December Meeting

Join us December 9th for an informal end-of-year get together.

When: 6:30

Where: Urban Acres Realty in Coralville

Agenda:

: How did your season go?

: How are you managing going into winter?

: Will your management plan change for next year?

: Anything else about bees or otherwise you want to talk about.

No set agenda. Just a social time among beekeepers.

There will be treats.
We'll have some door prizes
Come join us!

************************************************************************
Attention Members:  You can now reserve the oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

Agenda for September 9, 2024

 Agenda

Time: Door opens at 6:00.  Meeting from 6:30 to 8:00 pm

Place:  Urban Acres Realty

            250 Holiday Road, Coralville 

            (see map below)

--Introductions and welcome new members

--Treasurer's Report

--Club Apiary update.  Discussion of waiver of liability required to participate

--Jim Marshall, presenter (Jim is our District 1 representative for the Iowa Honey Producers.  He will talk about his role with IHPA and share some other beekeeping topics)

--Questions for Jim Marshall and open discussion

--Fall management--varroa treatment, feeding, prepping for winter

--Open discussion

--Adjournment

June Field Day 2024

 June Field Day Meeting

Joseph the president called the meeting to begin at 10:05 a.m.

Introductions 

18 people were present. 

The first discussion was about Different ideas to share about foulbrood, mites, and swarms. 

Will shared that he used a double screen board to split his hive. A few brood frames were put on the top box and a screen was put in between the two brood boxes. The design allows the field bees to leave and the nurse bees to stay. This allows the bees to accept the queen quickly and the heat from the bigger hive underneath keeps the smaller nuc warm. Bob Binny has a video on YouTube that does a good job of showing the process. 

James Miller did the demaree method. This method takes a queen from the brood box and puts her into a new bottom box with empty comb. This helped reduce swarms but he had some hives go queenless. He did try the Minnesota Hygienic queens that are the VSH genetics line to help with the varroa mites. These bees have the instinct to smell the varroa mites under the cappings and dig them out and throw them out. This helps decrease the mite load on the colony. Stevens Bee Company is where James Miller got his queens from.  

Joseph asked the newer beekeepers what questions they had. 

One member talked about her experience with a queenless hive. After reintroducing a new queen, the queen looked like she was laying. A week later, the queen was gone. Laying workers are notorious for killing their queens.  There are different sound frequencies that you can hear when you open the hive. Drones and workers have different buzzes which can indicate different things. 

Other beekeepers talked about putting in a frame or 2 frames of different stages of brood into the hive with a laying worker. Different members have said that it works but not always on the first try. The latest to try to requeen a hive is probably July but August is almost too late. One issue with a queenless hive is that they can become mite bombs. Varroa mites love drone cells to reproduce because the drone larvae takes longer to hatch and allows the varroa mites more time to reproduce.

Fall robbing can decimate the hive. Different ways to mitigate it is to use entrance reducers and screened bottom boards. Randy Oliver mentioned that open feeding can help with robbing. Drought can make it worse for the bees because they need to continue to make honey even if the fall flow is not going through. 

To transport a hive, one member made a rig with two 2 by 4s and it does not shift during transport. 

Overwintering is another issue. James Miller stated that he had the best overwintering success. Number 1, make sure that the hive has plenty of food. Number 2 he puts windbreakers from the north and west. He uses 3 inch foam to protect his hives. Joseph Klingelhutz uses insulated tops and roofing paper. 

Other members stated that they did not use upper entrances.  

One question that was asked was about flipping the entrance reducers, James Miller does that and he feels like it does work. Other members use entrance reducers all year round. 

One person mentioned using chloroplast sheets to make bee enclosures. 

One member utilizes bee barns. It helps keep the honeybees more warm and protects from the rain due to the design. One question that was asked was about mold, which was not really a problem but the member experienced issues with condensation with feeding on the underside of the plexiglass.  There were some novel designs with a dome shaped construction to help with the condensation. 

Condensation is a problem with overwintering. But there were two versions that people use to try to combat that, condensing or ventilating. With the ventilating you let the hive have an upper entrance. With the condensing this means that you have no upper entrance and insulate the top. 

One member has had good success with the Tim Wilbanks hives but have struggled with the Saskatraz hives. The Saskatraz queens are expensive and are not very hearty at all. Another member pointed out that the honeybees that the commercial honeybees are Italian. These honeybees have never overwintered in Iowa because they are sent to California for the almond pollination. This is why you should try to buy from a local beekeeper who overwinters his hives in Iowa. Carniolan bees have done a great job of overwintering and many members have echoed that. 

