Today's Buzz

A reminder of today's KBEE meeting at KCC. The meeting will start at 4pm and be finished around 5:30pm. We'll be in the Electronic & Technology Building . Look for the KBee banner at the north end of the campus' Performing Arts Center main parking lot and you can't miss us. We'll bee discussing at length the work involved with removing unwanted bees from buildings and relocating them to where they will be wanted ( and easier to manage).

Kapahi beekeeper Roy Kawamoto has been invited to share his expertise in this area. We'll also talk a little about a project by the Marin County Beekeepers and the Penn State CCD research team to study the effect of pesticides on local pollinators. We'll see if there's interest to do something similar here.

We'll wrap up the meeting with an update on upcoming beekeeping courses from KCC. Most likely these will begin in August and run through the fall. State apiarist Danielle Downey will provide much of the instruction along with local beekeepers.

Hopefully we'll bee seeing you today or at an upcoming event to share more info about keeping Kaua'i bees clean, healthy and free of the maladies that are so common elsewhere.

Untill then, bee well, bee happy and if you can't bee with the one you love, love the one you're with. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there : )

Staying Bizzy!

The Kauai Beekeeper's Association (KBee)

invites the public to attend

an informational meeting on

 Saturday June 18, 2011

4:00-5:30pm

KCC-Technology Building

Open Invitation to all beekeepers, farmers and anyone

concerned about honeybees on Kaua'i.

 Learn about Small Hive Beetle & Varroa Mite Prevention

Strategies for Kauai

and how to become involved with KBEE's effort

 to keep Kaua'i bees stay clean & varroa mite free.

For more information please visit us on the internet at:

 http://kauaibuzz.blogspot.com/

or contact

Jimmy Trujillo 346 7725 or Erik Coopersmith 335 0710

We will bee briefly discussing :

*County Sunshine Market Draft Legislation

*Interest in KCFB Fair-Booth & Honey Tasting

*KCC Apiary Program Update

* COK OED Grant

We will also bee discussing in great detail, 'How to Remove and Relocate Honeybee Colonies' featuring KBee member Roy Kawamoto.  Roy and his wife Diane recently moved back to Kaua'i and have been building up their apiary by capturing swarms and removing unwanted honeybee colonies and relocating them to their yard. This is a task that requires some skills and tools and Roy will share tips and techniques that can help make your first colony extraction a success. 

Swarming season

It's been a while since our last post. The calendar says spring is on the run and summer is right behind but it sometimes feel like winter won't let go. Talking to some folks, this past winter has been a hard one for our foraging friends. Honey stores are down and the harsh weather's toll has been significant for some. For others, they fared well with little to no losses from the rain, wind and dearth of blossoms and nectar.

It's getting on swarming season and folks are calling about unwanted bees in their back yards. So far I've removed one from a house in town and caught one in trap, while another got away because I didn' t secure it well, and have two houses that will be free of bees soon. It's getting busy for sure! Check out You Tube for some video action on different ways folks collect collect swarms.
collect swarms

 Meanwhile, later today,  I'm doing a presentation on pollinators and pesticides at 2pm in the Kapaa Library. The Wailua Kapaa Neighborhood Association invited Wainiha organic gardener Caren Diamond and myself to discuss the impacts of pesticides on our pollinating friends and our environment. Should be good and I thank the WKNA for helping KBee get the word out about the harmful effects of pesticides on Kauai bees.

Busy as a Bee

There's so much going on these day; it almost hard to stop and smell the flowers and admire the scenery. With the KCFB's Garden Fair coming up this weekend and the KCC EarthDay Celebration next Wednesday there's hardly any time for blogging but I did want to share a couple of links and a little good news for a change.

First there's a national survey about winter hive loss and another regarding hive management. This is all part of the on going work to help beekeepers record, document and analyze their labors. The surveys are being coordinated by Bee Informed, part of a national agricultural extension project.

And finally some good news about bees coming back in California. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue and will help farmers and beekeepers stay busy like their nectar loving winged friends. Hope to see you at KCC one of these days if you're not too busy.

Back for More

KBee will bee very busy this month with the KCFB Garden Fair at KCC on Saturday April 16 2011 followed by KCC Earthday 2011.


