The Connecticut. Upcoming Meetings & Workshops. President s Message CBA at th Anniversary Celebration!

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1 Honey Bee The Connecticut The Connecticut Beekeepers Assoc. Volume 90, Issue 3: Summer 2016 President s Message CBA at 125 Beekeeping has changed over the past 125 years. A century ago, the massive colony die offs were due to Foul Brood. Today, Foul Brood still occurs, but rarely. Over time, the susceptible bees died off. The resistant bees flourished. Today, our main scourge is Varroa mites. The totally susceptible bees have died. Bees with some levels of mite tolerance are evident. Will our bees adapt to this threat as they did to Foul Brood? Check back at the 150th anniversary. This newsletter covers the events we have planned for our celebration on June 4th. Spread the word. I m happy to report that our membership has been very supportive and has answered our call for volunteers. Thank you to all! In addition to planning for the 125th anniversary celebration, there has been a lot going on. The fight to preserve the state bee inspector s position has been successful. We will probably have to wage the fight again next year, but this is a good start. State Senator Ted Kennedy attended our April meeting. He solicited input for the pollinator bill (SB-231) that was in the Senate. (Continued on Pg. 2) Upcoming Meetings & Workshops 125th Anniversary Celebration! Saturday, June 4 9am-4:30pm 890 Evergreen Ave., Hamden Food will be available for purchase or bring your own picnic lunch. Fall Preparation July 23, am-10:30am or 11:30am-1pm 41 Ford Rd., Woodbridge Hands-on sessions in best practices for mid-summer and fall hive management. Includes a close look at several hives to assess condition, feeding options, mite detection and control techniques. Registration will open 3 weeks before the workshop. October Meeting Saturday, October 22 9am-3pm 123 Huntington St., New Haven Please bring your favorite dish to share during the pot luck luncheon. Beverages will be provided.

2 (President s Msg. - Cont d From Pg. 1) It defined requirements for the Bee Inspector position. During layoffs, it will prevent someone from a non-technical area from bumping into the position. Senator Kennedy incorporated many of our suggestions. He wanted to get the bill passed before the end of the session, so deferred any changes that would have a financial impact as it would have required submitting for fiscal review and would incur more delays. SB231 was signed by the governor on May 6th. Dr. Richard Cowels, from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, has submitted a request for a grant to the Department of Agriculture. He is looking to identify Connecticut winter hardy strains of bees from overwintered stock. He also wants to study the small, but still existing feral bee population. He is interested in mixing their genetics with some of the top bee lines in the US. The end goal will be to develop a better line of queen bees for Connecticut. It will provide training for people wanting to get into queen production. At the end of his project, the lines of bees and equipment will be made available to the Connecticut Beekeepers Association and Connecticut Queen Producers Cooperative. I ve heard one naysayer comment that Dr. Cowels is not a beekeeper and the project will end in failure. I think that a partnership with the CBA and CQPC should help him with his research and the results can only help the long term health of Connecticut bees. This is a first of its kind project in Connecticut. Even if not successful, it will give us a baseline to build on. By the next newsletter in the fall, the 125th anniversary celebration will be a memory. It will be time to start looking to the future. Where do you want the CBA to go? I d like your feedback. Let me know what programs you want. What can we do to support your success? BEEKEEPER NEEDED for High School Apiary (3 hives) Dependable/Experienced Beekeeper Work with students & staff on beekeeping basics Available to give occasional apiary tour Manage & maintain hives & apiary site Feed bees & treat for pests when needed Annual contract w/compensation ~ Equipment, protective suits & supplies provided by school * START: JUNE 2016 * If interested, please contact: burkiw@avonoldfarms.com (w) or (c) Page 2

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4 CBA To Maintain Hives at Governor s Mansion Governor Malloy at the CBA booth during Ag Day at the state Capitol on March 16, Photo Credit: Gosia Liedlich. At Ag Day at the state Capitol this year, Governor Malloy invited us to place beehives at the Governor s mansion. It has taken awhile to coordinate with his staff and to arrange for equipment and bees but by the time you read this we should be moving the bees in. The majority of the equipment was donated by Nutmeg Woodenware. The bees were donated by an anonymous benefactor. Having bees at the governor s residence will raise the profile of the importance of bees in the state of Connecticut and will hopefully be a reminder next year during the budget battles, of the need for the bee inspector. Congratulations to the Connecticut Beekeepers Association Celebrating 125 Years In the Company of Bees From Your Friends At Hilltop Apiaries Canton, Connecticut J ones Apiaries Country Rubes Bottom Boards Sundance Pollen Traps Ross Rounds Authorized Maxant Dealer llc Ted & Becky Jones Dealers for: Assembled Equipment Unassembled Equipment MiteAway Quik Strips Bee Smart Equipment Heitkam Queens Available 55 Wolf Pit Road, Farmington, CT t.c.jones@snet.net Page 4