Then the members went outside to the bee yard. Thankfully the rain stopped for a bit. 

Shaun Webb gave a tour of the gardens and his bee yard. He has a 10 frame langstroth hive. Some of the members were reminded not walk in front of the hives unless they had a bee suit. He did show the members his horizontal hive. Shawn also explained his marking system to help remind him what he did. Note taking is valuable but is difficult at times because the hands get sticky. But utilizing waterproof paper can help and Joseph Klingelhutz uses this type of paper under the inner cover. But make sure that the bees do not have access to that paper otherwise they will chew it. 

Under the hives, corrugated metal, rocks, diatomaceous earth, and mulch are some of the ways members have put under the hive to prevent grass from growing underneath.. Diatomaceous earth helps kill the small hive beetles if they drop off from the frames. Shaun keeps his insulation under the inner cover all year round. Shaun opened one of his hives. The hive was thought to be queenless. He almost got rid of it but saw some worker bee cells. The hive was a nuc that had brood and queen cells in it. Smoking the hives helps to calm them down. Be careful when opening the hive, the queen might be on the inner cover. The hive had a lot of capped drone cells which look like popcorn all over. There were some queen cells on the frames. One of the queen cells did not seem like it hatched. There were some larvae on a couple of the frames but it looked like it was queenless and was doomed. 

There was a reminder to check for ticks.  

Then another hive was opened to look at a more healthy hive. A healthy brood pattern was noted with capped honey, nectar, and pollen. The pollen and honey is next to the brood so that the honeybees can easily feed their young. Overall the hive looked good and gave the newer beekeepers a good overview of the hive. 

You can tell if the bees are happy. If the bees come out of their hive with their wings spread, then there is probably no queen. But if they are bringing pollen, then there are larvae in the hive. When the new beekeepers start, they can check 1 time per week. Other beekeepers go about once every 2 weeks. 

 A few final reminders were given about the September meeting and checking out the oxalic acid vaporizer. The next meeting will be on September 9, 2024 at 6:30 p.m. at Urban Acres in Coralville. Shaun pointed out the honey stand that sits on the side of the road where he sells his honey.  

The meeting ended at 1204.  

Respectfully submitted by Rachel Vakulich

June Field Day, 2024

 When: June 1, ten a.m. to noon (approx.) 

            Rain date, June 8

Where: Home of Shaun Webb

2485 Black Diamond Road

Iowa City, Iowa 52240

(west from Menards off Highway 1)

What: Short meeting, followed by activities with the bees!

Please bring a lawn chair for the short meeting. Also, remember to bring protective bee wear.

Water will be provided. (Remember to stay hydrated when working with bees, especially in warm weather.)

** This is a members-only event.  People are welcome to attend, though, and pay the $20 dues per household.  New members are always welcome and this is a good opportunity to learn and ask questions.  

See the Agenda below.

Agenda

I. Short meeting

--Welcome new folks

--Quick update on club apiary

--Explanation of the field activities

--Open discussion/questions

II. Field Activities

--hive inspection

--mite testing

--demo of oxalic acid vaporizer

--demo making a split

III. Treats and final discussion

Hope to See you there!!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Attention Members:  You may  reserve the club's oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

-------------------------------------------------------

Minutes from the April 15th Meeting

 Attention Members:  You can now reserve the oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

-------------------------------------------------------

Minutes of East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association

April 15^th, 2024

The meeting was called to order at 6:30 by President Joseph Klingelhutz.

Joseph welcomed new members and asked them to introduce themselves and tell a little about their experience with bees. Welcome to the new folks!

--Treasury report. Joseph indicated that we have approximately $1400 in our account. He explained briefly what dues are and what our funds are used for: insurance costs, county fair expenses, speaker honorarium, reimbursement for members attending events, field day expenses and purchases for the club apiary as well as general operating expenses.

--Election of secretary. Rachel Vakulich has offered to take the position of secretary. She was voted in unanimously. Thanks, Rachel!

--Club apiary update. Joseph reviewed what is currently happening with plans to develop a club apiary. A location south of Iowa City, near Hills, has been established on property owned by Michael and Anne Welsh who have graciously offered to let us keep and maintain an apiary on land that is a mix of prairie and woods. The property is off a dirt road so travel to it is not recommended after a rain. Thanks to fellow member Robert Blount for making the connection with the Welsh family. The club apiary will be used for training and educational purposes by members, who will be required to provide their own protective wear, though James Miller indicated there will likely be some available. All who enter the property to access the apiary will be required to sign a liability waiver which is graciously being drafted pro bono by an attorney who is an acquaintance of Rob McCain. Various members have indicated they will provide bees and/or hive components. It is hoped that the apiary will be at least begun to be set up by mid-May. The landowners would like to be notified whenever anyone will be going on to the property and a system will be set up to accomplish that, probably via texts. Jim Davis suggested an online service like groups.io, which Craig Aldrich had recommended, could be used to coordinate activities at the apiary.

