This picture is the Growing Minds 4H Beehive in action

September 13 Meeting
We are meeting at Wake County Commons Building
4011 Carya Drive Raleigh, NC 27613

 7:00 pm - Workshop: NCSU Endowed Professorship

The North Carolina State Beekeeping Association and North Carolina State University (NCSU) are continuing on a journey to create and maintain a first class honey bee research program. The new Apiculture field laboratory and an endowed professorship will both be major elements of this effort.

Rick Coor, 1^st Vice President of the NC State Beekeepers Association, will be with us to explain the NCSBA project to establish an endowed professorship in apiculture at NCSU.  He will also describe the vision of how these projects will evolve into other programs that support our beekeeping community.

More information on the endowed professorship project can be found here.

7:30 pm - Queen Genetics, Selective Breeding and Tom Seely’s Darwinian Beekeeping - Betsy Spencer

Productive queens are critical to a strong and flourishing colony. Many pests and diseases threaten the health of our bees and we are always chasing the next silver bullet that will guarantee the survival of the colony. Queen producers do their best to add to the arsenal by selectively breeding for characteristics such as mite resistance. Mother nature has been selectively breeding for millennia. Maybe it is time to see if she can teach us a better way.

Betsy Spencer will discuss Dr. Tom Seely’s protocol of Darwinian Beekeeping. She will discuss selective breeding to improve genetics for resistance to pests and diseases. Betsy will also describe her techniques for raising queens to support her selective breeding projects.       

Betsy Spencer

Betsy’s journey in beekeeping began in the summer of 2003 when her garden yielded misshapen cucumbers. Betsy spent the winter reading about beekeeping and in the spring of 2004 took the beginner beekeeping course offered by Wake County Beekeepers Association. She shadowed Jack Tapp at Busy Bee Apiaries in Chapel Hill and ran his queen operation for several years. Her goal continues to be raising bees that are locally adapted to the area and have resistance to the varroa mites by using only non-chemical treatments and breeding from survival stock. Betsy is partnering with Terry Wright to take the concept of survival stock to the next level by following Dr. Tom Seely’s protocol of Darwinian Beekeeping.

Zoom meeting – WCBA Meeting September 13:

Topic: WCBA September 2022 Monthly Meeting

Time: Sep 13, 2022 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84032432889?pwd=eFd4dEp1NlprWVhpREY2eEYwTTUvUT09

Meeting ID: 840 3243 2889

Passcode: 931444

We will be meeting at Wake County Commons Building. 

Address: 4011 Carya Drive Raleigh, NC 27610 
Phone Number:   919-250-1000

There is plenty of parking in front of this building.  There is a guard at the front desk when you walk into the building.  If you put the address into your GPS it will direct you right to the building. 

We are now offering multiple Hands on the Hive sessions with Mr. Buzz, a.k.a. club member Ben Crawley.  These are OPEN SESSIONS to learn and observe or for the purpose of taking your Practical Test as part of the requirement to become a NCSBA Certified Beekeeper.  

Honey Bee Day August 13 at the NC State Farmer's Market - Raleigh

We had a great turnout of volunteers for Honey Bee Day at the NC State Farmers Market.  There were commercial vendors selling products but we may have been the only educational booth.  Chris Hagwood brought an observation hive with the queen marked in yellow (the queen color for 2022).  This made it easier for everyone to find the queen.  The temperatures we cooler and just right for a wonderful time.  We had many people stop by the booth and we were able to answer their questions.  We had some bee equipment for them to observe and open.  We also had a spare hat, smoker and hive tool so parents could take pictures of their children wearing the hat and holding the equipment in front of the hive equipment. 

Susan Benton was on WPTF as they were broadcasting their Weekend Gardener Show.

WCBA Volunteers included:  Chris Hagwood, Kevin and Laura Edenborough, April Reeves, Katie Webber, Fred Tarver, Randy Owens, Charles Heatherly, Keith and Janice Buchannan, Jim Blye, Ann Slater, Tony Gaddis and Susan Benton.  

