Tuesday, February 8, 2022 @7:30 pm
Meeting Agenda
7:00 Social Time
7:20 Bee Chat
7:30 Welcome to Guests, and other business
8:00 – 9:00 Speaker: Jerry Przybylski --
Swarm Collecting, the ACBA Swarm-List, and Serving our Community
2021 had about 800 calls to the ACBA swarm hotline, of which over 300 were reports of swarms, the most calls ever.
We serve the community by relocating those swarms to our yards.
Win for the bees.
Win for the neighborhood.
Win for the beekeeper.
Learn how to get hooked in, and some best-practices.
ACBA Meeting Time: February 8, 2022 @7:30 pm 2022 Pacific TimeAt ACBA AV's Virtual Meeting Room
Join Zoom Meeting by clicking this link:
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Meeting ID: 325 489 5194
Passcode: 391255
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The Program CalendarFeb. 157:30 PM Special Guest Speaker Program | Prof. May BerenbaumDr. Berenbaum has been on the faculty of the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1980, serving as Head since 1992. Her research, which has produced more than 300 publications, focuses on how natural and synthetic chemicals influence interactions between flowering plants and insects ranging from pests to pollinators, as well as on how ecological principles can inform sustainable pest management practices. As a member of National Academy of Sciences, she chaired the 2000 National Research Council study on the future of pesticides in US agriculture and the 2007 study on the status of pollinators in North America, testifying twice before Congress on issues relating to pollinator decline. Currently, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. | The Secret Life of HoneyHONEY—A NEW LOOK AT THE WORLD’S OLDEST PROCESSED FOOD
Although nectar is consumed, primarily as a supplemental food, by many insects and a few vertebrates, it is processed and stored by only a relatively small number of insect species and, within this group, the honey bee Apis mellifera displays remarkable adaptations for nectar processing and storage and uses the end product, honey, for functions unequaled in diversity by any other organism, including for protection against microbes, environmental toxins, and cold stress, as well as in regulating development and adult longevity. Regarding honey as little more than a source of carbohydrates for bees is clearly a concept in need of revision |
March 8Meeting at 7:30pm, | Dr. Brian Johnson
Program at 8:00pm | Honey Bee Biology
|
Look for the detailed biographies at the ACBA Programs web page. Dear ACBA membership,At the January board meeting on 1/19/21, we discussed the desire to transition back to in person meetings during the months of April and May. If we decide to do this, for safety we would need to be outdoors and need to meet during daylight hours. This would also mean moving the date to the second Saturday of the month for these two months. We could meet in a large apiary that could accommodate 50 or so folks, and for these two months do more hands-on demonstrations/lectures by veteran beeks in the club. We would also need to change the time to more like 12:00pm or 1:00pm for bee sake.
In the large apiaries we could have multiple training concepts going on at the same time, things like: swarm catching, splitting, mite checks or basic hive inspections. The full board agrees this makes good sense and would boost our club's social experience. It may even become a regular spring/summer thing? So please come to the next meeting on 2/8/22 to discuss and vote on this temporary in-person meeting transition plan for the months of April and May.
Thank You,
Paula Breen, ACBA PresidentProposed Bulk Buy of Swarming Biology and Control by Wally ShawJanuary 18, Wally Shaw spoke on the topic of Swarm Management. (The video is now on our YouTube Channel) The talk, and the book published last year in the UK, teach hive-management to suppress swarming, and offer steps we can take when we find swarm-cells in our hives.
The book (suggested retail £25) has no US distributor; the shipping cost from Bee Craft’s web site is nearly £20 per copy.
ACBA can purchase the book by-the-carton to average down the shipping cost per copy, and take advantage of the price break.
ACBA can then resell copies near cost to members who want them. The cost estimate is around $30 per copy.
Twenty club members already expressed an interest in getting a copy through the club.
Since a carton of books costs more than the traditional discretionary-spending-limit, the officers are asking for a vote at the meeting in favor of purchases of this book.
