Post on 20-May-2020
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The Newsletter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association February 2020The President's Buzz
from Tommy Helms
I hope everyone’s bees are happy. I have noticed the bees working my
Red Maple tree. They were all over it most of the day. They have been
bringing in lots of grey and yellow pollen. With this warmer than usual
weather we’re having, I think the bees are a little confused. With the bees
bringing in pollen and a little nectar, it’s got the queen laying some eggs. I
have seen frames with eggs, larvae and brood, even saw some drone brood.
They are building up extremely fast. This might not be a bad thing if we
don’t have any severely cold weather. If we do there may not be enough bees
the protect the eggs and brood and it will be lost. However, if it stays
warmer the hives are going to build up fast early in the season. They may
start building up before the nectar starts coming in and that means more
bees eating up their winter stores. Late February and early March is a
critical time for your honeybees. Too many bees and not enough food.
I have kept sugar and or fondant on my bees all winter. I thought I had
them good until spring until I started checking hives a few days ago and
everyone had eaten all the food I had on them. They were all full of bees,
some had some stores of honey, some of the hives are starting to get light in
weight and are probably relying on my feeding them. You must make sure
the hives don’t get honey bound and the queen doesn’t have room to lay. It
doesn’t matter how well you treated for mites last season if the bees don’t
have enough food to make it through the winter it was all in vain. It would
be a shame for the bees to die because of lack of food. VPB (very poor
beekeeping) kills more bees this time of year than anything. Keep a close
watch on your bees. Check for swarm cells early. Get your swarm boxes out
and get those supers ready.
Good Luck with your bees!
Tommy Helms
MeckBees President
February Meeting*date change!*
Bryan Fisher
Beekeeping Tips,
Tricks & Hacks to Save You
Time, Money & Labor
Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm
Selwyn United Methodist Church
3100 Selwyn Road
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Connect in Steele CreekMichael Palmer recommends: for a
great local bee stock, '...change the bees in
your Neighborhood...'. If you live in the
Steele Creek area, and you would like to
work together on a resilient local bee stock,
email Kim at BeesandSurplus@gmail.com.
I'll coordinate a meetup and we'll talk
specifics about what you/us are working on,
delve into bee science, forage, etc locally
and how best support the bees themselves.
This is what Bill Bishop did, for 35+ years.
Community ServiceOpportunity
I have a request for a speaker at the
West Blvd. Public Library for either March
3, 23 or April 20. You chose the date you
want. It would be for second grade students
on a field trip. They would like to have the
observation hive and talk on honey bees
showing some equipment used to work bees.
If you're interested let me know and I'll get
you the contact information.
Thanks Tommy Helms
meckbeespres@gmail.com
Instagram is an amazing
and easy tool for documenting
and capturing moments in your
bee yard. Take photos and
videos of your bees, honey or
products and post them! Don’t
forget to use hashtags when
posting to find, follow and
connect with other beekeepers.
#meckbees #cltbeekeeping #cltbeekeepers #bees #honeybees
#beekeeping #backyardbeekeeping #beekeepers #queencell #hive
#beehive #honey #pollination #flowers #garden #savethebees
#beesofinstagram #instabee
– Laura Weber connects: @hellohoneyclt
Here are three Instagram accounts that I really enjoy
following!
Get Social!from Laura Weber
@girlnextdoorhoneyHilary KearneyAuthor of Queenspotting & The LittleBook of Bees Bee education 10 yrs of #beekeepingexp.linktr.ee/girlnextdoorhoney76k followers
@bee_nfluencerB.I’m the 1st bee influencer! Follow me guys: the more followers Ihave, the more we will save bees!#BeeFund x @fondationdefrancebeefund.fondationdefrance.org269k followers
@texasbeeworksERIKA THOMPSON | BEEKEEPERProfessional beekeeper#savethebeesLive Bee Removals Ag Exemptions Advocacy Private Lessons Classes Public Speaking More23.1K followers
New Resource Available‘Beginner’ online BEES school
Perfect for wannabe beekeepers who
couldn’t make their local bee school!