Pictures below are from Honey Bee Day!  

BugFest is Satuday September 17, 2022.  The theme this year is arthropods.

We need volunteers to work BugFest. It's an easy job. You get to sit or stand behind a table and engage the public about bees. You don't have to be an expert. Trust me, you know more than the general public does about bees!

BugFest is a very interesting event and a good time to talk with the community about honey bees, beekeeping and enjoy some time with members of the WCBA.  We plan to have a 3-deep-frame observation hive on display.  Consider helping this year and get credit toward your journeyman or master beekeeper certificate.  It is a fun day, and all volunteers get a free T-shirt.   Who doesn't want a free T-shirt with a bug on it?  Sign up here: https://tinyurl.com/bugfest22.

North Carolina State Fair is your opportunity to work with fellow beekeepers to help our booth shine at the fair!

NC State Beekeepers Association Honey Sales at the NC State Fair 

The North Carolina State Beekeepers Association is asking chapter organizations to volunteer to sell honey for one day at the fair.  The WCBA has volunteered to cover Saturday, October 15th. 

One of the biggest benefits of having a bee club is that you get to talk to other local beekeepers and learn from their experiences.  Events like this are a great opportunity to meet WCBA members and to talk with the community about honey and honey bees!   At the same time you will be helping our state bee association with their biggest fundraiser of the year.  The NCSBA has had to skip this event for the past two years due to covid, and needless to say, it has put a big dent in their budget. So please help us make this year's event a success.

Your admission to the fair will be reimbursed at the event.  Just work a shift or two and spend the rest of the day at the fair.  On top of all of that, your participation counts as a service credit toward your journeyman or master beekeeper certification.

It is suggested that you purchase advance tickets if possible to help reduce expenses.

Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/StateFairHoneySales2022

September 2022 in the Bee Yard
Chris Hagwood

While most of August was hot and humid, we got some much needed rain and a break from the heat.  I can only hope it contributes to a good fall nectar flow.

I took advantage of the cooler temps to use some Formic Pro to address some colonies that had failed to get mites under control with Apiguard.  I hope that this will finally rid them of nearly all their mites and provide them some time to raise brood without as much virus in the colony.  While the ones with mites are worrisome, I have a good number of colonies that have kept mites very low (sometimes below detectable levels) the entire season.  It’s this reason that I selectively treat only those colonies with significant mite loads instead of the entire bee yard at once.  At 50 colonies, it also makes financial sense to reduce costs.

As we enter September, I will conduct one more round of mite checks mid-month.  This will mark 3 straight months of mite checks on 50 colonies.  Why so many?  It’s this time of year when mite populations tend to explode.  I found some with moderate increases in July and treated with Apiguard.  Nearly all of those responded, while a couple that were under control in July needed treatment in August with Formic Pro.  September will provide me with my last chance to keep mites under control as bees enter the fall and produce their winter bees.

Winter bees will need to live until brood rearing resumes in early Spring. I have found that without a large population of healthy winter bees, colonies crash quickly in our first freezing nights of November.  If I have kept mites at bay, and if the colony has established a good cluster of healthy bees, and if they have sufficient stores of honey, they survive from November until March with very little help from me.  

I have learned to avoid nursing along weak colonies only to see them fail by November.  So I will conduct a final round of inspections in September and combine any that have not built up a healthy population of bees and brood.  I’m looking for 5 to 7 frames packed with bees that I cannot see between the seams through to the bottom board.  Loosely packed bees on a warm day can sometimes make a much smaller, harder to keep warm cluster in cold weather.  By looking at clusters on cool mornings, I get an even better idea of which ones have done well.  There’s an old saying to take winter losses early by combining in the fall and I have taken that to heart.  It lets me adjust valuable stores of honey and shift my focus to colonies that have a very good chance of survival.

