[Pollinator] July 2018 Newsletter NY Bee Wellness with Survey Results

Sun Jul 8 04:15:15 PDT 2018

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|  July 2018 Newsletter NY Bee Wellness 
NY Bee Wellness - an independent grassroots educational 501c3  |

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|  Contents:   
   - July 27 NY Bee Wellness Workshop, Long Island
   - Spring Survey Results!
   - Tips from Mike Palmer
   - Fight the Mite!
   - Honey/Weather Reports
   - Links
   - Donate
   - Quiz Yourself!
   - Weird brood?
   - Keep Cool!
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Time to check for varroa mites!

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The NY Bee Wellness Workshop
July 27-29 in Long Island NY

Featuring Jerry Bromenshenk (University of Montana), and Melanie Kempers (OBA-TTP, Ontario Canada)

Location: Bayard Cutting Arboretum, Great River, Long Island, NY

Friday and Saturday sessions are open to all beekeepers and can be attended separately.

Agenda (pdf)

Registration: Eventbrite, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ny-bee-wellness-workshop-li-2018-honeybee-disease-management-tickets-45268522369?aff=erelexpmlt

VETERANS: Email drk5 at cornell.edu if you wish to use the FarmOPS scholarship (reimbursement- up to $100) for this event. See details on their webpage.

MAIL IN Form–  (pdf) Registration Form NY Bee Wellness 2018 LI, must be received by July 20

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|  Fight the Mite!(link)Time to start checking the varroa mite levels. So far it's been fun catching swarms, seeing the bees bring in honey, but now is when beekeepers have to use some serious skills to assess the increasing mite levels.
Note: Due to the late Spring, initial reports of mite levels have been low, do not be lulled into thinking the varroa  is absent; increased mite levels may be delayed by several weeks.
 By August, hive population starts to decrease, but the varroa mite population increases, peaking by October. The bees developing during this period need to be free of the mites and viruses to make it through the winter.
3 day sticky board assessments are still good, but as the summer progresses, sugar rolls or alcohol wash checks are needed. Drone brood uncapping from different parts of the hive can give you an indication that further testing is needed.

   - Use of oxalic acid as a dribble method
   - Beware of late season swarms, they may have absconded because of a high mite load! Use oxalic 1 week after hiving.
   -  Simple early Treatment of Nucs against Varroa- R. Oliver
   - Discussion-Anatomy of a mite crash
(Click on photo to view larger image)
Using splits to create capped brood breaks                     
        http://scientificbeekeeping.com/first-year-care-for-your-nuc/  |

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|                 Spring 2018 Survey RESULTS!                                 This is the 5th year of surveys
    NY Bee Wellness SPRING SURVEY 2018

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 The warm Fall of 2017 was prolonged, possibly causing bees to consume potential  winter stores of pollen and honey, and continue late brood rearing which contributed to elevated varroa levels. After the initial below normal temperatures of December, many hives did look good in February. Poor weather occurred in March and April, many hives then failed to progress and although they survived, hive populations dwindled and they were severely weakened by the end of April. |

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 332 Non-migratory beekeepers reported, from 57 of 62 counties in New York State

 2397- Total number of bee colonies in December 2017; average of 7 hives per beekeeper

 1558- Total number of bee colonies in April 2018; average of 5 hives per beekeeper

 35%- Average loss of colonies during the winter of 2017-2018 |

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 The survey link with regional results within NYS:
https://mailchi.mp/5e7afca8be39/spring-2018-survey-results-ny-bee-wellness?e=7b3e53d1f3
For comparison
2017 Spring Survey Results

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|  As long as the nectar/pollen flow continues, it is not too late to do splits, grafts, re-queening.

View Mike Palmer's YouTube videos.

Tips from Mike Palmer:   
   - To make a nuc: use 2 frames of open and capped brood, 1 frame of honey, 1 empty frame, with enough bees to cover the honey & brood frames; add queen or queen cell.
   - A ripe queen cell placed in a honey super during a honey flow will supercede the old queen 70% of the time.
   - A laying worker hive will accept a queen cell before accepting a queen.
   - To hold a queen, grasp her wings with her facing away from you, then hold her by the thorax.
   - To make grafts, use frames of emerging brood; emerging brood when uncapped will have dark pupae, purple eye pupae is too young.
   - Queen cups are just a wax ball with a hole in it.
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|  Donate to support beekeeper education! (click here)  |

