What’s The Buzz Nelson County Beekeepers

Volume 1, Issue 2

Jun

e 2

015

Inside this issue:

Splitting Hives 2

How and why to use the

Newspaper Method To

3

The Life Cycle of a Bee 3

CCD or Colony Collapse 5

How Long Do Honeybees

Live

6

Glossary of Terms 6

Club Extractor Rental 8

Meeting Minutes 9

Insider Info 6

Reminder s 7

Officers

President-Doug Brink

Vice President-

Secretary-Helen Fenske

Treasurer-Susan Zhunga

What’s Happening Inside The Hive?

This month is much like May, except the

hive will have more bees. The honey and pollen

flows continue. The days are long enough that

the bees can fly for 14 to 16 hours a day, and

they will.

There is now plenty of drone brood, which

is ideal for varroa reproduction. It’s too early to

treat for varroa, but it’s good to look for these

mites by uncapping and examining the capped

drone brood cells. (See the KSU publication

“The Varroa Mite: an external parasite of honey

bees”.)

Beekeeper Chores

Inspect the hive weekly if possible. Provide

extra honey supers as needed. Watch for queen

cells and destroy all that you find. The brood

should now fill many of the frames of two hive

bodies. An overcrowded brood nest can stimulate

swarming. To provide space you can spread the

brood frames apart, and insert one or two empty

frames. It’s warm enough now that there is no

danger of chilling the brood. The queen is looking for

empty cells all the time, and she will quickly fill

these frames with eggs. If you are going to increase

the number of hives you have by making divides,

May or June is the time to do it.

Observations and Ideas

Walk the roadsides and fields, looking for

flowering plants with honey bees on them. If

the bees are collecting pollen, note the color.

Taste, smell and observe the color of the honey

(Continued on page 3)

June

Robbie Smith

County Extension

Agent for Horticulture

will be to manage, assuming

that pollen and nectar are

available in the field at time

of splitting. A minimum of six

weeks before a target flow is

considered minimum lead

time.

Brood must be available in

all stages in both brood

boxes of a two storey hive

for the Walk-Away type of

splits to work well. One way

of ensuring this is to reverse

at least a week before

splitting.

Walk-Away Splits

It is possible to just split a

hive and walk away. Usually

bees will raise a queen. It

takes 16 days to raise a

queen from an egg. If the

hive begins immediately

from a 1 day old larva (4

days old from the egg), the

queen should hatch in

another 12 or so. It takes a

There are a number of

reasons for making splits

and a number of ways of

making them. The main

reasons for making splits

are:

1.To increase the number of

producing hives either in the

current year or in the

following year

2.To reduce the size of

colonies to discourage

swarming and to put off

'peaking' until the expected

flow.

3.Control of mites

4.To produce income from

sale of nucs.

There are many ways to

make splits, but most ways

are variations on the

following: Splitting a two

storey hive in half and

selecting brood and feed

from a colony (or colonies)

and making up nucs or full

size splits.

The time of year and size of

the splits will determine how

much honey the splits will

make in the first year, if any.

It will also determine

whether they will be trouble

free or a waste of time,

effort and bees. Generally

the earlier and the larger the

split, the more they will

produce and the easier they

week more for the new

queen to get properly mated

and laying enough that the

results are obvious.

Compare that to a mated

queen in a cage that can

take 5 -- or more -- days to

get out of the cage and

another 5 to get laying well.

It is clear that under ideal

conditions the use of a

mated queen can have

about a one week

advantage over the split

method described here.

However, since it takes ideal

conditions to de-queen and

introduce a mated queen

successfully, and the side-by

-side method can even be

done in the rain, conditions

will determine if themated

queen has a significant time

advantage in real life. Info

from

www.honeybeeworld.com.

Here is another view of the

Walk-Away-Split.

One way to increase your

honey bee hives is to do a

Walk-Away-Split. This

involves simply taking some

honey, pollen, brood and

eggs and dropping them into

a Nuc, and then walking

away to let the bees build a

new queen and start a new

hive. There are a couple of

things to keep in mind when

trying this methodology:

Page 2

Splitting Hives

reasonable chance for

overwintering. It would be

reasonable, in my opinion, to

combine this colony with a

strong queenright colony

that has adequate stores to

support a merge.

Curing a laying worker

situation.

When a hive goes queenless

you run the risk of

developing laying workers.

