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February 2023


Never been a Better Time to get Involved!

Now is the best time to get involved with WASBA to let your voice to be heard, collaborate with fellow beekeepers and scientists, protect our pollinators and be a better beekeeper! We are breathing new life into this organization – become a 2023 WASBA member and purchase your early-bird Conference Tickets today!
Message from the President
Hello Beekeepers,

I want to take a few minutes to thank everyone for working hard to help WASBA serve the Washington State Beekeeping community. There is an extensive effort to bring attention and awareness to the need to care for the honeybees and native pollinators properly. WASBA has recently updated our education material and is working with WSU to create a Master Beekeepers program. We understand that education is the key to successfully helping the pollinator population.

WASBA’s priority is to educate the community, bringing attention to the importance of honeybees to our State. We are doing this by hosting a Statewide Beekeeping Fun Day and Knowledge Feast in July 2023. This event will give clubs from all over the State the opportunity to showcase their clubs' knowledge while engaging the community in fun. We are also collecting signatures to implement a state honeybee license plate. We need to collect signatures with a total of 3,500 license plates, which means you can have more than one license plate on the signup sheet. 

While many people are working hard for the beekeeper, I would like to thank Dawn Beck for chairing the new Outreach Committee made up of the beekeeping club presidents throughout Washington state. Her dedication and commitment to the beekeeper will result in larger, well-structured clubs. Thank you for being a part of WASBA.

Alan Woods,
WASBA President

Gather all your beekeeping friends and join us on the west side of the mountains this fall to share our love of honeybees and learn from an impressive speaker lineup during the 2023 WASBA Beekeeping Conference at the Olympia Hotel at Capitol Lake!

We will have two speaker tracks again, Hobbyist & Science, with 20+ Speakers from all over the country! Surprise celebrity Keynote Speaker to be announced... Be sure to join us for our Saturday Evening Banquet to chat with all the speakers, participate in our Dessert and Live Auctions, Raffles, see who wins Beekeeper of the Year 2023 and make some new friends while talking bees into the night! The Conference will close with the WASBA Annual Board Meeting on Sunday afternoon. Visit our website or tap the button below to learn more & purchase discounted early bird tickets!

SAVE $25  ///  EARLY BIRD TICKETS ON SALE NOW!
Buy Tickets Now!
WASBA Education Report
By Ellen Miller, WASBA VP

The annual updating of the Beginning, Apprentice, and Journeyman Manuals has been completed which means that there are new editions of all three manuals for our instructors to order (see the Online Order Form)! For every edition we maintain an Additions/Corrections sheet for each manual to address any mistakes, confusing wording, or updates based on new research and we will continue to provide those as something comes up, but the new editions should include all the additions and corrections from the previous editions. The Additions/Corrections sheets are sent out along with copies of the respective manuals, so the students and instructors have the most complete information possible. We rely on input from everyone to help us meet this goal. Please pass along any suggestions for corrections or additions as soon as possible. We will review them and act on them as quickly as we can.

Based on comments from students, we have added a Glossary to the Beginning Manual to help our brand-new beekeepers learn the lingo. We have also changed how we present information about the different types of hives in use in the state. We still focus on the Langstroth hive in the Beginning Manual with some information on the Langstroth Long and the Top Bar, but we also mention the Apimaye, AZ, Flow, and Warre hives. There is more detailed information in the Apprentice Manual, and we go into significant detail in the Journeyman Manual since it is important for our Journeyman level students to know how to manage these hives as well as the pros and cons of each of them. Answering questions from our students, other beekeepers and the general public is an important part of becoming a Journeyman and even if we don’t use them ourselves, we need to be able to talk knowledgeably about them. A very special thank you to those beekeepers in the state who use these hives for their willingness to share their information about the hives they use as well as sharing their photos: Debra Langley-Boyer, Kelly Peterson, Paula Thomas, Shaari Unger, and Tony Weller. This is a great example of working together to help one another.

