The Buzz Newsletter

January 2006

 

 

Page 6

2005 Crop Report

At the annual meeting, several local beekeepers in each district or local association club members were asked for a reporting of the past year. Here is a summary of the reports.

The East Central Iowa Beekeepers has an average attendance at their meetings of 50. There was an early spring frost that affected several locations, but the average was around 100 pounds per colony in the Cedar Rapids area. It was very spotty for the rest of the area.

The Southeast Iowa Beekeepers stated that it was one of the better years even though it was dry. It was dry, but good with an average of 80 pounds of honey. There are 33 paid members of the SE Iowa Beekeepers.

The Northeast Iowa Beekeepers report was that the club started one year ago in September. They have had four meetings so far and have sent out 62 card for their membership. They recently had a field day with 28 attending in the rainy, cold weather. They averaged around 80-100 pounds.

The Des Moines Backyard Beekeepers are not meeting very regularly.

The Central Iowa Beekeepers reported that with having late queens and a frosty spring , splits didn’t do well in some locations. There are approximately 65 in the group with an average attendance of 35 at their meetings. The average was probably 80-100 pounds with no fall crop.

The Northwest Iowa Beekeepers Association is a new group. Most of the beekeepers started with new equipment and packages this year or last year. The average was around 60-80 pounds and there are 20 members in the club.

The Southwest Iowa Honey Producers had a spotty year also. There is a large territory covered in this club, so varying amounts were reported from 60-100 pounds.

In North Central Iowa some people had a lousy year while others reported a great year. Some had over-wintering problems while others had an excellent over winter report.

I either missed the Back to Basics Beekeeping Club or there was no report. I am sorry if I missed you.

The story seems to be the same, repeating year after year. Some honey producers fared well, some not so well. We had stories of tremendous crops and of some that were lousy. Some had excellent over wintering colonies while others had a terrible over wintering rate. Some locations were dry, some had adequate moisture. Location, location, location is the key along with good management and favorable weather. We don’t always get all the ingredients to make a successful year. Let’s work on that for the new year.

Submitted by Donna Brahms

THE BEEYARD REPORT

“Maybe it will get better”. Those can be dangerous words. I was having a little trouble with stiffness in my neck. It was a bit of an irritation but I thought no big problem. Besides, I had a lot of work to do. I woke up the day after Thanksgiving with so much pain I could hardly stand it. After about 20 phone calls, I finally found a chiropractor that had office hours that day. After I got to his office and he looked me over, I heard the comforting words “It’s going to hurt a lot worse when I am done with you”. He didn’t lie. After some very painful treatments, I am finally getting back to normal. In an interesting development, I found out the father of the chiropractor has a farm with some good bee ground. We may have a yard there next year.

I still had around 300 colonies to get the wraps on when I went down to injury. I had been waiting for the bees to take the last bucket of syrup down before I finished the wraps. With the high cost of fuel, I wanted to get it all done in one trip. I had to enlist Alex and Adam for assistance. They spent a weekend working in the snow. Alex and I finished up later in the week. Now, there is nothing to do but wait for spring and see what we have left alive. As I said last month, I am concerned about the early cut off in brood rearing. We just don’t have the young bees we have had the last two years. I could easily suffer a 30 to 40% winter loss.

It’s always relaxing to finally get into the winter flow of things. I got the excess equipment moved out of the garage but the forklift I borrowed from Taylor’s is still sitting in there. The place is a little jammed up but with a little organization, I can work in there. The heating system is pretty lame but if it gets too cold, I just go to the house for a while.

There are plenty of things to keep me busy. I have a load of honey I need to sell to somebody. There is plenty of equipment in need of repair. I also need a little recreation. I’ve been taking in a few basketball games and I’ll be going to the AHP meeting in Houston.

Happy Holidays to all!!!

Submitted by Phil Ebert