beginner beekeeping course · my first hive this year and acquiring four more hives that i would...

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IndividualHighlights:

Did you Know 4

Geoff’s Corner 8

About Our Club 8

Regina and District Bee Club (RDBC)

I was one of the many peoplewho attended the Beginner’sBeekeeping course put on bythe SaskatchewanBeekeeper’s Association,June 2nd and 3rd at St.Joseph’s, Saskatchewan. Itwas an excellent weekend – Ican’t think of anything elseI’ve done that gave as muchvalue for the money as thiscourse did.I took the course because Iam in the undecided stageregarding beekeeping. Therewere others like me there,those that knew they wantedto start beekeeping, thosethat were new at it and thosethat were returning after along absence from it. Thecourse spoke to all thedifferent levels of experiencequite well. Even one of the

Beginner Beekeeping Course

In Search of the Perfect Bee - Part 1When I got the impulse toacquire a hive of bees 15months ago, little did I realizehow much I would beaffected by that decision.Luckily, I attended the club’sAGM and probably learnedmore in that day than from alot of the material I had readand “googled”. As a newbeekeeper, there is notenough I can say about thevalue of the club, it’smembers and especially, thementorship program. Withoutthe patience of my mentor, Iprobably would have givenup by now, but more on that

speakers – with decades ofbeekeeping behind him –learned something newthat weekend. But that’sbeekeeping for you;thousands of years ofpeople raising bees andthose bees still have newthings to show us!

The course was wellplanned and presented.There were lectures andslide shows, all of whichwere well done, and bothdays had hands-on lessonsin the bee yard as well.You can read all that youwant (and believe me Ihave) and attend lecturesand presentations but thereis nothing like seeing whatyou’ve just heard about inaction. Even the bees

provided some action bybeing kind enough to swarm.Not so nice for the beekeeper, but it was the firsttime many of us had everseen a swarm.I was also impressed by howwell presented the lectureswere. I never felt that theywere talking over our heads,and all questions wereanswered clearly, withoutmaking anyone feel asthough their inexperiencewas an irritation. I’ve been toworkshops and classeswhere that wasn’t the case,so I was pleased to see howhelpful everyone was.

KB

later.I bought my first Nuc fromColette and Rick Stushnoffand with their help and thehealthy bees, I was able tobuild that Nuc into a verysuccessful hive that gaveme 180 pounds of honeylast year. The queen wasvery productive, producedhygienic bees that had areal foraging zeal and wereextremely easy to work.That hive is kept in mybackyard and often I canwork them with very littleneed to smoke. Last year, Ionly received one sting andthat through my own fault. I

decided then that I wouldlike to expand by splittingmy first hive this year andacquiring four more hivesthat I would keep on a farmjust west of Regina andabout three and a halfkilometers from my house.

Continued on page 4

July 28, 2012

2012 Summer Issue

Special InterestArticles:

Adventures inUrbanBeekeeping: "MyFirst Swarm" 2

President’sReport 3

In Search of thePerfect Bee -Continued 4

New RDBCExecutives 6

Honey Today 8

Queen City Buzz of 8

(Swarm on base of tree)

One year into beekeepingI am beginning to feelquite comfortable. I havebeen through one honeyflow season, fall feeding,winter wrapping, and nowspring. I have the supportof a wonderful mentor andother experienced andhelpful folk, and worktogether with other newbeekeepers to figuresome things out as we goalong. Yet, I was quiteunprepared for my firstswarm. I knew thatswarms were a possibility,especially since I now hada full-fledged hive that had

Adventures in Urban Beekeeping:

"My First Swarm"made it through the winterwell. What I didn’t knowwas that it could happenso early.On Mother’s Day I wasspending time with my in-laws when my neighborcalled to tell me that someof my bees were in hisyard. “How many?” Iasked. “Oh, a fewthousand,” he replied. Iapologized to my motherin law and went home tocheck it out. Luckily theswarm had not gone far,and had landed low downon a large tree where theywere easy to access. Ihad all ready explained tomy neighbors that swarmsmight be a nuisance, butthat they are not theangry, chase-you-down-until –you-jump-in-a-rivertype creatures that areseen on cartoons. Theyactually believed me, andnobody panicked at all. Iffact, many people fromthe neighborhood cameover to check it out andtake photos. I myselfmight have been a bitmore nervous if I had tore-hive the swarm on myown, but once again I hadan experienced andhelpful beekeeper to call.

Andrew (our local swarmresponse guy) camewithin the hour. Betweenthe two of us we gatheredall the necessaryequipment: a spare hivewith frames, bottomboard, and lid; a bucket; abee brush; a hand sprayerfull of sugar water; andAndrew’s modified bee-

vac. I was amazed at howdocile the swarm was aswe scooped, brushed, andthen vacuumed them upand un-ceremoniouslydumped them into theirnew home. A fine spray ofsugar water on the re-hived bees helped keepthem from flying out andencouraged them to stayand lick each other clean,thereby giving us time tomake sure that the queenwas in the hive, whichwould cause the swarm tostay put for good. Wenever saw the queen, butsince the bees settled in,we could assume she wasthere, somewhere in themiddle of the mass.