We also have included information in all the manuals about the Extended-Release treatment of oxalic acid for varroa mites including the fact this treatment is not yet approved in the U.S. however, the EPA does not require an Experimental Use Permit when it is used for a limited number of hives. We also have information on the first vaccination for an insect with the treatment approved to prevent American Foul Brood by vaccinating queens.  

Statistics related to pollination have also been updated and new citations have been included when there has been new research on specific topics. Supplementing the manuals, the test questions/answers for instructors have also been revised as have the PowerPoint slides that are available for instructors to use including suggested notes for each slide.

The Master level course continues to be developed by WSU and WASBA with the target for actually offering the course early in 2024. As more concrete information is available, we will keep you updated. We plan on having “test drives” of most of the chapters through remote presentations by Dr. Kelly Kulhanek this summer and fall. We will have more information about how we will implement this later in the spring. The Education Committee has been receiving input from Master level beekeepers about recommendations from them about what they thought were valuable aspects of their Master program experience and those that were not so valuable. We have a tentative set of requirements for screening candidates wishing to apply for admission to the Master Program. Once this takes more form, we will be sharing it as well.  

Another task that has been assigned to the Education Committee is the updating of the Speakers List. One of the most requested services that we hear from our affiliated clubs is to assist with providing access to educational programs for group meetings. While we currently have a Speakers List it needs to be updated and put in a more user-friendly format. A sub-group of the Education Committee has started working on this project. Our goal is to maintain a current list of speakers who are knowledgeable about specific beekeeping topics, who are good speakers, and who are willing to share what they know with others. We will keep you posted as we work on this project and in the meantime if you have ideas about topics you would like to see included as well as speakers who you think would be good, please pass them along. We are open to suggestions! Please email: master@wasba.org

Ellen Miller,
WASBA Vice President
NEW! Outreach Committee Update
By Dawn Beck, WASBA Outreach Committee Chair
The WASBA Outreach Committee was formed at the beginning of 2023. The purpose is to bring together the presidents of bee clubs in Washington State each month to talk about best practices and challenges within our clubs. The shared expertise will be brought back to individual clubs to strengthen and provide them with resources. The connections between the presidents will also benefit clubs.

Our first meeting was held on January 25th and there was an excellent turnout!  We came up with a preliminary list of topics that we'd like to discuss at future meetings including governance and organizational requirements, technology and websites, insurance and legal advice, and membership.  

The recurring monthly meetings have been scheduled at a time when the most presidents can attend. As we continue to discuss club management topics, we will work to bring in experts to educate us on some of the more complex topics.

Meetings will be held the first Wednesday of each month and are open to all Washington State Bee Club presidents and others based on recommendations.

For more information or to get involved, please contact us!
CLASS ANNOUNCEMENTS

SnoKing Beekeepers Beekeeping Classes

Class info & registration can be found at www.snokingbeekeepers.org/journeymanapplication*
*If the info there does not tell you whether Journeyman is right for you, contact Eli before registering/paying to make sure it is.


West Sound Beekeepers Classes


Register at: 
https://www.westsoundbees.org/

 

Stanwood-Camano Beekeepers Classes


Learn more: stanwoodcamanobeekeepers.org



Woods Bee Co.


JOURNEYMAN: May (TBD) – July 2023. This is an 8-week online course with two weeks hands own requirements. If you are interested, please email us at bees@woodsbeeco.com as there are limited seats for this course.  

To register for a class click the following link: https://woodsbeeco.com/product-category/more/book-education/wasba/

For more information about these courses see: WASBA – Northwest Beekeeping (nwbeekeeping.com).
 
NEW! The Master Beekeepers Corner
By Sandra Fanara, Master Beekeeper

Rebooting In-Person Education in Prisons

Like so many events, Covid-19 related safety and social distancing protocols threw a big monkey-wrench in the Prison beekeeping education programing. On Friday, February 3rd, Washington Correctional Center for Women, in Purdy, Washington, hosted the first volunteer educator in-person Beginning Beekeeping class since January of 2020. The class was also broadcast to Mission Creek Correctional Center for Women simultaneously. 