WHEN: March 425th
WHERE: Online Beekeeper Education
& Engagement System (BEES)
HOW: Students will enroll in the
‘Beginner’ level BEES courses and learn the
online content on their own time and at
their own pace. Each Wednesday evening,
we will hold virtual “office hours” with Dr.
David Tarpy to discuss what you have
learned and answer any lingering questions.
An optional inhive field day will be offered
at the NCSU Lake Wheeler Honey Bee
Research Facility in Raleigh on March 28th
(rain date April 4).
INFO:
https://www.ncsuapiculture.net/online
beginnerbeesschool
‘Intermediate’ BEES Academy
Great way to prepare for the MBP
Journeyman exam!
WHEN: March 34th
WHERE: Craven County Extension
Center, 300 Industrial Dr, New Bern, NC
28562
HOW: Two full days to immerse yourself
in the theoretical and practical aspects of
beekeeping. Mixture of both live and pre
taped videos from the Beekeeper Education
& Engagement System (BEES) as well as
handson activities. Numerous members of
the NC State Apiculture Program will help
you build upon your current knowledge of
beekeeping by exploring a wide variety of
topics.
INFO:
https://www.ncsuapiculture.net/bees
academyhome
Botanical Trivia: Cherryfrom Dietlinde Zipkin
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At this time of year, you may be thinking, “What can I plant in my
garden for my honey my bees to
forage on?”
I learned this the hard way.
Referring to a list of beneficial
plants for bees, I stumbled upon the
quince. Off to the plant nursery I
went and obtained the pretty little
ornamental shrub.
It bloomed, but I never saw a
bee foraging on my quince.
Subsequently, I read that bees
will only forage on single quince flowers. Bummer!
I gained a better understanding of this concept while researching
my last two botanical trivia columns, Camellias and Cherries.
Single flowers. Flowers that occur in the wild are single
flowers. That means they have one row of petals. In the center of the
petal arrangement are the flower
reproductive parts.
Flowers have evolved to produce
nectar in order to attract pollinators,
however, this comes at a significant
energy cost to the plant.
Semidouble and double
flowers are mutations. The
flowers lack the signal to form
stamens and carpels, their
reproductive parts. Instead, the
flowers default to forming petals.
Double flowers lack the reproductive parts. They are sterile.
Therefore, they do not need to attract pollinators for fertilization.
There is no evolutionary pressure for them to spend energy producing
nectar, thus they may produce less nectar, or none at all. Also, access
to any nectaries can be blocked by the mutation. So many petals
simply get in the way. Double flowers cannot produce pollen because
they lack stamens.
Double flowers can be very showy, thus humans have cultivated
them as ornamentals. Although attractive in your garden, they are
not useful for providing bee forage.
My quince 4/12/13
Single flower quinceImage from flickr.com
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Contact UsInquiries about beekeeper
presentations, honey bee swarms,
and future events may be directed
to the website: http://meckbees.org
Submissions to the Honeycomb
newsletter may be directed to the
editor: meckbeebuzz@gmail.com
Single flower rose:Five petals. All stamens and carpelpresent.Image from flickr.com
Semidouble flowers fall somewhere in between. They have more than
the usual number of petals single flowers bear, but less than double
flowers. Notably, they usually have some nonmutated stamens clearly
visible in the center of the flower and are therefore fertile. They may offer
some bee forage.
Depending on the exact nature of the mutation, these different flower
structures can develop into one another e.g. sepals can develop as carpels
or leaves, petals as stamens, petals as sepals, stamens as carpals, stamens
as petals, or an entirely new flower in place of carpels.
Double rose:No stamens or carpals.
Semidouble rose:More than five petals in more than onerow of petals. Some stamens present.
This image illustrates the basic anatomy of aflower.Sepal: usually a green, leaflike structurePetal: typically showy and attractiveStamens: male reproductive organsCarpel: female reproductive organ
Single flower camellia. Camelliasnaturally have five to nine petals.Stamens and carpel present.
Semidouble Camellia. Many petals inmultiple rows. Fewer stamens in thecenter.
Single flower cherry. Five petals in onerow. Stamens and carpel present.
Semidouble cherry. Many petals inmultiple rows. Some stamens in thecenter.