Coweta Beekeepers Association
October 2022 President’s Message
Hello, my fellow beekeepers!
I hope everyone is going into fall/winter with all your hives healthy and strong. Mite checks/treatments and honey stores are just some of the important items to be checked on.
Coweta Beekeepers Association Honey Show October 10, 2022
It is our club honey show month!! Our official 2022 Honey Show rules are posted; make sure you review all the little details! Show us your love for creativity and beekeeping by submitting items into the various categories, honey, beeswax, food, beverage, and artisan! We will have Welsh honey judges for the show and cash prizes for the winners! Remember, your own club members get to vote on the best-tasting honey in the Black Jar competition!
November Elections
If you are interested in becoming an officer or board member, please email me at cowetabeekeepersassociation@gmail.com, and I will add your name to the roster when we vote in November. We still need someone to volunteer for the secretary role!
October Mentoring Session
CBA Board member Bobby Torbush will be doing a mentoring session on October 10, 2022, at 6:30 pm on Dead Out/Clean Out.
October Monthly Meeting
The guest speaker for the September meeting will be Julia Mahood. Julia Mahood is a Georgia Master Craftsman Beekeeper who has been keeping bees since 2004. She created the citizen science website (Map My Drone Congregation Area (DCA)) https://mapmydca.com/ to gather data on drone congregation areas. Julia was awarded the Georgia Beekeeper of the year in 2018. She designed the Georgia “Save the honey bee” license plate as a graphic artist. She is passionate about education, teaches beekeeping in Georgia prisons, and is active in her local and state bee organizations. She will be presenting "Making Creamed Honey" on October 10, 2022, at 7:00 pm.
Meetings are held at the Coweta UGA Extension Office, 255 Pine Rd. Newnan, GA.
Please use the parking lot behind the building.
Upcoming Events
Georgia National Fair Honey Show October 8, 2022
Exhibits Received: Saturday, October 8, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
HONEY SHOW presented by The Georgia National Fair and Georgia Beekeepers Association
Click here for all the details, including the rules.
November Monthly Meeting “Stump the Panel”
Bring all your unanswered beekeeping questions to our panel, we will spend the meeting doing a Q&A session. The panel will be Dan Scales, Corey Matheson, Bobby Torbush, Phil Mitchell, and Steve Page!
Members in the Community
Kiwanis Coweta County Fair and Honey Show
I want to give a huge shout to all the volunteers who helped with the CBA fair booth. We could not have done it without you, and we definitely gave the community a sight to see with our observation hives. The kids loved it!
I also want to thank our club members who participated in the fair honey show; last year, there were no entries; this year, I saw five entries, and all our members placed and received a ribbon. Congratulations to all!!
Black Jar Winner: Alex Rogers!!
 Georgia Beekeepers Association Fall Conference
If you missed the fall conference, then you did not get to see the GBA trailer with its new facelift; look how pretty! We had six members who represented our club at the fall conference. I hope you all had a wonderful time, and I hope to see more CBA members next year!
Please feel free to reach out to me if you would like to get more involved with our club, have questions, or want to share some innovative ideas.
Heather Shinn, President
Coweta Beekeepers Association
cowetabeekeepersassociation@gmail.com
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Greetings from the Treasurer
While our meetings were zoomed over the past two years and now that we are back meeting in person no effort had been made to ask that memberships be renewed but that is about to change.
The membership renewal period will start in October and continue through the end of the year for 15.00. Those members that do not renew by December 31st will be dropped from the membership list.
It is requested that you bring the Treasurer cash or check for 15.00 to the regular meeting and your member information can be verified on the current roster. Should your information be inaccurate, you will be asked to fill out a new application form, but the cost remains 15.00.
If you can’t attend the meetings you can download an application from the website, fill it out, and mail it along with your check for 15.00 to the address on the application.
After December 31st all applications will be considered new members and the cost will be 20.00 as per current CBA By-Laws.
This will be a monumental task and I respectfully request everyone’s assistance in updating the Coweta Beekeeper Assn. membership list.
