June 2017 Newsletter of the Alabama Beekeepers Association Inside This Issue Letter from the President by David Ellis Letter from the Secretary by Susan Ellis Letter from the Vice-President by Bill Evans Letter from the Treasurer by Bonnie Funderburg Season of the Swarm by Geoff Williams and Jack Rowe The Victor by Robert Warner Regional Beekeeping Organizations Updated by Jerry Carter In the Kitchen by Alabama State Beekeepers...And More!!! June 2017 Page 1
Letter from the President Well, here we are half way through the year and the major honey flow is over for us. I hope everyone had a great honey flow throughout the state. Judging from the pages I am seeing on Facebook, most everyone is reporting a good honey crop this year. I know there are two ladies down in south Alabama that have been very busy so far this year. Mr. Bill Evans is working on getting signs printed for the club members to purchase to help insure against any liability for stinging David Ellis incidents. These signs will be in accordance with Alabama State law and will be available for purchase soon. I do not have a lot of news to report at this time. Bill is working on all the details for the fall meeting and everything is looking great, so far. I hope that all the area clubs that held classes this year for beginner beekeepers will try to encourage the beginners to attend the fall meeting. So, with that I am going to close this short letter and just say I am looking forward to seeing every one at the fall meeting. Thanks. David Ellis President Alabama Beekeepers Association Letter From The Secretary Looks like everyone that attended the Spring Picnic had a good time. The weather was pleasant and there was good fellowship, food, vendors and musical entertainment. David received a letter on behalf of the Master Beekeeping Program from the family of Fred Harrison and I would like to take this opportunity to share it with members of The Master Beekeeping Program. Dear Alabama Master Beekeepers, Thank you so much for the beautiful arrangement of flowers you sent to Fred Harrison's funeral. We sincerely appreciate your thoughtfulness. We know that Fred enjoyed being part of your organization and sharing his June 2017 Page 2
knowledge of bees. The Stinger - Newsletter of the Alabama Beekeepers Association Sincerely, John and Laura Harrison Enjoy your summer!!! Wishing you a plentiful harvest of sweet golden goodness. Susan Ellis, Secretary Alabama Beekeepers Association Letter from the Vice President I have presented my program entitled Avoid Liability for Stinging Incidents to two local beekeeping groups around the state in the past few weeks and I have two more upcoming on my calendar in the near future. Based on the number of ABA signs purchased at these two presentations, the attendees apparently found the material to be of interest and value. This program was created due to my discovery of Alabama s Agritourism Statute, which was enacted in 2012 and which prevents liability for a beekeeper related to the inherent risks of an apiary, so long as a warning sign specified in the statute is posted properly. The statute is predicated on Alabama law dealing with assumption of the risk, as explained in the presentation. For those of you who don t have an opportunity to attend the program at one of the local associations, I will be presenting it again at the upcoming Fall Conference on Friday and Saturday, September 22 nd and 23 rd. If you are concerned about protecting your assets and your livelihood from judgments levied against you as the result of a lawsuit, you should be interested in this. Dr. Geoff Williams, Assistant Professor of Insect Pollination & Apiculture in the Auburn University Department of Entomology, has been involved with me on this project from the beginning. He bought five signs for his Auburn campus apiary and he has invited me to guest write an article on this subject for his blog on the Auburn website. I hope to see you soon. Bill Evans ABA Vice President Bill Evans June 2017 Page 3