5 Minutes of the Membership Meeting April 16, 2016 CAES, New Haven, Ct. 1. Call to Order - 12:45 2. Minutes of the Regular Meeting of February 13, 2016 approved. 3. REPORTS A. Second workshop has been posted for Massaro Farm. Details at B. EAS Report 2016 conference will be held at the Richard Stockton University, Galloway, NJ. 1) Short course 7/25-7/27 2) Conference 7/27-7/29 C. Mann Lake sponsors a scholarship to any young person to attend the conference. For more information go to easternapiculture.org D. Treasurers Report The club is in good status. E. Eastern Ct. Beekeepers go to myecba.org for upcoming events. F. Backyard Beekeepers Association go to backyardbeekeepers.com for upcoming events. 4. OLD BUSINESS A. The Apiary Inspector s status is preserved for 2017 but the fight is not over. We need language inserted into the Pollinator Bill that will ensure a State Apiary position must be held by a qualified individual. B. During Ag day at the State Capital, CBA was asked by Governor Malloy to put a hive at the governor s mansion. Still waiting for confirmation. 5. NEW BUSINESS A. Al Avitabile presented the slate of nominations for club officers Steve Dinsmore (President), Gosia Liedlich (Vice President), Mike Campion (Treasurer), Karen Parker (Secretary). 1) Steve Dinsmore nominated Mike Carey as our new Member-At-Large. All voted in. B. We need volunteers for the 125th Anniversary Celebration, which will be held at Lockwood Farm on June 4, All volunteers will receive a free T-Shirt and a ticket for a slice of pizza. Sign up today or online at our website. C. Anyone interested in helping out with outreach programs or mentorship programs, please fill out your contact information on the sign up list. D. We will be providing updates for the By-Laws at the next meeting. E. The Sentinel Apiary Project was approved by the membership. The program includes analysis, monitoring weight of hives with a hive scale and other valuable information 6. Adjourned 1:18 Page 5

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7 Connecticut Summer Queens In the Southeastern part of Connecticut, the main honey flows are over by mid- July. Soon afterwards, the colony populations start to decline. The mite populations continue to increase. One method of mite control is stopping brood production. Re-queening your hive introduces a break in the brood cycle, which will knock back your mite levels. You still have to monitor the levels and treat as necessary though because mites can rebound. Secondly, re-queening sends your colony into the fall with a new, strong queen who can provide your colony with the needed population of winter bees. She will then be ready to produce during the buildup in the spring. At SNEBA last fall, Mike Palmer spoke about a management method that makes your apiary sustainable. When your honey flows end, split your colony. Create a Nuc with a locally raised queen. Replace the frames you take with drawn comb. Then feed your parent colony and your split until they are both ready for winter. In the spring, if your parent colony survives, you can start a new colony with the nuc or sell the nuc. Alternately, you can use the nuc as a Bee Bomb, combining the nuc with the parent colony so they have a large population for spring. It gives you a boost on honey production. Mike believes that northern raised queens are better acclimated to the northern winters and this increases your chances of overwintering your colonies. The alternative is to prepare your colony for winter by traditional means. If your colony dies, you have to look for replacement bees. If your colony survives, you re knocking it back for a spring split rather than boosting it. Connecticut Raised Queens are available from several sources through the Connecticut Queen Producers Cooperative. If you would like locally raised queens, ctqueenbees@yahoo.com Page 7

