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4-13-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hey Everyone,
After doing some web searching, I have determined what happened to me was a
"mild allergic" reaction with "large local reaction" characteristics.
Although not serious, very painful.
Apparently there are five types of sting reactions;
1)Local reactions- pain, swelling, and redness around the sting site.
2)Large local reactions- swelling that extends beyond the sting site. For
example, a person stung on the ankle may have swelling of the entire leg.
While it often looks alarming, it is generally no more serious than a normal
reaction.
3)Toxic reactions- may experience vomiting and diarrhea.
4)Mild allergic reactions- pimple like spots, pain, redness, itching,
warmth and moderate swelling all at the sting site.
5)Severe allergic reactions- difficulty breathing, swelling of the face,
throat, or mouth tissue, wheezing or difficulty swallowing, restlessness and
anxiety, rapid pulse, dizziness or a sharp drop in blood pressure. The most
severe sting reaction and could lead to death if not treated immediately.
Of course I copied and pasted much of the information as most websites had
pretty much the same information.
I told someone the other day, "when you become a beekeeper, you soon become
an amateur botanist." I think we might have to add "amateur toxicologist"
to that list.
Happy Beekeeping,
Scotty
REPLY: Scott,
I have found the plastic nuc from BeeMax works great for capturing swarms. I got one Monday. The nuc is light and has the entrance selector so you can keep the queen in until she starts laying.
Great list for the kit.
Chuck
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4-12-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hey Everyone,
Don't forget to keep an eye on your hives during this extremely windy
weather we have been having lately. Especially if you have already supered.
This makes them tall and light until they get enough nectar in them to hold
them down.
On another note:
Several years ago I took more stings than I normally encounter all year in
one evening. The result was that the next day my ankles were extremely
sore. So sore in fact that I could hardly walk on them. But by the next
day everything was generally back to normal.
I took a few stings on Sunday evening while doing a little beekeeping.
Nothing out of the ordinary, four or five around my wrist and ONE on the
back of my left calf where she had climbed up my leg. But there was
something different about the one on the back of my leg, nothing major, it
was just a little more sore than usual. By the time I got home Monday
evening I could hardly stand to walk on it. It was swollen and had a fever
in it. This morning my whole body was sore. I just barely got out of bed
without falling from the pain. Not just my leg, my whole body ached. As I
write this, I can feel my heart beat in my leg and it still has a fever. I
can't even touch it it's so sore. I finally broke down and took an
anti-inflammatory a few minute ago so I'll see if that helps.
Any thoughts? Does anyone else have occasional episodes like this?
Scotty
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3-21-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hey Everyone,
I spent the better part of my day going through twelve of my hives. This was the first time this season I have given them a through inspection, looking at every frame and making repairs and/or replacing damaged wooden ware.
It was an unexpected surprise to see drones already, but a bigger surprise to see swarm cells that had larvae in them. I even had a few supersedure cells in a very strong hive.
The bees were hauling in pollen and nectar as fast as their little wings would allow them to. Two of the hives have already began to cap cells with white wax. If this weather holds out and things progress as they have so far, I will have to start supering these two hives later this week. This would be a record for earliest supering I have ever had to do.
Now that we are having these eighty+ degree days, give those hives a thou row inspection. You may be as surprised as I was today.
Happy Beekeeping
Scotty
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2-14-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hello everyone,
With the temps reaching into the sixty's for the next few days this is an
excellent time to do some hive inspections. I'm not talking about going
through every frame! Opening a colony this time of year should be as
minimally invasive as possible. To be on the safe side, make sure the temp
is at least 60 degrees, sunny and calm winds. The cluster will most likely
be in the upper brood chamber and an inspection of a few center frames
should be sufficient to establish the presents of the queen and if she is
laying. There probably want be many eggs and/or brood so you may have to
look at a couple frame to find any. Check for food stores also. If in
dough about how much food the bees have left, feed them, you can't go wrong
by feeding them.