--June Field Day. A date in June to hold a field day was discussed. Approximately ten a.m. to noon June 1^st was decided upon with June 8^th as a rain date. Shaun Webb has volunteered his property to be used for the event, which is about 7 miles south of Iowa City on Black Diamond Road. Activities will include a short meeting, hive inspections, mite testing, applying oxalic acid vaporizer treatment and general talk about bees! Kathy Davis reminded that last year we had refreshments at the end. Members will be asked to bring protective bee gear. Members should look for updated letters or emails later in May.

--County Fair 2024? Discussion centered around whether or not to host a booth at the Johnson County Fair again this July. Cons included time involved and approximately $250 in costs now for the 4 day event, and the fact that we have not seen new members attend as a result. It does support one of the missions of our club, that being educational outreach in the community. Joseph suggested as an alternative we perhaps look at setting up a booth a couple days at the Iowa City Farmer’s market. This would involve fewer hours and the market draws a fairly large crowd. Joseph will look into costs and other considerations with that.

--Winter survival and spring management. A few members shared their winter survival experiences. Some lost all their colonies, from disease or starvation while others had minimal losses. Some noticed very few bees remaining in the hive even in early winter.

Talk turned to swarms. Don Kirchner said he has already captured a swarm and others indicated the swarm season has begun early. Will Swain said he typically looks at May 15 as swarm day, as most years many swarms occur right around that time. Here are several main points made about swarms. Often, repeated swarms will go to the same area due to pheremones that remain in that location. Swarms may temporarily stay in one location, such as a tree branch or a pole, for as little as an hour or for a couple days if the weather is cool while the scout bees look for a new home. Typically, a swarm may take up to half the bees in the colony. Floyd Otdoerfer noted that swarms may contain multiple queens. Swarms can be captured by using a swarm trap. Will Swain showed a trap he has used. This trap is made of thin plywood, with holes and a screen for ventilation. Traps should be placed in the area where swarms have occurred in the past if possible. Ideally, place the trap as high as you can reach. Will talked about the behavior of scout bees and recommend the book by Tom Seeley, Honeybee Democracy in which Seeley suggests it isn’t the queen making all the decisions in the colony but a group of “alpha” bees who direct the behavior. Will uses a spacious trap because the bees are very much in a mode for drawing out comb after they have swarmed, so puts in a frame the bees can draw out. He also uses a frame with older dark comb, which the bees seem to prefer. A very little amount of lemongrass oil applied to the inside of the trap can serve as a lure but cautions against using too much oil because it can then serve as a deterrent to the bees. Floyd also mentioned that if one puts a frame with brood on it in the trap, the bees will be more likely to stay. Will likes to keep his swarms in the trap, out of the sun, for about a week to help guarantee they will stay. Now would be an ok time to put out swarm traps. It also would be good practice to put up another trap immediately after capturing a swarm since there may be multiple swarms in the same location. Joseph noted that swarms are “free bees” and fair game to those who find them. Tom Long mentioned the Russian scion, which is a special type of swarm trap that requires regular checking since it doesn’t include a box.

Will demonstrating a swarm box he uses.

Swarm prevention was the next item mentioned. Again, some key points: To hope to prevent a swarm, the beekeeper needs to do a split before queen cups contain larva. At that point, they will develop a queen cell. A split can be done in many ways, and can be as large as a full box or a nuc. The split should contain several frames with a mix of brood at various developmental stages and at least a couple frames with resources (honey and pollen). If queen cells are found in the mother colony, some can be moved into the split but don’t remove all the queen cells from the original colony. Some prefer to move the old queen into the split. In that case, there needs to be space for the queen to lay eggs. Extra bees should be shaken into the split since many will return to the original box. There are various techniques to keep bees from returning to the original box that includes putting something at the entrance to the split, such as a branch, that forces the bees leaving the split to have to reorient.

Open discussion: Paul Young asked about availability of terramycin. Joseph indicated it is now required by law to have a relationship with a pharmacist who will work with beekeepers. In the past, terramycin has been used as a preventative for American foulbrood. Paul is concerned his colonies have had AFB. Joseph encouraged him to contact Andy Joseph, the state apiarist, to consult about this. AFB has been seen very little in Iowa in the past several years and is a serious disease that can be spread.