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9 The following history was compiled from a Connecticut Beekeepers Book from It gave the history of the association from its founding. I would like to bring this history up to date. If anyone has information they can provide (particularly on past presidents), please contact me. Also, if anyone has one of the bound sets of the early years of The Connecticut Honey Bee, I would very much like to see those as well. Steve Dinsmore Connecticut Beekeepers Association An Historical Summary The Connecticut Beekeepers Association was organized on May 13th 1891 at the home of Edwin E. Smith, Watertown, Conn., with the following charter members: Edward S. Andrus Torrington B. F. Stratton Hazardville Geo. S. Griswold Middlebury Edwin E. Smith Watertown E. Turner Hazardville Porter L. Wood Waterbury Mrs. Porter L. Wood Waterbury Mrs. W. E. Riley Waterbury W. A. Buell Litchfield Rev. W. J. Peck Corona, L. I. Rev. Joseph Kyte Northfield The first officers that were elected: President 1st Vice President 2nd Vice President Secretary Treasurer Edward S. Andrus B. F. Stratton Edwin E. Smith Mrs. W. E. Riley Porter L. Wood The object of the Association, as stated in Article 2 of the first Constitution, was The promotion of scientific bee culture by forming a strong bond of union among beekeepers. On September 24, 1908, the Association was incorporated under the laws of the State of Connecticut by James A. Smith, George W. Smith and Francis H. Hills. In 1904, Stephen J. Griffen of Bridgport started the campaign for the suppression of foul brood. The Association continued the struggle and in 1913 the General Assembly, on petition of our Association, provided means for correcting the menace of Foul Brood with an appropriation of $ A program, under the direction of Dr. W. E. Britton of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, with A. W. Yates of Hartford and Henry Coley of Westport as inspectors, was begun. By patient instruction and demonstration, this difficult work checked the spread of bee diseases. On the death of Dr. Britton, Dr. Zappe of the Experiment Station assumed supervision of the inspectors and W. H. Kelsey, of Bristol, Roy Stadel of Southington, and Page 9

10 Elbra Baker of Brooklyn continued the work. On Mr. Kelsey s retirement, Cyril Simpson of Glastonbury took over his territory, and two years later Philemon J. Hewitt, Jr., of Litchfield succeeded Mr. Simpson. This may be called the beginning of the Association s Big Brother jobs, it being the only representative group to focus attention on the needs of the beekeeping industry in Connecticut. The Apicultural Department was established in connection with Extension work at Connecticut Agricultural College. Prof. L. B. Crandall was placed in charge at Storrs, Conn. Beginning in 1909, the Association annually exhibited honey and bees at the Connecticut Fair, Charter Oak Park, Hartford, to 1928, so long as the Fair existed. In 1928, during the administration of A. W. Yates, a petition for State aid was granted by the legislature. The Association inaugurated a broad educational program with lectures, publications and motion pictures made available to beekeepers throughout the state. In 1929, $2000 biennially was appropriated for the issuing of periodicals and bulletins advancing the Apicultural interests of the state. On January 1st 1929, the first issue of the Connecticut Honey Bee was published under the Editorship of Telley Eugene Babcock, of Norwich, Connecticut. Mr. Babcock served the Association in this capacity for twenty years, and during that time brought Connecticut beekeepers the knowledge gleaned by the best research workers in Bee Husbandry. During the term of the Connecticut General Assembly, he did his best to further the interests of the beekeeping industry as a representative from the Norwich District. Our magazine has been helpful and well balanced, carrying articles of the better practices in beekeeping all through the years. Mr. Babcock always showed an open mind on new methods, and publicity was always available to anyone who thought he had made a discovery of value to others. The avowed purposes of our publication are to help beekeepers on the following problems: Spreading beekeeping knowledge Less expensive production Control of swarming Eradication of diseases Curtailment of winter losses Easier methods of manipulation Better queens and strains of bees The value of bees in the advancement of agriculture, especially horticulture In the year 1931 we celebrated our Fortieth Anniversary, with appropriate speakers and much pleasant reminiscences and a goodly attendance of charter and newer members. In 1937 the Women s Auxiliary was created by popular demand to publicize the uses of honey. A splendid series of lectures and demonstrations including a Honey Cookery Contest held at Connecticut University each year during Farm and Home week has been carried on throughout the years under the guidance of Mrs. Claude L. Yates, its President. A School for Beekeepers, proposed by Chas. J. Rost, Secretary of the Association was conducted under the instruction of veteran members of the Association. During the first two years the sessions were held in the Apiary of A. W. Yates at Hartford. During the session of 1950, the school and demonstrations was held at the Experimental Farm of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in Hamden, under the supervi- Page 10