This is also the time to start stimulus feeding if you want maximum colony
production. You need 60,000+ bees when the nectar flow start (in our area,
about 15 April, give or take a week or so.) Feeding a 1/1 sugar syrup will
stimulate the queen to laying earlier than normal. We'll talk more in depth
about this at our next meeting, 21 Feb 2011.
Warning: If you start the stimulus feeding, you must continue until the
nectar flow is strong enough to support the growing colony.
Hope to see everyone at our next meeting,
Scotty
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2-14-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hey Everyone,
I let this sneak up on me! The Nashville Area Beekeepers Association is
having their introductory course this week beginning on Wednesday evening,
16 Feb. 2011, at 6:00pm. It's Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 6-9pm,
and Saturday from 9am-3pm. For more information go to NABA home page
(http://www.nashbee.org/) and click on "Bee School" on the right side. The
cost is twenty dollars per person.
I took this course years ago and it was excellent then. I can only believe
it has gotten better. If you have the time please attend.
Scotty
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2-05-2011
Hey Everyone,
Just moments ago I noticed Brushy Mountain is having another free Webinar class on Wednesday, 09 Feb 2011. The notice states the class will be at 6:00pm EST (5:00pm CST). But when you register it says 7:00pm EST (5:00pm CST).
The ones I have watched have been excellent and this one looks as it might bee also.
This Webinar title is "Hive Tracks-Free Online Record Keeping Application". It is being presented by Mark Henson, one of the co-creators of the Hive Tracks program.
Registration is required and is limited. Sign up soon!!!
Scotty
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1-31-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hello everyone,
For several years now I have been swapping goods with an Amish man, Mr.
Fisher, who lives to the northwest of Ft. Campbell. For the most part I send
him honey and he returns the jars full of his own maple syrup. This year he
returned the jars, full with fresh maple syrup, and had hand etched a straw
skep scene into the glass. I took several photos of them but until I can
figure out how to get the light correct this is the best I could do.
Scotty
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1-27-11 FROM SCOTT:
Hello everyone,
UT has posted their Beemaster program class schedule for 2011. There are a
total of five classes with two being reasonably close to us, one in
Springfield and the other in Jackson. The fee is $100, but the first 20
people registering (fees paid to UT) get a 50% scholarship for a total cost
of $50. The way I understand it, if you want to drive to Mountain City, the
classes are free (don't hold me to that). At the writing of this there were
still scholarships available.
Also remember if you plan to take advantage of the TAEP grant, this class is
mandatory.
Click on the link below for more information and registration.
http://bees.tennessee.edu/beemaster.htm
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 10-31-10
Happy Halloween Everyone,
This is just going to be a short little blurb about the TBA conference held this past Friday and Saturday in Cookeville. I was unable to stay for Saturday's presentations, but was able to attend the board meeting on Thursday evening and stay all day Friday, including participating as a steward for the TBA "George DeBusk Honey Show."
From the board meeting
1) They have discovered the source of the 57 cases of American Foul Brood outbreak centered around Putnam, Overton, and Cumberland counties. The AFB spores were on the bees shipped in the packaged bees this spring. They refused to name the supplier, but during discussions later, the supplier's name was mentioned, but as requested, I will not mention them YET.
2) Although the grant has not been finalized, TBA anticipates its third year for the beginners hive grant give away. Same as before, TBA gives two, local associations give at least one, for a total of three hives.
3) Five "TN Bee Master" courses have been scheduled for 2011. Check UT extension web page for dates and locations. The first several to sign up usually get their course fees paid by scholarship, so, sign up early.
4) TBA has been awarded a grant of nearly $30,000 to develop the "TBA Queen Rearing Project" for 2011. This is a project to train TN beekeepers how to raise queens and package bees for commercial sales. It will be limited to 10 beekeepers in each of the four following areas, East, Upper East, Middle, and West TN for a total of forty participants. Some equipment will be given to the participants, some will have to be purchased, and up to two-three days of overnight travel will be involved. This is not a program for those wishing only to raise a few queens for their own use, but, to develop a commercial queen supply for TN beekeepers.
