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It's Almost Summer
Its light out and I'm falling asleep in a chair in the yard. I like this time of year, the long days tire me out but it feels good to soak in the sunshine. The big thing is that we get some good rain showers in the next couple of weeks to keep the bloom going. I always get nervous this time of the season...I like the warm weather a lot, but soon it won't stop and everything will be brown and dry. A few big cloud dumps in June would be a good thing.
Seth reports we are in the beginning to middle stages of probably one of our biggest blooms of the season. He says that from the salt water to Marblemount, the same plants are all in bloom.
Tales From the Hive
June's pretty slow, kind of like December. All the preparations have been made and its time to watch the bees.
We need to discuss a BBQ location for our July potluck, put on your thinking caps and lets come up with a place and a plan.
We are still looking for a secretary and I know, one of you out there, secretly wants to be the secretary for the Skagit Valley Beekeepers! It is a very...and I repeat VERY prestigious position, with many great benefits. Like feeling good about yourself because you donated your time, to help keep this club on its tracks. How will we know where we're going, if we don't know where we've been?
Things to do this Month
- Pay attention to your bees! If they are booming, make sure you give them room. Have they put up any early spring honey and do they have room to put more honey? A big honey flow is happening now and make sure you take advantage of it if you are in position.
- If you have Nuc's or splits you are trying to grow, feed them. A good heavy 2 parts sugar to 1 part water syrup, will help put the weight on them.
- You can not treat for mites with traditional methods during the honey flow, if you plan to harvest the honey. Make sure you read the directions.
- You should still be checking for mites though and if you have a mite problem, you can use oxalic acid. My vaporizer instructions say to use 1 to 2 grams/1/2 teaspoon, per hive. It says to seal up the cracks in your hive, insert the vaporizer under the colony and seal the entrance with a wet towel. Connect to a 12 volt power source (I use my battery charger) for two and a half minutes, disconnect the power source and let sit for a minute after deenergizing. When you remove the towel after treatment watch out, they will not be happy. I included a link to Wikipedia page about oxalic acid, be careful, you could go down a rabbit hole. It talks a little bit about bee keeping applications but is more about the chemistry, hazards and handling of oxalic acid. I will say that oxalic acid is a organic, naturally occurring compound that is found in many vegetables and according to a reliable source, the amount of residue that is left over after treatments is less than you would receive in a serving of spinach. Check out the link, don't go down the rabbit hole! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxalic_acid#Niche_uses
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