I thanked Andrewand gave him the swarmto replace a hive thatdidn’t overwinter, gave myneighbor a conciliatory jarof honey for being soreasonable, and vowed topay more attention topossible springovercrowding next year.Requeening was also asuccess and I now lookforward to anothersuccessful honey flow. Nodoubt I still have lots tolearn, but I continue to bepassionate aboutbeekeeping and thankfulfor Regina and DistrictBee Club and all thesupport in the beekeepingcommunity.

Dennie


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Greetings to all,I would like to start bythanking Andrew, K.B. andDennie for accepting theirdirector positions. Theirthoughts, input and work isa great benefit to the Club.It's been a funny year todate to keep up with thegirls. Looked like an earlySpring and then themonsoon season hit. Nowwe get to work through theheat. All and all the girlshave been up to the taskby all reports and there ishoney being produced andgathered. We are holdingour first summer field dayon Sunday, July 29 @1:00 p.m. at Colette andRichard's apiary. Thanksto Colette and Richard for

President’s Report

You can order asubscription to the ABJ onyour 2012-13 Membership

hosting. We will look at acouple different ways ofpulling honey so BRINGYOUR BEE SUITS andbee ready to take part. Wewill also have a session onextracting.We are planning onhosting a fall field dayearly to mid September todemonstrate setting thehives for winter. If youpeople have any otherthoughts and/or ideasbring them along and wecan discuss them.

May the flow bee with you,

Jeff ThollPresident Regina andDistrict Bee Club

For Beekeeping Supplies

and Honey Containers in

the Regina Area

contact Perry or Michelle Frischholz @306.781.4457 or email us at

[email protected]

The SBDC is amajor sponsor

of our AgribitionBooth every year!

Have you checked out theRDBC webpage lately. Itsworth a look. Whenever aninteresting article comesalong we post it. There areadvertisements dealingwith a number of beerelated products. In themember section you haveaccess to other memberscontract info, as well ascopies of club documentssuch as newsletters andmeeting minutes. There isan article section whereyou can submit articles forposting, and even a recipesection with many differentand tasty dishes to try.One of my favourite parts isa section where memberscan post want ads for free.These ads are onlyviewable by othermembers, however it gives

Did You Know

members a great placeto post ads asking forequipment, help, or forproducts from the hive.So feel free to post thoseads, the more peoplethat use it the moreeffective it becomes.

Andrew


In Search of the Perfect Bee - Cont’d

This past winter I cameacross studies done by amonk from St. Mary’sAbbey at Buckfast inEngland. He wasassigned to the bee yardsat the age of seventeenand stayed at the job untilhe retired some eightyyears later. Soon afterBrother Adam joined thehead beekeeper, BrotherColumban, thirty out of theAbbey's forty-six colonieswere wiped out by adisease known as Acarineor as we know it, TrachealMites. All of the bees thatdied were of the nativeBritish black bee variety.This bee was renownedfor being hardy, butsomewhat ill-tempered.Not only were the Abbey’sbees affected but all thebees throughout Britain. Itwas a major disaster tosay the least.In 1915 there were only16 surviving colonies inthe Abbey. All of themwere either pure Ligurian(Italian) or of Ligurianorigin hybrid betweenLigurian and English blackbee. Brother Adam movedthe surviving bees to theisolated valley ofDartmoor, which becamea mating station forselective breeding. Withno other bees withinrange, he could maintaintheir genetic integrity anddevelop desirable traits.

Brother Adam investigatedvarious honey bee racesand made many longjourneys in Europe, Africaand Middle-Eastsearching for pure racesand interesting localstocks. He imported beesto cross with his

developing Buckfast bee.

Every new strain of beeBrother Adam brought inwas first crossed with theexisting Buckfast Bee. Inmost cases, the newdesired qualities werepassed on to the newgeneration and the newcombination was thenmade stable with furtherbreeding work. Everycrossing with a new racetook about 10 yearsbefore the desired geneswere fixed in the strain.Over seventy years, hemanaged to develop avigorous, healthy, andfecund honeybee, whichhe christened the Buckfastbee..

Well, when I read all that, Ifigured that these werethe bees for me.Realizing, however, that Icould not go to Englandand acquire someBuckfast queens, I gaveup on the idea. Then,shortly after, in a recentissue of Bee Culturemagazine, there was asmall ad in the back forBuckfast queens from abreeder in Ontario –Ferguson Apiaries. Icontacted Geoff Wilson

our Provincial Apiarist toask if I could import someBuckfast queens and heset the import protocols inmotion, which included arequest from me to theprovincial Ag. Minister.After what seemed like avery long time, severalemails back and forth to BillFerguson and to Geoff, andpermission granted fromthe Ministry, everythingcame together.Being new to all this, I wasa bit hesitant when Bill’swife, Rosemary, told methey would ship the queensout that night via CanadaPost. If you are like me,you probably have somehorror story or two aboutCanada Post, but theFergusons assured me itwould be okay. I expectedthe package to arrive in twodays time, but to mysurprise, I got a call thenext day from CanadaPost. The caller said thepostman tried to deliver thepackage but there was noone home, so instead ofleaving the bees in theback of a hot postal van, hedrove the bees back to themain outlet, where theywere kept in thesupervisor’s office. I couldpick them up anytime. Iwas so impressed with thedriver and the postalservice for their care andconcern over my queens.