Letter from the Treasurer This year the Alabama Beekeepers Association is working on a calendar. We plan to have it ready to put into the packets at the annual meeting. Included on the calendar will be the dates for the state meetings for 2018 as well as the local meetings. The source I used for the local meetings is the list of local clubs that Jerry Carter published in the Stinger in the last issue. If this information is correct, then it should be Bonnie Funderburg correct on the calendar. Look at your club listing and make sure it is correct and let me know if there any exceptions. For example, the Blount County Beekeepers meet on the fourth Thursday of each month, but this can interfere with holidays in November and December so instead of our regular meeting for those months, we have a Christmas party on the 1 st Saturday of December, so if you club does anything like that, please let me know. If you have the dates for any events for 2018 let me know those as well so we can put them on the calendar. We need the information by July 15 th. We are in the process of selling ads for the calendar and are looking for a special photo for the cover. If you have a really great photo, submit it to us, at funder@otelco.net and we will decide which one we will use on the cover. David Kelton has obtained several commitments for ads already. If your club would like an ad or if you have a beekeeping business and would like an ad please contact us. We want this calendar to be correct and also a useful tool for our members. Watch for the registration form for the this years annual meeting on the website: www.alabamabeekeepers.com. This year for the first time you will be able to register and pay online with a credit card. Bob Fanning is working on this and hopes to have it ready soon. The meeting this year will be on September 22 and 23 at the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center. This is the same location we have used for the last three years. More details will be on the website as they become available and also in the next Stinger. See all of you in September. Bonnie Funderburg ABA Treasurer June 2017 Page 4
Here is some more information about the 2018 ABA calendars...submitted by David Kelton The Alabama Beekeepers Association is putting a calendar together for 2018. We are taking orders for adds for each month to help cover the cost of the calendars. Some of the county beekeeping clubs are buying a 1/4 page ad for fifty dollars $50. We are offering full page, half page, and quarter page ads that will be printed on the back of each month. A full page is $400, half page $200, and a quarter page is $50. There will be one back page with all of the county clubs meeting times and places. There will be a calendar in each membership packet at the fall state meeting. If you know of a beekeeping supply company or anyone that would like to have an ad in the calendar contact: David Kelton at 256-523-4767, 256-441-2887, or email at honeybees60@gmail.com. To reserve your spot on the calendar, I need all art work and payment by July 15th, 2017. I already have confirmation for several ads. Contact me as soon as possible if you wish to get in on our first ABA calendar. All money goes to the ABA. Checks must be made out to the Alabama Beekeeper Association. Thanks. David Kelton Upcoming Events Bee Auburn Monday, June 19 th Sunday June 25 th 2017 CABA Beekeeping Camp Thursday, June 22 nd & Friday, June 23 rd 2017 EAS Conference...Monday, July 31 st Friday, August 4 th National Honey Bee Day...Saturday, August 19 th ABA Annual Meeting Friday, Sept 22 nd & Saturday, Sept 23 For details on events or to add your event call Jerry Carter at 205-213-1673 or e-mail to: carterbees@charter.net There are sure to be a lot of Summer fairs and festivals, send them in to get them listed!!! Membership Report Members as of 04/17/17 754 New Members -16 Renewals - -21 Members as of 06/13/17 791 June 2017 Page 5
Season of the Swarm Part 2: Why, oh why??? By William Rowe 1 & Geoff Williams 2 1 The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Fairhope 2 Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, Auburn University, Auburn All colonies are prone to swarming at some point or another. In Part 1 we briefed you about the consequences of swarming. Here in Part 2 of our Season of the Swarm series, we introduce you to some swarm biology basics. Swarming is typically a good sign. It means that your colony is strong and able to make an investment in reproduction. It also likely means that food resources are locally plentiful. This is why swarming typically happens in the Spring, when loads of nectar and pollen are around. Changes in a colony preparing for a Spring swarm are very interesting. In brief, the situation generally unfolds like this: First, the colony grows in size (both bees and brood) concurrently with Spring nectar flow and pollen availability. An uptick in population is your first clue that swarming might happen. Next, the large population begins to result in crowding, which causes a dilution of the queen s mandibular pheromone. This pheromone is the scent that the workers rely on to be Queenright, or cohesive. When not enough of it is dispersed within the colony, new queens will be produced as part of swarm preparations. Queen cells are very different from worker and drone cells. They are large, elongated, resemble a peanut shell (Fig. 1), and for Spring swarms, are