Meetings are held at 7:00 pm every

third Monday at A. I. Root meeting

room at 623 W. Liberty Street,

Medina, Ohio (at the end of the West

Liberty Commons Bldg). Check the

website for any changes to our

regular schedule.

www.medinabeekeepers.com

Use Common Sense: If Medina Schools are closed, we will cancel the meeting or Beginners class that night. If your roads are bad, ours probably are too. Stay home and stay safe. We need our beekeepers. Your bees need you.

Association Contacts: Pres: Peggy Garnes 6045 Lance Rd Medina, OH 44256 330.723.6265 pgarnes001@neo.rr.com V-P: Kim Flottum 7011 Spieth Rd Medina OH, 44256 330.722.2021 kim@beeculture.com Sec: Molly White 1737 Halls Carriage Path Westlake, OH 44145 440.899.8624 mollymariewhite@gmail.com Treas: Paul Kosmos 6386 State Road Sharon Township OH, 44281 330.239.1379 pkosmos@frontier.com Newsletter Editor/ Publisher Tracy Alarcon/ 330.396.1352 tntalarcon@juno.com Medina Co. Bee Yard Your name here Refreshments Coordinator Kathy Summers 330.725.6677, ext. 3215 330.461.1081, cell kathy@beeculture.com Webmaster Your name here Directors: 2016: Ken Hazard 440.526.5891 2015: Adam Stearns 330.808.0294 2014: Buzz Riopelle 330.483.3360 Ohio State Extension Specialist Denise Ellsworth OSU Dept. of Entomology 330.263.3723 ellsworth.2@osu.edu State of Ohio Inspector Barbara Bloetscher 614.644.5839 BBloetscher@agri.ohio.gov Medina Co. Bee Inspector Dustin Thompson 614.397.8963 deesbeesofohio@yahoo.com Medina Co Ext Office Ashley Kulhanek 330.725.4911/ kulhanek.5@osu.edu

THE BEE HERDER

Publication of the Medina County Beekeeper’s Association www.medinabeekeepers.com

Next Meeting

Sep 15th, 2014 @ 7 PM Dr.Vaughn Bryant, Texas A&M,

“Everything you ever wanted to know about identifying pollen in your honey.”

Vaughn M. Bryant received his PhD from The University of Texas at Austin in Botany and is currently a Professor and the Director of the Palynology Laboratory at Texas A&M University. He began examining honey in 1975, working for the USDA to determine the geographical origin of honey purchased under the Farm Subsidy Program. Since then he has examined over 3,000 honey samples from North America, Asia, Africa, Central America, and the Middle East for the federal government, honey importers, honey producers, exporters, and individual beekeepers. Currently he is playing a key role in the identification of transshipped honey entering the US illegally from Asia and is in the forefront of the effort to establish truth in labeling for honey products sold in the U.S.

“Beginners Half Hour” is back in September! The “Beginners Half Hour” at 6:30 across the street from our regular meeting room as usual, so bring your questions, observations and notebooks so you can ask, and get answered those questions that too often don’t get asked during the regular meeting. September Refreshments We’re having Sloppy Joes. Please bring something to go along with them – side, dessert something creative! Thanks we’ll see you there. Kathy Summers. For Sale (paid advertisement. “We, MCBA, explicitly do not warrant the transaction in any way. All sales are at buyer's/seller's own risk.2” ) Several varieties of specialty (single source) honey in 60# pails available at very reasonable prices. Also, 10 frame hives (NUCS) at $175 including frames, stained Dadant box with treated bottom and top. Lab report from Beltsville Md. O.K. awaiting certificate from Ohio approving inspected Yards for bee and queen sales. Bees are being given treatment of Fumagilin-B. Bees available within 30 days. I have inquiries for possibly my total projected output of 20 to 50 NUCS. Call 440-3823 or 440-281-2688 to reserve yours now~! From: Morris Hinton, keeping bees since 1991. Honey Bee Mine Apiaries and Hinton Apiaries.