For whatever reasons, the

bees don’t have larvae of

the proper age to develop a

new queen. Sometimes one

or more workers will take it

upon themselves to begin

laying eggs. This is evidenced

by seeing only drone brood,

(workers can only lay

unfertilized eggs), multiple

eggs per cell, and a decline in

the population of your bees.

You may also notice a

discontented hum coming

from the hive and sometimes

increased aggression. If steps

are not taken to correct this,

the colony is doomed.

Whatever the reasons for

merging hives, I recommend

the newspaper combine,

which has been very

successful for me. When you

are merging a weak colony

(Continued on page 4)

Sean Burgess, Former

Kentucky State Apiarist and

Employee at Kelley's

Beekeeping:

Combining weak colonies

with strong colonies.

Occasionally you will have a

colony that just won’t do well

for one reason or another.

Perhaps the queen was not

properly mated and she has

a spotty brood pattern.

Maybe it’s late in the season

and a split or a swarm

capture has limited or no

resources for build up. In

any event you feel the

colony doesn’t stand a

which the bees have just

placed in the supers.

Over the years you will

learn the seasonal cycle

of bee plants.

http://www.nkybeekeeper

s.com/uploads/beecalend

ar.pdf

(Continued from page 1) 1. Walk Away is just a term.

It is wise to go back a week

later to check for a queen

cell (you have to be really

careful to be sure that you

do not damage this cell).

Return in another 2 weeks

to see if you have a queen.

Finally, return 1 week later

to check for eggs (it might

take another week for her to

lay, so be prepared to not

find any eggs on this check.)

2. If you cannot tell if a

queen is around or not on

the second check, you can

always drop a frame of eggs

into the Nuc and check back

a week later to see if they

built a queen cell. If so, then

no queen exists. If not, then

a queen is in there and you

How and why to use the Newspaper Method To Combine Weak Colonies:

just need to keep checking

for evidence of egg laying.

3. On placement, many folks

say to move the Split a good

distance (at least 2 miles)

from the parent hive. But, a

colleague at work (Doug

Ladd) just places his split

(Nuc) in the location of the

old hive. This gives it a boost

from the foragers that come

back to it. Michael Bush

simply moves the split 10

yards and places grass/

twigs on the entrance to

make the reorient (he claims

to have done several

hundred splits in his life and

has never had a problem

doing it like this.) Info from

richmondhoneybee.com

Page 3

with a strong colony, you

must first find the queen in

the weak colony and

“dispatch” her. Next I will

take two sheets of black and

white newspaper and cut

them to fit tightly inside of a

hive body. Taking the

newspaper to the strong

colony, I place these sheets

on the top of the stack

directly in contact with the

frames. Using some kind of

sharp instrument I will cut

about 7-8 slits about 2" long

in the paper between the

top bars of the frames

below, stretching across the

entire box. Next I will take

the weak colony (box and

frames) and put it above the

strong colony and close it up

(Continued from page 3) and leave it alone for about

three days. When I go back,

in almost all cases, I will find

the newspaper has been

chewed and some removed

from the hive. The bees

should be behaving normally

and moving around the hive

freely. Now the rest of the

newspaper should be

removed from the hive.

Depending on the time of

year and the nectar flow you

may split this colony later.

In the case of laying

workers, I want the colony

below to be really strong and

have a good pattern of

capped and open brood. I

will do the newspaper on top

of the strong colony the

same as for the weak colony

merge. The difference is

there is no queen to find

and kill. Laying workers look

just like other workers and

are almost impossible to

find. Set the laying workers

on top of the strong colony

and wait again for about

three days before opening. It

is thought that the smell of

the pheromones from the

open brood below will dry up

the ovaries of the laying

workers. This colony can

also be split later if the

season warrants it. My

success rate is 100% using

this method so far.

Info from https://

www.kelleybees.com/

Blog/1/Healthy-Bees/126/

The-Newspaper-Combination

Page 4

Page 5

Entomologists are currently

studying the reasons behind

the enormous bee die-off

happening worldwide. The

phenomenon is called

Colony Collapse Disorder

(CCD), and is characterized

by the sudden -- overnight,

in some cases -- loss of the

vast majority of the hive,

leaving a queen, full brood

(larvae) cells, and full honey

stores behind. In collapsed

hives, no dead bees are

found -- puzzling scientists

and posing a major

challenge to the study of the

disease. The USDA has been

studying the phenomenon

since 2009, when it became

apparent that Colony

Collapse was not something

that would disappear on its

own.