But that does not mean that beekeeping stopped for three years at WCCW and MCCCW. Dedicated DOC staff, Sustainability in Prisons Project staff (SPP at Evergreen College), and the WASBA Education Committee have collaborated these past several years to support ongoing beekeeping in both facilities. 

In the upcoming months WCCW and MCCCW will also host an Apprentice Level beekeeping class; a group of Journeyman beekeeper candidate meetings; and even hold the first ever programming for WASBA's newest education certification of Craftsman Beekeeper. 

While teaching the February 3rd class, I received many "thank you's" from the incarcerated and staff students for helping to make the programming happen. I want to extend those accolades to everyone in the DOC, SPP, and WASBA who have volunteered untold hours working for continued beekeeping in prisons. 

One of the women spoke to me after the beginning class ended. She told me she had about 6 more years to serve her time. She said, 'beekeeping gave her a 'light at the end of the tunnel, and she couldn't wait to go home and have such a beautiful positive hobby to share with her family.' 

Sandy Fanara
WASBA Master Beekeeper

NEW! American Bee Federation Update
By Ruthie Danielsen & Megan Bryant, ABF State Deligates

The American Beekeeping Federation (ABF) held its annual Conference and Trade show in Jacksonville Florida January 3rd thru the 6th. It was the 80th year of the conference and approximately 700 Beekeepers (commercial, sideliner and hobbyist) from around the United States and Canada attended. Also attending this year’s conference was The Apiary Inspectors of America and The National Bee Research Organization who were also presenting the latest research out of the various bee labs and Universities. The conference was filled with great scientific talks on new or ongoing research projects on Honeybees as well as updates to Federal Legislation, the farm bill, and the election of the 2023 American Honey Queen. At the conference we were able to meet the speakers, ask clarifying questions and discuss honeybee challenges/successes with beekeepers from across the United States. 

One of the Keynote speakers was Dr Samuel Ramsey who gave a talk with the title “How to stop a Pollinator Pandemic”. This is something all beekeepers should pay attention to. This presentation focused on the research he is conducting on the potential invasive species “tropilaelaps mite” (often referred to as tropi mites) and the need to study it now before it reaches the United States. Here are some of the highlights from the presentation; This mite lived on Giant Honey Bees and has successfully moved to Aphis Mellifera. The mite started in Southeast Asia and moved into India and China. In less than a decade in Pakistan there was 100% loss of honey bee colonies due to the mite. This mite is 1/3 smaller than Varroa, its way faster than varroa and it bites the honey bees in many places causing lesions and open wounds. The population of mites grows two to three times faster than varroa. It kills its host. 

There is still a lot scientists don’t know about this mite; What do they eat? Do they feed on adult bees? How do they spread? How do they interact? For us, (Megan and I) this was an eye-opening presentation. It reminded us of the Northern Giant Hornet’s introduction into Washington State. How do we fight what we know little to nothing about? You can get more information on Dr. Samuel Ramsey’s research at Ramsey Research Foundation.

An interesting breakout session “Therapeutic Uses Honey in Modern Medicine” by Dr. Fehat Ozturk showed his research in all the ways you can use all the parts of the hive, including wax, pollen, venom, propolis, royal jelly, and honey. Each one has a different use that benefits people in different ways. Wax has been shown to kill cancer cells, provide liver protection, help stabilize cholesterol, and eliminates stretch marks. Pollen and bee bread can help improve cognitive function, alleviate allergies, provide liver protection, improve digestion, prevent heart damage, and can regulate ovaries. The venom that the bees produce can help with arthritis, wrinkles, psoriasis, acne, and even baldness. Royal jelly contains lots of protein and antioxidants. It can also help with anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, pain reducer, and anti-tumor. Propolis also contains antioxidants and has been found to be antifungal, antidiabetic, anticancer, and antibacterial. Finally, honey, which contains over 200 compounds has been found to be anticancer, provide gastro protection, cardio protection, antidiabetic and antibacterial. You can get more information about the research Dr. Fehat Ozturk is doing at UTSA.edu