usually on the edges of Figure 1. Honey bee queen cells hang vertically, and resemble the shell of a peanut. The large cell in the center is capped, and contains a developing queen pupa. Photo by G. Williams. your brood frames. Queen cells located in central positions on a frame are usually suggestive of queen replacement, rather than swarming (Fig. 2). Perhaps the current queen is old, or weak, or damaged, or even missing! That said, one can never be 100% confident the cell they are observing marks replacement or swarming. Once new queen swarm cells are capped, and there can be as many as 10-20 at any given time, the queen and workers of the colony begin making preparations to depart the hive. It s very difficult to prevent swarming at this June 2017 Page 6
Figure 2. A queen cell centrally placed on a frame containing few brood. Based on colony conditions (e.g. poor brood pattern, low worker population, and late summer timing), this is likely an emergency queen cell, rather than a swarm cell. Cell denoted by a green arrow. Photo by G. Williams point (more on this in Part 3). Workers begin by starving the queen a bit, which trims down her weight so that she can take flight. Simultaneously, they begin gorging on the colony s honey stores to fuel their tanks and to carry as much with them to their new nest site as possible. Some also begin running through the colony to initiate a swarming event. The tell-tale sign that swarming has begun is when the front of your hive and landing board looks exceptionally busy. At this time, your colony will sound noticeably louder, with sounds higher in pitch. Soon a steady stream of bees will emerge and take flight. This stream, and really we should say flood, pushes and drags the queen out of the hive with them. It looks haphazard at first, but with the help of a pheromone, the flying bees will soon assemble together nearby. The first swarms of spring will likely take anywhere from 40 to 80 percent of the workers in the colony, along with the original queen! This is a big loss, leaving your hive with a new, unproven queen and substantially less population. This definitely can affect honey harvest. Once in flight with the swarm, the old queen will pick a landing site not too far from hive. If you are lucky it ll be within reach, but often it will be 20 or more feet up (Fig. 3). Remember the queen s been a non-flyer since her mating flights, so she usually doesn t get far. Any number of spots are acceptable, not just tree branches. Once the queen has landed, the workers in the swarm immediately begin to cluster around her, to protect and maintain her. Scouts leave the swarm cluster to begin searching the neighborhood for an acceptable space to found a new colony. This may take minutes, or even days, depending on the availability of suitable sites. Once scouts find a suitable colony site, the whole flight procedure happens again. The sound of the cluster ramps up and then bees take flight June 2017 Page 7
Figure 3. Honey bee swarms can cluster in a variety of locations. This swarm chose a spot 30 feet above the beekeeper s home. Swarm denoted by a blue arrow. Photo by W. Rowe. habits to increase your success! Stay tuned for Part 3 in the next issue! urging the queen along to the new home. Generally, once the swarm has lifted off a second time, they travel the full distance needed to get to the new site instead of taking pitstops along the away. Once this happens the swarm is usually lost to the beekeeper. Next time we ll discuss swarm management and how to take advantage of your bees reproduction Further resources Seeley, T.D. 2010. Honeybee Democracy. Princeton University Press, 280 pp. Public lecture available @ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jnnjy823e-w (Accessed 9 April 2017) Graham, J.M. (Ed.) The hive & the honey bee. Dadant & Sons, Inc., Hamilton IL. 1057 pp. p.s. There are exceptions to every situation, particularly involving honey bees! About the authors Geoff Williams Assistant Professor Insect Pollination & Apiculture Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 williams@auburn.edu http://enpp.auburn.edu/geoffrey-williams/ https://www.facebook.com/auburnbees/ William (Jack) Rowe Regional Extension Agent Forestry, Wildlife and Natural Resource Management The Alabama Cooperative Extension System, 8300 Highway 104, Fairhope, AL 36532-3322 wjr0001@aces.edu http://www.aces.edu/directory/u/wjr0001/ https://www.facebook.com/alabama-community- Forestry/ June 2017 Page 8
