New JerseyBeekeepers Association

Newsletter

Letter from the President

volume 33 issue 1 January/February 2019

Inside this issue:In Memoriam: Tom Webb ......2Club Branch Meetings...........3A Successful Beekeeper .........4Report from the Apiarist.....5-6Scholarships Opportunities......6Check Your NJBA Profile ......72019 Calendar .........................7Beekeeping in Winter ............8SJBA Events ..........................9NJBA Fall Meeting............. 10Vitellogenin ....................11-124-H Festival of Trees............12CJBA Events ........................132019 Honey Show ...............13RVBA Holiday Cheer ..........14Orange Balsamic Dressing....14Tim Schuler in Cuba ......15-16Beekeeping Regs Update.....17NJ Beekeepers Foundation....18Who's Who in NJBA.............22NJBA Membership Form.....23Ads and Resources..........24-27

New NJBA President, Jeff Burd, enjoying himself at the 2018 Winter Meeting

(photo by M.Gubernat)

I hope that everyone had a safe, joyous, and happy holiday! Welcome to the “quiet time” for most beekeep-ers! With the unseasonably cooler weather, I’ve made several extra trips to my bee yards to check the girls. At a minimum, we should be checking the weight of each hive every week, or at least every two weeks. If we want our bees to make it through to the spring, we should be ready to feed, if necessary. I typically use fondant patties with a tablespoon or two of pollen substitute. Many folks have a lot of success with Charlie Toth’s homemade sugar blocks. In any event, keeping the bees alive over the winter is every beekeeper’s top priority.

Everyone should have received an email regarding the updated and revised NJ Beekeeping Regulations that were posted on December 3. Janet Katz and Dave Frank are reviewing the changes and will share suggestions and com-ments with NJBA members after the busy holiday season. I want to thank Janet and Dave again for the hundreds of hours that they have spent working on this project. The entire NJBA organization owes them our sincere thanks!

I am also happy to report the formation of the New Jersey Beekeepers Foundation. Curtis Crowell was the point person creating our 501(c)(3). There is an accompanying article about this from Curtis on page 18 of this newsletter.

Our NJBA speaker committee has been hard at work organizing speakers and scheduling state meetings. Frank Mortimer, Charley Ilsley, Isadore Venetos, Grant Stiles, and Tim Schuler have done an excellent job. We have completed the basics for 2019 and are now scheduling speakers into 2020 and beyond.

NJBA had a successful showing at the New Jersey League of Municipalities in November. Thanks to all our volunteers who chatted with elected officials and promoted our organization! Next up is the New Jersey Agricultural Convention at Harrah’s Marina in Atlantic City on February 6 and 7. We will need volunteers to spread the word to our friends in the agriculture industry!

Patti Campbell of the Essex branch has stepped up to become our new Honey Show chairperson. Thank you, Patty, and thanks to the volunteers who answered the call to help. Rules are at: https://tinyurl.com/ybfk3zxu. An entry form is at: https://tinyurl.com/y756ss3k

Best wishes to our Honey Queen, Nicole Medina, in her quest for a national title at the American Beekeeping Federation meeting in January in Myrtle Beach, SC! She has worked hard this year and we are all very proud of her and her many accomplishments.

I hope to see everyone at the Annual Winter Meeting at the East Windsor Holiday Inn on Saturday, February 16, 2019.

Yours in beekeeping! Jeff

https://tinyurl.com/ybfk3zxuhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/Annual%2520Honey%2520Show%2520Rules%2520and%2520Score%2520Sheets/2019%2520NJBA%2520Honey%2520Show%2520Rules.pdf.https://tinyurl.com/y756ss3khttps://tinyurl.com/y756ss3k

WANTAGE -- Thomas J. Webb, Sr., age 90, peacefully passed away Friday, December 7, 2018, at his residence. Born in Newfoundland to the late John and Nella (VanHook) Webb, Thomas had been a resident of Sussex County for most of his life. He served in the United States Army during the Korean War and was a member of the 27th Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the "Wolfhounds."

He was a lifetime, active member of many local charitable and civic organizations that included the former Franklin Kiwanis Club, the American Legion Post 213 in Sussex, and the former Masonic Samaritan Lodge No. 98 in Hardyston. Thomas was a member of the Sussex County Agricultural Society, the New Jersey State Fish and Game Council, a director of the Sussex Rural Electric Cooperative for 31 years, and also served for eight years on the Allegheny Electrical Cooperative Board of Directors.

A commercial beekeeper, Thomas was a founding member of the Sussex County Beekeepers Associa-tion and held a number of statewide positions in the industry. He was also a director of the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show, and served on the Executive Committee for many years, thoroughly enjoying the time each year when he conducted the honeybee demonstrations.

Besides his parents, Thomas was predeceased by his brother, James Webb. He is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Helen (Sisco); his son, Thomas J. Webb Jr., of Madison; his daughter, Denise Webb, of Wantage; and his granddaughter, Allison Vicedomini and her husband, Eric, of Hoboken.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations may be made to the Thomas J. Webb Sr. Scholarship Fund, c/o Sussex County Beekeepers Association, P.O. Box 261, Lafayette, NJ 07848. Online condolences may be offered to the family at www.pinkelfuneralhome.com.

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In Memory of Thomas J. Webb, Longtime NJ Beekeeper(originally published in The New Jersey Herald on December 9, 2018)

Reprinted from the NJBA Newsletter, April/May 2014, Volume 28, Issue 3 Profile of NJ Beekeepers: Thomas J. Webb Apiaries

by Tim Schuler, NJ State Apiarist

Tom Webb has been keeping bees for 77 years. He is an icon at the Sussex County Fair, manning the bee cage and telling fair visitors about honey bees. Tom started beekeeping in 1937. He lived in the Newfoundland area of Passaic County, NJ. At the age of 9, he saw a swarm in the back yard of his grandma’s house, took a Chestnut board, cut it into a box, and hived the swarm. He had no frames, no smoker, and no hive tool. He had seen his uncle do it at some point in his young life. From that moment on, he fell in love with these fascinating creatures.

As a young man, Tom married Helen. He was working as an electrical engineer but he really didn’t like it much and one day he quit his job and told Helen when he got home that he was going into beekeeping full time. She initially wasn’t too sure about that, but the evidence proves that beekeeping has been good to the Webb family. They raised two children during their years as commercial beekeepers. Tom and Helen operated 1,600 colonies at the height of their business. They did apple pollination for many years on farms in New Jersey and New York. One year, they did blueberry pollination but that was it. Tom said it was hard on the bees and it was a lot of work to clean up the EFB the bees got while on that pollination. Blueberry pollination also reduced the honey crop the bees could make whereas apples did not. The Webbs produced and packed honey for wholesale and retail. The Webbs also sold beekeeping equipment and packages for many, many years.

Tom said that the best part of the business is working with the bees. It is a very peaceful and enjoyable work. The part he likes least about beekeeping is dealing with disease and parasites. Tom noted that the bee pasture in New Jersey is not like it once was because the forage is just not around like it was years ago. Therefore, the honey crops are much lower. Helen said that one day she was walking back to the house from the honey house when a bee stung her. Tom told her that it was okay because the sting takes the nastiness out of a person. Helen also said one of the down sides to being a commercial beekeeper was Tom being gone early in the morning to late at night, which can be hard on family life. They remembered walking into bee yards with waist-deep snow. Tom recalled helping a friend move his bees but they lost two hives off the back of the truck into the middle of the road. It was a big, angry mess of bees. Tom left them until morning and then fought the bees while cleaning up all of it.

It was very nice to spend some time with Tom and Helen hearing their story of how the honey bee has blessed their lives.

photos courtesy of the Webb family

http://www.pinkelfuneralhome.com

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Club Branch MeetingsCentral: See cjba.njbeekeepers.org for meeting dates and information. Meetings begin at 6:30 and are held in the Mon- mouth County Agricultural Building (MCAB), 4000 Kozloski Rd., Freehold, 07728.

Essex: Meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. at the Essex County Environmental Center’s Garibaldi Hall, 621 Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, 07068. See ecbs.njbeekeepers.org or the Essex Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/groups/ECBSnj/ for more information.January 8, 2019: Tuesday, 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Grant Stiles will speak on “Optimizing Honey

Production.”February 16 & 23, 2019: Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. “Basic Beekeeping: A Three-Day Short Course”

registration required. See https://njba38.wildapricot.org/event-3047431.

Jersey Cape: Meetings are held every 3rd Thursday of the month (except for July) at 7:00 p.m. at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County, 355 Court House/Dennisville Road, (Route 657), Cape May Court House, 08210.February 8, 2019: First night of “Bee-ginners Beekeeping Workshop offered by the branch and Rutgers

Cooperative Extension of Cape May County, from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for eight consecutive Friday evenings. For more information, contact Bill Eisele, beeeisele@comcast.net.

Mid State: January 23, 2019: Wednesday, 7:00 p.m., Rutgers EcoComplex, 1200 Florence-Columbus Road, Borden-

town. Election of officers. (Mid-State Executive Board meeting January 2, 2019 to set 2019 calendar.)