Thank you,
Andy Anderson, Treasurer
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One-Day Introduction to Beekeeping Course
(a.k.a. Beekeeping Short Course)
Our one-day beekeeping course is for new beekeepers. It will take you through your first year of beekeeping, from preparing for the arrival of your colonies to preparing them to survive winter. This course is also an excellent refresher for beekeepers to gain more confidence in working with their bees. During the day, you will have the opportunity to meet members of the Coweta Beekeeper Association, and there will be plenty of time for questions.
Breakfast, snacks, and lunch are included for the day.
Register:
Registration form: Click here to download, print, fill in, and mail with a check or money order.
Bring the form and payment to the monthly meeting on the second Monday of each month (except December).
OR mail to the address on the form by January 16, 2023
When?
Saturday, January 28, 2023
8:00 am - approximately 4:00 pm
Where?
UGA Extension Coweta County
255 Pine Rd
Newnan, GA 30263
Topics included:
- Honeybee anatomy and colony structure
- Beekeeper slang and the waggle dance
- Tools, equipment, and hive assembly
- Setting up the apiary and installing bees
- Hive management and inspections
- A year in the hive and nectar sources
- Problems, diseases, and troubleshooting
- Collecting and bottling honey
- Smoker demonstration
- Equipment demonstration
Read more: http://www.cowetabeekeepers.org/.
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It’s time to get all your colonies ready for winter.
October 5, 2022
Steven Page
The nectar flow ended about four and a half months ago, and the weather will cool, ending syrup feeding in a few weeks at the end of October.
At the end of October, a colony needs
- A queen
- 30 pounds of honey in the Piedmont of Georgia, a ten-frame shallow super of honey contains about 25 pounds
- A large population of workers (7-9 frames of workers in the deep, when you look at the top of the deep super, there are bees between 7-9 of the frames)
I start feeding all my colonies in August to encourage brood rearing and honey storage. Feeding from August thru October encourages the colony to raise three to four brood cycles before the end of October. I only feed as needed!
A quart Boardman feeder in the entrance will not get the job done. It’s too little, and later it will be too cold. Use a hive top feeder. I like one, and two-gallon feeder pails from www.betterbee.com. Bees, ants, and SHB don’t drown, and ants can’t get to the syrup. I place the inverted feeder pail on the frames of the top super. Another way I use the feeder pails is to flip the inner cover, so they still have ventilation and place the inverted pail over the center hole of the inner cover. An empty deep super goes on next, then the telescoping cover.
How much do you feed them? Feed the colony until the shallow or medium super is full of honey. Expect the queen to lay in the super. That’s good; the colony is getting stronger. I keep a super below the deep to relocate brood frames from the top super to the bottom super and move empty frames from the bottom to the top super. The supers need to be the same size. Feed gallons and gallons. I have fed as much as 12 gallons of syrup to one colony; it usually takes less to prepare a colony for winter.
DO NOT RELY ON A FALL NECTAR FLOW! Goldenrod and aster started blossoming about September 15, but the rain has stopped, and the soil is very dry. No soil moisture, no nectar. There will be plenty of pollen but not enough nectar to make honey. If your colonies find some nectar, consider yourself lucky and expect a less-than-pleasant odor to emanate from the hive. Many beekeepers describe the stench as dirty athletic socks.
In the Piedmont of Georgia, a colony only needs a deep super for the cluster and a shallow or medium super above, full of honey. All the books and starter kits use two deep supers because they need a deep super of honey for the colony to survive winter up north. We have a relatively mild winter with a warm spell every three to four weeks. You can run two deeps for the winter; it’s just not required. I have used two deeps and had success, but I moved frames in late January instead of swapping supers. At the January meeting, I’ll talk about how to get your colonies from January to April.
I continue to find dead colonies and expect some to die between now and spring. Colonies die all year, and I clean up dead colonies as soon as I find them. If I can save any drawn comb or honey, it goes to a hive that needs it. Typically there is wax moth damage, so I scrape off the old comb and use my solar wax melter to render the beeswax out of the old comb and debris.