I am continuing to feed some of my colonies, but have mostly stopped feeding those with ample honey stores.  I’m seeing bees bringing in nectar from goldenrod, and I’m seeing asters begin to bloom.  This has taken the edge off of robbing for now.  I am focusing most of my feeding on those that have not built up ample stores of capped honey.  While fall does provide some much needed nectar, it never seems to provide enough to actually gain weight from it.  Therefore, don’t trust that your bees will be prepared for winter on their own.  You will want to see the outermost frames and a thick band of honey across the top of your brood box or an entire super full of honey to be sure they won’t run low.

To summarize:

• FEED bees that need it.  Only those that have 30 pounds or more of extra honey are already prepared for winter.
• INSPECT colonies for hardiness.  You want to see a full brood box full of bees that cover nearly every frame.  On the first cool mornings, crack open the brood box to see how big the winter cluster is.  I want to see the winter cluster covering 5 or more frames.
• If the colony has reduced in size, and no longer covers 2 brood boxes and a super, REDUCE SPACE.  Hive beetles and wax moths will take over comb that can’t be protected by bees in warm weather.
• Keep mites UNDER CONTROL.  Don’t assume any previous treatment you used worked.  Check for yourself.  Rotate to an alternate treatment for any that failed to respond.

Need Volunteers for "Wild About Nature" on October 1, 2022 1pm to 4 pm at Sugg Farm, Holly Springs

Want to spend 3 hours with other beekeepers talking about honeybees on a fall Saturday afternoon? Then sign up using the genius link below.  Susan Benton has volunteered at this festival in Holly Springs and really enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere and diversity of exhibits. The location is Sugg Farm at Bass Lake Park, 2401 Grigsby Avenue, Holly Springs NC 27540.

Sign up:  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805084EADA62EA46-wild

We have included below how you can print off a name badge from the WCBA website.  Print off your badge when you come to the next meeting, we have plastic badge protectors to provide you.  If you do not bring a badge we have badges you can use to write your name on it.  Please wear badges as they help us to better get to know each other.  

 Community Opportunities to speak and share about honey bees and beekeeping:  

We receive requests from different organizations for beekeepers to come and talk about honey bees and beekeeping.  We also receive requests to provide exhibits and people to talk about honey bees and beekeeping at events around the county.  If you are interested in being made aware of these opportunities, please contact Lori Harris:

lor@charlesharris.com or call her at:  919-749-7129

The Growing Minds 4-H Club hive continues to prosper. A new queen was installed about 6 weeks ago and is doing her job. The bees were treated for mites with Apivar after some honey was harvested. The honey is very light in color. Enough honey was harvested to provide the regular club members with an 8 oz. jar. But before any member gets a jar they have to complete a “paper” project on some topic related to bees. Those will be due in a month. We’ll keep you posted.

These pictures are from the 4H Growing Minds Club.

2022 WAKE COUNTY BEEKEEPERS AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS

 Who has helped you be a better beekeeper this year? Who has been there to explain beekeeping to the community? Who do you call when your hive needs some help? Who had that special hive treatment that you needed? Who was always willing to answer that same question that they had probably answered a hundred times before??? Which new beekeeper really jumped in and helped the Club?

Now there is a way to thank those folks. Watch the Club website for the nomination forms for the BEEKEEPER OF THE YEAR, OUTSTANDING NEW BEEKEEPER, VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR, OUTSTANDING SPONSOR AWARD AND PIONEER (Legacy) Award.

Nominations are due Tuesday, Nov 8th and awards will be presented at our December meeting. For more information, contact Tom Wells, tomw@designdevelopment.com.

Upcoming Conferences:

• January 6-7, 2023.  Early bird discount in month of June.
• •  Hive Life Conference & Trade Show, Sevierville Convention Center.
• March 10-11, 2023.  NC State Beekeepers Spring Meeting at Union County Agricultural Center, Monroe, NC

This message was sent to you by Wake County Beekeepers Association, Inc.

If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe at any time

The Wake County Beekeepers Association – Wake County Beekeepers Association