Morris-Somerset: Meeting are held on the 3rd Friday of each month; members will be notified via email of meeting date and time changes.January 18, 2019: Martinsville Community Center, 1961 Washington Valley Road, Martinsville. Randy Oli-

ver will present via Skype. Details will be emailed when available.

North East: Meetings are held on the 3rd Friday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in room 135S (the Amphitheater), Anisfield School of Business, Ramapo College, 505 Ramapo Valley Rd., Mahwah 07430. See http://www.nnjbees.org/for details.January 18, 2019: Club Bee Talk Series, “Late Winter Mite Control & Hive Management”February 15, 2019: Commercial Beekeepers Grant Stiles will speak on, “Maximizing Honey

Production”

North West: See http:// nwba.njbeekeepers.org/ for details.

Raritan Valley: Unless otherwise noted, RVBA meets on the 3rd Thursday of every month from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Raritan Valley Community College (College Center wing, lower level), 118 Lamington Road, Branchburg 08876. Refreshments, socialization, and beekeeping Q&A are part of every meeting.January 17, 2019: Speaker: Landi Simone; topic: "Timing"February 21, 2019: Speaker: Grant Stiles; topic: “40+ Years of Beekeeping”

South Jersey: Unless otherwise noted, meetings are held from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Gloucester County Offices of Government Services, 1200 N. Delsea Dr., Clayton 08312

Sussex: See http://www.scba.club/ for updates.January 12 & 19, 2019: Introduction to Beekeeping Class. See https://njba38.wildapricot.org/

event-3131903 for details. Registration is required. Class size is limited.January 22, 2019: Tuesday 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.February 26, 2019: Membership meeting.

http://cjba.njbeekeepers.org/http://ecbs.njbeekeepers.org/https://www.facebook.com/groups/ECBSnj/https://www.facebook.com/groups/ECBSnj/https://www.facebook.com/groups/ECBSnj/%29%20for%20more%20information.%20https://njba38.wildapricot.org/event-3047431mailto:beeeisele%40comcast.net?subject=http://www.nnjbees.org/http://www.scba.club/https://njba38.wildapricot.org/event-3131903https://njba38.wildapricot.org/event-3131903

A Successful Beekeeper is a Successful Mite Managerby John A. Gaut, Master Beekeeper, EAS

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Healthy colonies build worker populations quickly in the spring and produce large honey crops in the sum-mer. Success in beekeeping (healthy colonies and hon-ey production) depends on good mite management, an advanced beekeeping skill. Mite management is more than just treating and hoping for the best. Mite manage-ment is:

•understanding the biology of the Varroa mite•understanding the population dynamics of the

colony and mites•developing a plan that includes testing and

treatment•executing the plan•assessing the results and developing an im-

proved plan, which incorporates any new information

Please refer to the 2018 January-February NJBA newsletter for more extensive information about each of these components of mite management (pages 10 to 12). http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/Newslet-ters/Volume32Issue1.pdf

I try to maintain less than one mite per 100 bees all year. I also plan to perform alcohol washes six times during the year on all my colonies. The timing of the alcohol washes is based on the timing of the treatments (in order to verify that the treatment was effective) and monitoring for any mite buildup during the summer.

My first treatment is with ApiVar beginning in mid-January. Many beekeepers have found that treating with ApiVar in winter is very cost effective; fewer ApiVar

strips are needed because there are fewer frames of bees and most of the mites are phoretic (the adult phase when mites ride on adult bees). If the mite counts are low in April, the counts typically remain low for most of the summer. An alcohol wash in May verifies the low counts. Unfortunately, Varroa mites are increasing because they are in the brood reproducing; big, strong hives produce large populations of mites. Treatment with Mite Away Quick Strips (MAQS) applied during a cool period in July cleans up the mites on the bees and in the brood. Mite migration is an issue in the fall so I apply ApiVar in September. The extended release of the miticide con-trols the incoming mites thru mid-November. I rarely find high mite levels in November but if I do, I treat with an Oxalic acid dribble. A colony with more than three mites per 100 bees in November will struggle all winter long, even if they are treated in November and/or December with Oxalic acid or other treatment because the mites have already infected many of the bees with viruses and bacteria.

I perform alcohol washes on all of my colonies. I have found colonies with high mite counts that I prob-ably would have missed in spot checks; often these are big, strong colonies. In late summer and early fall, mite immigration from collapsing colonies and robbing is a chronic problem in this area. The collapsing colonies could be feral swarms or colonies that do not benefit from good mite management. A colony in my own yard could become my own mite bomb if mites are not discovered with an alcohol wash!

Planned Date TaskSaturday, January 19, 2019 Treat with ApiVar. Place strips on frames of brood.Thursday, February 14, 2019 Move ApiVar Strips After 4 weeks (if brood nest has moved)

Saturday, March 16, 2019 Remove ApiVar StripsMonday, April 1, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckMonday, April 1, 2019 Add Honey SupersWednesday, May 15, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckFriday, July 5, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckFriday, July 5, 2019 Treat with MAQS (if temperature allows)Friday, July 26, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckWednesday, September 18, 2019 Remove Honey SupersWednesday, September 18, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckWednesday, September 18, 2019 Treat with ApiVar. Place strips on frames of brood.Wednesday, October 16, 2019 Move ApiVar Strips After 4 weeks (if brood nest has moved)

Wednesday, November 13, 2019 Remove ApiVar StripsWednesday, November 27, 2019 Alcohol Wash Mite CheckWednesday, November 27, 2019 Treat with Oxalic Acid Dribble if needed

Mite Management Schedule

http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/Newsletters/Volume32Issue1.pdfhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/Newsletters/Volume32Issue1.pdf

The Swarm

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Report from the Apiarist

Photo by Sue Zega

January / February 2019State bee regulations

The proposed changes to the NJ beekeeping regulations have been published in the NJ register: https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdf Please read them and consider how they may affect your apiaries.

Varroa mite controlThese past few months, I have gotten reports from NJ beekeepers of

Apivar not working as consistently as it has in past years. Some beekeep-ers had colonies in their apiary whose mite loads were greatly reduced or eliminated, while other colonies had higher levels at the end of the treat-ment than they did at the beginning. They were all treated the same way, with strips from the same package, so why did this happen? I’m not really sure but I have contacted the Beltsville bee lab, Bee Informed Partnership, Véto-pharma (the manufacturer of ApiVar), as well as other state apiarists in the U.S. and Canada to see if anyone else is noticing this same thing. Quite frankly, not many others are looking, although my colleagues in

North Carolina have seen the same thing and were asking the same questions. The reason this was brought to my attention was because some of you actually took the time to alcohol wash samples before and after treatment so you knew if your Varroa treatment had any affect. The main take-home message is how important it is to moni-tor your levels of Varroa. The beekeepers who found this inconsistency had time to use another mite control to manage their levels in preparation for winter. There will be more information on this in the future. Another lesson is the importance of rotating treatments as well as treating at least two times a year to keep Varroa at low levels.

Honey Bee Research in New JerseyFor the last four years, I have been helping Dean Polk from Rutgers University Cooperative Extension conduct

research to look at the damage honey bee colonies experience during commercial blueberry pollination. Over the last ten years, honey bees contracted for pollination services on blueberry farms have been exposed to an increas-ing amount of fungicide spray. Many fungicide labels indicate they are not harmful to honey bees; however, the pesticide manufacturer is only required by the U.S. government to test their products on adult honey bees, not young bees or larva. Because of this labeling, most farmers think that fungicides are not harmful to honey bees, yet more and more research is proving that many fungicides are toxic to honey bee larva. Furthermore, the adjuvants and inert ingredients are also toxic to honey bee larva. During this past pollination season, it was estimated that beekeepers who pollinated NJ blueberries had approximately a million dollars of loss due to the damage the honey bees incurred during pollination. Dean has been the interface between the beekeeper and blueberry grower com-munities. He and his assistant, Chelsea Abegg, are trying to reproduce what is happening in the field and develop management changes to minimize the impact to beekeepers and their colonies. He applied for and received a grant to continue this work. Additionally, several chapters of the NJBA have donated money to help continue this work. Their latest effort is to develop the skills to grow larva in the lab and to be able to feed various compounds to see which ones or combinations cause larval mortality. Their research will be shared with blueberry farmers to help establish best practices that are safe for honey bees in all stages of their lives.

RetirementI want to take this time to thank you, the beekeepers of New Jersey, for your support during my tenure as the

New Jersey State Apiarist. I will be retiring from the Department of Agriculture effective April 1, 2019. I have really enjoyed most of my job during the thirteen years that I worked with the beekeeping industry at the NJDOA.

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdfhttps://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdf

Please BEE green!Please sign up to receive your newsletters as PDFs via email. Not only will you receive your newsletter quickly but you also will enjoy it in full color and with easy-to-use hyperlinks! You can feel good about saving over $800 in total printing and mailing costs for each issue – a huge savings for the NJBA – as well as about knowing that you are doing something good for the environment. Email Charles Ilsley, Treasurer, at EmailOnly@njbeekeepers.org today to switch from paper to the e-letter. Thank you!

