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The Newsletter of the Mecklenburg County Beekeepers Association February 2020The President's Buzz

from Tommy Helms

I hope everyone’s bees are happy. I have noticed the bees working my

Red Maple tree. They were all over it most of the day. They have been

bringing in lots of grey and yellow pollen. With this warmer than usual

weather we’re having, I think the bees are a little confused. With the bees

bringing in pollen and a little nectar, it’s got the queen laying some eggs. I

have seen frames with eggs, larvae and brood, even saw some drone brood.

They are building up extremely fast. This might not be a bad thing if we

don’t have any severely cold weather. If we do there may not be enough bees

the protect the eggs and brood and it will be lost. However, if it stays

warmer the hives are going to build up fast early in the season. They may

start building up before the nectar starts coming in and that means more

bees eating up their winter stores. Late February and early March is a

critical time for your honeybees. Too many bees and not enough food.

I have kept sugar and or fondant on my bees all winter. I thought I had

them good until spring until I started checking hives a few days ago and

everyone had eaten all the food I had on them. They were all full of bees,

some had some stores of honey, some of the hives are starting to get light in

weight and are probably relying on my feeding them. You must make sure

the hives don’t get honey bound and the queen doesn’t have room to lay. It

doesn’t matter how well you treated for mites last season if the bees don’t

have enough food to make it through the winter it was all in vain. It would

be a shame for the bees to die because of lack of food. VPB (very poor

beekeeping) kills more bees this time of year than anything. Keep a close

watch on your bees. Check for swarm cells early. Get your swarm boxes out

and get those supers ready.

Good Luck with your bees!

Tommy Helms

MeckBees President

February Meeting*date change!*

Bryan Fisher

Beekeeping Tips,

Tricks & Hacks to Save You

Time, Money & Labor

Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7pm

Selwyn United Methodist Church

3100 Selwyn Road

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Connect in Steele CreekMichael Palmer recommends: for a

great local bee stock, '...change the bees in

your Neighborhood...'. If you live in the

Steele Creek area, and you would like to

work together on a resilient local bee stock,

email Kim at BeesandSurplus@gmail.com.

I'll coordinate a meetup and we'll talk

specifics about what you/us are working on,

delve into bee science, forage, etc locally

and how best support the bees themselves.

This is what Bill Bishop did, for 35+ years.

Community ServiceOpportunity

I have a request for a speaker at the

West Blvd. Public Library for either March

3, 23 or April 20. You chose the date you

want. It would be for second grade students

on a field trip. They would like to have the

observation hive and talk on honey bees

showing some equipment used to work bees.

If you're interested let me know and I'll get

you the contact information.

Thanks Tommy Helms

meckbeespres@gmail.com

Instagram is an amazing

and easy tool for documenting

and capturing moments in your

bee yard. Take photos and

videos of your bees, honey or

products and post them! Don’t

forget to use hashtags when

posting to find, follow and

connect with other beekeepers.

#meckbees #cltbeekeeping #cltbeekeepers #bees #honeybees

#beekeeping #backyardbeekeeping #beekeepers #queencell #hive

#beehive #honey #pollination #flowers #garden #savethebees

#beesofinstagram #instabee

– Laura Weber connects: @hellohoneyclt

Here are three Instagram accounts that I really enjoy

following!

Get Social!from Laura Weber

@girlnextdoorhoneyHilary KearneyAuthor of Queenspotting & The LittleBook of Bees Bee education 10 yrs of #beekeepingexp.linktr.ee/girlnextdoorhoney76k followers

@bee_nfluencerB.I’m the 1st bee influencer! Follow me guys: the more followers Ihave, the more we will save bees!#BeeFund x @fondationdefrancebeefund.fondationdefrance.org269k followers

@texasbeeworksERIKA THOMPSON | BEEKEEPERProfessional beekeeper#savethebeesLive Bee Removals ­ Ag Exemptions ­Advocacy ­ Private Lessons ­ Classes­ Public Speaking ­ More23.1K followers

New Resource Available‘Beginner’ online BEES school

Perfect for wanna­be beekeepers who

couldn’t make their local bee school!