Upcoming Speakers for 2014 Kim has outdone himself again with another GREAT SLATE of speakers for the coming year! Tell all your beekeeping friends to make the trip to Medina to listen and learn from these amazing people! Guests are always welcome!!

Oct 20 – Ed Colby, Bee Culture Columnist, Ski Patrol, and beekeeper for our Oct meeting. Topic…Gettin’er done. Keeping bees Full Speed. Oct 25-26- “The Russians are Coming” to Medina! Everything you need to know about “Russian” bees! (See attached flyer to the email.) Nov 17 – Elections, year-end summary of Medina’s honey crop, and Beeyard summary and photos. Dec 15 - Christmas Party

Milkweed Seed bombs Save a Monarch, and help the bees. Collect just-beginning-to-split milkweed pods this fall. Collect them in a paper, not plastic, bag as close to the September and October meeting as you can. Keep them at room temp after you collect them, and staple the bag shut. Bring them to the meeting. Adam will make seed bombs from them and we’ll disperse between Nov and Jan to get more milkweeds blooming in Medina County next year! After they are made, the club will sell them at almost cost (Adam needs something for his and machine and time) and the rest of the meetings this year. Save a Monarch, and help the honey bees. Collect milkweed pods this fall.

National Honey Board Announces

Availability of 2014 National Honey Month Press Kits Firestone, Colo., July 16, 2014 –The National Honey Board (NHB) is pleased to announce that again this year, they will be providing press kits to the honey industry in order to promote September as National Honey Month. September has been recognized as National Honey Month in an effort to celebrate this all-natural wonder and its many benefits. The press kit, intended for delivery to local media, will be available at no cost to beekeepers throughout the United States. The 2014 press kit features information on the benefits of honey, a variety of honey recipes, a 30 Days of Honey one-page handout which encourages consumption of honey throughout the month, as well as the NHB’s newest and most popular honey brochures that showcase honey’s versatility. All the resources included in the press kit are perfect for use by editors and journalists preparing honey features and news stories. The press kits will be made available in early August and may be requested by calling Andrea Brening at the NHB office (800-553-7162), or by sending an email to Andrea@nhb.org. The National Honey Board is an industry-funded agriculture promotion group that works to educate consumers about the benefits and uses for honey and honey products through research, marketing and promotional programs.

Figure 1 provided by Nancy Riopelle

September in the Bee Yard

“WINTER IS COMING”! Winter is HERE!

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Resources/Videos.asp#gettingready

• You should have been monitoring your Varroa Mite levels and if you find that you need to use a stronger method of treatment now is a good time to do so. Remember that if you use any product READ and FOLLOW THE LABEL. “THE LABEL IS THE LAW”. WINTER IS COMING! Now is the time to make sure your colony is as healthy as possible. These are the bees that raise the bees that

take care of the bees that are going to go into Winter. In other words healthy bees raise healthy bees. • Watch your food stores. For those of us that have harvested Summer honey make sure you left enough food for

the colony. A full sized colony starts to go into starvation mode if the honey stores fall below about 20 lbs., (which equals about 3 deep frames). Also pay attention for signs of robbing, strong colonies will start to rob out the weak ones. Reducing the entrance can be very helpful in this instance or use a robbing screen. Don’t forget the protein! Make sure you watch out for Small Hive Beetles reproducing in the patties!!

• Ventilation. An upper entrance can be very helpful to the bees. In watching our colonies at home quite a few foragers enter through the upper entrance right into the honey supers.

• Mouse Guards- Now is a good time to install your mouse guards. Be sure to check and makes sure that a mouse has not already moved in.

• Take your losses in the Fall- What does this mean? It means that if you have a weak, healthy, colony that won’t make it through Winter combine it with a stronger, healthy, colony. You can always split in the Spring to make up numbers.

• Equalize Colonies- Some beekeepers will go through and equalize all colonies in an apiary so they are the same strength going into winter at this time of year. By doing that now everyone has a chance to adjust to the change.

