Newsletter of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Incorporated
Newsletter Web address: www.bindaree.com.au/newsletter.htm
Meetings of the Beekeepers Association of the ACT Inc are held on the second
Wednesday of the month at 7.30 pm at the CIT, Heysen Street, Weston in Building A
September 2001
September Meeting
Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday 12th September at 7.30pm, at CIT Weston. The topic for discussion will be Floral Sources for Nectar and Pollen.
President’s Report
This month is the time to have all your equipment ready for the coming season. The weather of late has been favourable for pre-spring check-ups. Hope your hives have made it through the winter in good order.
Reports from members are that their bees still have plenty of honey and the queen is laying steadily so make sure hive space is plentiful as this will help to reduce swarming in the coming months.
If members would like to collect swarms they can call Environment ACT on 6207 9777 to enrol on their swarm list.
Our next social activity is the Mid Winter Madness at Blue Range Hut on 9th September. Welcome to new member Jim Meszes.
That’s all, so see everyone for lunch on the 9th September at Blue Range.
David Lillis
Swarm Lists
Swarm removal lists are held by Dick at Bindaree and also by Environment ACT on 6207 9777. Please consider putting your name on one or both of these lists for the coming swarm season. Members of the public who suddenly find themselves host to a swarm of bees are often very fearful for their own or their family’s safety. They can be reassured by phone with regard to immediate danger and are relieved that help to remove the bees is on the way.
New Members
Welcome to Jim Meszes of O’Malley who joined the association at the last meeting. Jim has a couple of hives in his back garden.
RIRDC Honeybee Program Research Reports 2001
The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) Research Reports compact disk (CD) is a compilation of status reports on ongoing Australian honeybee research projects and a collection of completed project reports. The CD contains a wealth of information directly relevant to all Australian beekeepers, commercial and amateur alike.
The RIRDC is a statutory Corporation set up by the Commonwealth Government to work closely with Australian rural industries on the organisation and funding of their R&D needs.
The RIRDC Honey Program’s objective is "To improve the productivity and profitability of the Australian beekeeping industry". Its Key Strategies are to:
Of course, a CD can hold the contents of a whole bookcase of publications and this CD is no exception. It:
Indicative of the range of information presented in this CD, the following is a list of included reports on research, both completed and in progress, in the Honeybee R & D Program for the year 2000:
The full final reports on completed projects included on the CD are:
The CD also gives details of available honeybee publications and videos.
Information can be very easily accessed. The whole CD can be searched in the blink of an eye, using the inbuilt word/phrase search facility. Completed reports include all information in the printed publications, including all photos, appendices, … everything. Any of the reports, or any part of a report, can be sent to your printer.
I have merely skimmed the surface of the extensive information included on this CD but I have found it immediately fascinating and useful in a practical way. I am already planning changes to my way of beekeeping.
Available for $20 at the RIRDC enquiry desk inside the main entrance of AMA House, 42 Macquarie St, Barton ACT. Or visit the RIRDC Website at http://www.rirdc.gov.au/
Very highly recommended.
Paul Hooper
Mid Winter or Spring Madness Picnic.
The Spring Madness Picnic will be held at Blue Range Hut on Sunday 9th September beginning about 11.00am. Bring along your family and meat to barbecue or other picnic food and drink, and enjoy an afternoon of food and fellowship.
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For Blue Range Hut, take the Cotter Road and turn off to Uriarra Homestead. At the T-junction at Uriarra Homestead turn left towards Mt Franklin. The turn off to Blue Range is about 5 kilometres from the T-junction on the right hand side. If you are coming from the north siode come through Uriarra crossing past Uriarra homestead. |
Wagga Field Day Excursion
The Wagga Field Day will be held on Saturday, 27th October. Expressions of interest are sought from anyone interested in going to Wagga by bus. If we have enough members interested the Association will consider whole or part subsidy of the hiring of a bus. Field day topics include Backyard Beekeeping, Queen Breeding, Quality Assurance, Wax Processing, Exotic Diseases, Shaking for Varroa Detection and Making Mead. Equipment and queen bees will be for sale. Please contact David Lillis on 041 342 6290 as soon as possible so numbers can be determined.
