October 2024 Newsletter
President’s Hive
Autumn has arrived, which means that October 8th will be our last hive demo at the Bee Lab. The focus of the demonstration will be on putting our hives “to bed” for the winter season. Thank you to Gary Reuter and Jessica Helgen for imparting your knowledge throughout 2024. Your expertise is appreciated!
Speaking of expertise, the University of Minnesota Bee Research Lab is planning a Bee Jamboree to celebrate Dr. Marla Spivak and the Bee Research Lab. Marla is retiring at the end of this year and this event honors her and her work at the Lab. The event will take place at the McNamara Center on the University of MN Minneapolis campus on November 1st. MHBA is sponsoring the Jamboree through a donation of $2,500. This “Bee Champion” sponsorship includes 6 tickets. We will be giving away (prize drawing) the 6 individual Jamboree tickets at our October membership meeting. You must be present to win! More information about the event may be found elsewhere in this newsletter.
Our membership meeting this month will feature Andrew Coté. A fourth generation beekeeper, Andrew Coté is the owner of Andrew's Local Honey and has been a pioneer in urban beekeeping. Andrew has hives all across the greater NY area from Westchester to the Waldorf Astoria in Midtown Manhattan. His book, Honey and Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper, follows a year in the life of Andrew’s beekeeping experiences, chronicling his adventures and the quirky personalities he encounters while spreading his infinite knowledge of and passion for the remarkable honey bee. I am expecting an entertaining presentation and I look forward to seeing many of you at our October 8th membership meeting.
Here are some other important things to know for this month:
Board of Directors Vacancies
Elections for MHBA Board of Directors will happen at our November member meeting. We have 3 open positions. You may nominate yourself. Completed forms must be submitted by 11:59 pm on October 22, 2024. Please click HERE for more information (you may need to log in to the website first). You will then need to click on “Board of Directors Nomination Form.”
Save the Date
Our annual banquet and fundraising event is Saturday, March 1, 2025. Mark your calendars.
Members Only Facebook Page
All members are invited to join our private Facebook page. There are a few steps that you need to take in order to join. The page is a welcoming space for questions and sharing. https://www.facebook.com/groups/MNHobbyBeekeepers
Library Materials & Meeting Treats
Don’t forget to return your borrowed materials from our library! Also, please consider volunteering to bring treats to our member meetings. Let our hospitality chairs Mark and Cathy Lee know if you plan to do this - they will send you a reminder postcard.
Kate Winsor
MHBA President
Better Beekeeping Through Education
Next Meeting
Tuesday, October 8th, 7:00 PM
Hybrid meeting:
In-Person: Borlaug Hall, Room 335
Via Zoom: Meeting Link
Hive Demo
Tuesday, October 8th 5:45 PM
Bee Lab Apiary
Click here for directions.
Upcoming Events
10/8
11/12
October 2024 Management
If you have been following along you should by now have the varroa mites under control, assured they have enough honey for winter and fed 2:1 syrup if not, installed entrance reducer, and corked holes except the top one. All that is left is the winter cover and that can go on with the moisture board at the end of the month.
When the brood has mostly emerged and the bees are in a loose cluster, treat with Oxalic acid dribble.
If colonies were low on honey stores you should have been feeding 2:1 sugar syrup. If not start now and stop as soon as they have 70 – 100 pounds of honey/syrup stored. More is not better. If you cannot weigh the colony, be sure you have at least 10 deep frames full of honey.
When mixing 2:1 sugar syrup, 1. Fill bucket with sugar. 2. Add water and stir until all sugar is dissolved and bucket is full. You can use hot water (120-150dF) to make it easier to dissolve the sugar. DO NOT heat it after you have added the sugar. This can produce HMF (Hydroxymethylfurfural) which is harmful to the bees. If you have foundation in the top box replace it with drawn comb before feeding. The bees will not draw out comb this time of the year.
Where should the honey be? The honey needs to be in combs above the bees. See diagram below for the ideal setup. If the colony is seriously not like this, you can move frames around to fix it. If it is off by only a few frames don’t worry about it but switch out any frames in the top that have foundation or are less than half full. If the bees are clustered do not remove frames.
A reminder to be careful not to get robbing started in your bee yards. Robbing often happens to weak colonies but can also happen to strong colonies if you are not careful. This time of year, you must be careful not to spill syrup or have leaking feeders. Do not leave frames out for a long time. If you have a frame out and it has robbers on it shake them off before putting the frame back in the colony. If you have a frame out and some bees get on it to rob, then you put it in the colony they will pick up the smell of the colony and be able to get back in again to rob. If you have signs of robbing put a wet sheet over the colony, covering all the entrances, for about 2 hours or until the bees trying to get in give up and go home. Wait until the end of the month to put the winter cover on.