In the end there will be no net cost to the club. The plan is to order a few extras; we will resell them all.
(If we have to mail copies to you, we'll add US postage)
ACBA Board Meeting 1/19/22 7:10pm Attendance; President Paula Breen, VP Jerry Przybylski, Treasurer Jim Novosel, Secretary Sue Donahue, Board Members; Ronni Brega, Molly Dubow, Robert Mathews, Phil Stob, Jim Garcia, Jim Veitch, Andre Kulikov, Liz Griffiths
Wally Shaw Books - Members want to order his new book, one case of books, (there are 22 in a case) is a cheaper way to go than one by one with shipping costs. Currently there are several people interested in the book which would account for about half the books. Perhaps the Biofuel Oasis would be interested in selling the other unspoken copies? The cost of ordering a case needs to go before the membership for approval as it exceeds our discretionary spending limit. There was a motion to bring this to the next general meeting for a vote to approve the expense. The motion was unanimous.
Regular board meeting will continue to be held on the third Wednesday of the month at 7pm
Alameda County Unincorporated Area Bee Ordinance changes;
Still hung up on the city council level. The committee is applying as much pressure to move this issue to close in a firm but gentle urging all the time. These things can take time unfortunately. We will keep at it.
Audit committee; Liz Griffiths, Jim Veitch and Ronni Brega are organizing and will have the club audit completed by April 15th.
Liz Griffiths, who worked on the last two audits will email the last two audits conducted to Jim Novosel for reference.
Studio One;
The City of Oakland has a large turn around on department leadership. Unfortunately, the directors that we had an understanding with have moved on and the new directors are not aware of our agreements on using the Studio, free of charge, in exchange for installing and upkeep of the beehive display at the Rotary Nature Center in Oakland.
Currently they are inclined to let us meet again at the nature center, but in truth the space is too small for our size group. We will continue to seek out our old space at Studio One as that was free. In the meantime, we are still on the lookout for new places to meet, preferably central to the county as to be more accommodating to the southern part of the county. San Leandro, San Lorenzo, Castro Valley seem to be fairly central to our club membership. Anyone who has any ideas please let us know so we can check out those spaces and the costs. Church basements, community centers or parks are all good ideas.
Sue and Paula - write a special note to membership for newsletter to get folks to attend the next General membership meeting to discuss the idea of transitioning back to in person meetings.
Treasurer's report; Jim Novosel, Last month we got 66 new members. About $492.50 in membership fees from PayPal deposits.
Currently about $19,000.00 in our Bank account.
Ronnie - We should print up more business cards and brochures when they go on sale next
Phil has a friend who makes patches and wants to have them create a patch of the club logo to sell to membership.
Sue to get club flyers and business cards into Biofuel Oasis soon for new beekeepers purchasing their nucs.