To participate in this program you must have your application turned in to Jim Garrison (jimg@boardroominc.net) within two weeks. If more than forty persons apply, a random drawing will be used to decide who gets to participate. I have a copy of the general summary and will try to get that scanned and sent out tomorrow. I don't have a copy of the application, but will try to get that from Jim and get it out asap. If you are highly interested, don't wait on me, contact Jim yourself and get the ball rolling.
5) As part of the grant stated in the paragraph above, there will also be several seminars on "Honey Bee Value Added Products and Marketing Training"
These training classes will also be located across the state, East, Upper East, Middle, and West TN and will NOT be limited to ten per class but some high (possibly 30) number. Some of the classes will include how to make and market product made from wax, pollen and propolis.
I will talk more about the TBA annual conference at the next meeting, 15 Nov 2010, but those of you who would like to participate in the TBA Queen Rearing Project cannot wait that long to apply. Will try to get as much info about this to you asap.
Scotty
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10-21-2010 See Photo page for pictures
Everyone,
Tuesday, of last week, I had the unfortunate experience of removing a tree
that had a colony of honeybees in it. Although it wouldn't have made a
difference, I didn't know it was a bee tree until it was flat on the ground
and had split open. I rushed back to my jeep were I almost always have a
veil and grabbed a bucket, a box, smoker, garbage bags and gloves. I knew
it would be impossible to keep this colony alive so I put all the brood comb
in the box, all the empty comb in a garbage bag and comb containing honey in
the bucket.
After I had gotten the comb out I noticed the bees were clustering in the
nearby grass. As I was staring at the cluster I noticed the queen emerging,
then disappearing, and reemerging several times. I scooped her up in my
hand and placed her in a seed sack along with several hundred workers. I
left the sack there for several hours and when I went back nearly all the
bees were in there with the queen.
One thing that was interesting about this colony was that the comb was over
seven feet in length. The picture shows the length of comb as it was broken
out. I later removed another eighteen inches from the top portion that I
could not reach earlier.
I took the bees home and united them with my weakest colony. Although I
would have liked to kept the colony alive, nothing went to waste.
Scotty
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7-30-2010 Editor's note - OUCH!!!
Hello Everyone,
I'm sure everyone has heard me say, and some tired of it, always wear a veil. Well I'm not sure how I seam luck up into these situations but here goes. Wednesday I gave a beekeeping presentation to a group of young people on Ft. Campbell. Moments before I arrived, several of the children (10-12) and three of the adults suffered numerous stings from "honeybees." The whole situation leaned toward yellow jackets except that they had to remove several of the stingers from the skin. Still, this didn't sound like honeybees. So after the presentation, I was lead to where the "attack" occurred and slowly began to look for the culprits. I eased along little by little, stopping every few feet to see if I could find anything. Then suddenly, just as the children had said it happened to them, I was attacked. A yellow jacket had popped me in the corner of my left eye, between the brow and the lid. I quickly covered my face with my hands leaving only the smallest of cracks to see from and headed back the way I came. It wasn't until then I realized the yellow jacket nest was underneath the wooden steps I had been walking on. I was "hit' dozens of times but only received the one sting. The humiliating part, the he-man beekeeper walking back into camp as my eye began to swell shut! The lessens learned and the stupidity of it all; when being attacked by stinging insects, cover your face, don't start swinging and swatting, and get out of the area asap. And above all, if you know you're going into "hostile" territory, put on your veil. Mine was laying on a table not 100 meters away. The photo was taken the next morning after I got my eye open enough to see out of.
Later,
Scotty
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7-26-2010
This might be of value to someone else.
What do you know about putting sevin dust on sweet corn? I don't want the worms eating my corn but I don,t want to kill my bees either, is there
something else I should use?
Bees work the corns "male" flower (tassel) to collect pollen. I haven't seen
bees collecting fallen pollen on the leaves but remain on the tassel. The "female" flower (silks) don't produce nectar and the honeybees shouldn't be anywhere near the ears. I have never used Sevin dust on corn but have used wettable Sevin (50 WP) many, many times. Our biggest corn pest is the corn earworm and it only eats the silks, husk and of course the kernels. The adult moth lays its eggs on the silks and the larvae must be killed before it eats its way into the ear itself. I use a pressurized hand sprayer and spray directly at the silks and avoid spraying the tassels. Spray every other day, or at least every three days until silks dry up. Sevin 50 WP can be purchased by gardeners. Other pesticides are more toxic and require a "restricted use" license.
