February Meeting #2 (Photos)...

On February 23rd, we had the pleasure of hosting speaker Ken Warchol again. Ken is the MA Bee Inspector and also runs the hives for Havard University. Needless to say he is a wealth of knowledge. He covered Dynamics of the Hive, and Queens and Swarms. Interesting stuff! Below are a few photos from the meeting. Look how crowded our bee school is! Hooray for the new beekeepers!

February Meeting #2...

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)...

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

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...

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...

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...

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.