| Meeting – Monday, 7/27/10 By: Donna Victors Officers Present: Steve Victors, President Colette Marshall, Vice President Ty Tobias, Treasurer Donna Victors, Secretary Steve Victors called the meeting to order at 6:40. Treasurer Report: Ty reported that we have $3,877.36 in the treasury. Bills: Sue Hemmer had a bill for postage and copies of the newsletters of $38.23. It was moved and passed unanimously to pay the bill. Donna Victors had a bill of $833.06 for the website for the next ten years through GoDaddy. This covers the domain name and hosting. It was moved and passed to pay the bill. Correspondence: This past month we received an email from Honey Bee Insurance about bee mortality and problems in transporting bees. Email Donna at victors@mtaonline.net if you want more information or their paperwork. Old Business: No old business New Business: Dawn Cowan will be running the bee demo booth again at the State Fair. The group discussed prize monies for the winners. It was agreed to keep the prize monies the same. 1st place is $10 and Judge’s Choice is $50. Dawn for the first time will be compensated by the Fair, but the group decided to continue to pay her $300 for coordinating the booth. Wayne Vandry will receive $200 for judging. Tom Elliott moved that the prizes and Dawn and Wayne receive the same as last year. Seconded and passed. Dawn explained how the demo booth works. She has a limited number of parking tickets and admission tickets for volunteers who work the booth. The time slots are four hours for the weekends and 3 ½ hours for the weekdays. She said it is important to realize that one doesn’t need much knowledge as we all have more knowledge than the person asking the question! She would be happy to place new beekeepers with more experienced beekeepers. Contact Dawn at 373-5061 or Alaskastatefair.org. Steve explained the requirements for the honey sales booth. He said the label must say who bottled the honey, the amount, what it is, the contact info and the amount that is in it. Jack Anderson said that most folk get fluid ounces mixed up with the net weight. One pint equals 16 ounces but that’s 22 ounces net weight of honey. Comb honey would be lighter. The rules for labeling is such that labeling it lesser than the actual amount is fine. The queenline jar is one pound of honey but 10 ½ fl oz. If you’re using a non-standard honey jar, check the net weight. Discussion of honey prices around the state and how much it would be at the Fair. The highest Jack has seen is $15.95 /lb at a Fairbanks Farmers’ Market. In 2009, honey was selling for $12 a pound; in 2008, it was $15 a pound. The honey sales booth is a coop. The proceeds are taken out after the gross income minus the labor and the rent space for the booth. Jack stated that the honey sales booth has become “quite a destination” over the years. One year, the gross income was $18,000. The booth is stored at the fairgrounds this year. A crew is needed to help set it up two weeks before the fair. Contact Jack at 602-7863 for setting up the booth and for helping to sell honey at the booth (Realize you need to bring your own calculator and be able to count back change. Helping to keep track of what sells is important also, but there’ll already be a system in place that one just needs to follow.) Jack was asked what happens if there isn’t enough local honey for the Fair. He said he first tries to buy honey from Fairbanks at White Stone Farms, but members’ honey gets priority. If unable to get Alaskan honey, he would bring some up from the States. . You may drop off your honey for sale at the booth at Jack’s shop on 15th and Karluk Give him a call to arrange the details. Discussion about harvest or lack thereof took place. The “Bee Exchange” program was explained and a list was passed around. If you have bees to give away as you don’t want to winter over OR you WANT bees to put them to work drawing out comb for next year, contact Donna at victors@mtaonline.net. SABA Picnic is on Sept. 27th, during our regular meeting time. Janice Plante is coordinating the picnic. The Club buys good cuts of meat; Ty Tobias cooks them. The Club provides the meat and drinks. The rest is potluck. Contact Janice for helping out. Lewis Miller asked about honey sticks and a machine to make them. Steve talked about his Sticky Machine that he paid $2500 for and that is definitely sticky. He said one is better off using the Oregon company as they have a bucket minimum (5 gallon) but you get your own honey placed in the sticks. Nature’s Kick is a SABA member and is a good company that we