New-Bees For those of you that are new to the club and beekeeping, a hearty WELCOME!! I’m sure that many of you are wondering what you should be doing right NOW. Below are some suggestions to help you get ready for this exciting adventure!

• Study! Read your book from the Beginners Class. If you have already read it, re-read it again, cover to cover! Follow the links in “Bee Yard” section above. You can never have too much knowledge.

• Attend the “Beginners Half Hour” and the regular meeting. • REGISTER YOUR APIARY with the Ohio Dept. of Ag. The new registration form is

http://www.agri.ohio.gov/public_docs/forms/Plant/2013%20Apiary%20Application%20.pdf • As far as your new bees go, the most important thing you can do as their steward is to make sure they have more

than enough food. Both sugar and protein. Your packages and Nucs are very small colonies with a very limited foraging force and need your help to grow. What should you be feeding? What is recommended is pure cane sugar. Pure cane sugar has the least amount of indigestible material in it making it easy for the bees to process. One should never buy honey from the store to feed their bees. Why you ask? Because there is a very large probability that there is American Foulbrood spores in the honey.

Squadron bringing in Pollen and Nectar. Photo by Tina Alarcon

Treasurer’s Report by Paul Kosmos The Medina County Fair is history. It was another good year for both the fair and for MCBA. The week began on the cold side, but then warmed up to a strong finish. Sales at the fair exceeded 2013, which was good for the sellers and for the club. As you know, income from the fair powers our speaker program. If you've not yet paid your dues for 2014, we need to talk! Dues for 2015 will be due in January. Please see me at the meetings or mail your check with the form below (after Jan 1 2015).

MCBA Financials: Aug 2014 YTD INCOME Sales 15910.55 15910.55 Cost of Sales (11957.60) (11957.60) Education – Tuition 0.00 6570.00 Education – Materials 0.00 (4849.09) Member Dues 0.00 2855.00 Other Income 40.00 1378.49 TOTAL INCOME 3992.95 9907.35

EXPENSES Bank Charge 0.00 0.00 Bees 0.00 56.00 Clothing 147.18 147.18 Communications 22.19 193.78 Equipment 0.00 430.81 Fees (157.01) (157.01) Gifts given 0.00 0.00 Insurance 0.00 550.00 Meals & Entertn 311.65 550.15 Miscellaneous 0.00 0.00 Refreshments 0.00 236.00 Repairs 0.00 0.00 Speaker Support 0.00 2709.20 Supplies 176.94 1702.16 TOTAL EXPENSES 478.76 6396.08 OVERALL TOTAL (3514.19) 3511.27 MCBA Balance as of Aug 31, 2014: 13136.87 Less Sales Tax Payable: (0.00)

Library Fund Financials:

Aug 2014 YTD INCOME Other Income 0.00 0.00 TOTAL INCOME 0.00 0.00

EXPENSES Meals & Entertn 0.00 0.00 TOTAL EXPENSES 0.00 0.00 OVERALL TOTAL 0.00 (0.00) Library fund as Aug 31, 2014: $783.87

MCBA footnotes: • There will be a few adjustments, approx $120-

150.00 from the fair for shirt purchases. Library fund footnotes: • none

Annual notes: The board will review sales from the fair to determine what the best pricing strategy is for 2015. Price increases often lead to higher dollar sales but lower volume sales. Finding the sweet spot is the trick.