11 sion of Roy Stadel of Southington. It was felt that this school was of great value to both experienced and novice beekeepers, as out of his vast store of beekeeping knowledge Mr. Stadel helped the experienced beekeepers solve their problems and started the beginners on the right path toward practical beekeeping. The Fiftieth Anniversary was anticipated in 1938, featuring a Field Day with a World Championship Bee Tree Hunt in the Litchfield Hills in Winsted, Conn. The actual celebration continued through the year 1941, with a Field Day at Goodwin Park, with Mr. E. R. Root of Medina, Ohio as Keynoter of the Associations campaign for Bee Poison Reform. The final Jubilee event consisted of a two day Convention, October 17th and 18th, with experts leading discussions on ways and means for correcting the bee poison menace. The final feature of the celebration was a Birthday Party with gifts, songs, movies of past meetings and a banquet, with remarks by Dr. James I. Hambleton, E. R. Root and the Past Presidents. Dr. E. F. Phillips of Cornell University gave special credit to Mrs. C. L. Yates, President of the Auxiliary for the splendid banquet and cooperation with the Awards Committee, Cyril Simpson and Charles J. Rost. This bee skep was part of the CBA 50th Anniversary Celebration. The spikes on top of the skep were used to hold candles. Photo courtesy of Gosia Liedlich. In 1948, the first Winter Meeting was held in the Grange Hall at Rocky Hill, and these winter meetings are now a part of our yearly program. In 1949, our Association became affiliated with the National Federation of Beekeepers, believing that much can be accomplished by joining other organizations on a national level. In the July, 1949 issue of The American Bee Journal, we were gratified to note that Mrs. Ida Richardson, of Norwich, who was for many years our Publicity Chairman, was honored as The Woman of the Month. The Journal described her work by saying During the many years Mrs. Richardson has served on the Publicity Committee of the Connecticut Beekeepers Association she handled regional state and local honey exhibits and collaborated with others in writing pamphlets and answering innumerable letters of inquiry. Her most valuable contribution to the Association has been the reporting of beekeepers meetings in the Connecticut Honey Bee and the collecting and careful editing of honey recipes for publication. On April 21st, 1951, the Sixtieth Anniversary of the Association was celebrated by an allday meeting at the YMCA in Hartford, with a banquet and representatives of many beekeepers Associations of neighboring states as honored guests. Our keynote speaker was Dr. E. F. Phillips of Ithaca, N.Y., noted author and authority on bees. This meeting will be remembered as one of the highlights of our history. Page 11

12 Since 1951, the association has gone forward in its activities. In 1952 a revision of the Constitution and by-laws was undertaken and executed with several additions since then making the present one printed in this booklet the up to date one under which we are operating. A number of back volumes of the Connecticut Honey Bee were collated and bound into volumes in 1952 and distributed to various individuals and libraries in the U. S. and one set was sent to the British Research Association. A honey House Sanitation code was proposed from a model sponsored by the American Beekeeping Federation. The Code was later gotten through the Connecticut Legislature. In 1952 the Beekeeping School was revived as it was felt there was an urgent need for it. It started in April under the direction of Mr. Roy Stadel. It was for beekeepers and beginners in keeping bees and was carried on for several years. The Connecticut Beekeepers Assn. helped establish and form the Eastern Apicultural Society in cooperation with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, beginning as a Tri-State program that expanded into an organization covering the eastern seaboard. This organization has now existed for nearly eleven years and has a scope of program similar to the national Federation. Our official publication The Connecticut Honey Bee has been kept in print over the years in spite of low funds to print it. The Association, in 1966, was in preparation for a wider horizon with the prospect of participating in the International Apicultural Congress to be held at the University of Maryland August 11-17, This will be a rare opportunity for contact and work in a program showing research going on all around the world. Within the last several years a beekeeping course for college credits has been operating at the Connecticut Central State College in New Britain, CT, under the guidance of Professor David. C. Newton in the Dept. of Biological Sciences. Mr. Newton has pioneered in making a fumigation chamber using Ethylene oxide to sterilize diseased hives and combs. Some of this project was sponsored by the Connecticut Beekeepers Assn. through a gift of money. A project of how bees resist foulbrood was found by freezing live sealed brood. This involved the time it took the colony to remove the dead brood. It varied from five days to over twenty-one days. Mr. Newton is also working on artificially bred queens to find worthwhile resistant bee stocks. Professor Alphonse Avitabile of the Biology Dept. of the University of Connecticut Branch Waterbury has instituted a beekeeping course for credits. Another of his contributions was establishing a section of the Kirschbaum Library for books on bees. Mr. Avitabile has researched work on locations and data on colonies in trees and other places. Some of his work was also done on swarm behavior relating to queens and hive site locations. The Ethylene Oxide treatment of diseased equipment and combs is a monetary savings of much value over burning to eliminate bee disease. In, July 1977, Mr. Norman Farmer, Bristol, Conn. manufactured a fumigation chamber for doing this work. The specifications and method of operating was with the help of Mr. Newton. Page 12