Editor s note In order to conserve space I had to omit some of the photos from the original post. This blog is posted at https://auburnbees.com/news/ Part 3 of this blog and other informative blogs by William Jack Rowe and Geoff Williams are also posted there. I will print part 3 next issue, as well, for those without internet access. You can also find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ auburnbees/ During the annual meeting last September I saw Bob Warner from Greenbeehives.com with a new invention (at least it was new to me). I asked him about it and he began to tell me all about the Victor. I was intrigued and I asked him to contribute an article to The Stinger. Here is that article. Jerry The Victor (An easy-bake oven for Varroa Destructor) Serendipity strikes again. In 2008, GreenBeehives.com invented the IPK which eliminates SHB in 48 hours. Now, we proudly introduce The Victor over Varroa Destructor. It is an easy-bake oven that cooks mites on the bees and in the comb with no chemicals and no harm to the hive! In the spring of 2016 there was an offering on Indiegogo for the ThermoSolar Hive. They claimed to have a solar heating system for bee hives that eliminates Varroa Destructor with a thermal treatment of 104F for 2.5 hours. However, all of their references were in Eastern Europe, so the language barrier and distance made it difficult to verify their claims. However, we were able to find papers on the internet that supported their claims regarding the mite s inability to survive the heat. They also claimed the heat could only be solar! This did not seem logical, and their solar solution cost over $800 per hive. I have sold a lot of solar heating systems, and I never found one that could do anything that electricity could not do! I knew that watts, amps, and volts were directly related; but that is about all I knew about electronics. Luckily, my mentor in beekeeping, Hugh Feagle was an electronics engineer with 27 years of experience in aero-space design before retiring to be a full-time beekeeper. He was Alabama Beekeeper of the Year in 2011, because he employed the same detailed record keeping to his bees that he used in aero-space engineering. When I suggested, that we try to test the claims of the ThermoSolar Hive using electricity, he was not happy! He knew both the importance of the task and the amount of work it would require. Younger men would run from June 2017 Page 9
this job knowing that nobody would fund a grant for warm air, but the framer work ethic in Hugh would not let him drop important work because it was difficult. He surfed the web for references and records of other experiments. He found enough clues to give us some ideas to test, and the game was on! I felt guilty asking him to do this because I knew it would be a strain on him and tried to do as much as I could to help, but he had the knowledge to accomplish this and I could only carry the water bucket, or in this case the 55Ah battery. He went lame during the field testing, but would not quit. He has recovered since then. The first experiment involved placing a silicon heat pad on frames in a deep super to see what it could do. We found that it was a good source of smoke! We cooked the top, and the frames like a good steak; charred on the outside and rare on the inside. But, it led to the addition of a heat exchanger, fans, and a thermostat. We were ready to leave the bench, and take The Victor to a bee yard. With more failures, came more improvements. We added more fans, a larger battery, and after melting a thermostat; a 30A relay was added. Subsequent field tests showed that after reaching the treatment temperature of 104F throughout the brood super and holding at that temperature for 2.5 hours, about 80% of the mites in the hive died with no noticeable harm to the hive. By retreating again 12 days later, we reduce the remaining mite count by another 80% for a total of 96%! We had confirmed ThermoSolar s claim that heat kills Varroa Destructor. And, we had disproved their claim that it could not be done with electricity. This is important; because The Victor can be moved from hive to hive each time the battery is recharged. The Victor can work in the shade, on a cloudy day, or even at night. And The Victor costs $195 versus $800 for the ThermoSolar Hive which can only treat one hive! Bob Warner and Hugh Feagle are the Odd Couple in beekeeping. But, without their differences the IPK would not be eliminating SHB in 48 hours, and The Victor would not be destroying Varroa Destructor in 2.5 hours with $.08 of electricity! Respect for each other s unique talents, and a mutual dislike of SHB and Varroa Destructor glued this Hugh Feagle testing the Victor partnership together June 2017 Page 10
through the trials and tribulations of inventing. Inventing is a little like war, you never know what is coming next, and you never forget the friends you make on the journey. Robert Warner Greenbeehives.com June 2017 Page 11
