Announcements
Next Meeting: Sunday, July 17th at the Bee Building on the Barnstable County Fairgrounds.

There is a work party slated for 11 A.M. for the cleanup and preparation of the building prior to the opening of The Fair on Friday the 22nd. Bring small tools, garden tools, cleaning equipment, etc. There are many small jobs to be completed and many hands make light work of it all. A pot-luck lunch will be served around noon (the club provides paper plates,cups, plastic utensils, and cold drinks). There will be a short program after lunch on preparing honey for sale and/or competition. We will also set prices at this time for any honey to be sold during the fair. Please remember to sign up for a shift if you have not yet done so, and if you are planning to sell any products of the hive at the fair, you must work at least one shift.

Please Note- There are no Tuesday monthly meetings at the West Barnstable Community Building during July and August.

Second, be sure to sign up to work a shift or two at the fair. This is a great opportunity to share your knowledge and love of bees with all the interested folks at the fair. A special note to all our new beekeepers, you have lots of know-how and bee lore to share, even if this is your first season keeping bees. Once you start talking with people and answering their questions you’ll even amaze yourself by how much you already know. There will also be someone else with you to help with things you’re fuzzy about. DO IT! CALL MARTE and SIGN UP!

Thanks. —Pete

Nuc Boxes
If you wish to return your nuc boxes for credit, bring them back to 186 Old County Rd in East Sandwich. Pallets are in place. Just add to the pile. Please be sure to leave your name on them so that you receive your credit. Any left without a name are considered donated to B.C.B.A... Please Note – DO NOT RETURN THEM TO THE MEETING SITE. THEY WILL BE LEFT BEHIND.

Claire's Corner
It’s so nice to hear the excitement of new members gleaning their first crop of honey. That first flow appeared to be only in selected areas. What ever happened to the Black Locust bloom? This has to be the first year in our beekeeping history that no blossoms appeared. Perhaps the Autumn Olive filled in the void as its bloom was heavy and lengthy.

New additions to our bee garden are Arctotis, or Lemondrop Africandaisy, Patriot Classic ‘cherry’ Lantana, and Milky Bellflower, or Campanula ‘sarastro’ variety. The bees are just all over these blossoms providing all shades of pollen for the brood.

We promised a follow-up on the use of formic acid after the last meeting. Unfortunately, it remains yet unapproved in Massachusetts. Hopefully it will receive approval before early fall (when it needs to be applied) for those who may need it. (Some members have expressed an interest and have asked if the club will do a bulk purchase. We will investigate the quantity required to order to get direct shipping and report back to you.)

It is effective against both varroa and tracheal mites, but even with current packaging it remains highly corrosive and hazardous when inhaled. Protective safety goggles, respirators, and chemical resistant gloves should be worn when handling Mite-Away II. For more information on this product, visit their website at www.miteaway.com

If your varroa threshold exceeds 50 mites in a 24-hour natural drop, the pad can be applied for 21 days provided the temperature does not exceed 82 degrees. There can be a period of brood mortality, but the hive will return to normal when treatment is completed.

We will keep you informed of its approval, when such is given by the Mass Pesticide Board.

There has been a high incidence of supercedure and laying workers this spring. What is the reason: wet, cold weather in the spring when queens were to be mated, or was the demand for queens, nucs, and packages so great that short cuts were taken and queens not proven before shipping? Perhaps it was the cold , wet May here where the queens were laying on and off due to the erratic temperatures. If you needed to replace a queen, they were hard to find and some of our orders were cancelled by the breeders. Bolling Bee still has not returned our phone calls or our funds, a great disappointment from a once reliable company. Hardeman Apiaries of Georgia really came through for many of us.

Ed’s program on requeening should have proved very helpful if you experienced any of the above problems. Most effective was his method of requeening a hive with a laying worker. Building a 2-frame nuc with queen acceptance and placing this nuc over the hive body, with a sheet of newspaper between the two, worked wonderfully!

For those of you with honey or beeswax, please consider competing at the Fair. It will give you a great insight on how your product compares with others and in turn will help you prepare a better product for sale or gift. You will need 2 x 1-lb identical glass (only) jars of extracted honey, or 2 sections of cut comb or 2 jars of chunk comb. Beeswax items compete in pairs, except for 1 ounce blocks, which must be 3. Preparation will be discussed at the clean-up. Contact Claire or Ed if you need one pound jars. Items need to be entered from 7 to 9 PM on Wednesday, July 20th , or 8 to 10 AM on Thursday, July 21st. And, yes, there will be judging forms used for all entries this year.

Classifieds
Nick Iodice, of Bass River, is downsizing. He has hive bodies, honey supers and frames for sale. Nick can be reached at 508-394-9441.