If you have a weak colony, I do not recommend combining it with a strong colony. It will not help the strong colony and will possibly harm it if the weak colony had some disease. If you have 2 weak colonies, you can try to combine them together for winter, but it is rarely successful.
Good Luck!
Gary
Reproduction of all or part of this article without the author’s permission is prohibited.
Classifieds
Your Classified Here
Did you know your membership allows you to place classified ads in the MHBA Newsletter?
Board of Directors Elections
MHBA Board of Directors Elections is Tuesday November 12th
We are currently looking forward to receiving nominations for Directors whose terms are expiring. Director Elections will be held on November 12th during the member meeting. Submissions are due by October 22. There are great reasons to consider volunteering as a Director on the MHBA board:
- An opportunity to be a part of running an association that you love
- Add to sweetening up your resume
- Gain and develop important leadership skills
- Donate your time, talent and skills to a worthy non prophet association
- Meet and collaborate with other wonderful beekeepers
- Vote on important topics discussed at board meetings
- Once a director you have possibilities to run for an officer position in the future
By joining the board you can help steer programming and the content of speakers for the meetings, be on one of our many significant committees: membership, technology, hospitality, newsletter, swarm catchers, library, state fair extracting, community outreach, banquet, youth scholarship, the August picnic, etc.
MHBA is full of talented, hardworking individuals, and YOU can help make the organization the best it can be! Help us make a meaningful difference by doing something that makes you feel good and by keeping this fantastic association buzzing!
A Director is a three-year term. Check out the bylaws to learn more about how the association works and if you haven’t already, fill out the Board of Directors Nomination Form here then click on the Board of Directors Nomination Form. It brings you right to it. The deadline is October 22, 2024.
We have a digital refractometer!
If you are looking to accurately test the moisture level of your honey, or would like to calibrate your hand-held refractometer, please bring a small honey sample (and your refractometer, if calibrating) to the October 12th meeting. Someone will be there to assist you with your measurements.
A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
Email a photo to Gary Reuter at [email protected] before noon on the day of the member's meeting so he can project it on the screen during “Ask the Expert.” We will all learn from you what you see in your hive.
Online Resources
Please visit our website!
https://mnbeekeepers.com/
We continue to make updates and changes to our website. Recently, we reorganized the Education page.
https://mnbeekeepers.com/ed/
Stay tuned for no-cost Community-based beekeeping classes & events in the new calendar:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/events/
If you are offering a class/event, you may submit the details to have it listed on our website:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/add-a-community-event/
Join Us On Facebook
Join our members only Facebook group:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/facebook-group/
This is a place for members to ask questions, share answers, share photos and videos, and socialize online.
MHBA Board Minutes
Please check the website for the latest, approved Board meeting minutes.
More Announcements
Membership Renewal
There are three ways to renew your membership today!
- Renew your membership online with a credit card (preferred).
- Mail the membership renewal form to our treasurer at the address provided
- Renew in person by bringing your completed form and check to the next meeting.
Our Renewal Form can be found at our Become a Member page:
https://www.mnbeekeepers.com/become_member
Newsletter Submissions
The MHBA newsletter welcomes articles, photos, recipes, etc. from members. Please send them to the editor:
[email protected]
If an article is a reprint from another source, permission must be gained if required. The due date for newsletter submission is the 25th of the month for the next month's newsletter.
MHBA Board
| Position | Member |
|---|---|
| President | Kate Winsor |
| Vice President | Bill Thompson |
| Secretary | Michelle Maas |
| Treasurer | Bob Hinschberger |
| Directors | |
| Peg DeSanto | |
| Willie Gabbard | |
| Quintin Holmberg | |
| Charlie Kundinger | |
| Katie Lee, PhD. (appointed) | |
| Karen Voy | |
| Open | |
| Liz Pepin | |
| Noel Pollen | |
| Gary Reuter | |
| Christine Shoemaker | |
| Membership | Steve Buck |
| Newsletter Editor | Quintin Holmberg |
| Technology Committee | Quintin Holmberg |
| Gary Reuter | |
| Librarian | Gail Dramen |
| Outreach | Susan Bornstein |
| Ask Buzz | JoAnne Sabin |
| Swarm Chasers | Bob Sitko |
| Hospitality | Mark & Cathy Lee |
| Banquet | Jessica Minser |
Get Involved
Make 2024 the year to get more involved in your club! To become a Community Outreach volunteer or a Swarm Chaser please complete and submit the appropriate form by visiting:
https://mnbeekeepers.com/get-involved/
NOTE: The contents of this Newsletter are the sole property of the Minnesota Hobby Beekeepers Association (MHBA). NO REPUBLICATION OR USE in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, by any other person or entity without the prior express written permission from MHBA’s Board of Directors is permitted. MHBA may be contacted at [email protected]