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7-26-2010
Hello Everyone,
Ten years ago I took a trip to Alaska. Hunter begged to go but it wasn't possible and I promised him when he graduated high school I would take him and he never let me forget. Hunter did his part by graduating in May, so, 17 Jul 2010 me and Hunter embarked on our father and son arctic excursion. We left Fairbanks 19 July headed to Prudhoe Bay, the northern end of the Dalton Highway and the Arctic Ocean. About 75 miles north of the Arctic Circle there is a place called Wiseman. It's a small village of about 15 permanent residents established in 1902 when gold was discovered in nearby Nolan Creek. While driving around in this historic village admiring the rustic 100 year old cabins still in use today, I noticed a honeybee on an alaskan fireweed blossom. While it is not uncommon for beekeepers to move hives to the areas north of Fairbanks to collect nectar from the thousands of acres of fireweed fields that follow the boreal forest fires, we were way north of anything that looked worthy of a beekeeper risking moving their hives this far up the Dalton Highway. The search was on! We soon discovered the source of the honeybees, Scott and Heidi Schoppenhorst, owners of Boreal Coffee & Gifts. We had stumbled upon the farthest registered beekeeper in the US! Scott and Heidi started beekeeping three years ago with one hive and added two more this spring. Whats even more impressive, they have overwinter their first hive there in Wiseman from its start from a four pound package three years ago. An amazing feat considering Wiseman is 50 miles north of Prospect Creek, where the coldest temperature ever recorded in the US occurred, -80degF. Heidi told us that this year it only got down to -58degF (Heidi is the official weather monitor for the US weather service for the area and has an impressive array of monitoring equipment.) How did they do this? Scott built a small compartment onto the side of their cabin (the oldest structure in Wiseman) were he bored a small hole though the wall and installed a fan blowing warm air from inside the house into the enclosed compartment. The time it was -58deg they were able to maintain a temperature of +40deg inside the well insulated compartment. Their main nectar flow, about a two week period in the first part of July mainly consisting of Pussy Willow growing along the Koyukuk River that flows only a few hundred feet away. Last year a two gallon yield was packaged in 4 & 8 ounce containers and sold in their gift shop for $9.95 and $15.95 respectively. They were sold out but I have reserved a 4oz container when its ready to add to my collection. Meeting the Schoppenhorst's was an unexpected pleasure and I wish them well in their beekeeping endeavors. Should you ever find yourself traveling the Dalton Highway, do not pass up the opportunity to stop at the historic town of Wiseman, it was well worth the time.
Scotty
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6-16-2010
For those who were at Monday's HSCBA meeting, here is the update on the three pound package of bees that were ordered by Henry Harbison. THEY'RE DEAD!!! The most likely cause, heat. He picked up the package shortly after the McEwen USPS called and found that 2/3 - 3/4 were already dead. When I arrived around 7:30 that evening, there were less than 500 or so bees still alive. A quick inspection revealed the queen and all her attendants were also dead. To make matters worse, the supplier didn't insure them. The cost, $90.00 + $22.00 shipping. My suggestion, Chalk this up as a lesson learned, join us at HSCBA and begin again next spring. To avoid the risk of slander, I will refrain from listing the supplier. However, I will say, they are new to the bee supply business but should have known not to ship bees in this type of weather, especially without insuring them.
More later
Scotty
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6-16-2010
Hey Everyone,
Hot enough for you? Once upon a time the heat and humidity rarely effected my decisions on working outside, but, I will have to say, I'm not the man I used to be, and therefore, find myself getting my feet wet in the morning and evening dew. Please be careful when working your bees in this heat. A full bee suit can get very hot and could cause you to have a heat stroke.