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One of the most enjoyable parts was getting to know a large number of beekeepers and considering many of them friends. I have said for many years that beekeeping brings people together across all kinds of boundaries such as education, race, money, religion, etc. Another enjoyable part of my job was helping many of you get started as beekeepers and then assisting you in honing your beekeeping skills. Most of the good things that happened during my time would not have been possible without the voluntary efforts of many of you. Many people worked many hours helping to create something positive and beneficial for beekeepers in NJ. Some of those things include the NJBA newsletter and calendar, pamphlets, the Winter Death Loss survey, the pollen study, database conversion, Varroa studies, and national honey bee surveys, to name just a few. Patty and I want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It was an honor and privilege to be able to help you be successful. Patty and I plan to continue to be active at the local and state beekeeper meetings. We are going to continue to run our own honey bee business, and we plan to take another group of beekeepers to Malawi, Africa in March of 2020.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a very happy and healthy New Year.

Tim Schuler State Apiarist New Jersey Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry PO Box 330 Trenton NJ 08625

Tim.Schuler@ag.nj.gov Mobile: (609) 462-7820

NJBA Youth Scholarship Programby Janet Katz

The New Jersey Beekeepers Association (NJBA) provides scholarships for youth ages 12 to 22 who want to learn about beekeeping by attending a class offered by one of the branches. Guidelines are available at http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20SCHOLARSHIP%20PROGRAM.pdf. Applications are available at http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20Scholarship%20Application.pdf. Ques-tions about the scholarship program can be sent to Program Chair, Ray Markley, at scholarship@njbeekeepers.org.

Branches offering courses are the Essex County and Sussex County branches, with details and registration available currently for these two classes in January and February online at https://njba38.wildapricot.org/events. In the southern part of the state, the South Jersey and Jersey Cape Branches typically offer cours-es. Information on those courses will be available at the website education page at http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Education.htm.

Mann Lake Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS) Master Beekeeper Scholarship

According to the application: “This scholarship, sponsored by Mann Lake Ltd. and created and administered by the EAS Master Beekeepers, was established to encourage a worthy young individual to pursue an interest in honey bees and beekeeping. The Scholarship will provide financial assistance for the selected candidate to attend an annual EAS conference. In addition to the waiver of registration fees for the EAS short course, the Scholarship will provide up to $1,000 to the successful candidate to offset other confer-ence expenses.” Beekeepers who are interested in submitting an application for this scholarship can find additional information here: https://www.easternapiculture.org/images/MasterBee/YouthScholarshipFormFill.pdf

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mailto:EmailOnly@njbeekeepers.orgmailto:Tim.Schuler@ag.nj.govhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20SCHOLARSHIP%20PROGRAM.pdfhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20SCHOLARSHIP%20PROGRAM.pdfhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20SCHOLARSHIP%20PROGRAM.pdfhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20Scholarship%20Application.pdfhttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/SP/NJBA%20Scholarship%20Application.pdfmailto:scholarship@njbeekeepers.orghttps://njba38.wildapricot.org/eventshttps://njba38.wildapricot.org/eventshttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Education.htmhttps://www.easternapiculture.org/images/MasterBee/YouthScholarshipFormFill.pdfhttps://www.easternapiculture.org/images/MasterBee/YouthScholarshipFormFill.pdfhttps://www.easternapiculture.org/images/MasterBee/YouthScholarshipFormFill.pdf

Check Your NJBA Profile Online

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by Janet A. Katz, Legislative Liaison, New Jersey Beekeepers Association

Over a year ago, the New Jersey Beekeepers Association (NJBA) switched to automated, online membership software. You can renew your membership, correct or change your email and mailing addresses, phone numbers, apiary name, and add or delete a family member. You can also check to see if you need to renew your membership. How can you do all this? It’s easy!

Go to https://njba38.wildapricot.org/ and click on “LOG IN” at the top right of the screen. Enter your email address and password. If this is the first time you are logging into the membership software, or if you have forgotten your password, enter the email address you used to join the NJBA and click on “Forgot password.” You will be prompted to enter your email address again and type in the six-character code you will see on the screen. Instructions on how to change or set your password will be emailed to you, then simply follow the instructions in the email. If the system doesn’t recognize your email address, notify me at janet.katz@njbeekeepers.org.

The membership software groups family members together in what is called a “bundle.” The NJBA consid-ers anyone residing in the same household at the same physical address as a family member or “bundle” member. You need only list another household member if he/she has a separate email address and wishes to receive his/her own copies of NJBA emails and newsletters.

Once you join a branch, that is considered your primary branch and you are automatically a member of the state association. Of the $25 annual dues, $17 goes to the state association and $8 goes to the branch. If you are a member in good standing of a primary branch, you can join any other branch as a secondary or associate member. Unfortunately, we were unable to find membership software that would accommodate this unique structure so you will need to pay the $8 branch dues directly to the branch treasurer of the branch you wish to join. You can use the membership form, http://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/NJBA%20Membership%20Form.pdf, and either mail it and your $8 check payable to the branch treasurer on the form, or hand it in at one of the secondary branch meetings.

The membership software automatically notifies you 20 days before your membership renewal date. There are automated reminder emails, too. If your membership is not renewed 60 days after your renewal date, you have a 30-day grace period, and then your membership expires and your record is archived so it is not included in the total number of memberships our billing is based on. Remember, you may still receive reminder emails if you choose to mail a check to your branch treasurer instead of renewing online with a credit card or PayPal. This is because your record will need to be manually updated and this can’t be done until the branch treasurer receives your renewal and has the time to turn around and mail the update to the state association.

We encourage everyone to renew online and make any profile updates online. If you encounter problems doing either, please send me an email at janet.katz@njbeekeepers.org.

The NJBA 2019 “A Year in New Jersey Beekeeping” is here! It’s a must have for every beekeeper or a great gift for the beekeeper in your life. The calendar consists of fabulous, bee-themed photos from our members, monthly information on what you should be doing with your bees, a glossary of terms, mistakes to avoid, instructions on counting mites, and pages to make hive notes on. If you’re an NJBA member, keep your camera with you when you’re working your bees throughout the year. Maybe one of your photos will get chosen for the 2020 calendar and you’ll get a free calendar as a thank you! Special thanks goes out to Rebecca Wunderlich, who did the design and layout.

The president of your branch has a supply of the calendars for $10 each. If your branch has run out of calendars, or you can’t make it to a meeting to buy one, they are available online for $11.70 plus postage at https://www.njbeekeepers.org/store/.

The 2019 NJBA Calendar is Here!

https://njba38.wildapricot.org/mailto:janet.katz@njbeekeepers.orghttp://www.njbeekeepers.org/Site_Docs/NJBA%20Membership%20Form.pdfmailto:janet.katz@njbeekeepers.orghttps://www.njbeekeepers.org/store/

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The bees are all snuggled in their hives, in nice warm clusters. Most of my full-sized colonies are in good shape for the winter; they have good size popula-tions, sufficient amounts of honey, and low mite counts. Some of my queen-mating nucs from earlier in the year have smaller populations than ideal. When I take a mated queen out (for reassignment to another colony), I combine the remaining colony with a queen-right colony and let them build up for the winter. The later nucs often don’t have a huge population and perhaps not enough honey. I do equalize the nucs but am careful not to create two weak nucs from a strong nuc and a weak nuc. All are doing well so far.

Even though the bees are chillin’, there is still a lot of beekeeping we can do. This is a good time of year to learn more about beekeeping and to plan for next year. There are plenty of great beekeeping books that will help you improve your beekeeping knowledge and skills. Beekeeping courses are offered during the winter, and now is the time to register for them. Most importantly, you should think about your beekeeping goals for 2019 and develop a plan to achieve those goals. Every beekeeper should have a goal to prevent colony loss due to mite parasitism. I have shared my mite management plan in a separate article on page 4.

January is the time to register your apiary(s). The most important reason for registering is to be notified if there is a disease outbreak. Registra-tion is easy, especially if you have registered before. I do not know of any reason not to register! The information (including location) isconfidential and is used only by Tim Schuler, our state apiarist. https://www24.state.nj.us/AG_Apiary/Api-aryApp

The Honey Show will be held in early February. Now is a good time to think about what you are going to enter and to start preparing the entries.

Monitor the weight of your hives during the winter because light hives may need to be fed. Be prepared with fondant or cane sugar for those light colonies. If a colony does die, try to diagnose the reason for the loss. If you are unsure, reach out to more experienced bee-

Beekeeping in Winterarticle and photos by John A. Gaut, Master Beekeeper, EAS

keepers and ask them to help with the diagnosis. If you are able to determine the cause of death, you can then learn how to prevent the recurrence. Here is a link to a very good resource that has a diagnostic procedure atthe end. (Thanks, Andy!) https://pollinator.cals.cor-nell.edu/sites/pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/Wintering%20Bees%20in%20Cold%20Climates.compressed.pdf

I made some clear, see-through inner covers so that I could monitor moisture condensation on the inner cover. One colony has two inches of insulation above

the inner cover. The other has no insulation, only the telescoping top cover. Otherwise, the hives are the similar – about the same population, both insulated on the sides, and both have a small top entrance.