Meeting adjourned 8:30pm Research, Videos and Articles about BeekeepingRobots and Bees: High-Tech, Vertical Strawberry Farm in N.J. Raises $50 Million In Series A Roundhttps://www.forbes.com/sites/robindschatz/2021/03/11/robots-and-bees-vertical-strawberry-farm-in-nj-raises-50-million/?sh=15cb7e623a80 Killer Bees Explained Keeping Backyard Beeshttps://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/killer-bees-explained-zbwz1811zsau/ Planting Trees for Beeshttps://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/trees-for-bees-zbwz1803zsau/ Garden Plan for Attracting Pollinators Keeping Backyard Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/garden-plan-for-attracting-pollinators-zbwz1804zsau/ Andrena: The Mining Bees Keeping Backyard Beeshttps://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/andrena-the-mining-bees-zbwz2003zsau/Comparing
Bumblebees with Honeybeeshttps://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/comparing-bumble-bees-with-honey-bees-zbwz1909zsau/ The Sneaky Behavior of Cuckoo Bees https://www.keepingbackyardbees.com/sneaky-behavior-of-cuckoo-bees-zbwz1905zsau/ How a German gardener is using old gumball machines to revitalize bee habitatshttps://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2021/11/16/climate-change-bees-germany-restoration/ Project Apis mhttps://www.projectapism.org/honey-bee-research.html Website Password:
The password for the members-only section of Alamedabees.org is
2021Yearofthebee$
until 3/31/22. Renew at http://alamedabees.org/membership Only $10
Beekeeping Mentors:If you are an experienced beekeeper and wish to be added to the list of mentors, please contact Jerry Przybylski. Members who want or need a mentor, or if you would like a list of mentors, please contact Jerry Przybylski. (510) 407-1146 mailto:gtp0...@gmail.com
ACBA Discussion Group Link:ACBA has a Google group for members to talk about bees, share information, and ask beekeeping questions of each other. It is a great way to learn from each other. It can be accessed through the Alameda County Beekeepers Association website or these links:
For those who are using Gmail: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/the-alameda-county-beekeepers-association Those not using Gmail email addresses can subscribe to the list by sending an email (using the email account they want to use for the list) to: the-alameda-county-beekee...@googlegroups.com
ACBA's Local Bee InitiativeTo join the LBI email listserv, contact Genie Scott, Phil Stob or Jerry Przybylski. Members of the LBI meet via Zoom on the fourth Monday each month at 7:00pm to discuss “beekeeping 201” practices, queen rearing, and this year's projects. Join; learn; contribute. Use the same Zoom info as for regular ACBA membership meetings.
ACBA Library
Library materials are not currently available due to the COVID-19 restrictions. We hope to be able to offer them
Look for educational websites and other resources in the Member's tab of our website https://alamedabees.org/
While the club’s library is inaccessible, there is an alternative! Oakland Public Library materials are now available by curbside pickup. Here is the link to the subject Bee Culture in the library’s catalog.
Information on curbside pickup is here.Special Note From Elinor Levine and Merry Luskin: Club LibrariansHi all, Although we don’t have a circulating library at the moment, we still have librarians. Ron Carter stepped down after making some significant improvements and major contributions to the system. Thanks, Ron! Merry Luskin <info...@yahoo.com> and I, <ele...@berkeley.edu> , will continue. We are listed on the website and in the newsletter Thank you, Elinor Candle Mold Lending Kit.
If you borrow the kit, please use a reasonable amount of the consumable materials (wicks and sprays) and let us know if supplies are running low. Contact volunteer Dan Wood at d...@gigliwood.com or 510-816-7471 for more information, or to make a reservation, or find out who has the kit. Plan ahead. Usage increases in the fall.
The ACBA YouTube Channel
The YouTube committee has posted almost all of the 2020-2021 videos on the ACBA YouTube site, at https://tinyurl.com/53am29ms -- Feel free to give the YouTube site URL with friends.
Wally Shaw's program from Jan 18 is now available, and just in time for the swarm season.
If you would like to help with video editing, and cleanup, like Manning Sutton and Thom Mann are, with the small amount of editing each YouTube video requires, contact Genie Scott eugeni...@gmail.com
Beekeeper’s Corner: Beekeeping in the East Bay for February 2022 We're off-to-the-races - Busy times ahead.
For many of us the spring nectar flow has started. Small hives will build rapidly. Supers being added. Large hives get crowded and, when conditions are just right, swarm.
Our brood boxes need to be inspected and assessed. Take out extra pollen frames; the bees will never use them.
Put in foundationless frames or foundation for the bees to draw or drawn frame the queen can lay in.
Move honey frames up into supers above the hive. A queen excluder between brood frame and supers keeps
the hive organized the way the beekeeper wants it. When the box right above the brood box is honey-frames from side to side, it will act as a queen excluder, so that metal thing can be removed (Maybe this month, but probably in March or April).
Capped frames can be harvested. Leave partly capped frames until later. Pull frames of granulated honey and deal with them.
