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Greetings from the President of the IHPA

Dear Honey Producers:

We just finished adding supers. The colonies are certainly busy out there. The soggy ground and flooding in our area hasn't affected the bees too much. We have hills so the water rises, runs down the hills, collects in the low spots, runs over the roads and then recedes. We are certainly thinking about all of the work people are doing as a result of the flooding in the state. The rain just doesn't want to slow down. The recent tornadoes and their victims are also on our minds. As many of you will recall, Mike and I were boy scout leaders for 18 years and we spent many a camp-out at Little Sioux Scout Ranch. We still know many leaders and boys in the program and were very anxious the night the tornado went through Little Sioux.

The Queen Rearing Field Day was a great success. Pat and Curt did an excellent job of hosting the eager beekeepers. There were around 70 beekeepers that attended and learned the fine art of queen rearing. The flood waters were a concern, but the Raccoon River water had gone down enough to let us go to Curt and Connie Bronnenberg's Spring Valley Honey Farm in Perry. Thank you Pat for all of your work for this workshop. It was excellent.

I am still asking for help at the Iowa State Fair. If you have not signed up to work at the Iowa State Fair in the Iowa Honey Producers booth in the Ag. Building, please contact me and we will get you signed up and the tickets for entry into the fairgrounds sent to you. As an extra incentive, remember you also receive honey lemonade during your shift.

The Iowa State Fair entry books are not being sent in the mail this year. Access to the rules and regulations is by way of the computer only. This move is saving millions of pieces of paper. Don't forget to send in your registration by the deadline to enter the Apiary division. We need lots of entries to fill our shelves and to show the public all about beekeeping in Iowa.

Last fall we received a phone call from a gentleman asking if we would get some bees out of an old school house that was situated on his property. I told him that it was the wrong time of year and because they weren't bothering anything where they were at, if they were still there in the spring to give us a call. We indeed received the call. We decided to go look at the bees following church. Sure enough, honey bees behind a sheet of particle board that was covering the windows of the school house. We went back home, tended to our honey bees by adding supers, collected all of the equipment and headed back to "vacuum" bees. We were a few miles from home and I asked about a ladder. We had forgotten ours! We arrived at the site, unloaded the equipment, found a gate that Mike could use as a ladder and proceeded to remove the particle board. Yep, lots of old comb, new comb, sealed honey, brood and quite a few bees flying. They were really calm. Mike started the vacuuming process. The shop vac that we were using started making a terrible sound. The bearing was going out of the motor. We decided to call a few people in the area so that we didn't have to go clear back home to get another shop vac. Finally we borrowed one from Mike's brother and started back to the task of obtaining the honey bees. Several hours later, we were headed back home with new honey bees. I was busy taking photos while Mike kept handing me pieces of the former home of the bees. I was able to take a cross section photo of the pollen stored up in the comb. I found some bees ready to emerge from the cells, some queen cells, sealed honey and lots of interestingly shaped honeycomb. It was an interesting day. Now let's see if the honey bees are able to produce some honey in their new location.

If you receive a phone call that there is going to be spraying in your area, ask the caller to tell you what kind of spray is going to be used and ask if they could please apply it either really early in the morning or later in the evening. If you can move your colonies, you could do that, but with honey supers on, it would be a task. If you want to shut up the honey bees, please remember that they could suffocate in a very short time or get overheated. It might be best to use screen wire to close the entrance. My experience is that most chemical applicator's will work with the beekeepers. If you do experience problems, remember to call the state apiarist, Andy Joseph. We now have someone to help us with these problems. There are new "No Spray" signs available to post that are visible from the ground or air also. They are really reasonably priced and are available to people that have registered as part of the sensitive crop registry with the Iowa Agriculture Department. Partial funding for these signs is provided by aerial applicators around the state.

I know that this article is later than I usually send it to Alex. The 6 farmers' markets a week, gardening, the Senior Center, husband, children and grandchildren and beekeeping are keeping me extremely busy right now. I just don't seem to get enough done each day. Please enjoy your copy of the BUZZ when you receive it and if you have any problems or questions, give one of the officers or board members a call.

I certainly hope that you will find time to help at the Iowa State Fair, prepare entries for the Apiary exhibits at the state fair and to enjoy the summer weather that we are going to have. Keep an eye on your colonies for swarming. Invite the Iowa Honey Queen to an event that you are attending. Enjoy your family and take time to watch the honey bees working busily as they gather the nectar and pollen to sustain them.

Sincerely,

Donna Brahms, IHPA President