What s Up With the Bees?

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Dwayne Barnett
5 years ago
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Cleveland County Area Beekeeping Notes INSIDE THIS ISSUE: What s up with the Bees Meeting Announcement 1 2 by: Steve Gibson, Secretary, Cleveland County Chapter, NCSBA What s Up With the Bees?

1 Cleveland County Area Beekeeping Notes INSIDE THIS ISSUE: What s up with the Bees Meeting Announcement 1 2 by: Steve Gibson, Secretary, Cleveland County Chapter, NCSBA What s Up With the Bees? May, 2011 Directions 3 Contact Us North Carolina Cooperative Extension Cleveland County Center 130 South Post Road Suite phone fax cleveland.ces.ncsu.edu The mystery continues all up the East Coast regarding why our bees seemingly have ignored the nectar source for the taking, yellow poplar (also known as tulip poplar). You can literally see the nectar drops on the petal bases the day the bloom opens. The drops are big enough that you can taste them and they are sweet. Obviously the bees prefer something else and the usual thinking is they will gather nectar with higher sugar content. Our poplars now are beginning to wrap up the bloom year. Common white clover is very abundant and bees are definitely working this plant. Also the bramble species, blackberries and dew berries, etc. are noticeably being visited by foragers. If your colonies did not swarm excessively this should be a good year. With the recent rain and mild temperatures our bees should be able to put up quite a bit of surplus. Common white clover is a very important nectar source for us. It starts blooming profusely most years by mid-april and continues till the heat and drought of Summer begins. Hopefully this year our weather will allow this source to be available throughout the entire month of June. What we need are periodic rains and average early Summer temperatures. White clover, like the honey bee itself is not native to the US. It was introduced by the colonists from Europe. It is thought that the original source of the plant is the Eastern Mediterranean region. This information is made available by: NC Cooperative Extension Cleveland County Center 130 S. Post Rd., Suite phone fax cleveland.ces.ncsu.edu Greg Traywick, County Extension Director

P A G E 2 March Meeting Announcement Cleveland County Chapter, NCSBA Meeting Location - Auditorium - County Office Building Cleveland County Office Building 130 South Post Road May 23, 2011 Our May

Topics will be the basics of how queens are produced and a background of honey bee strain development in the US.

2 P A G E 2 March Meeting Announcement Cleveland County Chapter, NCSBA Meeting Location - Auditorium - County Office Building Cleveland County Office Building 130 South Post Road May 23, 2011 Our May Field Meeting will be at the apiary/queen production facility of Steve Brown. We will formally start at 6:30pm. Topics will be the basics of how queens are produced and a background of honey bee strain development in the US. Steve s strain is the New World Carniolan, a result of the strain development efforts of Sue Coby, mostly in conjunction with Ohio State University. We will also discuss how to best use the beeswax coated plastic foundation. The companies that produce this type foundation have really improved their product over the last several years and many of our beekeepers have had pretty good success. Please see the directions on next page. Also the New World Carniolan is a very docile strain but as always you might bring your veils (just in case).

Field Meeting Directions Bridges Bee Farm Directions: Traveling West on Hwy 74 from Shelby, turn left at the caution light. At the first intersection, turn right on Main Street.

3 Field Meeting Directions Bridges Bee Farm Directions: Traveling West on Hwy 74 from Shelby, turn left at the caution light. At the first intersection, turn right on Main Street. Immediately turn left onto Belaire Road. Proceed on Belaire past the intersection with Gantts Grove Ch. Road. Meeting site will be on the left just before the Belaire, Trinity Ch. Road intersection.

4 North Carolina Cooperative Extension Cleveland County Center 130 South Post Road, Suite 1 (704) , (704) fax

P A G E 5 Membership Application Cleveland County Beekeepers Association Remit with $7 annual membership dues, payable to Cleveland County Beekeepers Association to: Cleveland County Beekeepers

5 P A G E 5 Membership Application Cleveland County Beekeepers Association Remit with $7 annual membership dues, payable to Cleveland County Beekeepers Association to: Cleveland County Beekeepers Association 130 S. Post Road, Suite 1 Name: Address: Work Telephone: Home Telephone: Address: County of Residence: State ID# (if applicable): Phone (h): (c): Yes, I want to be a member of the Cleveland County Beekeepers Association. $7 membership dues enclosed. Yes, I would also like to join the NC State Beekeepers Association. (Optional) (Additional $15.00 state membership dues are enclosed) Total Enclosed: Please identify ways that the Cleveland County Beekeepers Association can better meet your needs as a beekeeper and honey producer: For more information call: Cleveland County Cooperative Extension at (704)

6 2011 Activities

Polk County Beekeeper's Association Meeting

Polk County Beekeeper's Association Meeting August 18, 2016 Meeting Notes Seventeen folks attended our meeting this time. Mr. Phil Holbert was our guest speaker and after a great potluck, he discussed