To the left are two photos. The one on the top has insulation above the inner cover. The one on the bot-tom does not have any insulation. Even though the population is the same, the cluster below the insulated cover is larger (looser) and there is no condensation. The clear inner cover on the bottom is cold (without insulation) and there is some conden-sation on the underside next to the cluster. As the colony starts raising more brood, I expect to see more condensation over the cluster on the uninsulated inner cover.

Insulation on top of the inner cover keeps the inner cover warm. When the warm moist air from the cluster rises to the top of the hive, the moist air is vented out instead of condensing. An uninsulated cover will be cold and moist air will condense on the underside. Two inches of insulation between the inner cover and top cover and a small opening for ventilation is much more effective than any moisture absorbing techniques.

In addition to setting beekeeping goals, planning for the upcoming season, and getting equipment ready, I plan to attend the American Beekeeping Conference in early January. The New Jersey Honey Queen, Nicole Medina, will be competing for the National Honey Queen or Princess title during the conference. I and others from NJ will be attending, and will be fully supporting our Honey Queen!

https://www24.state.nj.us/AG_Apiary/ApiaryApphttps://www24.state.nj.us/AG_Apiary/ApiaryApphttps://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/sites/pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/Wintering%20Bees%20in%20Cold%20Climates.compressed.pdfhttps://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/sites/pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/Wintering%20Bees%20in%20Cold%20Climates.compressed.pdfhttps://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/sites/pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/Wintering%20Bees%20in%20Cold%20Climates.compressed.pdfhttps://pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/sites/pollinator.cals.cornell.edu/files/shared/documents/Wintering%20Bees%20in%20Cold%20Climates.compressed.pdf

9

Growing Degree Days & Other Beekeeping Technologyarticle and photo by Julie Akers, SJBA Publicity/Newsletter Chair

Ray Walker, President of the New Castle County Beekeepers in Delaware (photo to the right), is an experienced beekeeper and retired engineer with a keen interest in using science and technology to determine and to promote bee colony health, nutrition, and queen longevity. He operates a certified naturally grown apiary in Delaware, and volunteers to share his knowledge with local schools and beekeeping groups in DE, PA, and NJ. He spoke to the SJBA branch members during their November 3 meeting.

Ray explained how beekeepers can use Growing Degree Day (GDD) data to help predict major nectar flows, when to alter the brood nest, when to add honey supers, and when to plan queen rearing – all subject to other factors like the extreme rainfall we had this spring He also shared his experiences with using different hive scale monitoring equipment and other tech tools such as thermal imaging cameras to “inspect” what’s going on inside the hive without having to open it up.

SJBA members added a lot to the discussion, connecting sci-entific study with their own practical experiences (photo on the left). Ray is working in Delaware with Meghan McConnell, DE State Apiarist and SJBA member, to sponsor select apiaries to compile additional data and to evaluate different tech tools. He is working with beekeepers in PA and MD to expand the DE program into a Mid-Atlantic “Tech” network of apiaries in the region. Hopefully, we can get NJ involved, too.

NJ Honey Queen Presentation, SJBA Elections, & SJBA Honey Showarticle and photos by Julie Akers, SJBA Publicity/Newsletter Chair

SJBA welcomed Nicole Medina, our NJ Honey Queen, to our December 11

branch meeting. She gave an exciting presentation about the state and national Honey Queen program, along with the important outreach she has been doing to promote education and support for beekeeping in NJ. During the past year, she has been a wonderful beekeeping ambassador at community and school events, and she has visited many NJBA branches around the state. We are grateful to Nicole and her dad, Joel, for making the two-hour drive down to South Jersey. We wish Nicole good luck at the National Honey Queen competition in January! Nicole also awarded Steve Stabinski 1st place for his amber honey in our 2nd annual Honey Show (photo on the left).

New and returning of-ficers were elected at the meeting. They include:

President, Dave Elkner; 1st Vice President, Eric Frye; 2nd V.P., Steve Coco; 3rd V.P., Denise Dietrich; and Secretary/Treasurer, Doris Morgan. BethAnn Hall will be the 1st Past President.

Members also shared treats made with honey, including a distinctive and delicious Bourbon-infused honey. Candles and fun holiday honey jar ideas were also on display (photo on the right).

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NJBA Fall Meeting at The College of N.J.

Photo captions (starting top left, clockwise)

* Charley Ilsley, NJBA Treasurer, and Adele Barree, RVBA member, worked at the welcome table, registering guests.* NJBA President Jeff Burd and EAS Master Beekeeper John Gaut* Approximately 75 NJBA members attended the meeting at TCNJ. * David Frank offered legislative updates about the NJ bee-keeping regulations.* Dr. Debbie Delaney captured the beekeepers’ attention with an informative, fascinating, and humorous presentation on small hive beetles.* Grant Stiles shared his extensive experiences as a commer-cial beekeeper.* Alex Cooper, the youngest beekeeper in attendance at the annual fall meeting, asked several interesting questions to presenter Dr. Debbie Delaney. Alex is 12-years old and for the last three years, he has been helping his father, Jason, keep bees.* Neal and Riley Kober represented Betterbee. Riley loves to help out at Betterbee and to travel to meetings with her dad when her school schedule allows. Riley has been keeping bees for the last three years. * Rafael Cabrera represented Solutionbee, a beehive moni-toring system that tracks hive temperatures, honey stores weight, allowing beekeepers to know what’s going on inside their hives.* Joel Medina and NJ Honey Queen Nicole Medina greeted NJBA members in The College of New Jersey Brower Stu-dent Center where the annual Fall Meeting was held.

photos by Martine Gubernat, NJBA Newsletter Editor

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Vitellogenin: Amazing Stuff!John A. Gaut, EAS Master Beekeeper

(continued on next page)

Vitellogenin is a food reserve compound stored in the honey bees’ fat bodies. Vitellogenin also is an antioxidant, prolonging queen life and worker life. Vitellogenin is part of the hormone regulation loop that controls when bees mature into foragers. It also plays a role in swarming. Vitellogenin is amazing stuff!

Vitellogenin in honey bees is a glycolipoprotein, meaning it is composed of sugar (glycol), fats (lipo), and mostly proteins. A queen synthesizes abundant quantities of vitellogenin in the fat bodies of her head, thorax, and abdomen. The vitellogenin is a yolk pro-tein precursor for the queen’s eggs and also may help the queen live longer due to its antioxidant properties. Workers synthesize vitellogenin from pollen in their fat bodies, which are in the worker bee’s head and abdo-men. Vitellogenin is very important for worker bees and for the overall colony survival. Workers use their vitellogenin stores to make royal jelly (fed to young worker larva and directly to the queen larva and the mature queen) as well as worker jelly to feed to older larva and foragers.

A colony needs plenty of honey (for energy) and pollen (for nutri-tion) in order to survive the winter. The colony also needs plenty of long-living and “fat” winter worker bees for brood rearing in the spring. This means that the colony needs lot of young workers with well-developed fat bodies with reservoirs of vitellogenin. Once brood rearing has ramped down, the young bees build the fat bodies in late fall by consuming fresh, nutritious pollen (and maybe some dry pollen substitute from open feeders).

The colony has three food stores for the winter – honey and pollen are stored in the comb, and vitel-logenin is stored in the bees!

During the summer, nurse bees consume and digest pollen to produce royal jelly for the queen and larva jelly for the young brood. The nurse bees also feed protein-rich jelly to the foragers to renew the foragers’ flight muscles, typically at night. When brood rearing diminishes in the fall and there are fewer foragers, the newly emerged bees do not have as many mouths to

"The colony has three food

stores for the winter -- honey and pollen are

stored in the comb, and vitellogenin is stored in the bees!"

John A. Gaut

feed; instead, they bulk up on honey and mostly pollen, storing it as vitellogenin.

The queen is always fed royal jelly, which is pro-duced by the nurse bees from vitellogenin. Vitellogenin suppresses oxidative stress damage (by scavenging free radicals), enabling queens to live longer. Likewise, winter bees live longer in part due to vitellogenin’s benefit of oxidative stress suppression.

There is an antagonistic (inverse) relationship between vitellogenin and the juvenile hormone in the young bees. Juvenile hormone regulates the transition from nurse bee to forager. Higher levels of juvenile hormone result in nurse bees maturing into foragers. As the vitellogenin stores in a bee decrease, the level of juvenile hormone increases, causing the bee to transi-tion to foraging duty. Juvenile hormone is related to stress whereas vitellogenin protects cells from damage and maintains immune cells in workers.

High vitellogenin Low juvenile hormone = long-lived winter bees

Low vitellogenin High juvenile hormone = short-lived forager bees

A colony’s winter survival is dependent on having enough long-lived winter bees with high levels of vitellogenin. These developing winter bees must not be parasit-ized because if a colony had even moderate levels of Varroa mite parasitism while the winter bees are developing, the winter bees would

not fully develop the physiological structures needed to store vitellogenin. Recently, researchers found that mites actually feed on vitellogenin in the bee’s abdo-men, not the bee’s hemolymph (blood). Beekeepers must keep mite levels low beginning in July and espe-cially in August and September.

Winter bees need to be parasite free and well fed with pollen.

