Dec. 03-Jan 04 Next Meeting is: Tuesday, Jan.

27, 2004 7:30pm Cafeteria, Falls Church High 7521 Jaguar Trail Falls Church, Virginia 22042
President Alan Fiala Vice-Pres. Patricia Haskell Editor Alan Fiala 703-790-8044 703-560-3484 703-790-8044 Treasurer Bennie Liles 703-671-1010 Secretary Pearl Liles 703-671-1010

January 27 Meeting: Pot Luck Dinner; Making Mead; Election

Our annual pot luck dinner will be part of the next membership meeting. Setup will start at 6:30 p.m. in the Falls Church High School cafeteria; dinner will start at 7:00 p.m. For the program, Douglas Eisemann will show us how to make mead. If you know someone who isnt a beekeeper, but makes wine, bring him along. There will be a business meeting to bring up matters for future consideration (see Presidents Corner), and election of officers for 2004-2005. Slate of Nominations for Officers. The Nominating Committee reports a change since the business meeting in November. President: Pat Haskell Vice President: Tom Merz Secretary: Kathy Heslep Treasurer: Bennie Liles

Meetings are at Falls Church High School. Warning: The school frequently changes room assignments without advance notice. January 27, 2004 PotLuck, TBA March 23, 2004 Little Theater Speaker: George Imirie May 25, 2004 Little Theater Speaker: Barry Thompson Feb/March 2004 - Class for beginners Other Meetings of Interest February 21, 2004 Maryland State BA at Howard Co. Fairgrounds In This Issue: BANV Meetings and News Presidents Corner BANV Minutes, last meeting 1 3 3

Upcoming BANV Meetings

Jeff Pettis: Effects of Miticide Residuals in Beeswax; and Controlling Varroa Mites.
Notes by Alan Fiala Dr. Jeff Pettis, entomologist at the Beltsville Bee Lab, spoke at our November meeting. After a feature presentation on miticide residuals in wax, he did a second impromptu session after the business meeting, on ways to control varroa mites: whats available now and whats in the works.

The title of the first presentation was Sublethal Effects of Coumaphos in Beeswax on Developing Honey Bee Queens, by Jeff Pettis and Anita Collier. The experiment was constructed because of complaints from users of Coumaphos that their queens were not durable. The experiment lasted two years and was conducted with the cooperation of Willbanks Apiaries. A large number of colonies was set up on foundation, in order to get pure beeswax in each colony. Then wax 1
Photo by Brenda Kiessling

Jeff Pettis chats with Alan Fiala and Laszlo Pentek

queen cups were made up from beeswax with controlled additions of Coumaphos, queens were grafted into these cups, and the effects were examined. The proportions of contamination used were, in parts per million (ppm), 0 (control), 1, 10, 100, and 1000. The FDA limit is 100 ppm. Queens were grafted into cells, finished in queenright colonies, moved to mating nucs, marked and introduced into colonies (in the fall). At each step, the percentage of success was tabulated. At some of these steps, the judgment of the apiary crew was accepted as the decision for success of each individual. It was observed that the cells made of the most contaminated wax seemed to slow the development of queen larvae somehow. For contamination less than 1000 ppm, there was no significant difference in survival about 50% even for the control colonies. Someone from the audience asked how fast contamination builds up in a colony when CheckMite is used regularly? Pettis said that it takes over 3 years to get to 50 ppm. Conclusions: miticide residue in beeswax of queen cell cups may reduce production of complete queen cells; cause smaller, slower developing queens; reduce the number of acceptable queens; result in queens that are poorly mated under stress conditions. The last point was made because the experiment was conducted during two years when it was hot and dry. Contamination may not be the primary cause of queens failing, but its probably a factor. Another factor might be the producers drive to produce queens early in the year when the weather isnt so good. The show-and-tell on varroa control was informal. Apistan is the most effective way to control varroa, but mites can develop resistance to it. Even if your colonies seem to be relatively free of varroa, robbers can bring them in from other sources. Drone brood frames and removal of drone brood is done over 24-30 days in the spring, with 3 removals 7 days apart before the honey flow. It messes up the proportion of drones in the hive, but it doesnt seem to matter. Plus, more workers produce more honey. Pettis says we need formic acid. It is dangerous, but would be a good product to alternate with Apistan. It is produced in Canada as a gel, and it is released slowly over 3 weeks. It is also effective against tracheal mites. He also showed a formic acid pad. It is hung on the side of a frame, saturated, and the fumes evaporate. ApiLife Var (thymol) is going to be available exclusively from Brushy Mountain. It consists of two wafers that are broken up and laid above the brood nest in a screen sleeve to keep bees from throwing it out. It has a very strong odor, so EPA requires that it be off five months before harvest. Therefore it can only be a fall treatment. It works better when brood levels are declining. (Thymol is used in Europe in gel.) Things that affect queens: spring and summer applications when temperatures are high. Section 18 emergency use permits are issued in order to have a product tried out. If there are no problems, then a general use permit can be issued. Amitraz is used worldwide but no longer is legal in the US. Bayer, the company that produces Coumaphos, also produces Amitraz and is not bringing it out in the US. Sucrose octoanate ester will be sold exclusively by Dadant. It is a wetting agent that acts like a detergent. At 1% in water it is very safe for the beekeeper, although if overdone it could kill bees as well. It drowns the mites without drowning the bee. EPA sets no tolerance, there is no residue. It kills varroa, but is very labor intensive. Both sides of every frame (to get all the bees) must be sprayed 3 times 7-10 days apart. Tylosin, for AFB, has made it through several steps of the approval process, but it is not quite finished. It needs to have an approved label. It is an antibiotic, and will be labeled to be used for control only.