Research on the possible

causes of CCD is currently

ongoing, and there has been

progress! Most recent

evidence points to a

combination of factors as

the culprit -– these factors

include monoculture

farming, pesticide and

fungicide usage, and

parasitism within the hive.

As the theory goes, farming

in monocultures limits the

bees’ diet to one type of

pollen for extended periods

of time. Think of it as if a

human was limited to eating

only strawberries for three

months -- not very healthy.

These malnourished bees

are more susceptible to

chemical pesticides, which

disorient them and further

weaken their immune

system. Weakened beehives

are more vulnerable to

parasitism and,

consequently, collapse.

Almost as scary as the ones

on The Walking Dead, these

bees are parasitized by the

Zombie Fly Apocephalus

borealis. The Zombie Fly lay

its eggs inside the bees, and

when the eggs hatch into

larvae they feed on the bees

while they are still alive --

pretty gross!! Wanna see

one? The "Zombie Fly"

earned its name from its

effect on honeybee

behavior. The fly lies eggs

within the bee, which hatch

into larvae that control the

bee’s flight patterns. These

parasitized bees often leave

the hive at night never to

return and have earned the

name ZomBees. Eventually,

the ZomBee will die and

little flies will emerge from

its body. Info from

planetbee.org.

CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder:

Images of Apocepha-

lus borealis and honey

bees: (A) Adult female

A. borealis. (B) Female

A. borealis ovipositing

into the abdomen of a

worker honey bee. (C)

Two final instar larvae

of A. borealis exiting a

honey bee worker at

the junction of the

head and thorax (red

arrows). Images cour-

tesy of "A New Threat

to Honey Bees, the

Parasitic Phorid Fly

Apocephalus borealis"

Published: January 3,

2012DOI:

10.1371/journal.pone

.0029639

ZOMBEES PARASITIC

RELATIONSHIPS

Page 6

The queen bee can live for

several years. Worker bees

live for 6 weeks during the

busy summer, and for 4-9

months during the winter

months.

THREE CASTES OF

HONEYBEE

Queen Bee

There is only one queen per

hive. The queen is the only

bee with fully developed

ovaries. A queen bee can

live for 3-5 years. The queen

mates only once with

several male (drone) bees,

and will remain fertile for

life. She lays up to 2000

eggs per day. Fertilized eggs

become female (worker

bees) and unfertilized eggs

become male (drone bees).

When she dies or becomes

unproductive, the other bees

will "make" a new queen by

selecting a young larva and

feeding it a diet of "royal

jelly". For queen bees, it

takes 16 days from egg to

emergence.

Worker Bee

All worker bees are female,

but they are not able to

reproduce. Worker bees live

for 4-9 months during the

winter season, but only 6

weeks during the busy

summer months (they

literally work themselves to

death). Nearly all of the bees

in a hive are worker bees. A

hive consists of 20,000 -

30,000 bees in the winter,

and over 60,000 - 80,000

bees in the summer. The

worker bees sequentially

take on a series of specific

chores during their lifetime:

housekeeper; nursemaid;

construction worker; grocer;

undertaker; guard; and

finally, after 21 days they

become a forager collecting

pollen and nectar. For

worker bees, it takes 21

days from egg to

emergence. The worker bee

has a barbed stinger that

results in her death

following stinging, therefore,

she can only sting once.

Drone Bee

These male bees are kept

on standby during the

summer for mating with a

virgin queen. Because the

drone has a barbed sex

organ, mating is followed by

death of the drone. There

are only 300-3000 drones in

a hive. The drone does not

have a stinger. Because they

are of no use in the winter,

drones are expelled from the

hive in the autumn.

Beeswax: waxy material

produced by worker bees

and used to build combs.

Drones: Male bees, whose

main function in the colony

is to fertilize the queen.

Drones make up a very

small percentage of the total

colony. In the Autumn

drones are expelled from the

hive by the female worker

bees.

Foundation: Thin sheets of

beeswax imprinted with a

pattern of honey comb. The

beekeeper installs these

sheets into wooden frames

as "starters" for the bees in

making uniform combs.