A nurse bee’s vitellogenin level develops in the first four days after emergence. The actual level of vitellogenin affects the bee’s age when she begins foraging as well as whether she preferentially forages

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for nectar or pollen. If young workers are short on food during their first days of life, they tend to begin foraging early, mostly for nectar. If they are moderately fed, they forage at normal age, mostly for nectar. If they are abundantly fed immediately after emergence, their vitellogenin levels are high and they begin foraging later in life, pref-erentially collecting pollen used for brood rearing. In other words, if the colony is starving, bees need to begin foraging earlier and mostly for nectar. If food is abundant, the nurse bees forage later, mostly for pollen, and the colony raises more brood, enabling it to reproduce (swarm).

High vitellogenin levels and low ju-venile hormone levels are correlated with swarming. A swarm can carry honey in each bee’s honey crop. Honey is needed for energy and wax building, but it is not nutri-tious. Pollen is nutritious but the swarm cannot carry pollen. (Sometime returning pollen foragers get caught up in the swarm-ing; this is not a significant amount of nutri-tion though.) The swarm’s only option is to carry nutritious vitellogenin in young bees. The vitellogenin and low juvenile hormone levels enable the bees to live longer, too. A swarm needs to have longer-living young bees ready to feed foragers and brood once the new nest is established. A swarm has to depend on the food it brings with it, both honey and vitellogenin; otherwise, the swarm could perish quickly if forage conditions were not good. Vitellogenin and honey are the two food sources carried by the swarm to its new nest.

Vitellogenin is an amazing compound. It is a source of nutrition that is stored in the bees during the winter, it extends work-er and queen lifespans, and it provides a nutritional source for swarms.

For more information: Scientific Bee-keeping http://scientificbeekeeping.com/fat-bees-part-1/.

The Annual New Jersey Beekeeper's Association's

Winter State Meeting Saturday, February 16, 2019

at the National Convention Center in East Windsor, NJ

Registration information will be emailed to members when available and will be online

at https://njba38.wildapricot.org/events.

The 9th annual Somerset County 4-H Festival of Trees took place on Saturday and Sunday, December 8 and 9 at the Somer-set County 4-H Center on Milltown Road in Bridgewater. The Somerset County 4-H Garden & Bee Club had a tree decorated with ornaments made by the members, including corn husk dolls made from the corn in their garden and bees wax ornaments and medallions. They also sold soap, lip balm, candles, and honey from their hives.

photo by Adele Barree, NJBA member and Bee Project Leader for 4-H Garden & Bee Club

4-H Festival of Trees(continued from previous page)

http://scientificbeekeeping.com/fat-bees-part-1/http://scientificbeekeeping.com/fat-bees-part-1/https://njba38.wildapricot.org/events

13

At our November 2018 meeting, members were treated to a presentation by our Treasurer, Curtis Crowell (photo top right), regarding oxalic acid treat-ment for Varroa mites. After describing and demonstrating his technique, Curtis was joined by CJBA member, Peter Ptak, who explained another oxalic acid treatment system for Varroa mites. Both methods seem to be highly successful and will be considered by many members as an alternate means of controlling this honey bee pest.

Michael and Pamela Devine (photo bottom right), of Devine Apiaries, volunteered to represent CJBA at the 24th Annual Fall Forestry Festival on October 6, 2018 held at the Forest Resource Education Center in Jackson, NJ. This educational presentation included their own observation hive, display photographs, hands-on items, and educational books. Although it was a cloudy fall day, the festival and honey bee presentation were well attended.

The Central Jersey Beekeepers Association would like to extend many thanks to the Wilson family, who generously donated 100 pounds of jarred honey for the Monmouth County Fair. Without this donation, we certainly would not have realized the profit we gained!

The next Central Jersey Beekeepers general membership meeting will be on Friday, March 8 at the Monmouth County Agriculture Building, 4000 Ko-zloski Road, Freehold, New Jersey 07728. The social hour and light dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7:00 p.m.

Congratulations to our new President, Pat Evans, and our new Treasurer, Tania Ptak!

Central Jersey Beekeepers Associationarticle and photos by Angela Juffey, CJBA Secretary

The New Jersey Beekeepers Association 2019 Honey Show is scheduled for February 6-8 at the Eco Com-plex in Bordentown, NJ. Honey show entries will be received on February 6, followed by judging on February 7 and 8. When the judging has finished, entries will be moved to the State House for display until February 14. All entries will be then be packed up and transported to the NJBA winter State Meeting on February 16 at the East Windsor Holiday Inn, where the prize-winning entries will be auctioned.

Participation in the Honey Show is open to any NJBA member in good standing whose dues are up to date. Any item produced in your apiary since the 2018 show is eligible for entry. Honey show rules can be found here on the NJBA website: https://tinyurl.com/ybfk3zxu as well as the entry form: https://tinyurl.com/y756ss3k. Use this link for “Frequently Asked Questions: https://tinyurl.com/y9f2ykms. Ribbons are presented to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each category.

This is a great opportunity to show off our efforts as NJ bee-keepers for the government officials during our showcase display at the State House.

Any questions, please contact Patti Campbell, 2019 Honey Show Chair, at pms0255@gmail.com. We are looking forward to a successful 2019 Honey Show. Get your entries ready because Febru-ary 6 will be here before we know it!

The 2019 Annual Honey Showarticle by Patti Campbell, 2019 Honey Show Chair

Honey show entries and winners on display at the New Jersey State House for all in state government to see and appreciate! photo by John Gaut

https://tinyurl.com/ybfk3zxuhttps://tinyurl.com/y756ss3khttps://tinyurl.com/y756ss3khttps://tinyurl.com/y9f2ykmsmailto:pms0255@gmail.com

When I need to paint my hive boxes, I set up a system as shown in the photo so that I can paint one side of the boxes (I usually use a roller), then rotate all of them a quarter turn to paint the next side, and so

on, until all four sides are painted at least twice. It's easy to work at waist height rather than bent over, and the rotation time allows for the paint to dry between coats.

Martine Gubernat, RVBA

NJBA NewsletterThe New Jersey Beekeepers Association newsletter is published bimonthly, six times a year. Prior to the dead-lines listed below, each branch should submit any officer changes, in addition to submitting important upcoming meeting and/or event dates for publication in the newsletter. NJBA members are also invited to submit news, essays, photos, articles, etc. for publication. All submissions should be sent via email to the newsletter editor, Martine Gubernat (MartineGubernat@gmail.com). Text submissions should be in Word doc or Rich Text Format and sent as attachments; photos should be sent as JPEG attachments and must include a caption + photo credit. Deadlines for submission are:December 10 for the January/February issueFebruary 10 for the March/April issueApril 10 for the May/June issueJune 10 for the July/August issueAugust 10 for the September/October issueOctober 10 for the November/December issue

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Members of the Raritan Valley Beekeeper’s Association celebrated the holiday season with a potluck feast of food, fellowship, and fun on December 20. Nicole Medina, the NJ Honey Queen, joined the party and shared her experiences so far as she prepares to partici-pate in the national competition. RVBA members brought contri-butions to a silent auction.

photo by Danish Ali, RVBA member

Have a Honey Holiday!

RVBA Holiday Cheer! Orange Balsamic Dressingby Alice Casey

Northwest branch member

• ¼ cup fresh orange juice• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar• ½ cup extra virgin olive

oil• 1 teaspoon orange zest• ½ teaspoon salt or to

taste• 1 tablespoon honey Di-

jon mustard• 2 tablespoon honey

Put all the ingredients in a mason jar and shake well. Enjoy!

Painting Boxes the Easy Way!

mailto:MartineGubernat@gmail.com

15

Patty and I were able to travel to Cuba in No-vember to join 27 other beekeepers from across the United States on an eight-day beekeeping tour of Cuba.

Admittedly, I was a bit concerned that we did not know anyone on the trip. There were couples and singles from all over the country. One bee-keeper had a single hive that died every year, and another guy had 20,000 hives and worked as a migratory pollinator. There were liberals and con-servatives, old and young, quiet and loud. The really surprising thing was the closeness Patty and I felt with this random group of beekeepers by the end of the trip. After all, we spent eight days together, ate two meals together each day, and hung out to-gether during our free time. Another nice surprise was that these random group of beekeepers looked out for Patty. Many of you know about Patty’s bal-ance issues. In Third World countries, there are no handicap assistance aids that we take for granted in the U.S. Many of the American beekeepers were very helpful to Patty during our trip. Patty always tells me that she thinks the reason God allowed her to have her problem is because it brings out the best in other people.

We learned a lot about the country of Cuba, including its history and culture. We saw many beautiful sights. After taking other trips to Malawi and Haiti, I was concerned that there would not be enough beekeeping activity in Cuba but the trip offered a nice balance between beekeeping, cul-ture, and history. Most of the couples on the trip included one beekeeper and the other partner who was not really interested in beekeeping, but there was something for everyone to do and see. Patty got to ride a horse from a local horse farmer while I was looking at a queen breeding operation. She got her nails done in Cienfuentes by a tough-looking Cuban woman. We both got to swim in the Carib-bean Sea after I was finished working bees in a bee yard. We ate some very delicious foods.

