Newsletter- March 2016 Page 1 of 8 Geelong Beekeepers Club, P.O. Box 401, Geelong. Vic. 3220

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March Newsletter

Table of Contents

This month in the Hive ........................................................................................................................ 2

Flora happenings – what’s flowering now? ........................................................................................ 5

Newsroom .......................................................................................................................................... 5

Beekeeping Essentials Course ......................................................................................................... 5

FYI ....................................................................................................................................................... 6

Reading Room ................................................................................................................................. 6

AHBIC February Newsletter ........................................................................................................ 6

Northern Territory beekeepers buzzing after winning national biosecurity award .................... 6

Upcoming Events ............................................................................................................................ 6

Geelong Beekeepers Club Meeting ............................................................................................. 6

Ballarat Pack Down Day .............................................................................................................. 6

VAA Melbourne Photo competition............................................................................................ 6

Wanted ........................................................................................................................................... 6

Your Committee ................................................................................................................................. 7

Beekeeping Supplies ........................................................................................................................... 7

Beekeeping Essentials

Serendip hands on

Newsletter- March 2016 Page 2 of 8 Geelong Beekeepers Club, P.O. Box 401, Geelong. Vic. 3220

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This month in the Hive Wintering of Hives

As we approach the end of March, the change to moderate daytime temperatures, cooler nights and the occasional chilly morning herald the onset of autumn and the need to prepare our hives for winter. As a rule of thumb, the “wintering of hives” should take place from Anzac day (April 25th), until there is a 20 degree plus day with no wind in mid September.

Inadequate attention to preparing hives to survive winter may have serious impact on reducing the hives strength, such that in early spring the colony has died out, or is weakened to a point where it cannot take advantage of an early honey flow.

As individual situations and conditions vary so much, we can only cover some of the basic key principles for successful wintering of hives. The key factors to consider are:

i) Choice of locality / site.

ii) Appropriate stores of honey / pollen.

iii) Adjustment of available space inside the hive.

i) Choice of locality / site

Most areas of Victoria offer satisfactory locations for wintering of hives. The most suitable areas are in the “warmer” coastal districts where there is usually some pollen available on good flying days and conditions are particularly good in spring around breeding time. A good range of wattles providing nectar, pollen and shelter are often available there.

However early stimulation of breeding may become an issue, if there is no nectar flow to follow, or there are few honey reserves available in the in the hive.

Wintering bees in the drier ‘desert areas” of north-western Victoria can be quite successful as it avoids damper inland areas and frequently provides winter flowering desert plants (mainly banksias) allowing the bees to use this lower grade honey throughout winter and the hives to come into spring in a stronger situation.

Avoid wintering the hive in low lying, shady places, where there is excess moisture. The availability of pollen is valuable to enhance rearing of brood, but be careful to avoid locations where pollen is available but the associated nectar yielded is thin, causing weak bees for the forthcoming season. Red iron bark trees are a classic example of this!

An ideal site should have a northerly sloping aspect, be well drained, sheltered by a windbreak to the south and west, and receive good sunlight. If the location slopes away from the site for some distance, this will assist with the moving cold air away. If located at the bottom of a slope, the cold air mass / fog may remain there all day, lowering hive temperature and denying the bees a chance to take a cleansing flight.

Critically, ensure that the hive is tilted forward, so that any moisture that may collect in the hive runs out, rather than remaining inside, lowering hive temperature.

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ii) Appropriate stores of honey / pollen.

Honey stores – As a beekeeper you must ensure in early autumn there are adequate reserves of capped honey left in the hive for winter as food. Do not be greedy and remove all frames of honey in the hive at the end of summer or you will pay the price next season with very weak colonies of bees or NO bees at all!!

How many frames of honey to leave in a hive are dictated by the relative strength of the hive and where it is to be located over winter.

As a general guide a double hive should have approx. eight full frames of honey available for winter food. If a hive is reduced to a single box, three or four full frames of honey should be provided!

