The Hive

At a recent meeting, Vice President Lee Anne Burton and I wondered if members know which one of us is which! It got me thinking that as our new program director welcomed members to the club in our first newsletter, it is worth it for more of us to introduce ourselves so that you can get to know your executive board a little better and feel comfortable approaching us about any and all club matters.

I've lived in MA my whole life and there's no place I'd rather bee. This is my 10th year keeping bees along with my husband Gary, and we've had great honey seasons, low honey seasons, overwintered hives, swarmed hives, split hives, dead hives- you name it- in that time. In addition to beekeeping, I enjoy gardening, fishing, kayaking, and being near the ocean.

We live in Plymouth with our two young kids, who are always helping us in the apiary. As a career educator, it's important to me that we teach them early and help them learn not only the art and craft of beekeeping, but the importance of bees and their place within our world.

I love using my experience teaching in our club, whether it's to help expand our kids' programming, speaking on behalf of PCBA with the Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, at a garden club, local class or summer program, mentoring new beeks, or helping to bring up the next beekeepers at bee school.

I am honored to serve PCBA as your club president, and I hope we continue to strengthen our mission of education, agriculture, and stewardship through our programs and offerings, while serving the beekeepers of Plymouth County. Please do not hesitate to reach out to me with any club-related business or questions at lmaguirepcba@gmail.com. Better yet, come to an executive board meeting, monthly program meeting, or club event to connect with other members, talk about beekeeping, and more. This is your club- join us to make it the kind of club that works for you!

We are in the process of updating our website under the swarm retrieval information and products and services pages. If you have interest in having your information included and associated with PCBA, please fill out the following survey by Saturday, June 10th.

The survey link is available here.

By filling out the survey, you will be connected to swarms and other requests made directly to PCBA! Our next step will be to publicize our services within the county to boost our services within and beyond the club.

Special thanks to Paul Harris, who is our new swarm coordinator. He will be coordinating this information for the website and will also help the club by setting up communication chains if a swarm is reported to the club to facilitate swarm retrievals. Thanks, Paul!

While you’re updating your info above for the website, it is a great time to check your membership status. To do so, you just need your club-registered email address, and can enter it on the membership page of the website here. If you do not use the correct email address, your membership will not show, and if you are expired, your membership will not show as active.

If your membership has expired, please renew at your earliest convenience! Over the next few months, we will be updating our rosters and reaching out to members whose memberships have lapsed, and then will follow up with Google and Facebook group removal so that our resources and support can be tailored to current members. 1 year=$15, 2 years=$28, 3 years=$40.

All club members in good standing can enjoy the rights and privileges of membership, including monthly meetings, a dedicated google group and Facebook page of peer feedback and discussion, mentoring, package sales, glassware sales, access to the Marshfield Fair, and more. We hope you continue on with us to experience our club updates and growth. For more information, please visit the membership page of the PCBA website.

Please stay tuned on Facebook and/or the Google Group for ordering information!

Every honey bee colony in the United States and Canada either has Varroa mites today or will have them within several months. PCBA endorses a variety of resources for beekeepers to utilize as they combat this deadly pest, including the Varroa Mite IPM Brochure published by MDAR, shared below (also distributed at bee school) and the Honey Bee Health Coalition, who publish a variety of resources and tools on their website available here. Whatever you to do monitor and treat for mites, do something!

Julia Mahood is a Georgia Master Craftsman Beekeeper who has been keeping bees since 2004. She created the citizen science website MapMyDca.com to gather data on drone congregation areas. Julia was awarded the Georgia Beekeeper of the year in 2018. A graphic artist, she designed the Georgia “Save the honey bee” license plate. She is passionate about education and teaches beekeeping in Georgia prisons and is active in her local and state bee organizations. Julia Mahood answers a few questions for the PCBA.

1. What are some of the common misconceptions about how Drone Congregation Areas DCA that many beekeepers may not be aware of?

DCAs remain constant year after year, but there’s no intergenerational learning among drones, nor is there in-hive communication by drones. It’s a mystery how drones know where these special places are.

DCAs can be as close as a few hundred feet from your apiary. But drones flying in a DCA pretty much stay within the boundary, they won’t follow your lure as you leave the area.

