The Buzz

A Lagrant's Recommendation...

2012-03-01T18:08:00.006-05:00

One of our new members, Jen Cushman, had a great experience at Lagrant's and I thought it was worth sharing here. It's also great to support a local small business when you can. It's time to put Lagrant's on our bee supply radars!

And now, a message from Jen...
I drove up to Lagrant's Bees in Ware and met with the wife, Bernadette, of the owner, Frank. They have 40+ years of beekeeping experience. At one time, they had a large scale bee business, but have downsized in the past few years to a few hives and their store.

She was super knowledgeable about everything I would need and answered all my questions (no matter how silly). They do sell mostly unassembled kits, but for an additional fee they will put the hives together for you (which is what I asked for). The hives are all wood with beeswax frames. They only sell the 10 frame hives. I also got everything else you need (helmet, gloves, smoker, feeder, etc..) Their prices are competitive with all the catalogs (and for some things, cheaper) and you don't have to pay for shipping! They also sell the bee pollen packets too.

So I guess I just wanted to let folks know that I had a great experience there and if it's not too far for folks to drive.....I would encourage supporting a local bee business!

They can be reached at 413-967-5064, email lagrants@aol.com address: 139 Osborne Rd. Ware, MA Folks should get directions from Bernadette, as the ones off Mapquest are wrong!

Thanks :-)

Jen Cushman

You can also visit Lagrant's online by clicking here

March Meeting #1...

2012-03-01T13:26:00.002-05:00

Hampden County Beekeepers March Meeting #1

When: Thursday, March 8th at 7pm

Where: Willimanset Heights Improvement League (WHIL)
118 Mount Vernon Rd.
Chicopee, MA 01013

This is meeting is part of our 2012 bee school session. The night's topics will be covered by Chapters 5 & 8 in your books. Please arrive before 7:00pm as class will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Topic 1: Spring and Summer Management
w/speaker Jeff Rys HCBA Vice President

Topic 2: Bears and Other Invaders
w/speaker Len Elie HCBA Member

February Meeting #2...

2012-02-15T13:22:00.003-05:00

Hampden County Beekeepers February Meeting #2

When: Thursday, February 23rd at 7pm

Where: Willimanset Heights Improvement League (WHIL)
118 Mount Vernon Rd.
Chicopee, MA 01013

This is meeting is part of our 2012 bee school session. The night's topics will be covered by Chapter 2 in your books. Please arrive before 7:00pm as class will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Topic 1: Dynamics of the Hive
w/speaker Ken Warchol, MA Bee Inspector

Topic 2: Queens and Swarms
w/speaker Ken Warchol, MA Beel Inspector

February Meeting #1 (Photos)...

2012-02-13T18:03:00.008-05:00

Our first February meeting covered sources of bees as well as installation of bees. Tom Flebotte was our speaker for the evening and is also one of our main sources of bees! Tom explained the differences between bee packages and nucs, showed us some great slides, demonstrated how to install a new package of bees and showed a video on the same subject. It was a lot of important information for the new student beekeepers, and I even learned a new way to dump a package of bees from Lee.

Here are some pictures of Tom's lecture and the Q&A that followed...
See you all at the next meeting!

Wooden Hives vs. BeeMax Polystyrene

2012-02-10T13:31:00.002-05:00

Wooden Hives versus BeeMax Polystyrene

Does anyone have experience with polystyrene hives? I spoke at length with a customer service rep at Betterbee who uses them and one of the biggest features is that the bees survive the winter better. From their web site (http://www.betterbee.com/) they are: ultra-insulating polystyrene hive equipment to give honeybee colonies a better chance at overwintering in extreme Northern temperatures, while also helping to keep your colony cool in the hot summer months due to the material from which it's made.

Another plus is that they are lighter, so shipping costs would be reduced. However, they do come only with Pierco Frames which are plastic and substitutions are not allowed. When I mentioned that the general sentiment with the class leaders and mentors is that bees prefer wood, the representative said that she uses the Pierco ones and has had better output. She said that she dips them in the sugar water and the bees just take to the frame.

Comments?

~ Roxie Pin

A great question for discussion, everyone please leave you comments below, let's see if we can help Roxie out.

Foundation Question...