The speakers were not only about technical research. There were several about more applied skills. We were able to attend breakout sessions about best practices when making creamed honey, basics of combed honey production, and demonstrations on how to make soaps and lotions with bee products (which provided recipes and step-by-step instructions). There were several others that happened at the same time so going with a buddy and splitting up to cover more sessions gives you opportunities to learn as much as you can.

The American Beekeeping Federation holds a conference each year, and they try to move the location between East, Central, and West US location. Next year the Conference will be in New Orleans, Jan 9-12, 2024. Not a member of ABF? Visit the ABF website to view all the perks of being a member and choose the membership level that fits best. WASBA is a Gold sponsor of ABF, and we currently have 2 state delegates. We hope to see you at the conference next year.

Ruthie & Megan
ABF State Delegates & WASBA Representatives

Drying Honey
By Tim Hiatt, WASBA Legislative Chair
Honey bees collect nectar from flowering plants. Nectar consists of sucrose, fructose, and glucose mixed with water. Water content varies greatly between varieties of flowers, usually ranging between 40 and 80%. Bees gather the nectar and store it in open cells in the comb, having added an enzyme to facilitate changing the ratios of sugars to become the honey we know. Bees circulate air through the hive by fanning their wings to dry the nectar to low enough moisture levels to safely be stored for winter consumption without fermenting. After nectar is dried to become honey, bees cap the cells with wax and storage is complete. Honey can be kept this way for long periods. Even if honey crystallizes in the comb, the bees will eat it in periods of dearth or in the winter.

For those of us who enjoy harvesting honey, best practice is to harvest frames of honeycomb that are capped, or nearly completely capped. You can be assured the honey from a capped frame will have moisture of less than 18%. Higher than 18% water in honey can cause fermentation over time, higher than 20% can cause fermentation quickly.

Moisture is measured by an analog visual refractometer (very affordable) or a digital one (expensive). Viscosity drops rapidly with higher water content. We are all familiar with honey's viscosity or thickness. As honey approaches 20%, it feels to the touch more like slippery water than honey. It is thin, or much closer to water than honey in how it feels and pours.

Why would you have high moisture honey? Some honey flows are fast and the beekeeper might pull off honey before it's capped for fear of the super getting too heavy to lift, or too full to extract easily. Or one might pull off the supers as fits their schedule, rather than waiting for the box of comb to be full. For example, a hive may have a super that's 80% full of honey and mostly uncapped. Yet the beekeeper may not be available to pull the honey off for the next two weeks, long after the bees have capped the comb. Rather than let the bees completely fill and cap the combs, and perhaps reduce the space for the queen to lay eggs in the brood nest by forcing the bees to fill cells there with honey. the beekeeper may pull that box off before it's capped.

Another reason for pulling uncapped honey is in the fall, when fall mite treatments need to be applied. Some mite treatments cannot be used when honey for human consumption is still on the hive. Do you pull off the unripe and high moisture honey, perhaps sacrificing what honey may still come in, in favor of a fall mite treatment? That decision depends on how much you are reliant on honey production for your living and on the mite levels present in your hive. It's difficult to forgo lots of delicious honey, but getting lower mite levels before winter is a huge concern. Each beekeeper must make their own decision based on the evidence at hand, and their priorities.