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|  NY Bee Wellness videos
1) Tips on Working Bees Randy Oliver
2) Healthy Bees, Meghan Milbrath (MSU)
3) Nosema & Varroa Mites Randy Oliver
4) The Times They are a Changin', Randy Oliver
5) Mite resistant queen stock , Meghan Milbrath (MSU)
6) Biology of Wintering Bees, Medhat Nasr PhD, Alberta
7)Proactive Beekeeping, Medhat Nasr PhD
8)"What is Killing Our Bees" Medhat Nasr PhD   |

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|  Crop Insurance Program (ELAP)
Info from Cornell Dyson School of Applied Economics; Apiary Fact SheetAgent locator  |

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|  Mite wash jars, oxalic, books available for purchase  |

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|   NY Crop WEATHER Report July 2018  |

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|  Great How-to videos from the University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre
  to provide new and advanced beekeepers with demonstrations by our staff on a variety of topics ranging from how to open a hive to queen rearing.   |

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|   National Honey Report, with NYS, June 25 2018  |

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|  * www.pollinator.cals.cornell.edu; Master Beekeeping online course

 * COLOSS- International Honeybee Research Association, a good resource, with link to the Bee Book

 * Randy Oliver's latest update to his website, http://scientificbeekeeping.com/, click HERE

 *OSU recorded Webinars (Ohio State University)   *Be sure to check the Bee Health eXtension website, which includes the "Ask an Expert" option.

 *Subscribe to Bee-L, a list serve for Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

 * Northeast Regional Climate Center Quarterly reports and MAPS, OUTLOOKS

 * Scaffolds Fruit Journal, July 2018, the weekly update on pest management and crop development

 ***If you have an article, photos, or other info to share, please send to:
 newsletter at nybeewellness.org  |

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|  * University of Montana Master Beekeeping Course, online
Apprentice Course starts August 27
Journeyman Level September  24

* Northeast Pollinator Partnership- a citizen science project creating a deeper understanding of the value of wild bees 

* Northeastern IPM Center link to IPM Insights: Invasive species
 * Northern Bee Network - www.northernbeenetwork.org (anyone from any state can sign up and join for free!)

* Varroa resources - https://pollinators.msu.edu/resources/beekeepers/ ,includes the Sugar ROLL technique
* Journey North!- Follow and help plot the the mapped signs of Fall!/  or The National Phenology Program

* Bee Health app- Alberta Agriculture, focuses on honey bee diseases- for SMART PHONES!

* Peter Borst's collection of written articles on various topics
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|  Support Beekeeper Education! https://youtu.be/wtt9DhJFsVU
 Your support continues the work of NY Bee Wellness, a grassroots, non-membership educational non-profit dedicated to new, beginning, and small scale beekeeping. If you benefit from the info, videos, workshops, surveys, website, or know of someone who does, please DONATE ! 
 Shopping on Amazon? Use this link and Amazon will donate to NY Bee Wellness at no cost to you!
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Donations can also be sent to:
NY Bee Wellness POB 25291 Rochester NY 14625

NY Bee Wellness is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Donations are tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

 Sincerely,
            - Pat Bono, Project Director, NY Bee Wellness
                           Pat at NYBeeWellness.org  |

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|  QUIZ YOURSELF!

Take the online NY Bee Wellness honey bee disease quizzes:   
   - Tracheal Mites Quiz
   - Varroa Mites Quiz
   - Foul Brood Quiz
   - SHB & Chalk Brood Quiz
   - Nosema Quiz
 All quizzes are self grading and can be used for teaching. Quizzes written by Al Avitabile PhD.  |

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|  Unusual or dying brood?    
   - Send a sample of any brood and bees to the  Beltsville Bee Lab
   - Bees can be checked for mites: scoop up 1/2 cup of bees (~300 bees) and do an alcohol wash
   - Toss out old frames or frames with dead brood- have a  bonfire (check NYS DEC Rules), Recommended to replace 20% of very old comb with new comb/frames 
   - Download the Bee Health App to diagnose or the Field Guide to Honey Bees and their Maladies
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Keep Cool!It is easy to become overheated while working bees in the summer. Use cooling towels or vest, take breaks, drink plenty of fluids.
Advise from Jim Tew:
http://www.beekeeping3.com/2016/07/08/selecting-appropriate-protective-clothing/
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 Our mailing address is: 
 NY Bee WellnessPOB 25291Rochester, NY 14625
Add us to your address book 

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