Avoid leaving frames of uncapped nectar in the hive over winter if at all possible. As the bee numbers cluster and warmth in the hive reduces, any uncapped nectar will not continue to dry. The remaining moisture in the nectar may condense into water droplets further cooling the hive, and may result in pathogens developing in the hive further depleting bee numbers or resulting in the hive completely dying out.

As spring arrives and winter ends, food stores in the hive are at their lowest point. This critical time is when the greatest consumption of available honey by the bees takes place. There is a sudden expansion in hive numbers as the queen increases her egg laying, older bees suddenly become more active (needing more food) and the newly emerging bees still require food for another three weeks before they themselves become food gatherers.

If the honey (food) supplies are exhausted in the hive before a new flow of nectar can be brought in, the bees will starve, the hive will take a considerable time to recover in spring or may even die out. Using a ‘sugar syrup” supplement (one cup of sugar / one cup of water) is an acceptable honey substitute to enable the bees to enter spring in a healthier condition.

Providing inadequate honey supply over winter can be a critical error of judgment for many

beekeepers.

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Pollen stores – A good store of pollen is essential for bee health and vital to enabling the ongoing low level of brood rearing throughout winter into spring time. As a result, a “healthy hive” can emerge into much more strongly in spring with a colony of both old and young bees, rather than having only “old” bees.

iii) Adjustment of available space inside the hive – “Packing down”.

It is essential to reduce, or “pack down” the available space in the hive at the start of winter to closely approximate the area necessary for the volume of bees present in the hive.

Do not leave empty supers or combs on the hive during winter! This simply provides areas the bees will not utilize, causing a loss of heat from the bee cluster within the hive. Heat generated by the bee cluster drifts upwards, and if there are empty supers or combs present, the bees may seek out the warmth at that point, moving away from the available honey stores, resulting in wasted energy in having to move around to access the available honey stores.

Compacting the hive as much as possible helps the colony to maintain, and control the hive temperature, which is vital for brood rearing and ultimate survival.

Attempting to “pack down” the hive into a single box may prove difficult, if attempted too

early in autumn when there are a significant number of frames of brood remaining. When

the hive has been reduced to three or four frames of brood, you can reduce the hive to one box.

Move the brood frames into the centre of the box and place capped frames of honey each

side of the brood frames to fill the remainder of the box. If there are insufficient fully capped

frames of honey available, use uncapped honey, but ensure it is placed on the inside of the

hive against the brood frames.

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Place the hive mat on top of the frames to help retain the heat where the bees are.

If reduced to one box, the hive must be regularly “checked” to ensure adequate honey stores

are still present. Do not actually open the hive to check. This will result in a loss of critical

heat from the hive. Estimate the remaining food reserves by gently lifting / weighing the

hive from the rear.

It is also important to ensure there is appropriate ventilation to avoid a buildup of

condensation over the winter. Generally the standard mesh air vents in the lid allow

sufficient air circulation to overcome any buildup of dampness and lowering of temperature

within the hive. However, bees will frustrate your best intentions if the mesh is on the inside

of the lid, blocking it with propolis. To avoid this, place the vent on the outside of the lid.

This appears to deter them from undertaking the “blocking” activity.

Reference: Beekeeping in Victoria, Dept of Agriculture, Chp 7 . L H Braybrooke

Flora happenings – what’s flowering now? Borage (Borago

officinalis)

Callistemon – varieties

Eucalypt– varieties

Eremophila – varieties

Grevillea – varieties

Helianthus annuus

(sunflower)

Salvia – varieties

Thyme – varieties

Details of the above (Features, Conditions Uses, Apiculture) can be found in the RIRDC publication “Bee Friendly: A planting guide for European honeybees and Australian native pollinators” which can be downloaded here: https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/12-014 .

If you notice any other plants flowering now that could be added to the list for future reference,

please email details to: info@geelongbeekeepersclub.org

Newsroom

Beekeeping Essentials Course It was great to see so many aspiring beekeepers attending the course on Saturday 12 March. Our

youngest participant was only 9 years old! May this be the start of a wonderful journey for all our

participants. It was a great opportunity to conduct the course at The Heights - the gardens were

brimming with bee attracting plants.