Corrections and Updates to the November Newsletter.

In the notes on Tom Seeleys presentation on the hive as a factory at the MSBA meeting, page 4, next to last line, it should have said tremble dance instead of waggle dance. 2

In the report about the VSBA meeting, there is a summary of activities of the state of West Virginia to aid beekeepers. Since then, I have seen unofficial reports that the state of WV has reduced that budget and those activities are in jeopardy. This seems to be spreading nationwide, and puts more urgency into the need for developing relationships with state legislators.

Reminder: Beginner's class starts in February. Call Pat Haskell for information.

Presidents Corner
John Ferree has done a marvelous job of automating and handling membership records and distributing the newsletter. After several years, he wants to move on. Id like to thank him for a job very well done. Don MacIntyre volunteered to take up those duties. My tenure as president ends at the upcoming meeting. It has been a rewarding experience, in large part because of the support from the other members of the Executive Committee and the members of BANV. Major accomplishments include providing a lot of good educational activities. Weve invited good speakers, conducted two extension workshops, and hosted a (two) state meeting for the first time in a decade. We are distributing the newsletter electronically. Planning is already under way for more. Our new master beekeeper, Pat Haskell, will be conducting a short course for us, our first in years. We are exploring possibilities for more workshops. We are on the verge of having an operational website. New issues to consider. We have lost one of our club sales events do we need to find another? The bylaws and constitution were adopted in May 1983 and have never been changed. At the last business meeting, a couple of amendments were proposed: one to add an elected executive officer, another (by the Treasurer) to raise the dues. In checking on procedures to amend, to my surprise, the constitution provides for an advisory board. It is the executive officers plus four elected members from BANV and one from each neighboring association, to recommend and support actions and programs which serve to implement the stated objectives of this association I have not asked the longest-term members of BANV if this board was ever implemented. It is a wonderful concept, so the question is: do we implement it, or remove it from our constitution? It goes to the heart of the biggest chronic problem that BANV has: the reluctance of members to take an active part in planning and implementing our activities. If the load could be spread more evenly, instead of resting primarily on the executive officers and a handful of others, there would be less reluctance. Discussion of these constitutional issues will begin at our next meeting. I expect that they will continue to future meetings. The future looks exciting stay with us and bring your friends. Alan

Minutes of BANV meeting, November 25, 2003

President Alan Fiala called the meeting to order at 7:40 and welcomed all. There being no guests, and a relatively small attendance, we went to the speaker for the evening. Dr. Jeff Pet3

tis, Beltsville Bee Lab, described his research on residuals from miticides in beeswax and its effect on queens. After a short break for refreshments provided by Pearl and Bennie Liles, the 50-50 raffle ($9.00) was won by Paul Diehl. President Fiala convened the business meeting at 9:00, and pressed to complete it as rapidly as possible in order that the speaker have time to do a second presentation. Under administrative matters, he noted some typos in the newsletter and follow-up news on the report of activities in West Virginia. Don MacIntyre is assuming the duties of keeping membership records and distributing the newsletter, from John Ferree. Bennie Liles moved to accept the minutes as submitted in the newsletter. Pat Haskell seconded and the motion passed without objection. Treasurer Bennie Liles reported that there is $1,180.00 in the treasury. Brenda Kiessling gave the report of the Nominating Committee for the new officers: Pat Haskell for President, Tom Merz for Vice President, Bennie Liles for Treasurer, and Pearl Liles for Secretary. Fiala reminded those present that additional nominations can be made from the floor at the meeting. Pat Haskell suggested that an additional elective office be created for Recording Secretary. This would require an amendment to the bylaws. In discussing how quickly amendments can be made, Bennie Liles stated that the dues needed to be increased, also requiring an amendment to the bylaws. Fiala will look into the process and take this up with the Executive Committee to see if it can be accomplished at the January meeting. The next meeting will be January 27. The location may not be at the High School, an alternative is being explored. The agenda will consist of the annual indoor potluck dinner, election of officers during the business meeting, and a speaker on making mead. Pat Haskell said to invite any friends interested in making mead, even if they had no interest in beekeeping. There were no meetings to report other than those in the newsletter. Pressing on, Fiala asked for a quick show of hands for who has inspected their hives lately, and of those, how many still had brood. Quite a few had inspected, and all had brood. Dr. Pettis said it was because of the warm weather. Under old business, Fiala reminded the group of the class to begin in February. Larry Kelley said that package bees will be in short supply next spring. Almost all major suppliers, including Willbanks, have stopped accepting orders. He and Dane have reserved several hundred packages, and will make two trips this year one for SW Virginia and one for our area. People who want packages must contact Larry or Dane ASAP. New Business 1. Fiala reminded everyone of the FDA registration requirements described in the newsletter, with sources of further information 2. Don MacIntyre had a demonstration of a basic web site for the club. It will start up as soon as Fiala gets the server site registered. 3. Fiala reminded everyone of the tracheal mite survey being conducted by Rick Fell and urged participation. The business meeting concluded at 9:15. Jeff Pettis then did a show-and-tell about ways to control varroa mites until we had to vacate the room at 9:50. Respectfully submitted, Alan Fiala 4