Frames: The removable

wooden structures which are

placed in the hive. The bees

build their comb within

these frames. The

removable quality allows the

beekeeper to easily inspect

the colony.

Hive Bodies: The first one or

two wooden boxes of the

colony. The hive bodies

contain the brood nest of

the colony.

HOW LONG DO HONEYBEEs LIVE?

Page 7

Larva: The grub-like,

immature form of the bee,

after it has developed from

the egg and before it has

gone into the pupa stage.

Nectar: Sweet fluid

produced by flowers is 60%

water and 40% solids. This

is collected by the bees and

converted into honey at 17 -

18% moisture content.

Pollen: Very small dust-like

grain produced by flowers.

These are the male germ

cells of the plant.

Propolis: Sticky, brownish

gum gathered by bees from

trees and buds and used to

seal cracks and drafts in the

hive. Also called "bee-glue".

Pupa: The immature form of

the bee (following the larval

stage) while changing into

the adult form.

Queen: A completely

developed female bee (with

functioning ovaries) who lays

eggs and serves as the

central focus of the colony.

There is only one queen in a

colony of bees. A queen's

productive life span is 2-3

years.

Royal Jelly: The milky white

secretion of young nurse

bees. It is used to feed the

queen throughout her life,

and is given to worker and

drone larvae only during

their early larval lives.

Super: The supplementary

wooden boxes places on top

of the hive body the expand

the size of the colony, and to

provide for storage of

surplus honey.

Supercedure: When a colony

with an old or failing queen

rears a daughter to replace

her.

Workers: Completely

developed female bees that

CLUB MEMBERS DISCOUNT SUBSCRIPTION TO AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL

1 YEAR REG PRICE $28.00 NCB PRICE $21.00

2 YEAR REG PRICE $53.00 NCB PRICE $39.75

3 YEAR REG PRICE $75.00 NCB PRICE $56.25

JUST MAIL SUBSCRIPTION WITH IN THE FRONT PAGE OF THE NEWSLETTER WITH MAILING LABEL AS PROOF OF MEMBER-SHIP TO GET DISCOUNT PRICE.

http://www.americanbeejournal.com/

do have developed ovaries

and do not not normally lay

eggs. They gather pollen and

nectar and convert the

nectar to honey. A worker's

life expectancy is only

several weeks during the

active summer months.

However, they can live for

many months during the

relatively inactive winter

period.

Info from

www.backyardbeekeepers.c

om/facts.

Have a question? Send it to

nelsoncountybeekeepers@g

mail.com and an expert will

answer your question.

Ask the Expert

Page 8

Members must call me to get on the schedule for use of the Extractor.

1. Must be picked up and dropped off to Susan Zhunga unless other arrangements have

been made . No Pass offs or passing from member to member. Susan’s address is 555

King Rd Cox's Creek, KY 40013, Phone (502)507-8789

2. Deposit is $25, includes $10 non refundable rental Fee. You will receive $15 back when

you return the extracting equipment in good condition and on time.

3. Time Limit- Extracting Equipment must be returned within 48 hours (or sooner) to give

everyone a chance to get their honey extracted. If extractor is Not returned within 48

hours you will forfeit your full $25 deposit

4. Extraction Equipment will be checked out with an itemized list describing condition of

equipment to be signed by you and Susan. Failure to return Extraction Equipment will

result in full reimbursement to the club of $300. Just don’t lose it or not bring it back.

Broken parts will be replaced up to and including the entire extractor($165). If you break

or lose anything the club will have it fixed or replaced and you will be responsible for any

cost incurred. Parts are NOT available for the extractor, it must be replaced as a unit.

5. Extraction equipment Must be returned clean or you will forfeit your deposit. You must

purchase a separate bucket and or have jars ready ahead of time. When you extract the

honey you will need somewhere to put it as the bottling buckets that are part of the kit

Must be returned with the equipment. Walmart sells Ball Jars or Kelley’s sells the same

buckets with a gate valve for easy bottling $27. All prices listed are for 2014 and subject

to change.

6. Be sure you know how to operate the equipment safely and effectively before you take it.

Please ask any questions you have. Susan can give you a brief demo if needed when you

go to pick it up.

Extractor Rental Rules

Nelson County Beekeepers

General Meeting

May 21, 2015

Meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM with opening prayer and pot luck

refreshments There were 25 members and two guests present.