From the Editor Below is a question that I get quite often. I have removed the persons’ name to protect the innocent. ;-) Hi Tracy: Can you explain to me why it is important to register our hives with the Ohio Dept. of Ag? I am new to beekeeping this year and have just two hives. Do you think I need to register? Disclaimer: Before I go any further let me state as clearly as I can that these are my thoughts and opinions. They are not the thoughts or opinions of anyone else or any other organization that I am involved with. They are NOT the opinions of the Medina County Beekeepers Assoc., The Ohio State Beekeepers Association, Portage County Beekeepers Assoc., the Ohio Dept. of Ag or anyone else, they are mine and mine alone. I hope this is clear enough!! ☺ Question: Do you think I need to register? The short answer to this question is absolutely “YES” you need to register your apiary, it’s the law! (For all the apiary laws visit, Ohio Revised Codes, Chapter 909, Apiaries http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/909 This is a FACT and not an opinion.) ☺ Now as you can expect when I answer the question with “it’s the Law” some folks tell me that I only say that because I work as a County Inspector. While it is true that I am an inspector, I have always registered our apiaries, inspector or not. I personally don’t see anything wrong with being a law abiding citizen. “On April 21, 1904 the Ohio legislative leaders and then Governor Myron T Herrick signed into law house bill 28. The first paragraph stated: [House Bill No. 28]

AN ACT To provide for county inspectors of apiaries and defining their duties, and providing for their compensation, for the purpose of curing and avoidingFoul brood or other diseases among bees and their hives.” This is still true to this day. Prior to this law being passed records indicate that 20% of the colonies inspected at that time were found to be infected with American Foulbrood and subsequently destroyed. Today Ohio’s apiary inspectors still look for and find American Foulbrood, last year only 34 colonies out of 16,496 colonies inspected had American Foulbrood. What does a law about inspecting have to do with registering? The inspector needs to know who has bees and where they are so we can help maintain a healthy population of honey bees. Also, there is strength in numbers. If we as beekeepers want to be heard then the more of us there are the better! I was contacted this year by both Summit and Portage Counties in regards to spraying for mosquitos. Both counties wanted to know where the beekeepers were to try and minimize any damage to honeybee colonies while spraying for mosquitoes, another reason to register. If you still need another reason don’t forget about The Ohio Sensitive Crop Registry, more info about this program at the end of the newsletter in the email version. Question: I am new to beekeeping this year and have just two hives. In Portage County, where I live and inspect, there are 146 registered beekeepers per State apiary records. Of those 146 only 14, (a little less than 10%), registered beekeepers have more than 5 colonies. That leaves 132, (a little more than 90%), who only have 1 or 2 colonies. So YES, even with only two colonies you need to register,(IT’S THE LAW). I’ll climb down from my soap box now. I hope this has answered the questions and hope that I haven’t been too preachy. Respectfully, Tracy Alarcon, Editor

Membership Application or Renewal Medina County Beekeepers Association

Name _____________________________________________________________________________ Check here if this is a renewal and all information on the roster is correct. Otherwise, please fill out the section below:

E-mail _____________________________________________________________________________

Address _____________________________________________________________________________

City _________________________ Zip _____________ Phone ___________________________

(Optional) # of Colonies ____

2014 dues are $20 for email delivery, $25 for mailed newsletters.

Make checks payable to Medina Co. Beekeepers Assn. and send care of: P Kosmos, 6386 State Road, Sharon Township, OH 44281. Please do not use this if you will be taking the Beginner Class.

"Man masters nature not by force but by understanding." Jacob Bronowski

“The Bee Herder” C/O Tracy Alarcon 2860 St. Rt. 225 Diamond OH, 44412

CATCH THE BUZZ

USDA Announces New Support for Beginning Farmers and Ranchers, and increases

beginning beekeeper loss payments.

Department Implementing New Farm Bill Programs, Unveiling New Centralized Online Resource to Support

Next Generation of Farmers

DAVIS, Calif., June 23, 2014 - U.S. Agriculture Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden today announced the

implementation of new Farm Bill measures and other policy changes to improve the financial security of new

and beginning farmers and ranchers. Harden also unveiled www.usda.gov/newfarmers, a new website that

will provide a centralized, one-stop resource where beginning farmers and ranchers can explore the variety of

USDA initiatives designed to help them succeed.

"New and beginning farmers are the future of American agriculture," said Deputy Secretary Harden. "The

average age of an American farmer is 58 and rising, so we must help new farmers get started if America is

going to continue feeding the world and maintain a strong agriculture economy. The new policies announced

today will help give beginning farmers the financial security they need to succeed. Our new online tool will

provide one-stop shopping for beginning farmers to learn more about accessing USDA services that can help

their operations thrive."