I had ordered four queensfrom Ferguson’s; two forrequeening and two fromwhich to build Nucs. After aclose check on the onehive that I assumed wasqueenless, I found it was. Iinserted the new queen inher cage and saw that shewas instantly accepted by

the colony. They were allattracted to her pheromoneand circled the cage. Theother hive that needed aqueen was a split I madefrom my very strongbackyard hive. That cagewas added in the samefashion and with the samereaction. The two Nucs werebuilt from frames from thetwo stronger hives at thefarm. Those queens wereadded in their cages after acouple of days of the beesbeing left queenless. Theacceptance again wasimmediate.

That was a week ago. Ichecked the hives last night(July 16), and they had botheaten through the candyplugs and released their newqueens. Both hives weremuch calmer and in a morepleasant mood. Seems theylike the infusion of theBuckfast genes. Both newqueens had fattened up andwere busily moving aroundand laying eggs. The proofwill be in the next six weekswhen both hives will bereplaced by the Buckfaststock according to studiesthat Bill Ferguson has madeover the course of hisbreeding program.

Robin

(see complete article onwebpage)


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Dennie Fornwald

Dennie is a new beekeeperand the founder of ReginaUrban Beekeeping. She is ateacher and gardener, as wellan outdoor enthusiast. Thementor program has beengreat over the years - thanksespecially to our pastpresident Colette Stushnoffand director MichelleFrischholtz. Your dedication tothe club has been fantastic!"

Dennie

Andrew Hamilton

I have a little over a dozenhives I keep on a farm northof the city. My Greatgrandfather moved here fromScotland and was one of thecreators of the SBA(Saskatchewan BeeAssociation). He started downhere in the Qu'Appelle Valleyand eventually moved to theNipawin area where I grewup. I spent my youth helpingmy grandparents and fatherwith their bees. I find it very

rewarding to be running bees inthe area where my greatgrandfather started.I joined the club in 2010, andstarted with 2 hives. Every yearsince I have expanded a littlemore. I enjoy answering beequestions and helping newmembers out.

Andrew

KB Sterling

I have been interested inbeekeeping since I saw my firsthive as a child in Hudson,

New Executives Quebec. I am a parent, a baker,an archivist, a honey collector(more than a dozen differenttypes at any given moment) andfuture beekeeper. This is mysecond year with the RDBC andmy first attempt ever at websiteadministration. Be patient withme!

KB

Wholesale Honeywas averaged at $4.02/lbduring July 2012.

Retail Honey wasaveraged at $5.67/lbduring July 2012.

Bulk Honey wasaveraged at $1.67/lbduring April 2012.

Geoff’s Corner

Honey Today

The Regina and DistrictBee Club has been activein the City of Regina forover fifty years as acooperative for orderinghoney bees and as anetwork for education andinformation onbeekeeping.

It is a priority to informmembers about currentissues in the beekeepingindustry to ensure that aproactive role is taken withall industry issues such asbee diseases, mites andpesticides.

The Regina and DistrictBee Club participates inthe Agri-Ed Show Case atCanadian WesternAgribition. The focus is toeducate children fromGrades 4-6 aboutagriculture and food. Clubmembers volunteer theirtime to speak about the

About Our Club…

See something you like?

Have questions?

Do you have ideas orfeedback?

Let us know!!!

1132 Broadway Ave. E.Regina, SK S4N 1A8

PHONE:(306) 757-5958

E-MAIL:[email protected]

We’re on the Web!

See us at:

www.reginabeeclub.ca

Have questions and need informationabout beekeeping in Saskatchewan?

Do you want to become a registeredBeekeeper in our Province?

Contact Saskatchewan's ProvincialApiarist:

Geoff Wilson (306.953.2304)

Email: [email protected]

Statistics taken from theNational Honey Board

bees and beekeeping towell in excess of 10,000visitors each year.

The Regina and DistrictBee Club in partnershipwith the SaskatchewanBeekeepers Associationprofile the bee keepingindustry as a whole in theTrade Show area in orderto:

• Promote and sellproducts of the hive;

• Inform visitors aboutthe industry and itsrole in theSaskatchewaneconomy; and

• Develop a relationshipwith otherSaskatchewanagriculture producers.

Membership Benefits:

• A cooperative forordering bees;

• At the annualmeeting, guestspeakers are invitedto give presentationson current issues;

• Communication ofindustry issues toenable members tohave a voice inprovincial decisionmaking;

• Hold “Field Days” toenable members tolearn aboutbeekeeping bestpractice methods; and

• Information andsupport system forfellow beekeepers.

Want to Advertise in theQueen City Buzzzzzz?

Business Card $10.00

1/4 pg $25.00

1/3 pg $30.00

1/2 pg $45.00

1 pg $80.00

Our next Newsletter will beearly May. Deadline for

submissions is April 27, 2012.

beginner beekeeping course · my first hive this year and acquiring four more hives that i would...

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