Our guest speaker, Michele Colopy from the Pollinator Stewardship Council,

presented her program “Pollinator Stewardship Council

Collaborations: Education, Advocacy, Action.”

Susan Zhunga presented her Treasurer’s report with a current balance of

$1,328.59.

President, Paul Kiener / Announcements

Special thanks to all those who participated in the Nelson County trash

pick-up on April 27th. We completed our assignment in two hours and

received $250 for our efforts.

Paul thanked Susan Zhunga for a great first newsletter “What’s the Buzz”

and asked members for feedback.

Susan Zhunga presented guidelines for responding to swarm calls. A new

sign-up sheet was passed around. The swarm phone number is (502) 203-

4136.

At the suggestion of Henry Wilkerson, the steering committee

recommended that we donate $100 to Bernheim Research Forest’s

Beekeeping program for a children’s beekeeping suit. President open it for

a vote by general membership for approval. Members approved with a

vote. An additional $50 was donated by the members and Bob Deegan

offered to match the suit purchased.

The floor was opened for questions.

Meeting closed with two door prize drawings.

Helen Fenske

Secretary

Page 9

Insider Info

Bluegrass Seed & Fertilizer Inc

3345 Bloomfield Rd.

Bardstown, KY 40004

(502) 348-7333

Mon - Fri 8:00 am - 5:30 pm

Sat 8:00 am - 1:00 pm

Bardstown Mills

1393 Withrow Ct.

Bardstown, KY 40004

(502) 348-3949

8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Mon. - Fri.

8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday

Bernheim Youth Bee Suit

What started as a small conversation during the meal at the April 2015 General

Meeting of the Nelson County Beekeepers, soon became a project which exceeded

anyone's expectations. The initial conversation suggested that the Nelson County

Beekeepers (NCB) would donate a bee suit to Bernheim Arboretum which could be

worn by youngsters interested in beekeeping while they were watching the beekeep-

ers at Bernheim. The Steering Committee suggested a donation of $100.00 to be

given to Bernheim for purchase, pending approval of members at the General

Meeting. There were no objections and a voice acknowledged that the donation was

a very good idea. However, what followed next left the group speechless: David

Sweazy stood up and offered a donation to go along with the initial offering; soon

followed by additional donations from Steve Hutchins and Darrel Hester. Tara Valdez,

a guest attending her first meeting, also contributed generously. Then, to top it all,

Bob Deegan offered to match the initial donation with another, full youth's beekeep-

ing suit for Bernheim! We all knew that the members of the Nelson County Beekeep-

ers were very generous with their time and talents. But this gesture of generosity to

the youth of our community will certainly provide the seed for future beekeepers.

May you all be rewarded generously in the fruits of your labor and love of beekeep-

ing! Thank you again, Paul Keiner.

Page 10

Doug Brink has NCB T-Shirts ($11) and Hooded Sweatshirts ($23) for sale.

Janet Brown is selling NCB Hats and Visors for $10.00. The club

gets $2.00 from each sales.

Darrell Hester is selling his stainless 2 frame extractor for $150.00.

If interested contact him at the meeting or call 502-648-2044.

June 18, 2015, 6:30 p.m.

Pot Luck:

Bring what you’d like to

share

Guest Speaker:

Dr. Lee Towsend

Effects of pesticides on

Honeybees

Next month

Field Day at Pat Swartz’s

WANNA BEE A MEMBER or NEED TO PAY

YOUR 2015 DUES

Annual Dues $12.00

Send your name, address, city & zip,

Phone & email to :

Susan E. Zhunga

555 King Road

Coxs Creek, KY 40013

To maintain your status as a member in

good standing, please send me your

annual dues before June 30, after that I

will delete the names of members who

have not paid for this year.

KY State Fair Aug. 20-30, 2015 Louis-

ville, KY We will get details on participa-

tion in Honey Competition and working

honey booths when available.

Road Clean up October more infor-

mation to follow.

Christmas Parade—Date to be deter-

mined. We will be looking for volun-

teers to decorate and ride the wagon.

Will need you to wear bee suits, carry

smokers and have a good time. All are

welcome. Contact Henry Wilkerson.

Meeting !!!!!!

Call to report a

Honey Bee Swarm

502-203-4136

DON’T FORGET

TO JOIN US ON

FACE BOOK!!

Page 11

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