Participants getting some hands on experience

Newsletter- March 2016 Page 6 of 8 Geelong Beekeepers Club, P.O. Box 401, Geelong. Vic. 3220 A0051603G

FYI

Reading Room

AHBIC February Newsletter

The February edition of the Australian Honeybee Industry Council newsletter is available to view/download: http://honeybee.org.au/february-2016-newsletter/

Northern Territory beekeepers buzzing after winning national biosecurity award

The Northern Territory's apiary industry has received a national biosecurity award for its work in identifying and destroying an incursion of Asian honey bee.

Beekeeper Andrew Shugg, who was at the centre of last year's discovery of a hive in a campervan being trucked from Cairns to Darwin, accepted the award in Canberra on behalf of the industry.

Read the article: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-09/nt-apiary-industry-wins-national-biosecurity-award/7232880?WT.mc_id=newsmail

Upcoming Events

Geelong Beekeepers Club Meeting

Friday 15 April 2016, commencing 8.00 pm Location: Belmont Library Meeting Room Theme: Honey Tasting. Bring in some of your honey for the tasting table. Don’t forget: “Ask a Beekeeper” starts at 7.15pm

Ballarat Pack Down Day

10 April 2016 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Ballarat Grammar School Mt Rowan Campus Gillies Road, Mt Rowan

VAA Melbourne Photo Competition

Entries will be judged at the VAA Melbourne meeting on 31 March.

Refer Attachment 1 for details

Wanted Russ has a small orchard plot at Bellbrae. He thinks it would be good to have a bee hive or two in the plot. It is part of a larger treed property. If you would like a secure area to leave a hive or hives, please contact Russ.

Newsletter- March 2016 Page 7 of 8 Geelong Beekeepers Club, P.O. Box 401, Geelong. Vic. 3220 A0051603G

Your Committee

President Gary Montgomery

Vice President Gerard O’Reilly

Secretary Chris Knox

Treasurer Helen De Lange

General Member Gordon Moore

General Member John Webb

General Member Helmut Woerner

To contact a committee member, please

email: info@geelongbeekeepersclub.org

Suggestions?

Articles of interest are always welcome. If you

have an article of interest, a photo or a story

that you would like included in the next

newsletter, please email:

info@geelongbeekeepersclub.org

Further Information:

Don’t forget to visit our new updated website:

http://geelongbeekeepersclub.org

Our new Facebook page is also now up and

running. This page is for all local beekeepers

to use and share information. Don’t forget to

“Like”!

Beekeeping Supplies

Better Bee Hives

Supplying the following in Geelong:

Technoset (plastic) hives and accessories ( eg feeders/splits/ excluders)

Phone: Stephen Lavelle 0417306248

Website: www.betterbeehives.com

Brian and Anne Faithfull

Supplying everything for the small beekeeper,

including:

Bee Boxes

Frames, flat pack or assembled

Smokers, hive tools, wax sheets Phone: 03 52821386

Janabelles

Supplier of personal protective clothing:

Bee Overalls

Bee Jackets

Gloves

Bee overalls and jackets made locally in sizes S to

XXXXL. Larger sizes by arrangement.

Phone: 0415 988 409 or 5275 4021. Please leave

message or text if phone unattended.

Chris and Ann Knox

Woodwork

Boxes

Bottom Boards

Frames

Lids

Wax Dipping and Painting Phone: 03 55948232 or 0427 948 232

Keith Russell:

Hives boxes

Frames

Fully working hives

Foundation Phone: 03 52785884 or 0439 330 500

Club members who would like to advertise in this

section, please provide appropriate information

to: info@geelongbeekeepersclub.org

Newsletter- March 2016 Page 8 of 8 Geelong Beekeepers Club, P.O. Box 401, Geelong. Vic. 3220 A0051603G

Attachment 1