Dave Irvin called the meeting to order at 6:20.

A sheet was passed around for people to sign up to work our booth at the Johnson County Fair. It will again run 4 days, Sunday through Wednesday, July 21 to 24. If you didn’t sign up but would be willing to work a shift, please give Dave a call.

Dave is downsizing due to some health concerns and has some materials available. Floyd has some nucs available for sale.

Field Days is coming up this Saturday at the Horticultural Research Center in Ames.

Swarms? The swarm season is underway but may extend more into June given the late spring.

State Fair entries may now be made.

Bob Wolff will transport any entries on the Wednesday before the fair opens. Contact Bob if you are interested. The Honey Producers website has all the information about categories, rules, etc.

New members were introduced. Welcome to all!

Annual Honey Producers meeting will be November 9 at the Holiday Inn Des Moines Airport. Again, anyone who attends this meeting or the summer field day is welcome and encouraged to give a summary of what you experienced at our next meeting following the event.

Losses have been heavy coming out of winter. Eberts have experienced about 50% losses.

Time to put supers on? Some honey flow is coming in. A little discussion of the use of queen excluders resulted in mixed reviews, with some trying to go without this year.

This would be a good time to decide what kind of mite treatment to use and purchase materials so you’re ready when it’s time. Various members discussed the type of treatment they use, but most stressed the necessity of treating. Monitoring mite counts is very important.

Hive beetles? They are present in eastern Iowa. Floyd described the problems from carpenter ants. It will soon be time for wax moths to be a problem, particularly for a weak hive. Don’t leave excessive space. If a hive is weaker, the moths are more likely to be a problem.

Floyd demonstrated how he uses nucs. Putting a frame with swarm cells into a nuc is a great way to start a nuc. Floyd builds his with a little more vertical space so swarm cells on the bottom of the frame don’t get squashed.

Early feeding is very important for getting the bees through that last critical period when the weather can turn wet and cold.

Burr Oak Land Trust—Jason Taylor

Jason focused his talk on the danger that many species of insects, plants, amphibians and reptiles may face extinction. Habitat fragmentation, habitat degredation and habitat removal has played a tremendous role in the struggles for survival of many of these species. He focused on the rusty patch bumble bee in demonstrating how the range of the insect has hugely diminished. Awareness of the presence of species like this can result in funding that can help its survival.

Jason talked about the life cycle of the bumble bee. The vast majority of bees in Iowa are solitary bees, not colonial or social bees like the honey bee. These bees need great nectar sources in early spring, typically in April in Iowa. Prairie plants for the most part are later blooming. The bumble bees need good woodland nectar sources to survive. He listed several plants that are very good for bumblebees, such as wild bergamot, that are likely good nectar sources for honey bees as well. Planting native species and helping rid the landscape of non-native plants can be helpful. For trees, species of viburnum provide good early nectar.

Jim Davis showed the various aspects of our club’s website, including resources, trading items, news and video links. The website is accessed at eastcentraliowabeekeeprs.blogspot.com.

Thanks as always to the Stewarts for providing refreshments and to Jason for informing us about what we need to do to help all pollinators.

Jim Davis, secretary

For any corrections or omissions, please email me at davisjk@southslope.net.

Minutes and Agenda items are always available at http://eastcentraliowabeekeepers.blogspot.com

Meeting Agenda June 10, 2019

--Iowa Honey Producer's Summer Field Day, June 15th in Ames

--Swarming

--Summer Concerns:
Honeybound hives
Mite counts/treatment
queen condition

--Johnson County Fair Sign-up
--State Fair registration now open
--Items for sale
--Burr Oak  Land Trust information (Jason Taylor, guest speaker)
--ECIBA website overview

Coralville Public Library,  lower level Meeting rooms A and B
1512 7th St, Coralville, IA 52241
Parking available at ground  level or down in the underground ramp
Doors open at 6:00;  meeting from 6:30 to 8:00 (approx.)