You may have been tending your bees wearing only a veil for the last several months, but remember that the nectar flow will soon be over and honeybees will become highly protective of their bounty. The hotter and dryer it becomes, the more irritable the bees will become also. This can happen in a days' time. About three years ago, we checked on an apiary and decided it was time to harvest the honey. We did this wearing only regular summertime clothing and a veil. Two days later we returned to remove the supers and had to put on full bee suits, and when finished, walk though a cornfield to get enough bees off us so we could even get back into our trucks.
There seems to be plenty of white clovers (dutch & ladina) still blooming to keep my bees from collecting white sweet clover. I am happy to say that the white sweet clover has done very, very well this year, a whole lot better than the yellow sweet clover did. Natures checks and balances, I guess. I looked at several patches of white sweet clover today and did not see one honeybee. Again, they are most likely foraging on the still abundant "true" clovers.
On another note, the wild plums are beginning to ripen. Don't wait for them to turn solid red/orange or the birds will beat you to them. I find as long as they have turned yellow with 25%-50% red is sweet enough, even less if you are making jellies with plenty of sugar.
I have found only a handful of ripened blackberries and they were quite
tart. My rule of thumb for blackberries-- you will have to look, but, you
should be able to find enough to make a cobbler by the fourth of July.
Hope to see you this Monday at our meeting, 6:30p
Stay Cool,
Scotty
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6-1-2010
I just finished watching todays webinar hosted by Kim Flottum. Again, another excellent presentation. Please keep a lookout for the next webinar on www.brushymountaibeefarm.com . My first two were very informative and anybody not taking advantage of this free information is missing out big time.
Scotty
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6-1-2010
Hello everyone,Hello everyone,
Can you believe it's June already? UT recommends all swarms emerging after 01June to be united with week colonies. If it is a large swarm and you are dedicated to feeding it, you can, and I have, hived swarms during the month of June and they survived. I would not attempt trying this on a July swarm, it's risky enough in June.
The Dutch and Ladino clovers are still blooming rather well although I have began to see a lot of them drying up. I'm very disappointed in the lack of sweet clover this year. The yellow has been blooming for several weeks now and I haven't seen any white yet, but from the looks of things, I'm not expecting the white to do any better.
Anyone wanting to extract honey soon make certain most, 85% or better, is capped. Too much uncapped honey will raise moisture levels above 18% and will cause your honey to ferment. Use a refractometer if you have any doubts. Extract supers as soon as you can after removing them from the hive. If you need to keep them for a day or two, keep them in a warm, 90 degrees or so, screened room. Preferably with a de-humidifier. Don't let them set over three to four days or you may have wax moth or small hive beetle damage.
All cut-comb supers or sections need to be frozen for several days to kill
any wax moth eggs. You don't want wax moth larva eating through your
packaged combs. Be sure to cover supers in a plastic bag before freezing.
Condensation will collect on frozen supers when they are removed from the freezer just like on the outside of a glass of good ole southern sweet tea in the hot, humid summer.
I've always wanted to move some hives to the mountains for sour wood honey but have never had a location to put them. I have a friend who lives on Signal Mt. near Chattanooga, TN who claims putting hives on public land is asking for trouble. I now have a co-worker who's family resides near Cherokee, NC and I may be able to place a few hives to on their property. Does anyone know anything about collecting sour wood honey? I know the hives need to be in place by the 4th of July but that is about it.
Is anyone interested in risking a couple three hives and go with me??? Let me know soonest so we can get organized.
Hope everyone's supers are full!
Scotty
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5-30-2010
Hello everyone,
Like most of our members, I have to do my beekeeping when the opportunity presents itself. This is not always as often as I would like, nor always the best weather. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do! Case in point, today. With afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast, I decided to wear long pants, to use Hunters veil (mine has a few holes in it now) , and to gather plenty of smoker fuel.
Stop #1 The association hive.