USDA's New Farmers website has in depth information for new farmers and ranchers, including: how to

increase access to land and capital; build new market opportunities; participate in conservation opportunities;

select and use the right risk management tools; and access USDA education, and technical support programs.

These issues have been identified as top priorities by new farmers. The website will also feature instructive

case studies about beginning farmers who have successfully utilized USDA resources to start or expand their

business operations.

Today's policy announcements in support of beginning farmers and ranchers include:

Waiving service fees for new and beginning farmers or ranchers to enroll in the Non-Insured Crop Disaster

Assistance Program (NAP) for the 2014 crop year. NAP provides risk management tools to farmers who grow

crops for which there is no crop insurance product. Under this waiver, announced via an official notice (PDF,

171KB) to Farm Service Agency offices, farmers and ranchers whom already enrolled in NAP for the 2014 crop

year are eligible for a service fee refund. Eliminating payment reductions under the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for new and beginning

farmers which will allow routine, prescribed, and emergency grazing outside the primary nesting season on

enrolled land consistent with approved conservation plans. Previously, farmers and ranchers grazing on CRP

land were subject to a reduction in CRP payments of up to 25 percent. Waiving these reductions for new and

beginning farmers will provide extra financial support during times of emergency like drought and other

natural disasters. Increasing payment rates to beginning farmers and ranchers under Emergency Assistance for Livestock,

Honeybees and Farm-Raised Fish Program (ELAP) (PDF, 288KB). Under this provision, beginning farmers can

claim up 90 percent of losses for lost livestock, such as bees, under ELAP. This is a fifty percent increase over

previously available payment amounts to new and beginning farmers.

In the near future, USDA will also announce additional crop insurance program changes for beginning farmers

and ranchers – including discounted premiums, waiver of administrative fees, and other benefits.

These policy announcements are made possible through the 2014 Farm Bill, which builds on historic economic

gains in rural America over the past five years, while achieving meaningful reform and billions of dollars in

savings for the taxpayer. Since enactment, USDA has made significant progress to implement each provision of

this critical legislation, including providing disaster relief to farmers and ranchers; strengthening risk

management tools; expanding access to rural credit; funding critical research; establishing innovative public-

private conservation partnerships; developing new markets for rural-made products; and investing in

infrastructure, housing and community facilities to help improve quality of life in rural America. For more

information, visit www.usda.gov/farmbill.

The Deputy Secretary made these announcements at the inaugural meeting of the reconvened Beginning

Farmer and Rancher Advisory Committee held at the University of California Davis, California. This Advisory

Committee, composed of 20 members, including Extension agents, lenders, farmers, ranchers and academics

will meet through 2015 to learn, discuss, and formulate recommendations to USDA on how to support new

and beginning farmers.

A fact sheet outlining significant USDA efforts to support beginning farmers and ranchers, and other

Department-wide accomplishments, are available on www.usda.gov/results.

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I.

Root Company. Find us at -Twitter. Facebook. Bee Culture’s Blog.

CATCH THE BUZZ

Parasite Pressures on Feral Honey Bees. Feral Colonies Are Pathogen Reservoirs. A PlosOne Publication.

Catherine E. Thompson, Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Theodore R. Allnutt, Stéphane Pietravalle, Giles E. Budge