have used before. They were the ones who supplied flavored stix for the classroom presentations. Their contact information is: 503-581-5805 or marketing@originalhoneystix.com. Jack said that the Alaskan honey sticks are the number one sellers at the Booth. Reminder about classroom presentations for the upcoming school year. If you are interested in sharing your beekeeping knowledge, let Donna know and she will put you on the contact list. There are posters available for use and after the fair, the observation hive will be able to be used. The posters are the same as what is hung up at the bee booth. Steve mentioned that Tang is no longer the newsletter editor and that Donna is filling in temporarily. Donna stated that she needed articles or she would just use old newsletters! Colette Marshall said she would send articles to Donna. Lewis Miller asked about the girl researching bees in Alaska. Steve said there has been no word as yet about her or her research. Question: Should I feed my bees or take the honey now? Bees are eating all the honey now with the rain. Harvest whatever you have. It is possible for honey to ferment if it’s too moist. Steve explained how he has dried honey using a dehumidifier leaving the honey in the combs. Extract the uncapped honey first. Put it in the freezer to use for syrups, jams or jellies. Then extract the capped. You can also feed back the watery honey to the bees. How can you tell if the honey is good? Hold the frame horizontally, give a firm shake over the super. If nectar sprinkles onto the top bars, it’s too moist. If not, generally it is good. Another way to tell is by having some honey entered in the Fair as Wayne Vandry uses a refractometer and measures the moisture in each entry. Norm & Jeannette Trudell, Tang & Ben Johnston, and Steve all have one. They run about $50-60. It only takes one drop. You could send Steve a sample or talk with one of the above. Someone mentioned checking out refractometers at Arctic Brewing or EBay. There are two different models. One is for wine & spirits and one is for honey & syrups. Use and location of the Club’s extractors was talked about. The extractor list is posted on the website. Each extractor has an uncapping fork too. Cleaning it with warm water is better than hot. Meeting adjourned. Raffle: Jack brought smoker, skep and bee cookie cutters along with a garden bee donated for the raffle. Augusta drew the winning numbers. Colette said a good website for bee “stuff” is cafepress.com; search “bees.” Donations for the picnic raffle would be appreciated. Members Present): Ty Tobias Steve, Jesse & Donna Victors Ed & Colette Marshall Norman & Jeannette Trudell Tom Elliott Bill Bartee & Judy Moss Lewis & Vivian Miller Lee & Darlene Calbick Saunders McNeill Ray Reynolds Todd and Terry Tarner David Pruitt Daryl Sobek Eva Blurton Roun Adams Sue Hemmer John and Heather Snead Earl McCown Rick & Jennifer Falk Anne Barnett Kenn Barnett Jack Anderson Rick Weber Susie Terwilliger Bob Gengler Laurie Hulse Steve Gerlek Mick Blum Benjamin Sobeck Debbie Plessinger-Robbins Doris Nichols Scott Nichols August & Andy Crow Nick Markus Susan Ware Jeff Stroke Michael Fry Judy Cadra After the meeting, Steve talked about preparing fair exhibits. He said there are several categories in which to enter: liquid and creamed honey (different colors warrant a different entry) wax, pollen, frames (medium and deep) and bee art (creative and display.) A good entry has several important characteristics: cleanliness=no bubbles or debris, taste, aroma, and color. There are categories of color for liquid honey. If you have a light and a dark honey, enter both into the Fair. Try to avoid harvesting around the brood to eliminate particles in the honey entry. If you smoke your bees, the honey will absorb that odor; and Wayne, the judge, picks up that smell. He writes specific comments about each entry. Uncap with a fork or electric knife when the honey is warm; spin and filter when it is warm. Most particles will rise from the honey. Don’t do your entry right before the Fair as it takes time for the bubbles and particles to float. Make sure you start with a clean bottle! Drip or pour honey to the side of the jar to prevent bubbles. Collect from the middle of the tank for a cleaned entry. There are various ways to go from the extractor to a bucket to have the least bubbles: A cloth spread over the bucket or in a funnel shape into the bucket helps as does the toe end of a nylon stocking. (Clean, of course!) It’s important to prevent carmelization; so heat honey below 160 degrees. Use a double