Tom Long talked about a great source that he recommends: Sustainable Beekeepers Guild of Michigan (https://sbgmi.org/) There is much information to be harvested from the site and membership in this group.

Thanks again as always to Rob McCain and Urban Acres Realty for hosting our meetings.

Look for information coming in the near future about the June Field Day.

Please send any comments/corrections/additions or deletions to Jim Davis

jim.nwjh@gmail.com

Hope to see you in June!

Keep up to date on club news and events on the web:

http://eastcentraliowabeekeepers.blogspot.com

Agenda for April 15, 2024

 

Attention Members:  You can now reserve the oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please Note: The date for our April meeting

has changed this month due to some

 members being unable to attend due to the

 solar eclipse.  The meeting will be held 

April 15th at our usual location.

See details below.

--Introduction and welcoming new members

--Treasurer’s report

--Election of club secretary

--Club apiary update

--June Field Day

--County Fair? Booth at Farmer’s Market?

--Survey members about winter survival

--Deadouts--What to do with them

--Spring Maintenance (Joseph and Will)

--swarm preparation/avoidance

--splits

--Swarm capture

--Open Discussion

Time: doors open at 6:00. Meeting from 6:30 to 8:00

Place: Urban Acres Realty

250 Holiday Road

Coralville, Iowa

Minutes from February 12, 2024

Change of Meeting Date:

 Please note that there is a change of meeting date for our April meeting.  Due to the solar eclipse on the regularly scheduled date of April 8th, some of the officers and members won't be able to attend.  Instead, the meeting will be at the regular time and place on April 15th.  Hope to see you then.

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

Attention Members:  You can now reserve the oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

==============================================

Our Trading Post page now has the most recent updates to bees for sale in 2024.  Check it out if you are looking to buy bees in our area.

==============================================

Minutes for February 12, 2024

 

President Joseph Klingelhutz called the meeting to order at 6:30. PM

Three new Members were welcomed and introduced.

Slight changes to bylaws wording: Discussion of slight wording changes to the by laws were handed out. There had been some discussion of the wording changes at the last meeting and they had been posted on the website, but they needed a formal vote in order to make those actual changes.  A discussion was opened, followed by a unanimous vote, to accept those changes.

Election of officers: Joseph gave a brief description of the duties of the officers. Diane Kuhlman had been elected during the February meeting as our new club treasurer. The President, Vice President and Secretary positions were still open. Joseph Klingelhutz expressed a willingness to continue service as President, and Will Swain agreed to continue as Vice President. Those positions voted on and unanimously approved.  Jim Davis had decided to step down as secretary. There were no takers to fill the position. After some encouragement from the other officers, the discussion was tabled until the next meeting.

Club Apiary Update: Joseph gave a quick update on the prospects for a location for a club apiary site. Michael and Anne Welsh have a property a short distance south and west of Hills for the site. There was a discussion about club insurance for such an undertaking. Also a committee for the upkeep of the hives and some misc other issues was needed.  Shaun Webb, Rob McCain, Will Swain, and Joseph Klingehutz all volunteered to be on the apiary committee.

Trading post on website: Joseph noted the “trading post” portion of the club website as a potential source to order bees. Many people who sell bees have posted contact information on that web site. A general discussion of good bee sources followed. Those mentioned included Tyler Holton, who will be delivering nucs to Iowa City. Randy Hahn will have nucs for sale as well. Other possible providers that were mentioned included James Miller, Floyd Otdoerfer, and Ellen Bell.

Club Material Purchases: There has been an ongoing discussion about possible larger club material purchases that might not make sense for a hobbyist to buy, but would be useful for a hobbyist in the club to have access to. Oxalic Acid Vaporizer is an example of the type of equipment that our club members now have access to. Four ideas were proposed by the group: 

1.Wax Cappings melter.

2.Folded Nuc Boxes in Bulk and Charging members reduced price for individual boxes,

3.Honey Extractor.

4.Heated Paraffin Trough for dipping equipment.

Honey extractors had the least amount of interest. The Heated Paraffin Dipper, caused the club’s discussion of liability insurance to resurface.