Feral honey bee populations have been reported to be in decline due to the spread of Varroa destructor, an ectoparasitic mite that when left uncontrolled leads to virus build-up and colony death. While pests and diseases are known causes of large-scale managed honey bee colony losses, no studies to date have considered the wider pathogen burden in feral colonies, primarily due to the difficulty in locating and sampling colonies, which often nest in inaccessible locations such as church spires and tree tops. In addition, little is known about the provenance of feral colonies and whether they represent a reservoir of Varroa tolerant material that could be used in apiculture. Samples of forager bees were collected from paired feral and managed honey bee colonies and screened for the presence of ten honey bee pathogens and pests using qPCR. Prevalence and quantity was similar between the two groups for the majority of pathogens, however feral honey bees contained a significantly higher level of deformed wing virus than managed honey bee colonies. An assessment of the honey bee race was completed for each colony using three measures of wing venation. There were no apparent differences in wing morphometry between feral and managed colonies, suggesting feral colonies could simply be escapees from the managed population. Interestingly, managed honey bee colonies not treated for Varroa showed similar, potentially lethal levels of deformed wing virus to that of feral colonies. The potential for such findings to explain the large fall in the feral population and the wider context of the importance of feral colonies as potential pathogen reservoirs is discussed.

This message brought to you by Bee Culture, The Magazine Of American Beekeeping, published by the A.I. Root Company. Find us at -Twitter . Facebook. Bee Culture’s Blog.

August 4, 2014

New Data Reflects the Continued Demand for

Farmers Markets

Three New USDA Directories Help Connect Consumers and

Farmers through Local Food Opportunities

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2014 - The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) Administrator Anne Alonzo announced over the weekend that USDA's National Farmers Market

Directory now lists 8,268 markets, an increase of 76 percent since 2008. The data reflects continued demand

and growth of farmers markets in every region of the country. Alonzo also announced that AMS is developing

three new local food directories that will expand USDA's support for local and regional foods by providing easy

access to the most current information about the local food market.

Alonzo made the announcements at the Dane County Farmers Market in Madison, Wisconsin, the country's

largest producer-only market, where she kicked off the 15th annual "National Farmers Market Week", from

Aug. 3 through Aug. 9, 2014.

"The National Farmers Market Directory numbers reflect the continued importance of farmers markets to

American agriculture. Since its inception, the directory has proven to be a valuable tool for accessing up-to-date

information about local farmers markets," Alonzo said. "Farmers markets play an extremely important role for

both farmers and consumers. They bring urban and rural communities together while creating economic growth

and increasing access to fresh, healthy foods."

The USDA National Farmers Market Directory, available at farmersmarkets.usda.gov, provides information

about U.S. farmers market locations, directions, operating times, product offerings, and much more. The data is

collected via voluntary self-reporting by operating farmers market managers and is searchable by zip code,

product mix, and other criteria. The National Farmers Market Directory receives over two million hits annually.

In addition to USDA's National Farmers Market Directory, AMS is adding:

USDA's National Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) Enterprise Directory - A CSA is a farm or

network/association of multiple farms that offer consumers regular deliveries of locally-grown farm products

during one or more harvest season(s) on a subscription or membership basis.

USDA's National Food Hub Directory - A Food Hub is a business or organization that actively manages the

aggregation, distribution, and marketing of source-identified food products to multiple buyers from multiple

producers, primarily local and regional producers, to strengthen the ability of these producers to satisfy local

and regional wholesale, retail, and institutional demand.

USDA's National On-Farm Market Directory - An On-Farm Market is a farm market managed by a single farm

operator that sells agricultural and/or horticultural products directly to consumers from a location on their farm

property or on property adjacent to that farm.

USDA invites local food business owners who fall within these categories to list their operational details in the

new directories www.usdalocalfooddirectories.com. These new directories will be available online early in

2015, giving potential customers, business partners, and community planners easy, one-stop access to the most

current information about different sources of local foods.

2014 Directory Highlights

According to USDA's 2014 National Farmers Market Directory, the states with the most farmers markets

reported are California (764 markets), New York (638 markets), Michigan (339 markets), Ohio (311 markets),

Illinois (309 markets), Massachusetts (306 markets), Pennsylvania (297 markets), Wisconsin (295 markets),

Virginia (249 markets), and Missouri (245 markets). All geographic regions saw increases in their market

listings, with the most growth in the South. The 10 states with the biggest increases in the numbers of farmers

markets include Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Arkansas, North Carolina, Montana,

Florida and Nebraska. Five of these states – Tennessee, Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas, and North Carolina – are

part of USDA's StrikeForce for Rural Growth and Opportunity, where USDA has increased investment in rural

communities through intensive outreach and stronger partnerships.

