The Buzz Newsletter

May 2006

 

 

Page 5

 

May Is A Wonderful Month

May is a wonderful month whether you are a beekeeper or not. If you keep bees you look forward to the gentle rains and the plants that start the summer of blooms for the bees to harvest nectar from so that you can make a wonderful honey crop. May is also the time of year that families usually have their first picnic of the year. May is the month for reflections of the past and time to look to the future. May has the first major holiday that people in the northern states can get out and celebrate and enjoy. That holiday is Memorial Day. This is a time to remember all of your friends that are no longer near and family members that you have dear memories about. I think of all the beekeepers I have known in the past thirty-five years that are no longer with us; and I realize how few of them are remembered for their devotion and dedication to the Honey Industry. I know that if I try to name everyone that I can a present remember, I am sure to leave a name or two off the list. I am going to list all that I can recall from memory and sometimes it does fail me, so if you recall anyone that should be remembered, please let me know and also send the name to the editor for future times.

Mr. Biddle
Mrs. Leona Eckerts
Mr.Harold Partello
Mr. Kyle McCracken
Mrs. Helen Partello
Mrs. Blanche McCracken
Mr. Francis Henkleman
Mr. Leo Stattelman
Mr. Erwin Glew
Mr. Joe Sueper
Mr. Frank Katzer
Mrs. Frank Katzer
Mr. Henry Hansen
Mr. Byron Crispin
Mr. Lloyd Stanley
Mrs Lloyd Stanley
Mrs Gladys Stanley
Mr. Bronnenberg ( Curt and Randy’s father)
Mr. Roger Snider

If you were ever at a meeting with any of these people, you may not have agreed with them or their ideas, but if they had not forged ahead and blazed the trail for those of us that follows the Iowa Honey Producers Association and the Central Iowa Beekeepers Associations would not be the leaders they are today. We owe these people and others like them a great deal of thanks. So on Memorial Day this year why don’t you give a flower to someone in their memory.

Thanks,
Gordon Powell

 

Copper Gluconate

After reading a French study touting the effectiveness of copper gluconate on Varroa mites, I asked Marion Ellis about it. Marion said that it would kill mites but had never proven effective in commercial applications. The kill rate wasn’t high enough. Here is the abstract of the French study, which was done in 1993.

ABSTRACT: For three years, about 1500 hives were surveyed for Varroa mites, following feeding tests using cupric gouconate and cupric lactate in sucrose syrup. Three to five litres per hive of 0 to 2.8g of copper metal per litre of sucrose syrup were given in spring and/or summer. Bee and mite mortalities were recorded for up to four years without significant toxicity being noted. .By contrast, up to 91% of the mites were killed in a dose dependant manner by gluconate. Lactate was remarkably less active than the gluconate. Copper gluconate in sugar syrup was as attractive, if not more so, than pure sucrose. The copper concentrations in honey at the time of harvest were unchanged. Efficacy of the treatments were not brood dependant. Cupric organic salts, therefore, provide a safe way for preventing the infestation of hives and the development of mite over long periods.

The study is a little ambiguous about the amount of copper gluconate needed. It indicates from 1.5.to 7.5 grams. I figured the cost using 6 grams. 55 lbs of copper gluconate delivered to Lynnville would cost $800. 55# is about 25 kg. There are 100 grams/Kg. That makes 2500 grams total. Dividing by 6g/colony shows us there are about 416 treatments. That’s roughly $2 per colony for a treatment. The salesman I talked to was pushing a treatment of 1.5 grams per colony, which would make it economically viable if it worked. It will be interesting to see the results of Dr Geels work. If anybody wants to see the study, they can contact me.

Submitted by Phil Ebert

 

COCONUT - HONEY FRUIT DIP

16 oz. cottage cheese
1/4 c. vanilla yogurt
1/4 c. honey
1/4 c. shredded coconut
1 tsp. grated orange rind

Any fruit cut up in bite-size pieces. Place cottage cheese in blender. Cover and whirl at low speed until smooth. Stop and scrape down sides. Transfer to medium size bowl. Stir in yogurt, honey, coconut and orange rind until well mixed. Cover; refrigerate until well chilled; at least 1 hour. Transfer dip to small serving bowl and put on large serving platter with assortment of fruit cut up into bite-size pieces around the dip.

Recipe from cooks.com