2012-02-06T11:54:00.003-05:00

Question for the experts! I want to order my "starter" hive kit, as suggested, early! All of the frames offered seem to come with "Plasticell" foundations...is this a good thing? I thought I gathered in the last class the the beeswax ones, which need wiring, are better for the bees? Con someone shed light on this? Thanks! ~Todd Catlin

Let's hear everyone's opinions on foundation and see if we can help Todd!

February Meeting #1...

2012-02-01T13:17:00.001-05:00

Hampden County Beekeepers February Meeting #1

When: Thursday, February 9th at 7pm

Where: Willimanset Heights Improvement League (WHIL)
118 Mount Vernon Rd.
Chicopee, MA 01013

This is meeting is part of our 2012 bee school session. The night's topics are covered in Chapter 4 of your books. Please arrive before 7:00pm as class will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Topic 1: Source of Bees
w/speaker Tom Flebotte HCBA Director

Topic 2: Installing Bees
w/speakers Tom Flebotte HCBA Director

White House Honey...

2012-02-01T11:08:00.007-05:00

Apparently, they do have a bee hive at the White House! I thought Ken Warchol was kidding when taking his mid-lecture phone calls from Michelle Obama! Well, I mean I KNOW he's kidding with the phone calls, but I was surprised to hear they actually do keep bees at the White House.

January Meeting #2 (Photos)...

2012-01-27T17:56:00.007-05:00

Our second class of bee school 2012 went great. Tom and Lee both shared some their of knowledge on hive building, and Tom showed us some samples of protective clothing options. Which, if you were in class, you know I highly recommend!
Here are a few photos of Lee's frame building demonstration from last night...
If anyone has any questions about last night's meeting, hive building or protective clothing, please feel free to leave a comment here.

See you all soon!

January Meeting #2...

2012-01-23T11:03:00.001-05:00

Hampden County Beekeepers January Meeting #2

When: Thursday, January 26th at 7pm

Where: Willimanset Heights Improvement League (WHIL)
118 Mount Vernon Rd.
Chicopee, MA 01013

This is meeting is the second class of our 2012 bee school session. Please arrive before 7:00pm as class will start promptly at 7:00pm.

Topic 1: Protective Clothing
w/speaker Tom Flebotte HCBA Director
Topic 2: Hive Assembly
w/speakers Tom Flebotte & Lee Duquette

Bee Aware Video...

2012-01-20T13:59:00.000-05:00

Bee Aware from Greg Stanley on Vimeo.

Thanks to HCBA Member Marcel Boisvert for this link.

October Meeting...

2011-10-03T16:32:00.003-04:00

Hampden County Beekeepers October Meeting

When: Thursday, October 20th at 6:00pm

Where: Willimanset Heights Improvement League (WHIL)
118 Mount Vernon Rd.
Chicopee, MA 01013

Big E money will be paid out at this meeting so if you’re collecting, bee sure to attend!

Left over Big E items will be auctioned off, so bring your wallets!

Hurricane Irene?

2011-08-25T11:48:00.004-04:00

Allegedly she's headed this way, but I'm still crossing my fingers that the wind will change and she'll blow out to sea before making it up to New England.

This weather report is brought to you by another great question from Annette Isner...

How do we prep the bee hives for a hurricane?

Wax Moth Question...

2011-08-22T16:20:00.002-04:00

I checked my 3 hives and one (new hive with boxed bees) had a wax moth on a pollen patty in the feeder. I removed it and checked the entire hive and did not see more. This is the first time I have seen it. What should I do next?

Thanks in advance,
Annetter Isner

July's HCBA BeeBQ...

2011-08-01T23:04:00.016-04:00

A big thank you to Carrie and Arthur Naatz for having us all over to eat and socialize! The food was great and there was plenty of it!

Anthony Trani attended the picnic and showed off some of his great beehive woodenware. He is a local craftsman and if you did not attend the picnic but would like to check out his work please click this link Anthony had a lot of nice stuff at very fair prices!
Some of us ventured down to the Naatz's beeyard. I love Carrie's choices of colors!
That's a good looking bunch of beekeepers! From left to right, Mike, Sean, Jessica, Annette, Carrie, Scott and Arthur.
Thanks again to Arthur and Carrie! See everyone in August!