Here's the copy from a KBee press release:

The Kaua’i Beekeepers Association (KBee), will be hosting a public meeting on Friday April 15 at KCC in the Electronic and Technology Building’s Multi- Purpose Rm114. The featured speaker will be Danielle Downey, the state's newly hired apiary specialist. The meeting will start at 6pm with Danielle’s presentation followed by a question and answer discussion to wrap up the evening’s event.    
          
Ms. Downey will be focusing her discussion on common honeybee diseases and how to identify, treat and prevent them from becoming problematic for beekeepers.  A brief update on the state's plan for assisting local beekeepers and helping Kaua'i keep the small hive beetle and varroa mite off the Garden Island will be inlcuded in the discussion. 

Danielle will also be making a presentation along with Jimmy Trujillo from the Kauai Beekeepers Association at the Kauai County Farm Bureau’s Garden Fair on the following day April 16. Their mid-day presentation, titled “The Buzz about Beekeeping: Beekeeping Basics and How to Get Started” will be a lecture and demonstration on the methods, techniques and equipment necessary to start keeping bees for honey production or increased pollination for your farm or garden.  KBee will also have a booth at the Garden Fair to share additional information on how to get involved and learn more about beekeeping on Kauai.

Both events are free and open to the public. For more information contact KBee Chair Jimmy Trujillo at 346 7725 or jtrujill@hawaii.edu

Here's a link to a few stories forwarded to me; one about beekeepers in Africa  
and this one about 10 lessons we can learn from bees

Enjoy the reading and hope to see you at KCC in April. Bee kind and Bee well : )

KBee Public Meeting

FOR Immediate Release:

March 13, 2011

The Kaua’i Beekeepers Association will be hosting a public meeting this Tuesday, March 15 at KCC in the Electronic and Technology Building. Darci Oishi from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture will introduce Danielle Downey, the state's newly hired apiary specialist. The meeting will start at 6pm and we will learn from Darci and Danielle what is the state's plan for assisting local beekeepers and helping Kaua'i keep the small hive beetle and varroa mite off the Garden Island.

Kauai Beekeepers Association

Open Meeting

Public Invited

 Tuesday, March 15 at 6 pm

Rm 114 Multipurpose Room 

Electronic and Technology Building 

Kauai Community College

Queen Rearing

If you are a beginner like me  queen rearing  sounds like an impossible task to pull off. It 's even more difficult to do without the right equipment or without the correct technique. You also have to choose your preferred method. Here's a video from the mainland and another that show a low tech method; there is a ton of information online about the subject. This site explains a preferred low tech method as well.

For someone who keeps bees, there are a number of good reasons why this skill and knowledge is important. This may be the best place to get started online. Dr Hubertus Kohn handed it out as part of his workshop on queen rearing.  This different link provides the basic information on the method that Dr Kohn is demonstrating to some local beekeepers. It's been rather hectic lately with all the prep work for the workshop as we have had to battle the elements and arrange and rearrange schedules to coax the bees into being cooperative with us.

So far we have had limited success. The rain and wind along with a dearth of flowering flora has convinced Dr Kohn that we may be a little early with this workshop. The process is rather straight forward but having the right conditions are essential for success. Learning from someone more knowledgeable than you are will also increase your chance for success.  I'll post more about our workshop with Dr Kohn. We still have some work to do before we're pau but it's been very educational and gives me more insight at to what we need on Kaua'i to help beekeepers maintain strong hives and healthy bees.

On that note, KBee will be hosting another public meeting this Tuesday, March 16 at KCC in the Electronic and Technology Building. Darci Oishi from the Hawaii Department of Agriculture will introduce Danielle Downey, the state's newly hired apiary specialist. The meeting will start at 6pm and we will learn for Darci and Danielle what is the state's plan for assisting local beekeepers and helping Kaua'i keep the small hive beetle and varroa mite off the Garden Island.

Kauai Beekeepers Association

Public Invited Open Meeting

 Tuesday, March 16 at 6 pm

Electronic and Technology Building 

Rm 114 Multipurpose Room 

Kauai Community College