Orange County Beekeepers Association

Queen laying an egg, surrounded by her retinue of ‘court bees.’
(Photo by Joseph Milone)

James Withrow, a doctoral candidate in David Tarpy’s lab at NCSU will be OCBA’s featured speaker in September. His research into queen selection during emergency queen rearing was recently published in PLOS One, an open access, online, peer-reviewed journal. OCBA is fortunate to have access to cutting edge researchers willing to share their findings with local beekeepers.

In his presentation, “Sharing the throne. Establishing honey bee colonies with multiple queens,” James will discuss his current research focused on queen behavior and setting up colonies with multiple queens

Mark Powers will present “Bee Sting Allergy, What You Need to Know.” Learn how to evaluate the sever­ity of your bee sting symptoms and what to do if your venom response is excessive. Mark will also discuss heat exhaustion and its danger for summer beekeeping.

Designs for the new OCBA tee shirts will also be revealed. Come to the meeting and learn how to stay safe and look stylish while beekeeping.

Varroa mite (phoretic stage)

Randall Austin, will present “Some Honey Bee Pests and Treatments.” This is a timely discussion of varroa mite and small hive beetle management. We are entering critical months for these problems. All beekeepers need to be vigilant with testing and effective treatment to assure the health and viability of their colonies throughout the summer and as the colonies move into the fall build-up stage. Strong, healthy colonies full of bees are essential to successfully overwintering your hives.

Next Saturday, June 16th, at 1:00 o’clock, Randall will demonstrate the practical hands-on skills of varroa monitoring and treatment at his apiary. Plan to attend the Varroa Assessment Field Day. Contact Randall via email to get directions to his apiary. All OCBA members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

A representative of Bee Downtown will share information about their mission – building healthy, sustainable, honey bee communities in urban environments. Bee Downtown has a strong history of promoting beekeeping in urban business districts. They will discuss the challenges associated with beekeeping in cities and their success in doing so.

The Urban Beekeeper

Come and learn to dance with your bees!

This month’s educational topic is “Honey Bee Communication.” It will be presented by Chris Apple, past OCBA President and current OCBA Community Outreach Director. Chris will discuss the key honey bee pheromones that facilitate intra-hive communication. These pheromones allow the colony to function as a superorganism. She will also explain the navigational mysteries of the Nobel Prize winning waggle dance. These are important topics for all beekeepers who want to know what’s going on in the hive.