You will read that DCAs occur in open areas surrounded by wind breaks, but I find many over tree canopy, even when an open area is adjacent. I think that older methods of looking for DCAs where it’s difficult if not impossible to survey areas over tree canopy have led to this incorrect assumption.

Drones die instantly when they mate. Often beekeepers will find a drone on the landing board with his reproductive organs everted (his bottom is blown out) and assume that the fella flew home to die, but that never happens. They do evert sometimes. Often when a cold snap happens in spring and they get back in the cluster, the oxygen levels can get low again, which is fine for workers but can cause drones to evert.

2. You have been teaching beekeeping in one of the Georgia Department of Corrections women’s prisons. Can you highlight the program benefits you have experienced?

Gosh, there are so many.

Prison is boring and incarcerated folks need things to keep them busy. College courses are sometimes available but you have to have money to pay for them, and many folks (or their families) can’t afford that. Lifers often aren’t eligible for vocational classes because they consider it a waste to educate someone who won’t be let out and able to use the skills. Our incarcerated beekeepers are from all walks of life, all races and classes, all levels of incarceration (many lifers). My beekeepers have told me that beekeeping was something that was intellectually challenging in a wonderful way. The connection to nature, along with having these little beings to care for are good for mental health. Bees and beekeeping also provide endless life lessons on responsibility and working together for a common goal. Often the bottom line in educating people who are incarcerated is about providing skills to reduce recidivism. While this is a worthy goal, there’s also the value of building strong mental health, resilience and sense of community, that impacts them while incarcerated and also contributes to helping them stay out when released.

On my end, I have never felt so appreciated. And, being in a prison all morning is a good reset for my outlook on life. I take less for granted.

3. In addition to your website, Map My DCA, where else might you encourage our members to learn more about these topics?

There’s an excellent book I can recommend called Honey Bee Drones, Specialists in the Field by Graham Kingham. If you’d like to read a compelling book about our justice system, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson is excellent (it has nothing to do with beekeeping!)

Submitted by Vickie McDonough, who has made this spread and served it on two occasions at recent bee club meetings, where it was well received.

A bagel is nothing without a good cream cheese. This easy-to-make recipe for Honey Walnut Cream Cheese tastes exactly like Panera’s — it might even be better.

Author: Gracie Gordon Prep Time: 5

Cook Time: 5 Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 10-12 Category: Breakfast

Method: Food Processor Cuisine: American

Diet: Gluten Free

INGREDIENTS

8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature

2–3 tablespoons honey

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons chopped walnuts

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Toast walnuts stovetop in a nonstick pan on medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Set aside

2. Place softened cream cheese in (ideally mini) food processor and pulse until creamy

3. Then add honey, vanilla, cinnamon & salt and continue pulsing until everything combined and reaches a fluffy, smooth consistency

4. Transfer to a bowl and fold in crushed walnuts

5. Use as a topping on your favorite bagels or bread. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container

Wednesday, June 21, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (In Person)

Wednesday, June 27, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM (Virtual)

American Foulbrood (AFB), Paenibacillus larvae, is an infectious and contagious bacterial disease of honey bee larvae that has been making a significant and concerning resurgence over the past couple years in Central Massachusetts along both sides of the Connecticut River. Disturbing indications are developing that it is moving eastward. AFB is introduced and spread by spores carried on drifting bees from nearby colonies, infected comb, used equipment, tools, beekeepers, and robbing. As a result, the PCBA is sponsoring a special two-part workshop on AFB.

The first part will be in person on Wednesday, June 21 at 7:00 PM with Apiary Inspector Paul Tessier at the Hanson Clubhouse. Paul will review the biology of the pathogen, visual signs and symptoms and what to do if you suspect AFB, actions you can take to mitigate its spread. All PCBA members and especially mentors are urged to attend.