I waited too long to get back to the association hive, it has swarmed. With three and a half supers of honey that are not capped well, I'm not sure how this is going to work with so many of the bees gone. I have never seen this much uncapped honey in one hive before. I made sure the hive had plenty of top ventilation to aid in the evaporation process. There were eight queen cells that were opened. Only one cell had a dead queen in it. If all eight came out at the same time... I did see a queen. She was on some burr comb that was between the brood chambers that I normally cut off ( Eddie Webb cautioned me about this. ) She hung around for several second and then went down between two frames. Zero stings :o)
Stop #2 Cabin hives.
I sat in the cabin for thirty or so minutes waiting for the "scattered shower" to give way to sunshine before I started. This gave the older field bees plenty of time to return home and I had a feeling things were going to be bad. But I was determined to continue as one of the hives bottom board had rotted and needed to be replaced.
A quick inspection of the first hive indicated the only thing needed was to add another super. I did so and moved on.
The second hive, the one that needed the bottom board replaced, is where the fun began (and ended)
On this hive, I had used an old truck rim as a hive stand and it had worked well for ten years or so but had began to settle and with the bottom board failing, I had decided to replace it with a flu block. I disassembled the hive and moved it to the side one component at a time. As I lifted the bottom hive body, the bottom board came with it so I placed them to the side together. It was at this time I received several stings to my ankles. Although this is pretty common, it usually occurs when I have lots of bees on the ground, which I didn't think was the case yet. Then I began to get stung numerous times on the back of the neck and shoulders. At this point one must remember I had a hive torn into four components and couldn't stop as it had also began to rain again and the hive needed to be reassembled as quickly as possible. I quickly picked up the truck rim and as I tossed it to the side was viciously attacked by bumble bees, who had made their nest underneath the beehive in the hollow of the rim. FYI, unlike honeybees, bumble bees can sting numerous times and are highly aggressive, at least these were! It was at this point I realized the stings I had already received and were continuing to receive were all bumble bee stings. I have preached many, many times about wearing a veil, and this time I was very thankful I had it on. The bumble bees began attacking the veil directly in front of my eyes. This made me extremely uncomfortable as all I could think about was one of the beast getting inside my veil, and they were trying hard. I walked about ten paces and broke a leafy branch from a sweet gum tree and began to swat the bumbles to the ground and was able to stomp them one at a time. I must have looked like a non-beekeeper twisting and spinning around swatting at the bumbles, but that's OK, I was the only one there to see it. I them returned to the hive and quickly placed the new hive stand and then reassembled the hive, including the bad bottom board. It will have to wait another day.
The best I can recollect, I killed eight bumble bees. And the best I can count, four stings on the left ankle, sixteen on the right, four on the left hand and wrist and twenty two on my neck and shoulders.
I do realize the bumble bees could have nested anywhere and that I found them when I had a veil on was pure luck, I guess.
Happy honeybeekeeping,
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5-27-2010
It's me again,
At our last HSCBA meeting I made a comment about how some, but not all, the catalpa trees were blooming. Doyle Clark informed me there were two species of catalpa native to the US., Catalpa speciosa (norther catalpa) and C. bignoniodes (southern catalpa). The northern blooms first and then the southern, which is in full bloom now, next. A very interesting fact about the catalpa is the rare adaptation where the leaves themselves secrete nectar. It comes from tiny glands located in the axis of the primary veins. I'll have to do a little more research to see if honeybees collect this nectar and will get back on that later.
On another note, Jay Evans, USDA scientist at the Beltsville Bee Lab, presented his findings concerning CCD. His conclusions indicate a two part problematic step which includes the fungus Nosema cerena and the RNA virus family Dieistroviridae. Apparently, the N. cerena fungus enters the bees gut and damages the epithelial cells which in turn allows the Dieistroviridae virus' to enter the bee and wreak havoc on its central nervous system. It's actually a pretty good read, and as beekeepers, you need to stay as informed on bee knowledge as possible. When people find out you're a beekeeper, there are four questions almost guarantied
to be ask of you; how much do you sell your honey for?, how much honey do you make?, what about the mites?, and have they found the cause of CCD yet?
Scotty
ps...sorry, I forgot to spell-check the last message. Now you all know what a spelling klutz I am, lol
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5-27-2010
Hellow Everyone,
I just got through with the "webinar" hosted by Bushy Mountain Bee Farm. Only three words are needed to describe the seminar; excellet, excellent, excellent!!!
