March Meeting

Our Next Meeting is March 27, 2007

The Pear trees,red buds,peaches,dogwoods,etc. are blooming, The honey bees have been bringing in pollen for 3 weeks now. Some of the hives I have checked lately have a considerable amount of honey left on them from the winter. If you are feeding syrup be sure and watch for your hives to prevent them from becoming HONEY BOUND. (This is were the bees fill the cells with honey and the Queen doesn't have any empty cells to lay eggs in. For more info check the bottom of this page.) You may need to remove some frames of honey and replace them with empty frames. Or add another box of frames with empty cells in them.

I have already seen some drone brood with varroa mites on them, keep an eye out for these pest. If they are present, treat. With the new discovery that Varroa Mites can spread several types of viruses, that can be fatal to the honey bee, it has become very important that we keep these pest under control as much as possible.

At the next meeting we will be giving more information on Raising Queens. At our May Meetings we will be grafting Queens. In the March Meeting we will also be covering what you should be doing next month. At our January meeting the present officers were re-elected for another year. The officers are Tommy Thornton, President; Tony King, Vice-President; Rick Schantz, Sec/Treasurer.

If you are an old beekeeper, a new beekeeper, or a young beekeeper come and learn about "Producing Honey in Oklahoma". Even if you are just interested in honey bees come join us. You would think an old Beekeeper would know it all but this is not true. There are a lot of new things now to do with beekeeping, Varroa Mites, new treatments, new antibiotics, new equipment that makes beekeeping easier, etc. Everyone is invited to attend and bring a door prize or snack if you wish, but it is not required. Come and learn about producing honey in Oklahoma and join the fun! Our meetings are from 7 pm - 9 pm and we meet at the Oklahoma County Extension office at NW 10th and Portland in Oklahoma City, the North Auditorium.

Remember we will need some help with the refreshments this month, our usual person who handles this will not be able to attend. So if you can, bring a yummy treat, but it is not required.

BEE THERE!

Don't forget the state beekeepers spring convention @ the Norman fairgrounds march 23rd @7pm and Sat. the 24th registration starts @ 8am pot luck lunch.








I have been finding a large number of my hives like the below illustration.



TOP BOX of 2 box's
All Honey
All Honey
Honey and pollen
Honey and brood
Brood
Brood
Honey and brood
Honey and pollen
All Honey

I reversed these box's first. Then I rearranged these frames to be as the following;

Bottom Box

1. Honey
2. Honey and pollen
3. Empty comb
4. Brood and honey
5. Empty comb
6. Brood
7. Brood
8. Brood and honey
9. Empty comb
10. Honey and pollen
    

Top Box

1. Honey
2. Honey
3. Empty comb
4. Empty
5. Empty
6. Empty
7. Empty
8. Empty
9. Empty
10. Honey
    

The queen is reluctant to move down while it is still getting cold at night. Arranging the frames this way gives her room to lay more eggs. The frames full of honey was preventing the cluster from expanding fully. Notice I only put one empty comb frame between brood frames. Now instead of four frames of brood she can possibly grow the cluster into 7 frames of brood. By this time the cluster will be large enough to expand into the top box. Not all hives were like this. Use your best judgment on other hives.