Farmers market development is a cornerstone of USDA's Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Initiative,

which coordinates the Department's policy, resources, and outreach efforts related to local and regional food

systems. Secretary Vilsack has identified strengthening local food systems as one of the four pillars of USDA's

commitment to rural economic development.

Celebrate 100 Years of Extension

Content from: http://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/apiculture/queen-disease-clinic/

Queen & Disease Clinic

If knowledge is power, then one of the most effective tools in the beekeeper’s arsenal is to know the health and productivity of their bees. However, many important factors to colony health cannot be easily quantified without sophisticated techniques. The NC State Queen & Disease Clinic is now offering a wide range of analytical tools to quantify queen reproductive quality as well as queen and

colony health.

The reproductive quality of queens, and the drones with which they mate, has been among the top management concerns of beekeepers for the last decade. Being able to verify cohorts of queens for their mating success, identify failing queens, or diagnosing

laying problems are all helpful for successful beekeeper management. Moreover, testing queens for infection (Nosema and viruses) can also be important for improving genetic stock, since it is known that these diseases can affect queen and colony performance.

Testing colonies for diseases and genetics is equally important. We can measure virus levels within colonies and compare them to baseline data to determine potential deviations that affect colony health. The importance of Africanized bees is also an ever-increasing threat, particularly on the Eastern seaboard, so a diagnostic genetic test is the standard means of determining Africanization. Finally, intracolony genetic diversity is

important for many aspects of colony function, thus our high-throughput process of calculating effective paternity frequency of the queen (=mating number) can be useful for both the beekeeper and honey bee scientists.

Queens (or drones)

PROCESS [PER SAMPLE BASIS] 5-10 11-20 21-40 >40

Insemination quality (includes morphometric analysis, sperm viability, and total sperm count)

$20.48 $18.68 $16.19 $15.04

Nosema analysis (includes morphometric analysis, Nosema species identification, and detected presence/absence)

$227.47 $208.70 $183.57 $170.67

Viral analysis (includes morphometric analysis plus presenece/absence and relative levels of ABPV, BQCV, CBPV, DWV, IAPV, KBV, and SBV)

$155.27 $112.39 $82.25 $71.83

Colonies (~100 workers each)

PROCESS [PER SAMPLE BASIS] 5-10 11-20 21-40 >40

Nosema analysis (includes Nosema species identification, and detected presence/absence) $227.47 $208.70 $183.57 $170.67

Mitotyping for Africanization (includes genetic analysis of maternal ancestory as African or European)

$129.06 $110.29 $93.89 $86.55

Viral analysis (includes presenece/absence and relative levels of ABPV, BQCV, CBPV, DWV, IAPV, KBV, and SBV)

$155.27 $112.39 $82.25 $71.83

Genotyping analysis (includes a full assessment of paternity for 48 workers and estimate of queen mating frequency)

$285.20 $242.26 $206.58 $189.28

How to arrange and ship your samples

To request a quote for any of the above services, please email us directly (Mark Jandricic, Queen&Disease Clinic Technician). Because of processing and time constraints, there is a minimum of 5 queens or colonies per order. We will then generate and email you an invoice for the requested services. Remit by check made out to “NC State University” to schedule a delivery date, or pay by

credit card using our online payment system.

Once a date is arranged to send samples, all bees must be mailed while alive unless otherwise indicated. Overnight delivery should be made to the shipping address outlined on the invoice. No samples will be processed until payment is received.

Processing time depends on the type and number of analyses, as well as the number of samples to be measured. However, our high-throughput processing procedure typically results in sending a report within 1-2 weeks of receiving the samples.

Example Queen Bee Clinic Reports:

Reports of all analyses are summarized into a simple format that provides relative measures. This places the findings into context and makes it much easier for fast and reliable interpretation.