I must confess, I was a few minutes late joining the webinar and apparently they had some technical difficulties in the beginning that I missed, but from the point I began watching to the end was, again, excellent. The presentation was intended to go from 5.00p until 6.00p but lasted until 6.30p.
It was a "Power Point" presentation named "What to do when hives go bad" pesented and narrowated by Jennifer Berry, caretaker of the Univesity of Geogia's research beehives and queen raiser. As the program is running, you see the power point presentation but hear a live audio feed from the presenter. She even received a call from her mother during the presentation. On the right hand side of the screen there are three icon that allow you to ask questions, raise your hand and I forgot the last one, lol. At the end "Shane" ( from Brushy Mountain Bee Farm) asked Jennifer question that had been posted during the presentation.
I cannot stress enough how informative and educational this presentation was and I strongly encourage everyone who can to go to www.brushymountaibeefarm.com and register for the next "webinar" titled "6 Weeks as a Beekeeper...Now What" to be presented this Tuesday, 01 June 2010, by Kim Flottum, author of numerous beekeeping books and editor of "Bee Culture Magazine." You must pre-register, so don't wait until Tuesday to check it out.
Later, Scotty
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5-21-2010
Hello Everyone,
Rain, rain, go away, come back another day.
Too much of a good thing is no longer a good thing. As such is the case with nectar and rain. Not enough rain, dry flowers, too much rain, can wash nectar out or dilute it. Rain also can reduce flying time and cause swarming urges. Keep inspecting for swarm cells and remove them at least every seven days as weather permits. Those of you who have strong colonies should watch closely for swarms emerging on those sunny days immediately following long rainy periods. Several years ago, mid 90's, I had ten colonies in my yard. On the first sunny day following a two week rainy period I had eight swarms in the air at one time. I managed to catch four of them and the other four were never seen again, by me anyway.
I'm not seeing as much sweet clover as I would have expected. Like all flowering plants, sweet clover blooms in cycles of profusion, and this year just doesn't look like it's going to be one of those "great" years, keep your fingers crossed, it could get better.
The white clovers (dutch and ladino) are doing great. I have noticed that some are beginning to dry up though. If the rain will stop for a few days, the farmers will begin to mow their hay and in turn will stimulate the clover to bloom again.
For those of you who would like extract soon, make sure the moisture content is below 18% or the honey will ferment. With the weather the way it has been for the past several weeks, this may be a major issue. Best to leave supers on until we have some dryer weather for a few weeks, say late June into July.
Go to www.brushymountainbeefarm.com and look at the "events/tips" on the right side of the home page. It seems they are having seminars via the web. I have never participated in this but am now registered for the two upcoming events scheduled for 27 May 2010 and 01 June 2010. Again, I have never participated before and don't know exactly how this works. Check it out. I'll keep posting as much as I can about how it works. If anyone has already participated, give me a critique on what you think about it.
talk to you soon,
Scotty
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5-13-2010
I forgot to mention the Catalpa tree that is in full bloom now. You can't
miss it. It's a medium to large tree with large deltoid shaped leaves
covered with large clusters of white flowers, they may even have last years
long cigar shaped seed pod still attached to them. Remember where they are, in a few weeks they will be infested by catalpa worms, (the larval form of the American Hawk moth) which, possibly, is the world's best catfish bait!!!
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5-12-2010
Hello Everyone,
I seen my first Yellow Sweet Clover, Melilotus officinalis, (melic = honey)
blooms today. The White Sweet Cover, M. alba, blooms should follow shortly. Also a legume, the Sweet Clovers should not be confused with the "true clovers" of the genus Trifolium which means three leaflets. The sweet clovers are upright, freely branched and tall, up to six feet. Also, the
bloom doesn't look like the "ball" of traditional clovers. The bloom is on a
stem with little yellow or white flowers on it, and 3-6 inches long. Look
for them on the road shoulder and disturbed open areas. If you cut a sweet clover just before it set seed, it will sucker and re-bloom. Usually
finding a solid stand large enough to make this practice worthwhile is
difficult.
