AABA January Meeting will be held on Tuesday Jan 18.
Our Invited speaker will be Pam Hepp on the basics of nutrition for all living things and how it applies directly to honey bees.
6:30 Q&A open discussion with President Ryan Smith
Bring your questions
7:00 Bee Nutrition – Pam Hepp
7:30 We will look at a few frames and discuss what we see. A great exercise in to hear the “thinking out loud” from other beekeepers as they view frams.
No- Cook Sugar Blocks
8 lbs Sugar
4 ounces water
Large mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Parchment paper
2 rimmed baking sheets
[11 x 17 inches with ~1 inch rim]
Rolling pin (Ratio: 2 lbs sugar / 1 ounce water)
See PowerPoint Presentation Part 1 for how to make these.
Meeting to be held live at Arlington Echo Education Center and via zoom. In-person means no technical snafus. We will try to zoom as best as possible.· Remember to bring in your drivers license for the raptor system.
We are changing the format this month because we have important club business to conduct. It is time for the AABA yearly elections. At this point, if you want this club to grow and thrive, everyone needs to step up to help. You do not need experience, or be the ultimate bee expert to be involved and help a newer beekeeper. Sign up to use our listserv so more people see and can respond to questions, comments. Volunteer to give a 20-30 minute talk at the beginning of the meeting on something you use in your beekeeping. Who is the next gadget king/queen? If you are willing to do a longer 1 hour talk, speak to Kim Mehalick. Let’s all learn from each other. There is a lot of experience in this association.
6:30 Oxalic Acid: how to apply and properly use
Mark Dykes UMD Bee Squad
The fall/winter is the appropriate time to use one of the most effective phoretic mite treatments.
7:00 AABA Business: Ryan Smith AABA President
Financial Report, Elections, Volunteers, Education, Program
Report out on Fall beekeeping interest class (Debbie Hewitt)
Short Course for New beekeepers (Debbie Hewitt)
Introducing and signup for New Bee Class (Year 2 and beyond) (Kim Mehalick)
7:20 The Hive as a Superorganism
A Honey Bee Human: Physiology of a Superorganism
Crystal Lehmanking, EAS Masterbeekeeper
8:20 Q&A: Led by President Ryan Smith
Last week people were talking in the parking lot until 9:30. We have to vacate the building by 9:00, but someone will stay to answer questions until we all go home.
A Honey Bee Human: Physiology of a Superorganism
Each of our honey bees is a individual organism, yet the colony also functions like an organism of its own. Taken as a whole, the biology of a honey bee colony bears an amazing resemblance to that of a warm-blooded mammal – even to the human body. And beyond just an idea, thinking of the colony this way, as a “superorganism,” can bring clarity to our management decisions in the apiary. This presentation explores a number of the parallels between a honey bee colony and human physiology.
Crystal Lehmanking, EAS Masterbeekeeper
Although Crystal grew up with several beehives by the orchard at her homeplace in southeastern Pennsylvania, she did not have colonies of her own until her father set her up much later with two nucs and Starting Right with Bees. By this time she and her husband had a boisterous houseful of boys on their working farm in Somerset County, Maryland, an ideal setting for the apiary. Having recently retired from her medical practice, she jumped into honey bee biology and has not stopped learning since then, savoring every detail of the bees’ wild beauty and ordered physiology. Since then her colony count has peaked at just what can be visited in a day, with 10 to 15 hives at five locations. She has also been involved in her local beekeeping club and the Maryland State Beekeepers Association, with the added benefit of the University of Maryland and Beltsville labs within arms reach across the Chesapeake Bay. In more recent years she has expanded her knowledge base with master beekeeping studies, both at Cornell (2020), and EAS (2021). She currently teaches graduate pathophysiology at Salisbury University and keeps very busy on the farm with her husband and grandchildren, a large garden, and music ministry at her neighborhood church.
This month’s meeting will be in person only at the Arlington Echo Education Center, our normal meeting
place. Please wear masks and practice social distancing. We also need to swipe a drivers license to get
into the meeting due to new rules from the County.
Varroa mites are the “single most detrimental pest of honey bees,” according to the USDA National Honey Bee Health Stakeholder Conference Steering Committee. This presentation is about the biology of the varroa mite. Just as knowing the biology of the honey bee helps to make us better beekeepers, knowing and understanding the biology of varroa, helps us to battle them and be more successful in our beekeeping.
Larry Truchon is the past president of the Carroll County Beekeepers and also a member of three otherBeekeeping Associations. He was certified an EAS Master Beekeeper in 2016. Larry heads the CCBA annual Short Course and gives presentations to local bee clubs, other organizations, and the general
public. In 2019, he was the recipient of the George W. Imirie Award For Excellence in Beekeeping Education from the Maryland State Beekeepers Association. Mr. Truchon strives to keep his apiary self sustainable by rearing his own queens and overwintering nucleus colonies. Larry believes that knowing and understanding honey bee biology is a majorcomponent in being a successful beekeeper.
The final slate was unanimously approved after some last-minute changes.
Carl Guerci has decided to step down after four years as President, but he will continue to support AABA
as Swarm Coordinator and Arlington Echo Coordinator. He will also continue to mentor beekeepers.
Thank you!!
Ryan Smith, owner of Honeysmith Bees, has agreed to be AABA President rather than Vice-President.
We are pleased to welcome Ryan to the board.