I learned many interesting things about their beekeeping industry. Beekeeping is regulated by the

A Beekeeping Tour of Cubaby Tim Schuler, NJ State Apiarist

government because Cuba is a communist country. A beekeeper with 200 hives would be considered the upper-middle-class level of Cuban society. Because of the warm weather, they never have a nectar dearth; beekeepers average 350 pounds of honey per hive, per year.

Varroa is managed through drone trapping and genetic selection. The beekeepers place an empty frame in a colony and because there is always a nec-tar flow, the bees will draw drone cells in the frame. When the drone brood is capped, the beekeepers cut out the comb and render it for wax. If the mite levels get over 3%, they will treat the colony but the honey from that hive would not be sold for a period of time.

Their honey is exported to the European Union, with Germany mentioned specifically. All colonies are re-queened every year because the queens get worn out since they are always on a nectar flow. Only certain people are allowed to breed queens. The selection criteria are strict and controlled by govern-ment oversight. Queen mothers have strict selection criteria, too. The cells are culled if the cup is not filled with jelly by a certain day in the production schedule. If the queen does not weigh 450 milligrams, then her head is pinched. A new queen costs the beekeeper the equivalent of about $7 U.S. dollars.

The government gets 85% of the beekeepers’ production while the beekeepers are able to keep 15%. Many beekeepers were originally trained as veterinarians but they can make better money as beekeepers rather than as government veterinarians. One beekeeper used five over five frame nucs with a homemade cloake board to make queen cells. Bee hives are moved to different locations for honey production. Since most beekeepers do not have a truck, the bees are moved with the government truck to the new location.

Patty and I really had a great trip and would recommend it to other NJ beekeepers to consider in 2019.

(continued on the next page with photos from the trip)

16

A Beekeeping Tour of Cubaphotos by and courtesy of Tim Schuler, NJ State Apiarist

Tim and Patty enjoying coffee in the city square

Patty on horseback Cuban beekeepers with Tim

Cuban bee yard Tim with Cuban beekeeper Pedal-power honey extractor

Tim in the queen yard Queen cups Verroa -- enemy #1

Tim with a frame of bees Cuban beekeeper with Tim

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December 17 2018: The “substantially revised” proposed beekeeping rules were published in the New Jersey Register on December 3, 2018. The publica-tion opens a 60-day public comment period, which will end February 1, 2019. The rule proposal can be found at https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdf.

The current Rule Proposal is based on the proposal that was published in November, 2017, and the format used in the Register is very confusing. The following formatting clues are provided: “Full text of the proposed substantial changes to the proposed amendments and new rules follows (additions to proposal indicated in italicized boldface thus, deletions from proposal indi-cated in italicized cursive brackets {thus}):”It does not appear as though these conventions were consistently followed. In addition, there are references to the prior proposal indicated only by “(No change from propos-al).” I have created a document (now available via the link above that was also emailed to all members prior to publication of this newsletter) that shoule be more readable because proposed deletions have actually been deleted, and the most recently added language has been integrated with wording that remains from the prior November 2017 Rule Proposal.

By law, because the New Jersey Department of Agriculture chose to keep the original Rule Proposal and revise it instead of starting fresh, they were required to respond to all the comments that were submitted to them. According to my count, there were about 1,031 comments made by beekeepers, non-beekeepers, churches, environmental organizations, county boards of agriculture, municipalities (at least three dozen of them) and legislators. It is my understanding that of those, only about 18 were in favor of the original rules proposal. While you are formulating your response to this version of the rules, please go through the NJDA’s responses to comments and make sure that any concerns you raised during the last public comment period have been addressed. Several of the NJBA comments were not addressed, so we expect that other comments may also have been ignored.

At last year’s New Jersey Agricultural Convention, Secretary of Agriculture Douglas H. Fisher acknowl-edged that mistakes had been made with the first set of proposed rules. Although the NJBA was successful in getting the support of the Convention Delegates for

“Substantially Revised” Proposed Beekeeping Regulations Updateby Janet A. Katz, Legislative Liaison, janet.katz@njbeekeepers.org

a Resolution that asked the Department of Agriculture to form a new committee to draft revised rules (https://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/conventions/2018/2018%20Resolution%20%2322%20-%20Beekeeping.pdf), no new committee was formed. Such a committee should have included State Board of Agriculture members, representatives of the entities specified in the legislation, i.e., the NJBA, the New Jersey League of Municipalities (NJLOM), and the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture Research and Extension Consortium (MAAREC), as well as the Farm Bureau. The Delegates’ Convention Resolution also urged the work be done “transparently through sharing of drafts and issues throughout the committee’s membership and for the entire duration of the revisions process,…”. This did not happen. While we were pro-vided with draft revisions a few days prior to our two meetings with NJDA staffers and immediately prior to the October 2018 Board of Agriculture meeting at which the State Board of Agriculture approved publica-tion in the Register of the revised draft regulations, we were not given a copy of the draft that was sent to the attorney general’s office sometime after our last meet-ing with NJDA staff. We were also not advised of any questions the Governor’s office may have had were we nor included in any meetings that the NJDA had with the Governor’s office concerning the proposed rules. We also never met in committee with any State Board of Agriculture members to discuss the draft regulations.

While many improvements have been made in the proposed rules, there are still some significant problems. We are most concerned about the following:

“(f) Notwithstanding compliance with this chapter including these apiary standards, it shall be unlawful for any beekeeper to keep any hive or hives in such a manner or of such disposition as to pose a direct threat to:

1. Public health and safety; or2. Bee health, as determined by the State Apiarist

or his or her designee.”We have objected strenuously to this language

in our written comments to the November 2017 Rule Proposal, at each meeting with NJDA staff, and to the State Board of Agriculture at their October 2018 meeting prior to their vote to formally propose the new Rules by publishing them in the New Jersey Register. We believe this language guts the rules, leaving beekeepers who are

(continued on next page)

https://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdfhttps://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdfhttps://www.nj.gov/agriculture/rule/DOA%20Notice%20of%20Subst.%20Change%20(50%20N.J.R.%202355(a)).pdfmailto:janet.katz@njbeekeepers.orghttps://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/conventions/2018/2018%20Resolution%20%2322%20-%20Beekeeping.pdfhttps://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/conventions/2018/2018%20Resolution%20%2322%20-%20Beekeeping.pdfhttps://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/conventions/2018/2018%20Resolution%20%2322%20-%20Beekeeping.pdf

18

following all the standards for hive density, location and maintenance stated in the rules nevertheless open to enforcement actions that could arbitrarily require them to relocate hives or even lose their right to keep hive.

We are also very con-cerned that the density chart allows 3 hives on a quarter acre, and (on a sliding scale) more on larger acreages, but still does not clearly allow hives to be kept on less than ¼ acre parcels. From our discussions with staff, we believe that their intent was to allow 3 colonies on lots of ¼ or less, but the chart is ambiguous.

There are numerous other weaknesses and prob-lems in the proposed lan-guage, and hopefully, by the time you read this, we will have provided updates about those things via email, on the website and on the Beekeepers of New Jersey Legislative Action Page, https://www.facebook.com/BeekeepersofNewJersey-LegislativeAction/, and, ultimately, the NJBA formal response to the proposed rules.

If you still have ques-tions, you can email me at janet.katz@njbeekeepers.org.

Last year, NJBA president Jeff Burd recalled a suggestion that I’d made as treasurer several years ago, that a separate, non-profit entity with a status of 501(c)(3) be created separate from the New Jersey Beekeepers Association for the purpose of promoting beekeeping within the general public.

Some of you may be aware that the NJBA, incorporated in 1952, has an IRS designation as a 501(c)(5). That designation relieves the organization from having to pay income taxes; however, donations to the NJBA are not tax deduct-ible. Additionally, the Association must pay New Jersey sales tax on goods and services it purchases that are subject to that tax. The NJBA is also permitted, under IRS rules, to lobby on behalf of its membership. In a sense, it is a labor or business organization founded to promote the welfare of its general membership.

This past spring, this new entity was created and the application was made to the IRS for 501(c)(3) status, which was granted. The New Jersey Beekeepers Foundation (NJBF) is now established as a separate New Jersey corporation. Further, the state of New Jersey deemed the NJBF to be exempt from paying New Jersey sales tax on purchases needed to promote the goals of the Foundation.

The trustees of the NJBF, at present, are Jeff Burd, Isadore Venetos, Charles Ilsley, and me. Annual reports will be made to the Association.

The Articles of Incorporation state the mission of the Foundation as follows:The Objective of the Corporation shall be to promote the

general public’s awareness of the importance of beekeeping; to provide educational materials toward that purpose, including, but not limited to the publication and distribution of infor-mative pamphlets, the sponsorship of scholarships towards new beekeeper training, and the conducting of promotional programs such as the Honey Queen program which sponsors a number of representatives whose appearances at schools and fairs and other public venues where their role is to educate the public about the importance of honey bees.

The Foundation is funded through direct public donation as well as funds from the Association. Several donations have been made to the Honey Queen program, and that program’s expenditures will be covered through the Founda-tion. In the case of donations by private individuals or corporate entities, those donations are fully tax deductible.