Round table open discussion of winter losses:

As a lead into Joseph’s discussion of “Dead out autopsies” people discussed winter loss rates On balance many beekeepers experienced a good winter, with minimal loss percentages.  Will Swain was a bit of an outlier, losing three or his four hives. (I write that with some embarrassment) 

Dead out autopsies: Joseph Klingelhutz presented a powerpoint with what to look for when diagnosing a dead hive. Mites, Starvation, Nosema, and viruses like deformed wing virus, were all mentioned.  The power point was excellent with pictures of what exactly starvation looks like in a hive, (butts out of the cell, faces deep in the cell.) Bees unable to get to food stores due to a “cold barrier.” Nosema was mentioned as an intestinal bacterial disease when bees were unable to make cleansing flights.  Darker streaky poop on the sides of the hive or near the entrances are the tell tale sign. Mite washes can even be performed on dead bees. 

The mysterious case of no bees in the dead hive was also discussed. Will Swain, Rachel Vakulich, Rob McCain, and Joe Klingelhutz all reported at least one deadout being mostly free of bees. Will hypothesized that this was likely a high viral load, and the bees left the hive to die in the late fall. Often these hives are full of honey. The collapse is fast, mostly full of bees one week, gone the next. (It used to be called colony collapse syndrome) Generally thought to be high, late-summer-mite-load, related.

Some dead bees in the snow or near entrances are not necessarily a bad sign.  There are always some dead bees and the removal of them is a normal healthy behavior.

The importance of removing dead outs and cleaning them out was also discussed.

Spring Feeding: Will Swain opened a round table discussion on feeding strategies in the spring. He doesn’t typically feed until February and doesn’t like to open hives until it is at least 40 degrees outside. He feeds sugar bricks and avoids pollen until March or until he sees it coming into the hive on the legs of the bees. 

Craig uses a candy board system with an insulation box on top of that

Both Randy and Shaun use 5 alive fondants.  (All three Have insulations and ventilation systems in conjunctions with their feeding systems)

The consensus was that Pollen feeding usually is not done until March.

Rachel, Joe, and Craig Also discussed open feeding of honey and pollen at feeding stations. Care should be given to place feeders far enough from hives so as to not encourage robbing.

The meeting concluded with a reminder to pay the yearly $20 per family membership dues.  

The next meeting will be held April 8th. 

Minutes submitted by Will Swain.  February 15th

Agenda for February 12, 2024

 Attention Members:  You can now reserve the oxalic acid vaporizer.  Go to this link to get started.

==============================================

Our Trading Post page now has the most recent updates to bees for sale in 2024.  Check it out if you are looking to buy bees in our area.

==============================================

Agenda for East Central Iowa Beekeepers Association

February 12, 2024

When: Doors open at 6 pm. Meeting from 6:30 to 8:00

Where: Urban Acres Realty, 250 Holiday Road, Coralville

--Introduction of officers and welcome new attendees

--Summary of proposed changes to By-Laws and vote to approve (see proposed changes below)

--Election of officers: President, Vice-president, Secretary

--Club apiary update

--Where to buy spring bees—check our Trading Post page on our web site

--Make a large club material purchase?

--Early spring management: Joseph Klingelhutz and Will Swain

--Open discussion

Proposed changes to By-Laws (Note: some changes are necessary because of the change in our calendar year and others are dictated by the necessity of registering our club with the State)

4.4 Annual dues will be collected at the March meeting of ECIBA. Members not attending the March meeting may pay at any thereafter.

Change:

4.4 Annual dues will be collected at the February meeting of ECIBA. Members not attending this meeting may pay at any meeting thereafter or send payment to the treasurer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5.1 Meetings of the club will be held quarterly on the second Monday in March, June, September and December.

Change:

5.1 Meetings of the club will be held quarterly on the second Monday in February, April, and September. A Field Day will be held in the summer at a date to be determined.

5.2 Additional meetings may be held informally at member discretion.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6.1 The officers of the organization shall consist of a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer who shall constitute the Executive Board of the club.

6.2 Additional officer positions, such as committee chairs, may be created and officers appointed by the Executive Board

6.3 All members of the Executive Board must be members in good standing and must adhere to the ideals of the purposes of the club.

Change:

6.1 The officers of the organization shall consist of a president, a vice-president, a secretary, and a treasurer who, in addition to one to two at-large members, shall constitute the Board of Directors of the club.

6.2 Additional officer positions, such as committee chairs, may be created and officers appointed by the Board of Directors.

6.3 All members of the Board of Directors must be members in good standing and must adhere to the ideals of the purposes of the club.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7.32 At the end of the two-year term, the vice-president shall assume the position of president.

7.33 The president, upon completion of his or her term, shall not be eligible for re-election to office for a minimum of two years.

Change:

7.32 At the end of the two-year term, should the president choose to resign, the vice-president may be appointed president upon approval of a majority vote.

Deletion of 7.33

Hope to see you there!

http://eastcentraliowabeekeepers.blogspot.com