Regional Beekeeping Associations Alabama Mountain Beekeepers Association meets the second Monday of the month at 6:00PM; 1590 Tabor Road Cut Off, Gadsden, Al. 35904. Barbara Pavey: President; 256-504-5510 Baldwin County Beekeepers Association--meets the first Monday of the month at 6:45PM; PZK Hall, 17933 Al hwy-104, Robertsdale, Al 36567. Rebekah Hargraves: President; 251-964-0559 www.baldwinbees.com Bibb County Beekeepers Association meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30; Cahaba Lily Center on Main Street in West Blocton, Al. David Hamm: President; 205-913-6789; wdhamm13@gmail.com Blount County Beekeepers Association meets the fourth Thursday of every month, except November and December, at 6:30; Blount County Resource Center, 62561 US Hwy 231, P.O. Box 188, Cleveland, AL 35049. Jerry Carter: President; 205-213- 1673; carterbees@charter.net Central Alabama Beekeepers Association (Montgomery, Elmore and surrounding counties) meets the fourth Thursday of the month at 6:00PM; Elmore County Extension Office, 340 Queen Ann Rd., Wetumpka, Al. 36092 Allyson Andrews: President; Allyson.andrews@icloud.com Chilton County Beekeepers Association meets the first Thursday of every month at 6:00PM; Clanton Recreation Center, 309 1st St., Clanton, Al. Larry Wyatt: President; larry2660@centurytel.net Cullman County Beekeepers Association meet the second Tuesday of the odd numbered months (January, March, May...ect.) at 6:00PM; Main ALFA Building, 307 Main Street, Cullman, Al. Phillip Garrison: President; 256-734-5963 East Alabama Beekeepers Association meets the second Tuesday of every month at 6:30PM; Ashland Housing Authority Meeting Room, 35 East Circle Drive, Ashland, Al, Luke North: President; Contact Jeff Monroe for more information: 256-872-1113 Cell or 334-864-0094 office jmonroe@firerescuehelp.com Etowah County Beekeepers Association meets the first Thursday of the month at 6:30PM; Carnes Rec Center, 102 Case Ave. SE, Attalla, Al., 35954. David Kelton: President; 256-523-4767; honeybees60@gmail.com Jackson County Beekeepers Association meets the first Thursday of every month at 6:30PM; Jackson County Farmers Federation Building, 23625 John T Reid Parkway, Scottsboro, Al. Keith Fletcher : President; keith.fletcher@mda.mil June 2017 Page 12
Jefferson County Beekeepers Association meets the third Thursday of every month except December at 6:30PM; Birmingham Botanical Gardens, 2612 Lane Park Road, Birmingham, AL 35223. David Ellis: President; jeffcobees@jeffcobees.org Limestone County Beekeepers Association meets the second Thursday of every even month (Feb, April, June...ect.) at 6:00PM; Limestone County Water Authority, 17218 Hwy 72, West Athens, Al, 35611. Lionel Evans: President; lcbees.al@gmail.com Lower Alabama Beekeepers Association (Butler and surrounding counties) meets the second Saturday of odd numbered months (January, March, May...ect.) at 2:00PM; Antioch Baptist Church, 2303 Old Stage Rd., Greenville, Al. Ralph Pugh: President; 334-799-2252 Madison County Beekeepers Association meets the second Thursday of every odd month (January, March, May...ect.) at 6:30PM; Huntsville Botanical Garden, 4747 Bob Wallace Avenue, Huntsville, Al. Ricky Walls: President; ricksmailbag@yahoo.com Mobile County Beekeepers Association meets the second Thursday of the month at 6:45PM; Grace Tabernacle Church, 2001 Dawes Road, Mobile, Al. Johnny Johnson: President; contact Jane Spicciani for information; janespicc@gmail.com Northeast Alabama Beekeepers Association (Calhoun and surrounding counties) meets on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30PM; Calhoun County Administration Building, County Extension Auditorium, 1702 Noble Street, Anniston, Al. David Goodson: President; contact Jerry Gilbert for information jerry@gilbertandco.com St. Clair County Beekeepers Association meets on the fourth Thursday of odd months (January, March, May...ect) at 6:30 PM; Riverside Marina Building across the street from the Riverside Fire Dept. Lat. N33.604328, Long. W86.202918. Jimmy Carmack: President; 205-966-5223; purealabamahoney@yahoo.com. Sand Mountain Beekeeping Association (Marshall and surrounding counties) meets on the third Thursday of each even numbered month (February, April, June...ect.) at 6:30PM; Guntersville Public Library, 1240 O Brig Avenue, Guntersville, Al. 35976. Bob Cole: President; 256-894-4449; honeyandbees@charter.net Saugahatchee Beekeepers Association (Lee and surrounding counties) meets the first Tuesday of even months (February, April, June...ect.) at 6:00PM; Lee County Extension Office, 600 7th Street, Suite 4, Opelika, Al. Samantha Shaw: President; 334-467-2453 gregsamshaw@gmail.com Shelby County Beekeepers Association meets the second Thursday of each month at June 2017 Page 13