The question has come up as to whether the Foundation’s tax-exempt status could be used to avoid sales taxes for other Association purchases, such as for the purchase of bees for members. The answer is that this would violate the law governing such non-profits. It would also subject the Foundation, and the Association, to possible legal action by the state of New Jersey, which relies on sales tax revenues to fund its obligations. The IRS only grants 501(c)(3) status to organizations whose purpose, as stated in its founding documents, meets the IRS standards for that designation.

There is nothing to prevent the Association, or any of its branches, from using its aggregate buying power to obtain better pricing for goods and services, which are rightfully subject, where appropriate, to New Jersey sale tax. However, the purpose and role of the Foundation ought to be rightfully restricted to those public purposes in its founding document.

The New Jersey Beekeepers Foundationby Curtis Crowell, CJBA member

(continued from previous page)

https://www.facebook.com/BeekeepersofNewJerseyLegislativeAction/https://www.facebook.com/BeekeepersofNewJerseyLegislativeAction/https://www.facebook.com/BeekeepersofNewJerseyLegislativeAction/mailto:janet.katz@njbeekeepers.orgmailto:janet.katz@njbeekeepers.org

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Full text of the proposed substantial changes to the proposedamendments and new rules follows (additions to proposal indicatedin italicized boldface thus, deletions from proposal indicated initalicized cursive brackets {thus}):

SUBCHAPTER 1. DEFINITIONS

2:24-1.1 DefinitionsAs used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have

the following meanings:“Adequate source of water” means a constant and

continuous source(s) of water provided by the beekeeper, or naturallyavailable, on the same property as the hives.

“Adjoining property” means any property that shares any boundary with the property upon which the subject apiary is located.

“Apiary” means one or more hives (each containing a colony) of honeybees that are kept at a single location. The property wherethe hive(s) are located may or may not be owned by the owner of thehives. If used for overwintering hives, apiaries must be registeredpursuant to N.J.A.C. 2:24-3.1.…

“Beekeeper” means any person or entity who owns and engages in the breeding or keeping of honeybee hive or hives.…

“Commercial beekeeper” means1. A beekeeping operation that overwinters hives and produces

honey or other agricultural or horticultural apiary-related products;2. Provides crop pollination services, worth $10,000 or more

annually; and/or3. Otherwise qualifies as a commercial farm pursuant to the Right

to Farm Act, N.J.S.A. 4:1C-1 et seq., as amended and supplemented.…

“Deep frame” means a moveable frame designed to fit a standard9 5/8 inch tall hive.…

“Governing authority” means the Department or its designee or, if the Department delegates authority to a municipality, the governing body of the municipality or its designee as approved by the Departmentpursuant to N.J.A.C. 2:24-7.4. …

“Hive identification” means a mark that has been branded,engraved, painted, or written with permanent marker on eachhive(s) and that shall be a name, number, initials, or image.

“Hobbyist beekeeper” means one who engages in beekeeping and may gift or sell apiary products involving the bees or apiary products, who is not a commercial beekeeper.…

“Nucleus” means a small honeybee hive with between three to fivedeep frames, or their equivalent, in the box and no supers attached.

“Nuc box” is a small box commonly used by beekeepers tohouse a nucleus. …

“Shipper” means any person or business entity that ships ordropships queens, packages, or divides into New Jersey or to New Jersey residents.

“Super” refers to any hive body or smaller box used for the storage of surplus honey that is placed over or above the broodchamber.

“Swarming” refers to the natural method of propagation of thehoneybee colony where a portion of the colony leaves looking for anew location.

“Undeveloped tract of land” means any land that is not improved or actually in the process of being improved withresidential, commercial, industrial, church, park, school orgovernmental facilities, or other structures or improvementsintended for human use and occupancy, and the groundsmaintained in association therewith.SUBCHAPTER 3. REGISTRATION OF APIARIES

2:24-3.1 Registration requirements; confidentiality and documentation

(a) All beekeepers must register and obtain a unique

Apiary Inspection Service (AIS) number covering all of the beekeeper's bee yard location(s) where bees are overwintered.

(b) All beekeepers in New Jersey who overwinter their bees must register their apiary(ies) with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Apiary Inspection Program on an annual basis.

(c) The registration application is to be submitted electronically at https://www24.state.nj.us/AG_Apiary/ApiaryApp or by paper and shall include the following:

1. The name, address, e-mail address, and phone number of the beekeeper;

2. The actual physical location of the apiariesand, if the beekeeper is not the property owner, the name, mailing address,and telephone number of the property owner;

3. The mark or “hive identification”; 4. The number of hives per location;5. The electronic or physical signature of the registration applicant;

and6. Upon initial registration, acknowledgement from the

beekeeper overwintering apiaries, of the requirement that within a yearprior to or after the date of the initial registration, the beekeeper shalltake a beginner/general beekeeping course from either an accreditedcollege or university, the State Apiarist, or a local beekeeping club.By the second annual registration, the beekeeper shall certifycompliance with this educational requirement.

i. This education requirement shall not apply to beekeepers who havebeen continuously registered under the AIS system prior to (the effectivedate of this new rule); or

ii. This education requirement shall not apply to beekeepers whocertify they are certified as Master Beekeepers through an accreditedprogram.

7. If submitted by paper, the application shall be mailed to:Director, Division of Plant IndustryNew Jersey Department of AgriculturePO Box 330Trenton, New Jersey 08625.

(d) The only information contained in the individual registration that shall be considered public shall be the beekeeper's name and mailing address; all other beekeeper required information shall be considered confidential.

(e) Issuance of certificate of registration. The Department shall review the application for completion and request additional information, if necessary, before issuing the certificate of registration pursuant to this section.

(f) Active registrations. The certificate of registration shall bear the date of the issuance, name of the beekeeper, description of the premises covered by the registration, and beekeeper AIS number. Every registration of apiary(ies) shall be nontransferable and shall cover the apiary(ies) and the named beekeeper AIS number.

(g) All active registrations are provided by the Department and are valid in every municipality where a registered hive is located.

(h) Expiration date. Every certificate of registration under this section shall automatically expire on the 31st day of December in the year in which it was issued.

(i) The Department shall supply the registrant, through a link to its website, with access to current New Jersey laws and rules.

SUBCHAPTER 7. APIARY AND MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATIVE STANDARDS FOR BREEDING AND KEEPING OF BEES AND RELATED ACTIVITIES

2:24-7.1 General scope and applicability (a) This subchapter is not applicable to beekeepers not

overwintering any hives, migratory commercial beekeepers, orcommercial beekeepers.

(b) This subchapter establishes additional apiary standards for the breeding and keeping of honey bees and related activities, not otherwise contained in this chapter.

(c) Nothing in this subchapter shall be interpreted to supersede the protections afforded by the Right to Farm Act, P.L. 1983, c. 31 (N.J.S.A. 4:1C-1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented, or to createany standards to be applied under that act.

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PROPOSALS ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

(d) This subchapter establishes standards of administrative procedure for delegating the authority to monitor and enforce the rules adopted pursuant to this subchapter to municipalities.

(e) The apiary standards in this subchapter reflect consideration of the population densities in rural, suburban, and urban areas of the State and the densities and intensities of development and differing land uses in communities throughout the State.

(f) Notwithstanding compliance with this chapter including these apiary standards, it shall be unlawful for any beekeeper to keep any hive or hives in such a manner or of such disposition as to posea direct threat to:

1. Public health and safety; or2. Bee health, as determined by the State Apiarist or his or

her designee.2:24-7.2 Apiary standards

(a) Colony density shall be as follows: 1.

Tract of Land Size Number of Colonies Allowed¼ Acre 3½ Acre 6¾ Acre 91 Acre 12Over 1 acre 3 per ¼ acre not to exceed

N.J.A.C. 2:24-7.2(a)(2)

2. Notwithstanding (a) 1 above, colony density shall not exceed40 hives per contiguous tract of land.

3. For every two colonies permitted on a tract of land, there maybe maintained upon the same tract one nucleus colony with no superattached from March 1st through October 31st. Any additionalnucleus colony shall be moved to another location, tract, orcombined with a colony on the same property within 90 daysafter the date made or acquired.

4. A beekeeper may seek permission from the governing authorityto keep more hives than permissible under the requirements of this subchapter, by seeking a waiver as provided for under N.J.A.C.2:24- 7.3,Waiver.

(b). Swarming. A beekeeper shall manage all hives to limit and promptly address swarming using accepted swarm managementtechniques for the industry, which may include, but are not limitedto, providing adequate room for colony growth, splitting, andrequeening.

(c) Structure. In accordance with N.J.S.A. 4:6-10, a beekeeper shall keep all hives in manmade structures with removable frames in a sound and usable condition.

(d) Location. A beekeeper shall locate all hives a minimum of 10 feet from any property line and at least 20 feet from any roadside, sidewalk, or path.