We are having a tremendous white clover bloom now. They seem to be blooming in profusion, everywhere! YES YES YES
I'm not sure what's going on with the Tulip Poplar bloom. My trees shed at least half their blooms for no apparent reason. This happened several days after the flood, not immediately after. The remaining blooms look in good health and are attracting bees as expected. ???
I have been ask what this "stuff" floating around in the air is. It's
cottonwood seed. The cottonwood tree, Populus deltoids, is one our largest trees growing over 100 ft. tall and 5 ft. in diameter yet its seed (cutting away the "fluff) is only about 1mm x 4mm in size.
Hope everyone can make it to the HSCBA meeting this coming Monday.
Scotty
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5-08-10
Hello Everyone,
I don't know why I started sending these email to everyone, but the motivation to continue is a result of all the positive comments I have received from you. Thanks.
What I would like is for all to join in. Just hit "reply to all" and post your comments and/or questions. If you don't want everyone to see your question hit "reply to sender" and only I will receive it. Remember, if you have a question, someone else has wondered the same thing but just hasn't ask yet. Your question may benefit more than just you, so ask away.
If you don't have a question and just want to make a comment, or answer someone else's question, please do!
Again, THANKS for all the positive comments
Scott
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5-07-10
Hello everyone,
Hope all are doing well sense the flood waters are gone, or at least, receding. Most, or all, of the blossoms in the creek bottoms (especially, Wells, Grices, and Yellow creeks) were lost to the flood waters. Those that were covered only a short while by flood waters will most likely recover and bloom again. Those areas near Barkley that are still inundated as of this morning, will take a lot longer to recover and we will probably not get any nectar flow from these areas this year. But as most of the county is hilly, the floods shouldn't adversely affect this years honey crop. Otherwise, the nectar flow is going full strength.
Keep plenty of space for nectar by adding supers. If you run out of supers, extract any capped honey and return the empty supers to the hives late in the evening to help prevent robbing.
What's blooming? tulip poplars, white clover, multi-flora rose, blackberry are predominant now.
Tulip Poplar is middle TN's second largest honey producing source. The nectar is produced in the orange part of the flower, so, the more orange the flower, the more nectar that flower will produce. The tulip poplar flower has a mild cucumber aroma and produces a darker / bold honey.
Keep those swarm catch kits handy. There's nothing like getting free bees.
If your anything like me, your spouse isn't happy with your lawn care these days. Its very hard for me to mow when all these clovers are blooming and are covered in honeybees!
Happy Beekeeping
Scotty
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5-01-10
Hey all,
Hope everyone is keeping dry today! This series of storms will be putting an end to the best black locust bloom I can remember. And, just in time, the tulip poplars and the white clovers are beginning to bloom. There is a sharp contrast between the light black locust honey and the darker tulip poplar honey. If you would like to keep them seperate, consolidate all your capped locust honey frames into as few supers as possible. Then, at extracting time, you will not be trying to find your light honey.
Scott
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4-28-10
Pruning shears!!! Don't forget to put a pair of pruning shears (preferably one handed type) in your swarm catching kit.
Today I was removing a colony of bees from a storm-downed tree near a school when another swarm settled on a poison ivy vine nearby. As I had already used all my sugar syrup spray trying to reduce the number of angry bees in the air, I had to very carefully cut the new swarm out of the vines with a pair of pruners and put them in a bucket. The job would not have been as easy had I had to break or saw the vines into.
Also remember, several days of bad weather like we had this weekend can confine bees to the colony and promote swarming. Keep an extra lookout for swarms on those bright sunny days immediately following several days of bad weather.
Happy Beekeeping
Scott
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4-24-2010 -
Hope everyone made it through the storms OK! If you did, and you are not helping those who didn't, please take a moment to check on your bees. This is the type of weather that blows outer covers off and possibly may even turn them over. Be careful, if they did sustain any damage, they may not be so happy to see you.
Happy Beekeeping!
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