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Support our Local Beekeeping Supply Stores?
SWEET KINGDOM, LLC
Full line of Beekeeping equipment & supplies including,
Mann Lake, Glory Bee, Dadant, Custom orders, and local builders
Store located at 4046 Sharpsburg McCullum Road (Hwy 154), Suite 213. Newnan, GA. 30265.
Hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday 11 am - 5 pm.
We are closed Wednesday and Sunday except by appointment.
We accept Cash, Charge/Debit, Check, and PayPal.
- Mated Queens $40 (All Marked)
- 5 Frame Nucs – price to be set when they become available
- Package of bees - $140 (Payable in advance of February 15, 2022) Pickup date starting March 24th.
Follow us on Facebook - Sweet Kingdom Bees Supplies and Products from the Hive
BUZZ FACTOR HONEY
2022
PACKAGES AND NUCS
* Packages 3 lb package Italian with mated queen $135
Delivery March 19th at the Coweta Extension Office
and at Douglasville American Legion
We have mated queens for $35 as available.
You must make reservations.
Will call for the exact time frame so I must have a contact phone number (and cell number).
A non-refundable deposit of $50 per package or nuc with order will hold your package or nuc.
* NUCS are 5 frame Italian line and are $210 each.
The frames are drawn combs and we use both wood and plastic. They will be delivered in ProNucs. Should you want to keep the ProNuc Box, there will be a deposit of $20 per container. They must be returned by 60 days in order to receive a refund on the box. It can be used for swarms, splits or a “quiet” box. Estimated Nuc delivery – Last week of April/First week in May.
Queen marking is available on nucs only.
Nucs will be picked up at my home 7148 Shell Rd. Winston, GA 30187
Deposit of $50 per nuc with your order, with balance before pick up.
Mail deposits:
Buzz Factor Honey 2nparker@bellsouth.net
7148 Shell Road 770-949-6640 home
Winston, GA 30187 770-366-7455 cell
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Your Name _________________________________
Deposit ___________________________________
Check # ___________________________________
Delivery Date _______________________________
Location ___________________________________
Packages __________________________________
Nucs ______________________________________
Your contact phone number ____________________
email address _______________________________ |
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DO NOT FEED MATURE COLONIES MAKING HONEY DURING THE MAIN NECTAR FLOW IN APRIL AND MAY.
FEED NEW COLONIES (SWARMS, NUCS, AND PACKAGES)
1:1 Syrup Recipe
By Andy Anderson
1. First off 1:1 syrup means equal parts of water and sugar measured by WEIGHT. Water is pretty much H2O but there are many kinds of sugar. You need to use PURE CANE SUGAR and nothing else.
2. You can do the math (because I did) or . . . 3 Gallons Water plus 25 Pounds Sugar makes 5 gallons of 1:1 syrup. Add the sugar slowly and stir a lot. When I make this much, I take three-gallon milk jugs of hot water from the kitchen sink which aids in dissolving the sugar.
3. For smaller quantities use . . . 8 cups of warm water plus 9 cups of sugar will make about 3/4 gallon syrup.
4. Essential oils can prevent mold and other stuff from growing in the feeders. Mann Lake offers Pro Health. Follow label recommendations, but less may be enough to prevent mold. More information on Pro Health below
5. The girls will love it.
- Pro Health is a feeding stimulant composed of lemongrass and spearmint (essential oils concentrate)
- Pro Health helps promote strong and healthy hives when used as a feeding stimulant during late winter, early spring, and during dearths of nectar
- Pro Health has a natural calming effect when sprayed on the bees
- Pro Health is antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial which aids in the overall health of the bees
- Pro Health added to your feeding mix will help build up packages, nucs and swarms
- Pro Health prevents syrup fermentation
- Stimulates bees to draw out new foundation faster when used as a spray.
"I use Pro Health too, to reduce mold growth and enhance colony health. I add 1 fluid ounce to five gallons of syrup." Steve Page
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