Minutes from March 11, 2019

East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association

Minutes from March 11, 2019

In attendance: 47

President Dave Irvin --The meeting was called to order at 6:30.

Dave began the meeting by recognizing a number of new attendees. We’re always glad to see fresh faces getting involved in beekeeping,

He acknowledged support from various members of the club in helping with the organization.

Paul Gardner—Paul is again selling package bees from Georgia. He will be making two deliveries, on April 20^th and May 10^th at his property near Homestead. Call Paul at 319-400-4228 to order bees ($120) or visit his facebook page, Preciousbees. Paul is also selling complete, assembled and painted hives (less bees) for $250.

Floyd Otdoerfer—Floyd recognized James Miller, who showed nuc boxes he has made from plans that will produce 4 boxes from a sheet of plywood. James also showed a swarm box, which is essentially a modified nuc box, only 18 inches deep. James pointed out that swarms prefer a location that has space where they can draw their own comb, so suggests using an empty frame with just a starter strip, coated with melted beeswax and even coat around inside the hive. James offered plans for people to take.

--Floyd gave information about the upcoming Field Day event, which will be held at the Iowa State Horticulture Research Center in Ames on June 15^th. State apiarist Andy Joseph will perform an on-site hive inspection and a fair judge will be there talking about fair entries.

--Jim Davis mentioned an upcoming event at Terry Trueblood Recreation area called Earth Fest, April 27^th. Our club will be represented there, doing bee related activities with kids.

Andy Joseph—Andy is the state apiarist, who works for the Dept. of Agriculture. Andy talked about two primary topics—European Foulbrood and Winter Loss.

He began his talk with discussion about attending a meeting in Mt. Pleasant where attendees talked about significant winter losses, except for one individual who had success overwintering bees. This person lives in a part of the state that was much drier last fall than most of the state. Andy summed up by referencing a Randy Oliver article (Scientific Beekeeping) about “fat bees”, which stressed the importance of going into winter with a couple generations of healthy bees, with good fat stores. He also talked about those who send bees to the almond groves in California, that some have done well while others have sustained as much as 60% loss. In the laboratory, Andy examined dead hives looking for answers to the losses. The outstanding indicator was an extremely high nosema spore count, as high as 42 times what would be considered an acceptable threshold. He pointed out that the nosema count by itself cannot be seen as the main culprit but that there could have been contributing stress factors that lead to the high incidence of nosema. A positive side of the tough winter we’ve experienced is that it may have brought a healthier group of bees through the bottleneck that the winter provided and the surviving bees may help create stronger strains. That remains to be seen.

European Foulbrood-- Historically, EFB, a bacterial infection, has been seen as a background concern for beekeepers. It has been present, but not anywhere near the concern as with nosema, American Foulbrood, or mites. The past 3 years has seen a big increase in EFB. Doing inspections for 11 years, most of the time Andy did not observe any cases of EFB though every year would see some cases of AFB. He has been seeing the disease appear in the latter part of May, about the time splits are being made and queens are being grafted. Dandelions are blooming and beekeepers are feeling things are going well. Then perhaps there has been a change in the weather, cool and rainy, and bees are more contained and the disease occurs. Management can help by making sure bees continue to have feed and nutrition in this early period when they are still vulnerable.

Identification: Unlike AFB, caps on pupa appear norm. The larva is attacked in EFB rather than the pupa. There will be a very spotty pattern of capped brood, almost a shotgun appearance. The larva may look shriveled, looking almost like a small, deflated mandarin orange slice. You may notice white lines on the larva, which are breathing tubes. Looking at very young larva, the normal, milky white fluid surrounding the larva may appear yellowish or off-color. The queen will continue to be laying, so you will notice a wide range of ages on a frame rather than the more typical evenness in a laying pattern. Once the larva survives to the capping stage, the bee will likely survive. The hive will not be booming in numbers, however, and will continue to struggle to grow. If you are noticing unusual brood patterns and condition late May/early June, management needs to be undertaken to help the hive. As you examine the hive, you need to be aware that there may be multiple things happening instead of just EFB, so a careful analysis of what you are seeing in the hive is important. Varroa infection at a high level can appear to be EFB, so continue to monitor for varroa and treat, treat, treat.