boiler in a water bath. 120-130 degrees is usually fine. If you heat and cool the honey a couple times, this helps to clear cloudy honey. Frothy foam is formed at the top; skim that off with a toothpick or overfill the honey container. Then, it is so much easier to take off the foam with a spoon. The honey should be right up to the line/ raised rim on the queenline jar. A clean lid is a good idea. Some suggestions were made about using plastic wrap or switching lids when you get to the booth. The walk from the Fair gate to the booth is the most difficult! Specks still? Take a soda straw with your finger over one end; put the straw right above the speck. Release your finger for just a moment, and the speck will get sucked up. Need a queenline jar? Dawn will have these available for $3 as Steve will be out of town. Look for imperfections of the glass. Entering a frame? Make sure the frame is completely capped over or close to it. They should be drawn out as far as the top bars. Look for the ones with the least amount of travel on them. Thus, the whiter the better. Thick frames such as using a nine-frame super or ones that are evenly drawn out are the best choices. Judging will not be different from plastic foundation or wax. The demo booth has stands for frames. It is easy to transport your good frame in a super with other frames. It is important to keep them from banging. Fill the super all the way up and wedge foam or Styrofoam between the frame bottoms to keep them from moving. Pollen entries should be in a queen line jar. There are two categories: single-source, and multi-floral. The judge looks for the amount of debris, odor, size, and moisture. The pollen should break into individual pieces between fingers. Wax should be melted. Filtration is key. The entry should weigh one pound. Filter hot wax through nylon. Debris winds up on the bottom. Small loaf pans or salad trays work well. Three levels of entries: kid, junior, and adult. Fair entries need to be at the fair on Tuesday, August 24th, noon to 8 PM. Keys to success and overwintering: 1. Decide in July instead of September 2. Enough food 3. Healthy young bees going into winter as they’re the ones that will gather the crop next spring. 4. Move hive to sheltered location If you cage the queens in a little box so she can’t lay, you’re making it difficult for them to overwinter. Tom Elliott says its important to have the queen lay in August as then all the bees are young for the winter. He cages her into a nuke, not a small cage. He starts this in July. Overwintered hives can be stronger and larger and quicker to build up than package bees. Downside of overwintering: If the bees die, they are stuck headfirst into the cells and you have to deal with that. Mold and moisture puts a pathogen load for the new package bees to deal with. Mice can move in. Overwintered bees often have a mite increase. Nosema can also be a problem in the spring. If you don’t want to deal with these things, it’s easiest to give the bees away to have clean hives for the fresh package bees to move into. Steve estimated total winter costs of $50 for sugar feeding, and other expenses and possibly a new queen if she is not a really good one. Tom Elliott had a queen do well for four years! Steve discussed his strategies in indoor overwintering. Constant temperature is important as is darkness. Constant recirculation controls carbon dioxide levels from increasing, along with moisture. Screen bottom boards and an upper vent also help with this. Steve uses red lights as bees are unable to see that frequency. Indoor wintering allows for feeding in January if the bees are short on food. Number one reason for colony death is starvation or trapped away from their food source. The bees move up and can expand or contract depending on the temperatures. The ability to moderate the temperature allows the bees to move to the food. A full strength beehive creates 25 watts of heat. Insulation on the top is best. Keep out the wind if wintering outside! Carniolans generally winter over better than Italians. Steve will overwinter others’ hives typically in October. Each person is responsible for feeding bees to 120 pounds for two deep supers. This weight accounts for two brood boxes, frames and foundations, a bottom board, an inner cover, a lid, and bees. He puts them in an insulated and ventilated conex when there is no chance of a cleansing flight and no chance of going above 32 degrees. It is better for the bees to be inside at 40 degrees than outside at 30. |
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