Wednesday 5 May 2010

CATCH THE BUZZ - CERANA SPREADS IN AUSTRALIA

Got a NO BUZZ ZONE? Can’t keep bees where you live, or know someplace that beekeepers can’t be? Send me an email, with NO BUZZ in the subject line and tell me where, with your first and last name…Bee Culture Magazine, thedailygreen.com and Haagan Daz Ice Cream want to know. Send to Kim@BeeCulture.com today!

 Six Weeks As A Beekeeper, and NOW WHAT???? See our next webinar in the series. Everything you need to know is at the bottom of this message.


CATCH THE BUZZ

Apis cerana spreading in Australia

By Alan Harman

   There’s a setback for Australian biosecurity after Biosecurity Queensland teams found an Asian honeybee next in the Innisfail area 55 miles south of Cairns.

   The detection, 25 miles from the nearest known infestation, is well outside the Cairns and Atherton Tablelands regions and poses a new challenge to the eradication program.

   Asian honeybee eradication coordinator Charlotte Greer said a resident in the Innisfail suburb of Goondi alerted Biosecurity Queensland to the nest of bees that had taken up residency in the floor under her bathroom.

   After the nest was confirmed as Asian honeybees, 24 field staff immediately converged on Innisfail to destroy the nest and start surveillance activities.

   “It’s really important we determine how they have traveled 40 km (25 miles) Greer says.

   “Our teams are out there right now looking for more nests in the area. Intensive sweep netting activities are being carried out in a grid pattern around the detection site. We believe this particular nest was about a month old and that it had not swarmed.”

   The nest is the 84th infestation found since the first Asian honeybee detection in Cairns in May 2007.

   Biosecurity Queensland has been conducting an active eradication program in Cairns and the surrounding areas of Aloomba, Goldsborough, Mareeba and Lake Eacham since Asian honeybees were first detected.

   “We have previously carried out surveillance in the Innisfail and Mourilyan areas as well and acted on reports from the public,” Greer says. “But this is the first positive identification in the Innisfail area.”

   Biosecurity Queensland says community vigilance and public reporting is an essential part of the Asian honeybee eradication program and it is urging all residents to look out for any suspect bees.

 

Summary of effects of an Asian honey bee incursion in Australia, from Australian Honey Bee Industry Council

  • Lost queen and package bee exports, worth $7.5A million/year

  • Lost honey production, reduced by 80% once it becomes present, then reduced further once established in an area

  • Twice as many European hives needed for pollination of any crop for the same performance

  • Weaken European hives by robbing

  • Can not be managed for pollination

  • Aggressive


 

Protein feeding pays off with better bee health, better survival, better production, and better wintering.  Learn More.

 Subscribe to Malcolm Sanford’s Apis Newsletter right here For a comprehensive listing of beekeeping events around the country and around the globe, check out Bee Culture’s Global Beekeeping Calendar

 This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company.


 

BEEKEEPING WEBINAR INFORMATION

On Tuesday, June 1, 2010, there will be a FREE webinar for everybody and anybody just starting out with bees this year. This is especially geared to those who tuned in earlier this year for our Urban Beekeeper Workshop with Cindy, Cameo and and Toni.

Entitled 6 Weeks as a Beekeeper, Now What?, the discussion covers what your bees should be doing now, what issues to look for that are problems now, and anything that might come up in the near future that you can prepare for now. We’ll be evaluating your queen’s productivity, examining brood patterns and balance, along with making sure there isn’t a drone laying queen or laying workers mucking up the works. Plus, we’ll be looking at IPM programs and options for varroa and other issues. Supering? You bet, it’s time to give those bees more room, or if not, we’ll look at why not. And in some places this year, feeding is still an issue…we’ll explore that too. Some may even have a crop ready to harvest, so we’ll take a look at those issues, along with getting ready to harvest…which most of u s hope to do in just a little bit. This isn’t for Beginner’s only though, so if you just want a refresher or what to find out what the newest information is on any of these topics, come on along.

Kim Flottum, from Bee Culture magazine, and Shane Gebauer, General Manager and long time beekeeper from Brushy Mountain Bee Supply are hosting this Free Webinar. How to register is below.

Title:

 

6 weeks as a beekeeper...Now What?

Date:

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Time:

6:00 PM - 7:00 PM EDT

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/960734619

 

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Natural Beekeeping Workshop with Ross Conrad

Central Beekeepers Alliance : Natural Beekeeping Workshop with Ross Conrad


Natural Beekeeping Workshop with Ross Conrad

Posted: 04 May 2010 02:40 PM PDT

Ross Conrad, author of Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches To Modern Apiculture, will be giving a workshop at Windhorse Farm in New Germany, Nova Scotia on the weekend of June 25 – 27, 2010. Former president of the Vermont Beekeepers Association, Conrad is a regular contributor to Bee Culture – The Magazine of American Beekeeping.

Two full days of hands-on education in natural beekeeping methods with Ross Conrad, plus 6 meals of local, organic, seasonal food (Friday supper; Saturday breakfast, lunch and supper; and Sunday breakfast and lunch) are included in the workshop price: $235 plus tax.

Windhorse Farm is one of the sustainability "demonstration sites" for the climate change program of Windhorse Education Foundation, and should be an interesting location for the Natural Beekeeping workshop. If you would like to stay overnight at Windhorse Farm (not included) you can book accommodations with Jim Drescher (jim@windhorsefarm.org) or phone (902) 543-6955. For more information about the workshop itself, please contact Margaret Drescher at Windhorse Farm, 132 Sarty Road, New Germany, Nova Scotia, Canada B0R 1E0; email margaret@windhorsefarm.org; phone (902) 543-6955. You can also download a poster (PDF file format) at http://www.windhorsefarm.org/Uploads/Natural Beekeeping Poster June 2010.pdf.

Note: Central Beekeepers Alliance member Ellen Hawkins plans to attend the workshop, so have a word with her at the next CBA meeting if you’d like to arrange to share a ride.

Natural Beekeeping Workshop with Ross Conrad was written and published by the Central Beekeepers Alliance - Honey Bees & Beekeeping in New Brunswick, Canada. For more information, please visit http://cba.stonehavenlife.com.