Add another box when bees fill/cover seven or eight of the 10 frames in a box, or when there are fewer than five empty honey frames in the supers.
This first inspection should not be put off. Weekly inspections are advisable until the likelihood of swarming subsides.
After the build-up come the swarms. In our area, swarm calls really pick up during mid to late March.
Colonies begin to organize to swarm a couple of weeks before swarming. Our weekly inspections can often catch the process in time to work with it. We can do preemptive swarm control by (poorly designed or) well designed splitting before we see swarm cells.
We can react to the discovery of swarm cells in our hives in a number of ways with many trade-offs. It pays to study up beforehand.
Just destroying swarm cells only delays swarming, and in some cases can result in a queenless hive. We have better options.
Wally Shaw wrote several very useful articles/booklets about swarm management which can be found at the
Publications page of the Welsh Beekeeper Association website.
In nature the brood ball generally expands down and out from the center. Our best bet is to give the bees what they want where they want it.
This is also a good time to cycle out old grungy brood frames; replace with nicer drawn frames or foundation outboard of the brood ball.
White wax frames for honey supers are like gold. Old grungy frames, not so much; they're hard for the bees to work, smaller in diameter, and can harbor pathogens. It's good practice to renew brood frames every three to five years. Besides, they're wax-moth bait. A foundationless frame inserted into the brood-ball can delay swarming.
Speaking of bait, per Phil's presentation on swarm-traps, one dark-wax frame, flanked by partly drawn frames in a deep box-size volume makes a good bait-hive/swarm-trap. We should all have at least one trap set out to attract swarms from our hives, and stray swarms from the neighborhood. We'll be serving our neighborhood by heading off future drama and anxiety.
Watch Phil's program on
ACBA's YouTube channel, and read
Tom Seeley's flier on swarm traps.
There's a good side to the swarm season. It's our time to work with the bees to increase our colony numbers to replace last winter's dead-outs, and for us to orchestrate the replacement of queens in our colonies.
Let's not forget the vacation-split. If going out of town for weeks during spring and summer, if colonies are likely to swarm, simply execute walk-away splits a day or two before going on vacation. Upon return, any failed splits can be recombined. This extra vacation prep step can avoid neighborhood swarm-drama, and loss of productive population.
Conventional wisdom says, especially in spring, don't bother to feed swarms, 'cos they don't need it. The population distribution of a swarm leans heavily toward house-bees, which are just the population the colony needs to draw wax. So, let's work with them! Feeding one-to-one syrup (equal parts by weight sugar and water) promotes drawing out of comb. The bees are happy to turn (cheap sucrose) sugar into wax. Just don't let them turn the sugar water into capped stores; don't give them supers with drawn frames where they may be tempted to store it. In a few weeks, stop feeding and add a super.
Ponder. What worked well last year? What didn't? Consult notes. Make a plan.
Time to break out the swarm catching kit. Put it in the car now or at the end of the month.
Keep thinking a step or two ahead of the bees.
.
Upcoming ClassesFebruary 20 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
$45.00
Learn how to work with the bees natural growth in spring (February - June) and keep your hive healthy. NOTE: this class is online via Zoom in two parts: Part 1: Sunday, February 20th, 7pm-8:30pmPart 2: Sunday, February 27th, 7pm-8:30pmThis class will prepare you for what to…Find out more »
March 5 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
$35.00
March 5 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
$35.00Learn how to keep your queen healthy & thriving for long term hive health! We’ll cover what can go wrong with your queen, how to spot it early, and what to do! Why is the queen's health important? The worker bees live for 5 weeks, so need…
Find out more »
Sunday 2-Part Series: How to Split Your BeehiveMarch 6 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
$60.00Go with the natural instinct of the bees in the spring to reproduce by splitting your hive! This class is online via Zoom in 2 parts: Sunday, March 6th, 6-8pmSunday, March 13th, 6-8pmWe will focus on two simple splits that make the most sense for backyard…
Find out more » 