Removing Wax
In a recent email to the "BEE-L" discussion group, Ellen Anglin of Michigan, USA, replied to a request for advice on the removal of wax with the following suggestions:
"Here are a couple that have worked for me after candlemaking accidents.
Hot air stripping gun - Scrape off surface wax with a plastic or metal spatula (Depending on the surface.) then warm the wax with hot air from the heat gun. Wipe up with paper towel as soon as it starts to get shiny/melt. Use the lowest heat that will work to prevent damage to the surface being cleaned. This works well on enameled appliances and on linoleum.
Hot Vegetable oil. Hot vegetable oil will melt and mix with the wax, diluting it and softening it, so that degreasing detergents or other cleaners can lift the stuff out. Should be hot enough to melt the wax, but not hot enough to "Fry" whatever the wax is stuck to. This is a great way to get stubborn build up off of expensive tin candle molds. Pouring hot oil thru them gets them clean and a final cleaning with dish detergent leaves them like new. Also great for cleaning up pots and pans used for melting wax - pour in a little vegetable oil, heat. swirl around, and wipe out with paper towel. Repeat, and the pan is usually as good as new.
(Propolis comes off with a little alcohol, but yellow stains from the propolis NEVER seem to come out of white enamel. If someone has found a way, please tell me!)
Electric Iron and Paper towel or Newspaper. Heat up an old electric iron (Don't use the same one you use for clothing unless you are prepared to do a lot of cleaning of the iron - try a garage sale or thrift shop iron that you use only for this.) Place a few layers of paper towel on top of the wax, and apply the warm iron to the waxy area. As the paper towels become saturated with wax, remove them and apply clean towels to absorb more wax without spreading it. If you are dewaxing fabric, put paper towel under the fabric too, to absorb from below. Newspaper works too, if the stained surface is dark colored, but watch out- the newsprint may transfer.
Dry Cleaning. Dry cleaning takes wax out of clothing. However, make your dry cleaner aware of the wax, so they can handle it properly. They will probably want to run the item in the last load of the day, just before the dry cleaning fluid is exhausted and changed out for fresh.
There are solvents that will dissolve or break up wax to some degree, but getting out most of the wax by scraping or melting helps these substances to work. Try Simple green or other concentrated degreasers or Orange based cleansers straight and undiluted. Beware of using solvents that are flammable - it takes time for most solvents to work on beeswax, and you may end up with an explosive/ toxic cloud of vapour before you realize what is happening! BE CAREFUL! I'd try every other possible option before even thinking about trying solvents- they are just too dangerous."
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Two other respondents suggested:
"WD-40 (silicon spray) will dissolve beeswax."
"Steam and a high alkaline degreaser."
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The BEE-L Discussion List is an Internet newsgroup for the "Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology" and is a valuable source of current views and information from beekeepers and researchers throughout the world.
Empty Super Story
Long Distance Helpline
The day after our August meeting at which we were discussing swarm collection I received a phone call from a lady asking if I could remove bees from a hollow in their oak tree as they were having some lopping done and the workmen were feeling a little apprehensive.
She said she got my number from NSW Agriculture. As the request was urgent and I was in Murrumbateman I decided to give her another association member’s number. To make things easier I asked what suburb she was in.
"Chatswood" she replied.
"Ah, don’t you mean Charnwood."
"No, Chatswood, on the North Shore."
It dawned on me, NSW Ag, Sydney.
I couldn’t help chuckling as I told her I was in Canberra and to contact the North Shore Beekeepers Association or her local council for help.
David Lillis
This is our first Empty Super story for next year’s award. The Empty Super Award is presented every year at our dinner meeting in July for the best beekeeping story of the year. Cec Mercer was the winner this year.
The Joys of Swarm Collecting.
"Don’t lean out so far."
Pat was standing on a two metre retaining wall and reaching out over the lawn area to cut a branch and carefully lower a large swarm. I was standing on the stepladder and holding a cardboard box under the swarm. Just a little too much weight on the branch and disaster. Pat leapt one way and landed safely on the soft grass while I coped with a shower of rather stroppy bees.