The Ohio Sensitive Crop Registry (OSCR) from Jared Shaffer

Pesticide drift from target areas may damage sensitive crops and organisms such as honeybees, grapes, straw-berries, tomatoes and broadleaf vegetables. Communication between beekeepers, producers and pesticide applicators is critical to avoid personal/property damage while allowing target crops to benefit from applied pesticides. The Ohio Sensitive Crop Registry (OSCR) is a voluntary informational tool designed to allow stakeholders an effective way to communicate and protect organic crops, pesticide-sensitive crops and apiaries. OSCR was developed and is operated by the Ohio Department of Agricultures’ Pesticide & Fertilizer Regulation section, which trains and licenses over 30,000 pesticide applicators and more than 13,000 pesticide products operating in the state of Ohio. Registered apiarists and organic and pesticide-sensitive crop producers have the ability to draw their locations on an online map and share them with other registered users. Licensed pesticide applicators in the state of Ohio, such as farmers spraying their crops or ODOT crews applying roadside herbicides, can log-in to the system and search the map for sensitive areas nearby. Apiaries in particular can be difficult for pesticide applicators to spot and avoid. Although beekeepers must post their contact information in every apiary, OSCR can be used in addition to these postings to help applicators locate apiaries and contact the beekeepers before spraying. To help ensure the highest-quality data for pesticide spray planning, the Ohio Department of Agriculture verifies each user registration request and each crop location submission before the data is entered into the Registry. Due to this verification process, OSCR is currently designed for use by commercial agricultural entities only; homeowners with private gardens, landscaping along roadways and community areas are not eligible to use the OSCR system. Only apiarists and those who produce crops for sale will be approved to enter data into the system. This level of quality control is designed to allow for the continued success of OSCR and the optimal use of pesticides in Ohio. Users can register for an account online through the OSCR website. Paper enrollment forms will be made available to those without internet access who also wish to register. These forms can be acquired by contacting ODA at 614-728-6386, or the local OSU Extension office. OSCR can be accessed directly via this address: http://www.agri.ohio.gov/scr For more information, visit the OSCR website or contact Jared Shaffer at: Attention: Sensitive Crop Registry Ohio Department of Agriculture Pesticide & Fertilizer Regulation 8995 E. Main Street, Bldg. 23 Reynoldsburg, OH 43068-3399 Phone: 614-728-6386 Fax: 614-466-9754 Email: SensitiveCropRegistry@agri.ohio.gov

Dear Ohio Beekeepers, We would like to invite you, as a beekeeper in Ohio, to participate in a survey of springtime bee health that is being conducted by Dr. Reed Johnson in the Department of Entomology at the Ohio State University. The purpose of this study is to compare the success of honey bee colonies near crop fields with colonies away from crop fields to determine the role that crop fields play in bee deaths in April, May and June. Do not worry if your hives aren't near crop fields - we need your survey responses too! Your participation in this study is entirely voluntary and you may withdraw from the study at any time with no strings attached. If you would like to participate in the study, you will be asked to complete a brief survey about the location of your apiary in relation to nearby crop fields and the health of your honey bee colonies. The survey is estimated take 5 - 15 minutes. Your knowledge will contribute substantially to understanding how the surrounding landscape may influence the health of honey bees and we highly appreciate any feedback you can provide.

http://go.osu.edu/springbeesurvey Please complete the survey by August 31, 2014. See http://go.osu.edu/springbeesurvey if you have any questions. Colony Assessment- Online Class http://class.ucanr.org/login/index.php This online class is offered by The University of California. To access the class, follow the link above. When you get to the site you can login as a guest or you can create an account, I logged in as a guest. Then in the upper left of the web page click on the “ANR Online Learning” part of the page. This will take you to the all courses page where you can follow the link to the, Honey Bees and Colony Strength Evaluation class. This is well worth your time!

Scientia potentia est

These colonies really need split and honey extracted!!!!