6:30; Hope Christian School, 419 Philippians Blvd, Pelham, AL 35124. George Baldwin: President; 205-516-0918; shelbybees.org Southeast Alabama Beekeepers Association (Coffee and surrounding counties) meets on the first Thursday of the month at 7:00 PM; Coffee County Extension Office, 1055 East McKinnon Street, New Brockton, Al. Tim Faulkner : President; 334-674- 0687; timfaulkner@aol.com Contact: Phillis Wilson: Secretary; 334-735-3343 for more information Southwest Alabama Beekeepers Association (Escambia and surrounding counties) meets the Third Monday each month at 6:30; Pentecostal Holiness Church, 839 Palafox St, Flomaton, AL 36441 Bill Blair: President 251-236-3774; blairmobileva@yahoo.com Tallapoosa River Beekeeping Association (Tallapoosa and surrounding counties) meets the third Thursday of every month at 6:00; Dadeville Recreation Center, 116 Kids Ct, Dadeville, AL. Keith Robinson: President; 334-362-0956; rangerkr@hotmail.com Tennessee Valley Beekeeping Association (Lawrence and surrounding counties) meets on the second Thursday of every even numbered month (February, April, June...ect) at7:00pm; Moulton City Hall, 720 Seminary Street, Moulton, Al. Jo Ann Clark: President; Contact David Hicks for more information; hicksdp@juno.com The Queen s Castle Beekeeping Association (Escambia and surrounding counties) meets the last Saturday of the month at 9:30AM; 21980 US Hwy 29 Andalusia, AL 36420. Annie Jo Peavey: President; contact number (OJ and Lucy Blount) 334-222-0751 Tri County Beekeepers Association (Lamar, Fayette, and Marion Counties) meets the third Tuesday of the month at 6:30PM; Crossville Community Center, State Highway 18, in East Lamar County. Patti Butler: president; 205-695-3779 Walker County Beekeeping Association meets the fourth Monday of every month at 6:30PM (except July and December with a picnic to be scheduled in July); Ext Svc Bldg, 1501 N. Airport Road, Jasper, AL. Lonnie Funderburg: President; 205-625- 3464; funder@otelco.net West Alabama Beekeepers Association (Tuscaloosa and surrounding counties) meets the third Thursday of the month at 6:00PM; Tuscaloosa Extension Auditorium, 2513 7th Street, Tuscaloosa, Al. 35401. Vince Wallace: President; 205-339-3318; wallacebees@gmail.com Wiregrass Beekeeping Association (Houston and surrounding counties) meets on the first Thursday of the month at 7:00PM; Houston County Extension Office, 1699 Ross Clark Circle, Dothan, Al. Steve Loveland: President; contact at wiregrassbeekeepers.com/contact June 2017 Page 14
...and for our friends near Douglasville Ga. West Georgia Beekeepers Association meets the fourth Monday of the month at 6:30; American Legion, 6449 Bankhead Hwy, Douglasville Ga. For more information contact Marilynne Parker, President 770-949-6640 I have tried to verify every organization on this list, please look over your club s information and let me know if there are any mistakes. If you are a member of an organization not listed please let me know. If you would like to add any contact information or other information to your organization s listing, please send to carterbees@charter.net or call me at 205-213-1673. Please help us keep this list up-todate. Thank you to everyone who sent in corrections and updates to this list. Editor Just some general information Folks subscribing to Bee Culture magazine probably already know this, but Kim Flottum (editor of Bee Culture) and Dr. James Tew ( Emeritus Professor, Entomology, OSU and our own resident expert) host a series of webinars that are extremely informative for both the new beekeepers and longtime beekeepers alike. They have 3 coming up to celebrate National Pollinator Week (June 19 th June 23 rd ). The first one will be on Monday June 19 th and it is titled Tracking the Changing Deformed Wing Virus. The second on Wednesday, June 21 st, titled The Keys to Colony Success and the third on Friday, June 23 rd, titled Smarter Hives, Healthier Bees. You do not have to have a subscription to Bee Culture to watch. You can also view previous webinars they have recorded on their website. Kim and Jim are both renowned bee experts that have a knack for teaching and a passion for honey bees and beekeeping. For more information or to register for these webinars go to: http://www.beeculture.com/kimandjimshow/ If you know of any other informative shows, webinars, or articles you think Alabama Beekeepers could benefit from, let me know and I will print them in a future issue. Send to carterbees@charter.net. Jerry Carter June 2017 Page 15