The second part will be virtual on Tuesday, 27th at 7:00 pm with Amy Musante of the Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association. Amy will present on American Foulbrood ABF biology, what to look for and biosecurity. Amy is the founder and beekeeper at Musante Farm Apiaries and Bee Removal Services. She is a broadly trained biologist with expertise in ecology, animal behavior, and evolutionary biology. Amy began her professional career working for the UMASS-Entomology Department in the early 90’s and her passion for biodiversity has fueled over 30 years studying the ecological relationships between organisms and their environments. She has conducted extensive research for academic, government & the private sector. While working as a researcher for the National Museum of Natural History, Amy received the Smithsonian PRIDE (Personal Recognition for Ingenuity, Drive and Excellence) Award.

The 2 links to Amy’s presentation are as follows:

7:00 – 8:00 PM – meet.google.com/mjg-ovsq-rno
8:00 – 9:00 PM – meet.google.com/kcb-nxkv-wvj

An AFB resurgence of this magnitude is a serious situation and all members and especially mentors are urged to attend these sessions.

Please join us for this family-friendly event! There will be food, raffles, and laughs at the picturesque Jones River Landing.

Potluck signups are here.

The theme of the Eastern Apicultural Society 2023 conference being held in Amherst, MA is “Past, Present, and Beeyond.” You must be an EAS member to attend.

In addition to the outstanding classroom sessions and the conference keynote speakers, there will be four exciting workshops including bee photography, queen-rearing program, baking with honey, and honeybee microscopy.

Please get your honey ready for the prestigious EAS Honey Show competition. The Honey Show committee will be offering a Tuesday afternoon workshop “How to Judge Honey”. Learn what the judges are looking for and give it a try in this hands-on workshop.

PCBA is sponsoring events at the conference and we hope to see our members there. Come for a day, come for a week! There's lots to learn and see in the world of beekeeping.

The conference schedule is available here. For more information about the EAS conference and to register, please visit the EAS website here.

EAS Member Benefits:

• Information from beekeepers and our extensive knowledge base
• Entry in our annual EAS Conference* including the Short Course, Speakers and Vendor Areas and Apiary. The conference is a paid event that requires EAS membership to register.
• Keep informed with the EAS Journal exclusively for EAS Members with typically four volumes sent out annually
• Attend our annual conference and experience first hand information, talks and product for beekeeping
• Make a difference in our program as we strive to further all causes related to beekeeping
• Meet and become friends with other beekeepers from your area and across the area of our membership.

Every year, the PCBA participates in the Marshfield Fair. Club members can compete for prizes in a variety of categories, sell honey and other bee-related products, participate in demonstrations, and help educate the general public about the nature of the honey bee.

The Marshfield Fair is a great way for club members to share information and also recruit potential members to the club. To sell products at the fair, all the club asks is a donation of your time to participating in honey sales, screen house, or candle rolling.

Members collectively sell their products at the fair, in return, the club requires that sellers donate a portion of their time at the barn to collect sales, 5% of sales got to the Club, and you must compete in the honey competition.

Part of being a member of the PCBA is that you become a club ambassador. Volunteering time to help out during the fair is very important to maintaining our long-standing relationship with the Marshfield Fair folks. Honeybees are an important aspect to agriculture, a main focus of the Fair.

The most important aspect of working the fair is that you have the opportunity to get people interested in keeping bees. The more we make the public aware of the current state of health of the honeybee, the better the citizens they can be to help them thrive. The USDA has estimated that 80% of insect crop pollination is accomplished by honey bees and approximately one-third of the total human diet is derived directly from insect pollinated plants (fruits, legumes and vegetables).

As a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization, our main goal is to educate the public in the art and science of beekeeping. Whether one wants to start beekeeping and is in need to support, or someone just wants to be a good neighbor, PCBA is there to guide all interested.

The July meeting will be dedicated to preparing for the Marshfield Fair, so we hope to see you then (July 26th)! Also, volunteer signups will be starting soon!

The Plymouth County Beekeepers Association (the “PCBA”), is a non-profit organization established in 1977. We are dedicated to the support of local agriculture and to educating the public about beekeeping through our school and participation in local fairs and festivals.

PCBA focuses on education, agriculture, and stewardship through many of the public outreach programs the club participates in and provides throughout the year. We have members who speak at schools, community centers, and professional meetings.

Website: plymouthcountybeekeepers.org
Location: 228 High Street, Hanson, MA, USA