Central Beekeepers Alliance

18 Comments Comments For This Post I'd Love to Hear Yours!

1. Rebecca says:

   22 April 2008 at 23:57

   Learned a few interesting things at the CBA meeting tonight. For example, did you know that Nosema ceranae (the new kind of Nosema) doesn’t cause “bee diarrhea” the way that Nosema apis (the usual kind) does? That was news to me!

   Paul Vautour came in and spoke about all the big changes on tap for the New Brunswick Beekeepers Association, and ran through the details of an ambitious and exciting Action Plan. His passion for beekeeping is nothing short of infectious, and it was good to hear what’s going on at the provincial level and behind the scenes! (More on that in weeks to come.)

   Paul also talked a bit about “succession planning” near the end of his talk: the way he sees it, the small beekeepers are a seed crop for the next generation of commercial beekeepers in the industry. That made good sense to a lot of us, because beekeeping is a complex and risky business: an entry level is needed to learn the ropes (or the bees).

   That’s why one part of the NBBA’s new strategy calls for a new emphasis on mentorship — experienced beekeepers teach new beekeepers, the way it would have been done traditionally and the way that learning about bees still seems to work best.

   In general, the whole evening had a really positive tone. There were so many people in attendance, we had to go hunting for extra chairs! I wish I’d taken a head count, but there had to be close to 50 in the room. About a half-dozen were new faces, too: people looking to find out more about beekeeping or just getting started.

   Not only that — it sounds like the bees did a lot better in the province this year than they did last year, if the talk at coffee break is anything to go by.
2. chris says:

   25 April 2008 at 21:23

   I have a Question not about bee keeping, but about honey. I notice this cheaper honey, i am eating now on toast is “clover honey” on the label. Somebody is telling me that their is a “honey suckle” honey as well. I never really looked to see what type of honey the good stuff is. the real expensive stuff with the comb in it.

   So what are the different kinds of honey? What are the really desirable honeys?
   I really love honey and looked search out the higher quality kinds.
3. Sterling says:

   29 April 2008 at 20:57

   Hi Chris
   When I was a little lad, my Grand-mother made clover honey. As I understand, she collected clover blossoms and boiled them until she had “clover honey”. Pertaining to bees, clover honey would be that which the bees get from clover fields. Each floral source gives a certain taste and aroma to the honey. I had honey one year from a plant called bird’s foot trefoil that had a wonderful caramel smell and taste.
   The ” good stuff ” would be the one that you prefer personally.
   Some people prefer one over the other. My choice is honey from sweet clover, white or yellow variety. The fall goldenrod has a much stronger aroma and flavor. My senior customers seem to want it more than the summer honey.
   I recommend that you sample a different honey each time you shop but you should find a beekeeper in your area to get the best tasting honeys as well as the health benefits from local unpasteurized product. Please read the labels on the supermarket brands as a lot of honey is imported from out of country.
   If you like honey on toast try it on an english muffin, sliced in half toasted lightly on the inside and lathered with honey.
   Good eating
   Sterling
   • Rebecca says:

     9 May 2008 at 15:31

     Sterling, I have the same experience with our senior customers: show them a selection of honey jars and they’ll hold each one up to the light, looking for the darkest one! My favourite honey is buckwheat honey, strong-flavoured and dark amber in colour. I know it’s much too strong for many people, and the pale mild honeys from clover or summer wildflower nectar are more popular.

     Chris — basically there are many kinds of honey. It depends on what flowers the bees were visiting at the time. Quality is found by buying local, as Sterling says. Buy straight from the beekeeper if you can, or at a farmer’s market. Supermarket brands labelled ‘Product of Canada’ are not neccessarily Canadian honey: only a percentage of the product price has to be related to Canadian sources in order for it to be labelled ‘Product of Canada’ — and often, the cost of the packaging covers the whole requirement for Canadian content. (I believe the situation is the same in the USA?) Imported honey has been known to be adulterated with non-honey sweeteners and sometimes much worse. Read the fine print — or better yet, buy local honey.