This leaves the V.P. position open for someone to consider. Ideally, under the new bylaws, the President
and V.P. will serve two 1-year terms, and then the Vice President will move up to President, so we need
someone interested in training to be president.
The Secretary position is also open and includes assisting with the agendas and minutes for the board
and general meetings and then coordinating with the Media Editor to distribute information to AABA
members.
Kim Mehalick has agreed to help as Program Coordinator. If you would like to assist or have speakers or
topics that you would like to hear, please let Kim know.
Club Officers
President – Ryan Smith
Vice-President – open
Treasurer – Dennis Roundy
Secretary – open
Director – Jim Larson
Director – Michael Doyle
Media Editor – Audrey Lee
Club Chairpersons
Webmaster – Gina Jones
Short Course Coordinator – Deborah Hewitt
Program Coordinator – Kim Mehalick
Mentor Coordinator – Matt Gill
Club Rentals – Chrissy Perry
Snacks – Deni Estrada-Palma
County Fair Coordinator – Michael Doyle
Librarian – Rebecca Krimins
Photography – Susan Huber, Rebecca Krimins
Door Prize Coordinator – Dwight Fielder
Swarms Coordinator – Carl Guerci Jr.
AABA Introduction to Beekeeping
Zoom Meeting:
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
7:00 – 8:00 PM
Are you thinking about having honey bees in your backyard or just interested in bees? Find out what is involved in taking care of honey bees and the time and financial commitment involved. We’ll give an overview of setting up for bees, seasonal management, maintaining healthy bees, and the rewards of keeping bees (not just honey!) that will be covered in greater detail if you take the AABA Short Course.
Sign up to receive AABA newsletters at aabees.org to be notified of course news and the Zoom invitation. The meeting will be recorded and a link will be available after October 6, 2021.
Anne Arundel Beekeepers Association is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Beekeeping – A Honey of a Hobby
Each winter AABA offers a beginning beekeeping course for anyone interested in learning the basics of beekeeping. Registration is now closed. Register as early as possible as the class usually fills to capacity.
The course consists of seven (7) sessions and covers the following material:
In the final class, students will be shown how to install bees. Many students order bees during the class and start their first hives after completing the course. By that time, even those completely new to beekeeping will have the knowledge and the connections to start their own apiary.
The AABA meeting will be held on Tuesday Sept 21. It will be our first Hybrid meeting. We will be meeting in person, and still allow a zoom meeting. For people at the nature center, bring your veils, we will try to go into a hive at 6:30. We will require social distancing within the meeting room, and request everyone wear a mask to safe guard the health of everyone in the club.
6:30 Q and A. What are you seeing in your hives? If you are here in person, you can go out the the hives. If you are on zoom, some people will remain available to answer questions.
7:00 Assessing your hives in preparation for fall. (Mehalick with support from BIP) We will be covering assessing queen patterns, counting brood size, and right sizing your hives for winter. Presentation slides are available here:.
7:30 Emma deVries of Earthstar gardening will be presenting: “Pollinator Gardens the Regenerative Way- Plans and Practices”.
Now is the perfect time to start your pollinator garden. Emma will cover Pollinator Gardening the Regenerative Way
Introduced to nature early in life, her formative years were spent playing among the flower gardens, cabbage rows, and rotating pasture animals in the Biodynamic farm at the Fair Oaks Rudolf Steiner College, while her mom baked fresh bread for the staff lunches. At three months old, her father and mother hiked her up a mountain in a backpack, and throughout her childhood, her father led numerous back-country excursions on the Pacific North Coast or Sierra Nevada Desolation Wilderness.
After the obstacles presented by 2020, Emma decided to pursue her entrepreneurial dream of working with local communities to conserve soil and quality, agriculture, and wildlife biodiversity through a practical approach to garden design and maintenance services.
This will be our first in person meeting in over 18 months.
Our meeting location is:
Arlington Echo Outdoor Education Center.
Come join us!
Our next AABA meeting will be held on June 15, 2021
We are proud to invite Barry Thompson as our guest speaker
6:30: Open Q and A led by President Ryan Smith
7-8: Stings, adverse reactions and treatment
8-8:30: A 30 foot level look at practical tips or points to consider as a beekeeper
Main Speaker – Cybil Preston, State Apiary Inspector Maryland Beekeeping, Bee Inspection,
What’s New with MD Dept of Agriculture
Cybil reported that beekeeping in Maryland is growing in all categories, which she attributes to the Short
Courses and community outreach provided by the area bee associations. Cybil, four part-time
inspectors, and her two trained dogs inspected 4430 colonies last year. The dogs make a difference in
the number and speed of colony inspections for American Foul Brood, but they only work during winter
when bees are not flying. The dogs primarily inspect the ~2000 colonies that travel from Maryland to
pollinate California almonds in February. Cybil and the other inspectors handle the other seasons.
The statistics for 2019:
# Beekeepers: 2161
# Apiaries: 2716
# Colonies: 15,923
The Apiary Program is short several inspectors and hopes to hire additional inspectors next February.
Anne Arundel is one of the counties that needs an inspector. Cybil has been covering the territory this
season. Contact her if you are interested in becoming an inspector.
Cybil also stated that Maryland is monitoring for Asian hornets (aka “Murder hornets”), but despite
fielding 800 calls reporting this insect, they were found to be European hornets (which have been here
since the 1800s) and cicada killers that people never noticed in their gardens before.
