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Madison
County
Beekeepers
Activities |
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Beekeeping
Education
Next
Scheduled Class
The
25th Beginner's
Beekeeping
Class
The FREE
25th Annual Beginning Beekeeping Class of
2012 is Here.
sponsored by
The Madison County Beekeepers Association
The dates are...
January (18) and (25)
February (15) and (29)
Classes will be held on Wednesday
evenings from 6pm to 9pm at the Main
Branch of the Huntsville Public Library in the Auditorium.
If interested in attending the class, please
contact the instructor,
Chris Cambron at,
beedaddyhoney@yahoo.com
Please include your name and contact
information.
or call,
256-509-6015.
Looking forward to a great Bee Season.
Ricky Walls
Secr/Treas MCBA
rickywalls@gmail.com
http://alabees.com
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PROGRAM
SCHEDULE 2011
At
the beginning of each meeting, approximately 5 minutes is devoted to
“Beginner’s
Corner”. Beginner’s
Corner is a timely and important reminder for beekeepers of
what’s needed for the next two months and an updating on new
developments in the industry, plus answering any and all questions
members may have concerning their bees.
Sept
8, 2011 Queen
Rearing by the Punch Method by Will Montgomery
This
program will discuss how and when as well as options for requeening
your hives. All
programs are coordinated through the Vice President of the
Madison
County
Beekeepers Association. If you would like to be
considered for giving a program of interest to beekeepers or If
there is a subject that you would like covered by someone else in a
program, please contact the Vice President.
Nov
10, 2011 TBD
Jan
12, 2012
Mar
8,
2012
Bill Mullins "Expanding Beekeeping: Products &
Marketing"
This
is your organization, we need your input!
End
of file
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World BEEKEEPERS
LINKS
WARNING - Not all sites will be written in English
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The Powdered-Sugar Shake:
Detecting Varroa While Not Killing Bees
The following article describes a method of detecting Varroa mites by coating the bees
(and mites) with powdered sugar using a procedure much like the "ether roll"
test where sugar replaces the ether resulting in a better test that does not kill
the bees.
First obtain a wide mouth canning jar with a two piece lid (ring and lid). Use the lid
as a template to cut out a #8 mesh hardware cloth replacement for the lid (the circular,
center portion).
Collect 200-300 bees in the jar. A funnel can be used to facilitate the process. Put
the modified lid (ring and #8 mesh lid replacement) on and add about a tablespoon of
powdered sugar through the screen. Roll the jar to distribute the sugar. Wait a few
minutes, swirl the jar again, and pour the sugar and mites through the screen into another
container. The mites can be separated from the sugar by pouring the mixture through the
window screen. The bees can be returned to the colony where their hive mates will lick
them clean.
This was first reported by a University of Nebraska graduate student (Paula Macedo),
according to the January
2000 edition of Bee Tidings , a cooperative publication of the University of Nebraska
Cooperative Extension Service and the Nebraska Honey Producer's Association, written by
Dr. Marion Ellis.
Dr. Ellis suggests three reasons why this might work:
- Varroa mites have a sticky pad called the empodium that helps them adhere to their host.
The presence of powdered sugar could make it difficult for the mites to adhere to their
host.
- Powdered sugar stimulates the bees' grooming behavior.
- The powdered sugar on the mite's body stimulates mites to release from feeding to groom
themselves.
This technique works well according to the article. It is superior to the ether roll,
separating up to 90 percent of the mites from the bees. Some states have switched to this
method primarily because the powdered sugar shake may well mean more Varroa testing by
beekeepers now that their bees don't have to be sacrificed as part of the procedure.
END OF ARTICLE
Two Queens Piping
Here is very interesting audio track you can download
but beware of significant download time according to your modem and phone
connection. It is well worth it so just be patient. This audio is
two queens piping.
Double click on two queens piping and hear this
amazing sound track. It is a wav type file and all windows
media players or quick time players should be
able to read, however, it may take several seconds to get started
in your player. It appears to be two queens within the same
unit confronting each other.
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