Heat Wave Feeding?

2011-07-25T10:36:00.000-04:00

During this extreme heat wave and drought, should we be feeding the bees?

~Helene

Entrance Reducers and Robber Bees...

2011-07-11T11:30:00.006-04:00

On a tip from fellow HCBA member Mike Feeney, this morning I put an entrance reducer on my hive. I used the large opening, and caused a bit of a traffic jam for my bees, who are extremely active, and seemed to have adjusted to the new entrance quickly. I was told that because nectar flow is slow this time of year, I should help my bees fight off the robber bees that may try to get into the hive, by limiting access at the entrance.

Anyone else have thoughts or advice on the subject?

Thanks!
~Jessica Martin

Bees in the pool?

2011-07-06T15:54:00.000-04:00

Hello Everyone,

A neighbor two houses away has numerous bees (20 - 50) on their pool cover every day. They are obviously enjoying the easy access to shallow water. They neighbors assume they are my bees but whoever they belong to, they are a problem. I have a water supply right next to my hives but it does appear to be heavily used. The pool is about 200 - 300 yards from my hives with another pool and a pond closer than that to the hives.
any ideas on how the neighbors can get rid of the bees? I suggested that they leave the cover off for a few days to encourage the bees to find another source for water.

Thanks,
Mike Duffy

yes it is swarming season

2011-06-14T16:16:00.002-04:00

as i said yesterday especialy after a rainy day or 2 ......the best way to stop a swarm is to prevent the bees from wanting too....
keep the brood nest large enough by supplying new frames in the brood nest ...if you notice all cells full so the queen has no place to lay .... you can pull out frames of honey from the outer edges and put in new foundation or drawn empty comb ...put the honeyfilled frames the in the freezer wrapped up ....best emergency food for next winter or spring is honey in the comb....make sure you thaw it first before giveing it back to them.......
check your bees at least every 1 1/2 - 2 weeks look for swarm cells .... if you find them you must deprive them of one of 3 things ....brood...bees ...or the queen....

brood as i mentioned above ...

bees... by pagening ...pagening is when you have 2 or more hives you place a weaker hive in place of your strong ready to swarm hive and the stronger hive in the weaker ones place ...you have just removed all the field bees out of the strong hive ....and boosted your week one....

queen ... you can cage the queen up in an old queen cage for 4-7 days cork both ends of the cage and place her in the middle of the brood nest so the screen side is available to the bees so they can feed and tend her ....when you let her loose in that 4-7 days she will have plenty of cells to lay in ......
make sure to remove any queen cells you see .. as long as you have verified that they still have their queen
hopefully you will have stopped the urge to swarm

good luck...... hopefully you all have your honey suppers on and might bee seeing them getting drawn and filled ......
email, blog ,or call me if your in need of advice
the beardedbee
tom

A Message From Tom Flebotte

2011-06-13T17:47:00.001-04:00

watch for those swarms today ...i heard they are out ....after acouple days of rain they seem to take off ..........

Pollinator Week

2011-06-13T15:14:00.002-04:00

June 20-26 is pollinator week. This is a week to raise awareness and highlight the importance of all pollinators. Be sure you do your part. You don't need to attend or host a grand event, but it would great if you did. You just need to make it a point to discuss what you do as a beekeeper to anyone that will listen. Honeybees are misunderstood and under appreciated, and as beekeepers we need to change the way people see honeybees and our craft. If you would like more information you can visit www.pollinator.org

My First Post...

2011-06-10T14:05:00.007-04:00

Hello everyone! I'm Jessica, and I'm a new member of Hampden County Beekeeper's Association. I'm a brand new beekeeper, and I think my hive is doing well, but I always have questions. LOTS of questions. With this new blog, the more seasoned beekeepers should be able to help us new beekeepers with answers and suggestions between meetings. We will also be able to share other information and updates. I think the blog will be useful and fun!

To kick things off, here's a picture of me and my bees... And a question...

Why won't they stop stinging me?

Welcome

2011-06-08T07:25:00.001-04:00

Welcome to “The Hampden County Massachusetts Beekeepers Association’s Blog!”

Where one of the World’s oldest form of agriculture is embracing cutting edge technology. Here we can discus techniques, problems, ideas and much, much more all at the speed of Light!