Bee Auburn: a Celebration of Pollinators Auburn, Ala. The Auburn University College of Agriculture and the City of Auburn are teaming up to host Bee Auburn, a weeklong celebration of pollinators and their impact on our culture, health, history society and economy beginning June 19 and ending June 25. Leading the state of Alabama in pollinator-related education and activities, Bee Auburn has worked with local and state officials to start the conversation about these important animals and declare Auburn Pollinator Week and Alabama Pollinator Week, coinciding with National Pollinator Week. During the course of the celebration, Bee Auburn will feature workshops and events at local Bee Spots, places around Auburn that have high instances of pollinator activity. From coffee days to local food diners, workshops and lectures, there is something for everyone! Bee Auburn will host their main event on Friday, June 23 from 6 10 p.m. in the Gay Street parking lot. Bee Auburn s main event boasts live music by 8 Track Rewind; a photography exhibition by local and regional artists and photographers; a farmers market; pollinator-related vendors; and the Pollinator Path, an interactive and educational walk through downtown to demonstrate the economic impact that pollinators have in our daily lives. Bee Auburn is an entertainment district event and will be held rain or shine. The Gay Street parking lot will close at 4 p.m. on Friday, June 23 to allow for event setup. Bee Spots Schedule for Bee Auburn 2017: Monday, June 19: Heritage Monday at the AU Medicinal Plant Garden; Tuesday, June 20: Coffee Tuesday: visit local coffee shops to support our local economy and pollinators!; Wednesday, June 21: Moth Night at the Davis Arboretum to learn about nighttime pollination and moths.; Thursday, June 22: Artists Retreat at the Davis Arboretum; Friday, June 23: Main event in downtown Auburn. For more information about Bee Auburn, Auburn Pollinator Week, Pollinators and Food, Bee Spots, or the Pollinators Photography Exhibition, please contact Whitney Morris at wmorris@auburnalabama.org, visit auburnalabama.org/parks or call (334) 501 2930. June 2017 Page 16
In the Kitchen Honey Cake Ingredients: 2 oz. butter 1/4 cup sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1/3 cup honey 3 tbspn self raising flour 1 tbspn lemon juice (from bottled juice) 2 cups ricotta cheese (a common Italian dessert ingredient) 2 tbspn rum Directions: Preheat oven to 360F/180C Melt butter in sauce pan over moderate heat. Add sugar. Stir to combine well. Take it off the heat immediately when the butter has melted. Stir till the mixture becomes thicker. Add in all the remaining ingredients. Combine well. Pour batter into a round silicone baking tray. Bake for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Tips: 1. Serve cooled with a sprinkling of cinnamon over the top. 2. As an option, serve this with fresh tart fruit like kiwi and strawberries with ice cream. 3. Rum seems to retain its liquor flavor, more so than brandy. 4. Using silicone baking trays means there's no fuss in having to grease and line baking trays....note: If you would like to eliminate the sugar add a bit more honey (about an 1/8 cup) and a bit more flower to thicken batter. More rum couldn t hurt, either, but that is just my opinion... Submitted by Jenny Jones June 2017 Page 17
It s honey harvesting time. We now carry a full line of extractors. We have 2 frame manual, 4, 6, and 8 frame in both manual and electric models and 12 frame electric. Call for pricing. We have hot and cold uncapping knives, strainers, and bottling buckets. The 2 frame manual crank extractor with bottling bucket, 400 micron strainer and a 600 micron strainer is our special, priced at $133.50 plus shipping. August 19 th is National Honey Bee Day. This years theme is; For a natural high: Smoke some bees! There will be an event at Attalla City Park on the this day, as well. Clubs are welcome to set up a booth. If you would like to plan an event or need more information contact me. For All your Beekeeping needs contact us at: 256-523-4767 honeybees60@gmail.com Lookout Mountain Honey Bees 1590 Tabor Cut Off Gadsden, Al 35904 Thanks FOR BETTER BEEKEEPING David Kelton June 2017 Page 18
Rear your own queens using the cell punch method. No tedious transferring of delicate larvae. This kit includes the cell punch tool as well as some other useful items to get you started raising queens. Also included is 2 pages of instructions with color photos. To obtain your kit send $20 plus $2.50 shipping and handling to: Wil Montgomery 1401 Lakemont Drive S. Southside, Alabama 35907 Kit will ship the next day Looking for something? Check the classifieds. Do you have something to sell? List it in The Stinger Call 205-213-1673 or e- mail carterbees@charter.net June 2017 Page 19
The Stinger 216 Hershel Drive Gardendale, AL 35071 Place Stamp Here