1. Hives must be securely placed on level ground or securedonrooftop installations;

2. When hives are located on rooftops, they shall not be less than20 feet from any area used for outdoor human activity; and

3. Hives are not permitted on balconies of multistory,multifamily dwelling unit buildings.

(e) Flyway barrier. When a colony is located less than 20 feetfrom any property line, a beekeeper shall establish a flyway barrier at least six feet in height consisting of a solid wall, fence, dense vegetation, or combination thereof that is parallel to the property line and maintain it to extend 10 feet beyond the colony in each direction, except if the property adjoining a colony is undeveloped or agriculturally utilized, when no flyway barrier is required on that side.

1. Notwithstanding this subsection, all flyway barriers mustcomply with any Federal, State, or local laws, rules, regulations,and/or ordinances.

(f) Water. A beekeeper shall provide all hives with access to adequate sources of water.

(g) Queens. A beekeeper shall select queens from Apismellifera stock bred for gentleness and non-swarming characteristics. Queens shall be replaced within three weeks if a colony exhibits unusual defensive behavior without due provocation or exhibits an unusual disposition toward swarming.

(h) General maintenance. No bee comb or other materials that might encourage robbing by honey bees or other stinging insects shall be left upon the grounds of the apiary site in suburban and urban environments.

(i) Marking of hives. All beekeepers shall legibly mark hives with the hive identification. This hive identification shall correspond to the information provided in the apiary registration required by N.J.A.C. 2:24-3.1(b).

(j) Access. The beekeeper shall provide access to all apiariesunder the beekeeper’s control to inspectors from any and all governmental agencies with jurisdiction to enforce this chapterpertaining to the hives, maintenance of the hives, or disease control.Beekeepers will be notified in advance, where possible and feasible.If the beekeeper cannot be located, notice shall be to the landownerwhere the apiary is located.

(k) Inspection shall be conducted as follows: 1. The hives may be inspected as needed by the New Jersey

State Apiarist or his or her designee; and2. All colonies shall be managed by the beekeeper for

disease and population management control no less than three times between March 1 and October 1 annually.

(l) Violations and enforcement {.} are as follows:1. A beekeeper who violates N.J.A.C. 2:24-4.1 will be subject to

penalties pursuant to N.J.A.C. 2:24-4.1(f). A beekeeper whoviolates other sections of this chapter shall be subject first to awritten warning identifying each offense with written notice ofcorrective action required. If corrective action is not taken withinseven calendar days after the receipt of such a warning, thebeekeeper may be subject to a Notice of Violation. Enforcement of aNotice of Violation may include, but is not limited to, requiredimmediate relocation of hive(s) at the beekeeper’s expense, and/orrevocation of the beekeeper’s certificate of registration and his or herability to keep bees.

i. Written appeals of a Notice of Violation by the beekeeper mustbe received by the Department, or the applicable governing authoritywithin 25 calendar days after constructive, or actual, receipt ofthe Notice of Violation by the beekeeper or landowner.

ii. Written appeals of any Notice of Violation issued by theDepartment should be sent to:

DirectorDivision of Plant IndustryNew Jersey Department of AgriculturePO Box 330Trenton, New Jersey 08625

iii. Written appeals of any Notice of Violation issued by agoverning authority shall be sent to the address provided in the Noticeof Violation.

2. In instances where the State Apiarist is not the official issuingthe Notice of Violation, enforcement of the Notice of Violation, ifappealed, shall be stayed pending the adjudicative process,unless the State Apiarist, or his or her designee, determines astay is unnecessary pending the appeal process.

3.Denial or revocationof registration. The Department, shall deny or revoke the certificate of registration provided pursuant toN.J.A.C. 2:24-3.1 to any registered beekeeper who does not meet the requirements of this section. A written letter of denial stating the reason(s) for the denial and/or revocation of the registration will be issued by the Department.

i. Where a governing authority has authority pursuant to P.L. 2015,c. 76, the governing authority may request the Department take actionto revoke and/or deny a certification pursuant to this subsection.

4. Appeal of denials or revocations. Beekeeper applicants who have been denied a registration or whose certificate of registrationhas been denied or revoked may appeal the denial to the Department.

i. Written appeals must be received by the Department within 25 days of the date on the letter of denial or revocation received by the applicant.

ii. Written appeals should be sent to: Director, Division of Plant IndustryNew Jersey Department of AgriculturePO Box 330Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0330

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Full text of the proposed substantial changes to the proposedamendments and new rules follows (additions to proposal indicatedin italicized boldface thus, deletions from proposal indicated initalicized cursive brackets {thus}):

SUBCHAPTER 1. DEFINITIONS

2:24-1.1 DefinitionsAs used in this chapter, the following words and terms shall have

the following meanings:“Adequate source of water” means a constant and

continuous source(s) of water provided by the beekeeper, or naturallyavailable, on the same property as the hives.

“Adjoining property” means any property that shares any boundary with the property upon which the subject apiary is located.

“Apiary” means one or more hives (each containing a colony) of honeybees that are kept at a single location. The property wherethe hive(s) are located may or may not be owned by the owner of thehives. If used for overwintering hives, apiaries must be registeredpursuant to N.J.A.C. 2:24-3.1.…

“Beekeeper” means any person or entity who owns and engages in the breeding or keeping of honeybee hive or hives.…

“Commercial beekeeper” means1. A beekeeping operation that overwinters hives and produces

honey or other agricultural or horticultural apiary-related products;2. Provides crop pollination services, worth $10,000 or more

annually; and/or3. Otherwise qualifies as a commercial farm pursuant to the Right

to Farm Act, N.J.S.A. 4:1C-1 et seq., as amended and supplemented.…

“Deep frame” means a moveable frame designed to fit a standard9 5/8 inch tall hive.…

“Governing authority” means the Department or its designee or, if the Department delegates authority to a municipality, the governing body of the municipality or its designee as approved by the Departmentpursuant to N.J.A.C. 2:24-7.4. …

“Hive identification” means a mark that has been branded,engraved, painted, or written with permanent marker on eachhive(s) and that shall be a name, number, initials, or image.

“Hobbyist beekeeper” means one who engages in beekeeping and may gift or sell apiary products involving the bees or apiary products, who is not a commercial beekeeper.…

“Nucleus” means a small honeybee hive with between three to fivedeep frames, or their equivalent, in the box and no supers attached.

“Nuc box” is a small box commonly used by beekeepers tohouse a nucleus. …

“Shipper” means any person or business entity that ships ordropships queens, packages, or divides into New Jersey or to New Jersey residents.

“Super” refers to any hive body or smaller box used for the storage of surplus honey that is placed over or above the broodchamber.

“Swarming” refers to the natural method of propagation of thehoneybee colony where a portion of the colony leaves looking for anew location.

“Undeveloped tract of land” means any land that is not improved or actually in the process of being improved withresidential, commercial, industrial, church, park, school orgovernmental facilities, or other structures or improvementsintended for human use and occupancy, and the groundsmaintained in association therewith.SUBCHAPTER 3. REGISTRATION OF APIARIES

2:24-3.1 Registration requirements; confidentiality and documentation

(a) All beekeepers must register and obtain a unique

Apiary Inspection Service (AIS) number covering all of the beekeeper's bee yard location(s) where bees are overwintered.

(b) All beekeepers in New Jersey who overwinter their bees must register their apiary(ies) with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture Apiary Inspection Program on an annual basis.

(c) The registration application is to be submitted electronically at https://www24.state.nj.us/AG_Apiary/ApiaryApp or by paper and shall include the following:

1. The name, address, e-mail address, and phone number of the beekeeper;

2. The actual physical location of the apiariesand, if the beekeeper is not the property owner, the name, mailing address,and telephone number of the property owner;

3. The mark or “hive identification”; 4. The number of hives per location;5. The electronic or physical signature of the registration applicant;

and6. Upon initial registration, acknowledgement from the

beekeeper overwintering apiaries, of the requirement that within a yearprior to or after the date of the initial registration, the beekeeper shalltake a beginner/general beekeeping course from either an accreditedcollege or university, the State Apiarist, or a local beekeeping club.By the second annual registration, the beekeeper shall certifycompliance with this educational requirement.

i. This education requirement shall not apply to beekeepers who havebeen continuously registered under the AIS system prior to (the effectivedate of this new rule); or

ii. This education requirement shall not apply to beekeepers whocertify they are certified as Master Beekeepers through an accreditedprogram.

7. If submitted by paper, the application shall be mailed to:Director, Division of Plant IndustryNew Jersey Department of AgriculturePO Box 330Trenton, New Jersey 08625.

(d) The only information contained in the individual registration that shall be considered public shall be the beekeeper's name and mailing address; all other beekeeper required information shall be considered confidential.

(e) Issuance of certificate of registration. The Department shall review the application for completion and request additional information, if necessary, before issuing the certificate of registration pursuant to this section.

(f) Active registrations. The certificate of registration shall bear the date of the issuance, name of the beekeeper, description of the premises covered by the registration, and beekeeper AIS number. Every registration of apiary(ies) shall be nontransferable and shall cover the apiary(ies) and the named beekeeper AIS number.

(g) All active registrations are provided by the Department and are valid in every municipality where a registered hive is located.

(h) Expiration date. Every certificate of registration under this section shall automatically expire on the 31st day of December in the year in which it was issued.

(i) The Department shall supply the registrant, through a link to its website, with access to current New Jersey laws an