     Most of the honey we produce in New Brunswick is what you’d call ‘wildflower honey’ (or not labelled as any type at all) because we don’t as a general rule have the great huge fields of a singular crop that would support claims that a honey is predominantly made from this or that flower nectar. An example of the opposite situation would be ‘orange blossom honey’ where the bees are taken to pollination in the commercial orange groves, with not much in the way of any other kind of forage for acres and acres around.
4. David says:

   6 May 2008 at 19:58

   Looking to find someone in the Sussex, N.B. area that would be interested in placing a hive or two on approx. a 1 acre camp lot. Last year the apple trees on my lot, which was probably a farm 100 years ago, were completely covered with blossoms. As Fall came there were not 6 apples on any of the trees! I am not knowledgeable in the bee keeping business and can assume there may be many causes for there not being any fruit but I am thinking that there may not be much of a source of pollination?
   Not interested in taking up the hobby or business of bees and do not want to collect the honey. Just hoping someone would be kind enough to help a guy out.
   Let me know what you think of my situation and am I on the right track in thinking I can get more fruit on my trees.
   Thanks
   David
   • workerbeej says:

     9 May 2008 at 15:23

     Old apple trees do eventually stop producing, or revert to fruit on alternate years. But you say you got a lot of blossom and no apples, so a lack of pollinators is certainly a possibility. A late frost can also damage the blossom and prevent fruit set.

     Given the shortage of honeybees to meet the pollination needs of the commercial orchards, I’m afraid you might have a tough challenge in finding someone to bring in just a hive or two. And even if bees are available, pollination fees for just a couple of hives wouldn’t begin to cover the beekeeper’s cost of labour and transportation.

     You best bet would probably be to put the word out locally and look for a small beekeeper in town who needs a forage area in which to set up his bee yard. A bit of a long shot, I’m afraid…

     Another way to go is to see what you can do to encourage the native pollinators in the neighbourhood: avoiding chemical use, encouraging wild flower growth, that sort of thing.
5. Dan Cornford says:

   10 May 2008 at 20:19

   Greetings everyone,Ihave a quick question.I have about eighty plastic frames and foundation in dire need of cleaning.I’ve tried scraping,burning and high power spraying,none of which has worked.Any suggestions?
   • workerbeej says:

     10 May 2008 at 22:18

     What is on the frames that won’t come clean with a pressure washer, Dan?
   • Sterling says:

     11 May 2008 at 20:15

     Hi Dan — I had a mess of those frames one time. I found that a campfire did a thorough job on them. LOL
     Sterling
6. NewBee says:

   10 June 2008 at 22:35

   Has anyone tried the one piece plastic frames with 4.9 cell size? It’s not foundation, it is fully drawn out and ready to use. All the bees have to do is cap it. Take a look at this site for more information: http://www.honeysupercell.com/
7. Sterling says:

   13 June 2008 at 20:59

   Does anyone know what the going price would be for a swarm. I boxed one at a blueberry field for another beek and I am willing to pay him for them but how much ?
   Sterling
   • Rebecca says:

     15 June 2008 at 10:50

     Don’t think there can ever really be a particular “going price” for a swarm, because it would depend on the size of the swarm and of course how early in the season…

     But if I were you, I would be likely to start with the going price of a nuc and subtract some $ for no brood and an older queen.

     Or you could go the other way, look at the price of package bees and compare it to the number of bees in the swarm — and then knock off a bit from the price because the swarm queen is an unknown quantity, could be right at the end of her life.
8. sterling says:

   15 June 2008 at 16:33

   Thanks Rebecca, that was my thought also.
   • Rebecca says:

     17 June 2008 at 18:14

     Wow – 2 beekeepers actually agree on something?
     Guess it must be right!!
9. sterling says:

   18 June 2008 at 09:37

   Had something good finally happen to me as a beekeeper. ( rare I know ) A guy who has one hive called me and asked if I would please take a couple of splits off his hive as it was too strong. Of course I said yes. The hive had a deep and three 3/4 boxes on it and all of them FULL of brood and eggs. I offered him $ 50.00 for the queen but he knows what he’s got. I got two 4 frame nucs with queen cells and the price – some honey when I extract. Ya gotta love it.
   • workerbeej says:

     20 June 2008 at 15:54

     Two 4-frame splits in trade for some honey? You’re one lucky beekeeper! But maybe that’s just Fate making it up to you for all the monster-big mosquitoes I hear you’ve got down Chipman/Minto way this year, Sterling. :)
10. Kim says:

    12 September 2008 at 19:22

    Hi all,

    Hubby and I do maintenance for a landlord in the Fredericton area – we’re trying to dry out a stubborn basement that’s still damp from the flood. We went to knock out a blocked window to allow ventilation, and were chased out by bees!

    Is there someone in the area who would like to give us a hand?

    Thanks!

    Kim
    • workerbeej says:

      12 September 2008 at 21:59

      Kim, just two questions –

      (1) is there a way that a beekeeper could contact you, if they were available for removal?

      (2) are you absolutely sure that it’s honeybees that you’ve got there?

      If it is honeybees and not wasps or wild bees or such, there’s probably a beekeeper right in your neighbourhood: honeybees don’t fly more than a mile or so.

• Featured
• Popular
• Comments