Such are the joys of swarm collecting. Every situation is different. If you are lucky the bees will have settled on a low shrub or tree within reach of the ground but often they are not so obliging. In years of collecting swarms and feral hives we have removed them from some strange and wonderful places. We’ve found swarms on shrubs and trees, trellises and pergolas, the ground, window ledges, garden furniture, a child’s swing, fences, a letterbox (bet the postie was impressed), a dishwasher left on the back verandah while renovations were being done, a living room (they’d fallen down the chimney and were trying to escape through the plate glass windows), and a lawn mower.
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Feral beehive in BBQ lid |
Bees removed to box |
Feral hives have come from numerous bird and possum boxes, compost bins, hollow trees, hanging in overgrown trees and shrubs and vines, a box around the water heater, a dog loo (unused other than by bees), a desk stored in a carport, an esky on the front deck, a dog kennel, a guinea pig hutch, a Japanese urn barbecue, under the floor of a stilt house and a sofa on the verandah.
We’ve met some very interesting people and some we hope never to meet again. Our public relations skills have developed and we’ve enjoyed many cups of tea and chats while waiting for the bees to settle and to be sure the swarm was staying in the box. We’ve experimented with various techniques and equipment and discovered some tricks that can make the job a little easier. We’ve been mistaken for the Teletubbies by a very excited toddler.
We prefer to box the swarm and leave the box until nightfall to collect all the returning bees and most people seem to prefer that. However if the box cannot be left well away from footpaths and fairly well hidden from the street we don’t leave them but collect as many bees as possible and explain that the remainder will die off over a period of time or rejoin their original hive. We never leave an unattended box in a public area; it’s just too risky.
When you receive a call to collect a swarm it helps if you know the circumstances. Ask where the swarm is located, how high above the ground and whether a ladder is required. Bear in mind that many people are very poor judges of heights and sizes of swarms. We find it handy to have a few cardboard boxes of various sizes folded flat in the car boot just in case. Twice while on location a second swarm has been found on the same property and the extra boxes have come in handy. Large ferals can be taken away in two boxes, one removed immediately and the other left to collect the stragglers and picked up after dark. They can be amalgamated the next day at home.
Our swarm collecting kit contains hive tools, gloves, secateurs, ropes, sugar crystals and jar to make up syrup, tape to seal boxes, scissors, spare veils, fly spray for stragglers and an ice cream carton, very handy for collecting stragglers from awkward corners where a larger box won’t fit. If the swarm is high in a tree a collecting net or box on a long handle is very useful. We only take our own ladder if the people don’t have one.
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Some swarms are more accessible than others. |
Yes, this owner was a qualified carpenter. |
If you haven’t tried collecting previously I urge you to give it a go. It’s a great opportunity to do some PR work for beekeeping and bees by explaining that they are not normally savage and are especially placid when swarming. We find that many people are very interested and quite a few will don a spare veil and come and have a look once the initial fuss has settled after shaking down the bees. We carry a couple of spare veils and washing up gloves for such times. If you don’t need extra swarms but have some time to collect there may be other beekeepers in the association who want swarms but don’t have time to collect themselves.
Lyn Shiels
Honey Buns Recipe
Ingredients: 90g butter
90g honey
1 egg
60g chopped dates
230g self raising flour
a little milk
Method: Cream the butter and honey together thoroughly. Add the egg gradually beating in well. Add the dates and stir in the flour and enough milk to give a dropping consistency. Half fill well greased patty tins with the mixture and bake at 190ºC for 15 - 20 minutes
Bindaree Beenotes September 2001
Queen Bees – Now is the time to order Queen Bees. Bindaree will have queens bred for gentle temperament and high productivity available from October.
Bindaree website – In addition to pricelists, newsletters and helpful hints, the website offers a swarmlist and free classified ads for beekeepers under the Forums heading. Why are they free? Because interesting and varied ads will attract visitors to the website, visitors that may just check the products and make a purchase.
So why not take advantage of the classified ads to get rid of that old gear. Give Bindaree a ring if you have any difficulty in placing the ad.
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Richard Johnston Phone: 02 6281 2111 Email: bindaree.bee@bigpond.com Website: www.bindaree.com.au Shop open: Wed, Thur, Fri 4 pm to 6 pm, Sat 9.30 am to 4pm Closed: Sun, Mon, Tue. |
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