What to do if you find yourself with high moisture honey? In Asia, due to high humidity almost all honey is extracted as nectar. It is typically extracted in the apiary in hand crank extractors which remove all the nectar from the comb in less than 30 seconds. As you know, honey does not leave the comb so quickly. This nectar is shipped to honey processors who use vacuum chambers to dry it. Nectar is put into large pressure vessels, sometimes holding tens of thousands of pounds, and air is pumped out of the chamber. The ambient pressure in the chamber becomes lower than the vapor pressure of water, causing the water to boil out of the nectar. Internal stirrers expose more nectar surface, allowing more water to boil and be removed. The Codex Alimentarius, the United Nations' standards of food production, only allow conversion of nectar to honey by bees in the natural way. Countries which observe the Codex prohibit importation of honey produced by vacuum drying. Unfortunately, the US does not observe the Codex.

In the US, the tupelo honey crop in the area of Arkansas and surrounding states is regularly dried. Due to high humidity and the nature of tupelo nectar, bees don't cap the cells for a long time. Beekeepers there typically pull the supers and put them in rooms with heat to keep the temperature up (although it's not always needed). They use large fans to keep the air moving to facilitate drying of moisture from the open cells. A dehumidifier is used to lower humidity in the room. Over time, the moisture in the uncapped cells drops enough to extract and store safely.

For a small beekeeper, a similar method can be used. Harvested supers can be put into a room large enough to fit the boxes of comb to be dried. Stacking the boxes in alternating directions allows more air to move between the combs. Fans circulate the air to dry the honey. How many fans and where they are located is up to the beekeeper. An ideal method is a standard window box fan (about 20 inches square) placed face down on a stack of boxes.To speed up the process, a household dehumidifier can share the space and remove water from the moving air. How long it takes depends on the moisture in the combs, the temperature, how much the air is moving, and if there is a dehumidifier.

If high moisture honey is extracted from the comb, there is a risk of fermentation. In such a case, such thin honey can be thrown away or be mixed with normal moisture honey. If such normal honey isn't available immediately, refrigerate the high moisture honey until good honey is available. Mix them very thoroughly and test for moisture. Mixing with some heat is advisable, as heat lowers viscosity and also reduces moisture, It is surprising how much high moisture honey can be blended with low moisture honey and still arrive at an acceptable moisture level under 18%. Heat, if used, should not be high. Temperatures over 100 degrees over extended time can cause formation of hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) which discolors honey and affects taste. High HMF levels can also make honey unsafe for bees to consume.

Even experienced beekeepers can make this error. Last year, I extracted some honey that tested at 20.1% moisture. It was to be sold wholesale, so I informed the buyer about the problem. They bought the honey at a $0.10/pound discount and mixed it with other, normal moisture honey. Honey bottlers commonly have equipment to mix honeys.

How does one determine if bottled honey is fermenting? First, smell it. If it smells off, doesn't smell like honey, fermentation has begun. It is not recommended for human consumption, although I don't know anything about making mead.
Help us Gather Signatures for...
The WA State License Plate Program! 

WASBA has decided to petition the state for a vehicle license plate that recognizes honey bees and pollinators and their importance to our food supply. In order to win approval, WASBA needs to collect signatures from people who are willing to purchase 3,500 license plates for cars, trucks, trailers – any vehicle requiring a license plate. So, if you or a friend of yours would be interested in having such a plate on more that one vehicle, that is the number that you would put on the Special License Plate Series Signature Sheet (pdf). The funds raised from this project will be a recurring source of revenue that will be administered by WASBA and will go toward honey bee and pollinator research and education in the state.

The pdf of the form can be downloaded from our website here. Please feel free to pass this pdf on to others who you think will be interested in assisting with this project. The completed forms need to be returned to Martina info@wasba.org or mailed to WASBA, PO Box 4824, Spokane, WA 99220

Save-The-Date: Q2 Board Meeting
Monday, May 8th at 6:30pm via Zoom

Copyright © 2023 WASBA, All rights reserved.

WASBA (Washington State Beekeepers Association)
P.O. Box 4824,
Spokane, WA 99220

info@wasba.org

wasba.org

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