Andy recommends checking out https://beeinformed.org/ on the internet, where a lot of good information can be found. This organization does annual surveys, which can be quite long, but uses that data to make correlations about beekeeping management practices. From the data, one can discern information about many diseases and issues in many areas.

Treatment: Care and cleanliness are important. EFB is a bacterial disease and can be spread through contact, from gloves, hive tools, etc. Alcohol wash can be used to clean tools. If you notice problems with one hive, use extra caution with exposing healthy hives.

Brood break and re-queening can help the hive recover by removing the queen so nurse bees are not continuing to spread the infection within the hive. A week or so can make a big difference, and especially during a dry spell and a honey flow the hive can rebound. Take early steps so you don’t miss out on the main flow.

Antibiotic treatment can be an option for hives with a significant problem. Remember that now in Iowa you need to have a relationship with a vet to be able to purchase the antibiotic. Be sure you do not have honey supers on when using these chemicals.

Can freezing frames kill off the bacteria? Probably not, and if there are frames that are suspect it is probably best to destroy them. Andy stressed the importance of annually removing some of your frames. A rule of thumb is to cull out two frames from each brood box annually. This is a small cost for the beekeeper compared to the cost of replacing a colony.

Questions were asked about nosema and should we be expecting to see an increase this spring. More cases of nosema ceranae are being seen. Ceranae apis is the variety that has been seen for years, which produces the dysentary one sees on the frames and around the hive. The chemical Fumagilin B, which had been the default treatment for years, is no longer allowed. Andy feels a new product may be on the horizon. A USDA study found no significant difference in long ter Both forms of nosema can be treated on a frame by exposing it to sunlight on each side for a day. Sunlight will kill the spores. If you have a hive that is suspect, you can send Andy a sample of 25 bees to be examined for nosema.

Winter Loss: Some amount of loss is acceptable (20 to 25% annually) which can easily be made up. Winter losses are easy to identify. Summer losses can be much harder to identify, because we may combine weak hives, we split hives, etc. Those are harder to tally up but we may see as much as one-third of our losses in warm seasons.

Mite treatments are essential, especially going into winter. Cold can be an issue but cold and moisture is very deadly. Mold and mildew can indicate a moisture issue. Management that includes proper ventilation is important. Feeding to make sure hives have enough stores going into winter is also important. Monitoring throughout the winter for feed and hive weight is becoming increasingly important. Watch for late season starvation. Warm temps and brood explosion means a lot of energy is being generated and so bees will be using more feed. Make sure they continue to have enough food throughout the spring, especially if there is a late wet period when the bees are not able to be out flying. Natural beekeeping, deciding to not feed, in a manufactured landscape in which we have little diversity in many areas, is probably not the best practice. Queens may fail over winter, so look for a spotty brood pattern to see if the queen needs to be replaced.

Andy’s contact information is 515-725-1481, andrew.joseph@IowaAgriculture.gov. He enccourages people to contact him with questions and concerns. He is hopeful the state will soon be hiring another inspector.

Floyd: Floyd brought mixtures of a patty mix to share. He made several concluding points:

--once you begin feeding, continue.

--swarm control is important as we get into May

--once you start making splits, stagger them to if there is a weather problem you have splits are various stages and are less susceptible to large losses

--pull off old queens mid-April and put into a small colony. Ten days after pulling the queen, the original hive should have created numerous queen cells. These frames can be removed and put into nucs with two frames of brood and workers, with honey and pollen frames as well. Make sure not to crush the queen cells.

Thanks as always to the Stewards for providing refreshments and to Andy for sharing his knowledge and insights.

Our next meeting will be Monday, June 10^th.