13 List of Presidents of the Association 1891 Edwin S. Andrus, Torrington 1892 B.F. Stratton, Hazardville George H. Yale, Wallingford Charles H. Chittendon, Killingworth Allen Latham, Norwichtown 1913 Elijah Vanderwerken, Stamford Sherman E. Bunnell Rev. D. D. Marsh, West Hartford Henry L. Lankton, Wethersfield Allen Latham, Norwichtown A. W. Yates, Hartford Telley E. Babcock, Norwich E. G. Converse, Bantam Roy Stadel, Southington Ernest Ryant, Grosverondale Cyril B. Simpson, South Glastonbury Claude L. Yates, Hartford W. H. Kelsey, Bristol Raymond H. Gillette, Watertown Frederick J. Bielefield, Middletown Philemon J. Hewitt, Jr., Litchfield William J. McCormick, Stratford Fred T. Coxeter, West Haven Chester H. Niles, Mt. Carmel Edmund H. Hamann, Riverside Harry A. Powell, New Britain S. Lester Hook, Stamford Charles R. Underhill, Jr., Canterbury Eugene Keyarts, Madison Thomas Raney, Cornwall Bridge Alphonse Avitabile, Bethlehem Albert Yankowski, Jr., Huntington Henry Neuhauser, Farmington William Cannon, Hamden Ronald Edwards, Huntington MaryLou Tenney, New Milford P. Kim Flottum, Southbury Mar-Oct 1986 Dr. Larry Connor, Cheshire Oct Chuck Howe, Goshen Austin Knox New Milford Don Nyce, Madison Jim Grey, Marlbough Rollan Hannan, Jr. Southbury Ted Jones, Farmington Gilman Mucaj, Granby 2015-Present Steve Dinsmore, East Lyme Page 13

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15 Eastern Apicultural Society Conference 2016 Each year, The Eastern Apicultural Society organizes one of the best week long programs for beekeepers in the country. This year, the event will be held at Stockton University in Galloway, New Jersey from July Many great presenters are scheduled throughout the week, including James Frazier and Dennis vanengelsdorp, Jeff Pettis and Medhat Nasr, Maryann Fraizier, Sarah Red- Laird, David Tarpy and many more. The week will be filled with educational talks and workshops, scores of national and local vendors, bee olympics, honey show competitions, hands-on bee demonstrations, mead and candle-making, a tour of a large beekeeping operation, and so much more. If you are an experienced beekeeper, apply for the Master Beekeeper certification exams. Or, come to enjoy and share the comradery, knowledge, and tall tales from more than 600 fellow beekeepers. The campus is flat and easy to navigate and free parking will be available. For more information and online registration, please visit the EAS website at: easternapiculture.org/conferences/eas-2016.html Spring Package Installation Workshops This April, CBA held workshops to teach new beekeepers some of the basics of installing a package of bees into a hive. Here are some photos from the event, courtesy of Gosia Liedlich. Page 15

16 American Honey Queen Kim Kester to Attend Connecticut Events Queen Kim will be in Connecticut from June 1st through 7th and will present to the public at a few events in addition to her attendance and presentations at CBA s 125th Anniversary Celebration at the Lockwood Farm on Saturday, June 4th. Thursday, June 2 Northwest Park 145 Lang Road Windsor, CT Presentation: The Future of Bees. Friday, June 3 10:30-12 Florence Griswold Museum 96 Lyme Street Lyme, CT Presentation: The Importance of Bee-ing: The Value and Wonder of Bees Friday, June 3 3pm Denison Pequotsepos/Coogan Farm Nature and Heritage Center 162 Greenmanville Avenue Mystic, CT Saturday, June 4 9am-4:30pm CBA 125th Celebration Lockwood Farm 890 Evergreen Avenue, Hamden, CT Sunday, June 5 Lyman Orchard 32 Reeds Gap Road Middlefield, CT The American Honey Queen program provides all the travel, etc. for the Queen and Princess to be able to visit us free of charge. Host families provide the day to day needs while the Queen and Princess are in the state doing presentations. This program is part of the American Beekeeping Federation and does receive some funding from ABF. Hope to see everyone at the 125th and maybe at one of the other events. Connecticut Beekeepers Association Officers: President: Steve Dinsmore East Lyme, CT President@ctbees.org Vice-President: Gosia Liedlich Southbury, CT VicePresident@ctbees.org Treasurer: Michael Campion Prospect, CT Treasurer@ctbees.org Secretary: Karen Parker Old Lyme, CT Secretary@ctbees.org Program Chair: Al Avitabile Bethlehem, CT Program@ctbees.org Publications and Publicity Chair: Susan Lydem Naugatuck, CT Newsletter@ctbees.org Member at Large: Mike Carey Oxford, CT State Beekeeping Officials: Deputy Entomologist Victoria Smith State of CT CT Agricultural Experiment Station 123 Huntington Avenue New Haven, CT State Apiary Inspector Mark Creighton State of CT CT Agricultural Experiment Station 123 Huntington Avenue New Haven, CT Page 16

17 n u t l at a r g i s Co on 125 years Of Helping Honey Bees Thank You From Bee Culture Magazine