WHEN: March 4­25th

WHERE: Online Beekeeper Education

& Engagement System (BEES)

HOW: Students will enroll in the

‘Beginner’ level BEES courses and learn the

online content on their own time and at

their own pace. Each Wednesday evening,

we will hold virtual “office hours” with Dr.

David Tarpy to discuss what you have

learned and answer any lingering questions.

An optional in­hive field day will be offered

at the NCSU Lake Wheeler Honey Bee

Research Facility in Raleigh on March 28th

(rain date April 4).

INFO:

https://www.ncsuapiculture.net/online­

beginner­bees­school

‘Intermediate’ BEES Academy

Great way to prepare for the MBP

Journeyman exam!

WHEN: March 3­4th

WHERE: Craven County Extension

Center, 300 Industrial Dr, New Bern, NC

28562

HOW: Two full days to immerse yourself

in the theoretical and practical aspects of

beekeeping. Mixture of both live and pre­

taped videos from the Beekeeper Education

& Engagement System (BEES) as well as

hands­on activities. Numerous members of

the NC State Apiculture Program will help

you build upon your current knowledge of

beekeeping by exploring a wide variety of

topics.

INFO:

https://www.ncsuapiculture.net/bees­

academy­home

Botanical Trivia: Cherryfrom Dietlinde Zipkin

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At this time of year, you may be thinking, “What can I plant in my

garden for my honey my bees to

forage on?”

I learned this the hard way.

Referring to a list of beneficial

plants for bees, I stumbled upon the

quince. Off to the plant nursery I

went and obtained the pretty little

ornamental shrub.

It bloomed, but I never saw a

bee foraging on my quince.

Subsequently, I read that bees

will only forage on single quince flowers. Bummer!

I gained a better understanding of this concept while researching

my last two botanical trivia columns, Camellias and Cherries.

Single flowers. Flowers that occur in the wild are single

flowers. That means they have one row of petals. In the center of the

petal arrangement are the flower

reproductive parts.

Flowers have evolved to produce

nectar in order to attract pollinators,

however, this comes at a significant

energy cost to the plant.

Semi­double and double

flowers are mutations. The

flowers lack the signal to form

stamens and carpels, their

reproductive parts. Instead, the

flowers default to forming petals.

Double flowers lack the reproductive parts. They are sterile.

Therefore, they do not need to attract pollinators for fertilization.

There is no evolutionary pressure for them to spend energy producing

nectar, thus they may produce less nectar, or none at all. Also, access

to any nectaries can be blocked by the mutation. So many petals

simply get in the way. Double flowers cannot produce pollen because

they lack stamens.

Double flowers can be very showy, thus humans have cultivated

them as ornamentals. Although attractive in your garden, they are

not useful for providing bee forage.

My quince 4/12/13

Single flower quinceImage from flickr.com

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Contact UsInquiries about beekeeper

presentations, honey bee swarms,

and future events may be directed

to the website: http://meckbees.org

Submissions to the Honeycomb

newsletter may be directed to the

editor: meckbeebuzz@gmail.com

Single flower rose:Five petals. All stamens and carpelpresent.Image from flickr.com

Semi­double flowers fall somewhere in between. They have more than

the usual number of petals single flowers bear, but less than double

flowers. Notably, they usually have some non­mutated stamens clearly

visible in the center of the flower and are therefore fertile. They may offer

some bee forage.

Depending on the exact nature of the mutation, these different flower

structures can develop into one another e.g. sepals can develop as carpels

or leaves, petals as stamens, petals as sepals, stamens as carpals, stamens

as petals, or an entirely new flower in place of carpels.

Double rose:No stamens or carpals.

Semi­double rose:More than five petals in more than onerow of petals. Some stamens present.

This image illustrates the basic anatomy of aflower.Sepal: usually a green, leaflike structurePetal: typically showy and attractiveStamens: male reproductive organsCarpel: female reproductive organ

Single flower camellia. Camelliasnaturally have five to nine petals.Stamens and carpel present.

Semi­double Camellia. Many petals inmultiple rows. Fewer stamens in thecenter.

Single flower cherry. Five petals in onerow. Stamens and carpel present.

Semi­double cherry. Many petals inmultiple rows. Some stamens in thecenter.