• Short Course on Beekeeping - February 27 and March 6, 2010 Class full - registration closed! Saturday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Garibaldi Hall, Essex County Environmental Center, 621B Eagle Rock Avenue, Roseland, NJ 07068. Basic Beekeeping short course. Field Day April 18 (rain date April 24). Fee $90 per person, which includes a one-year NJBA membership, continental breakfast and afternoon snack on classroom days. This course will take you through a full year of beekeeping, and teach you everything you need to get started, from equipment, through management, biology, pest control, and harvest. Focus is on IPM management. For complete details, click here. For more information, contact Maria Glasser, 3plus2@verizon.net, 973 762-3630.



• 2010 Bee-ginners Beekeeping Course - Offered by the Jersey Cape Beekeepers Association and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County in Cape May Court House, NJ, will be held on five Friday evenings in two-hour sessions from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. starting March 26th and running through April 30th (no class April 2nd). The final session will be held on the Saturday in April when the bees arrive. This is a unique course offering because there are a variety of "packages" you can tailor to your requirements. The base package covers the course topics of bee biology, management, hive equipment construction, handling bees, pests of bees, installation of bees and honey processing. Graduated packages can include a five-frame nuc, with or without a one-deep, two-deep or one-deep plus one-medium hive. Deposits are required by March 18, 2010. Click here for details and a registration form. Contact course coordinator Bill Eisele at 609 628-3220 if you have any questions.
  


• April 17, 24 and May 1, 1, 15, 2010: Saturdays, 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Spring Hive Management offered by Somerville Recreation, 54 5th St Somerville, NJ. Fee $50 per person. This course will take review equipment, hive location, breed selection, biology, pest and disease control. The participants will learn through hands on hive managment and working with hives on premise. Protective veils are provided by request. Full jackets and gloves may be purchased or rented. Wear light colors and weather appropriate clothing. Seminar participants will be able to purchase bees and equipment (quantity limited, pre-order suggested). For more information and to register, contact Somerville Recreation 908-704-6985.



• April 23-24, 2010, Organic Beekeeping: Principles and Practices - The Pfeiffer Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY, with Ross Conrad and Chris Harp. For beginners and experienced beekeepers. Friday 4 pm - Saturday 6 pm, $185 ($225 with optional beginners session at 2 pm Friday). 845 352-5020 ext. 20. For details, click here.



• Bee-ginner's Beekeeping at Rutgers - The session of this course offered on May 6-8, 2010 is full. New sessions are offered on June 3, 4 and 5 and again on October 14, 15 and 15 . Hands-on course for new beekeepers to start and care for a honeybee colony. 9:00AM to 4:00 PM on Thursday and Friday; 9:00 AM to 12:00 noon on Saturday in Bordentown. NJ. This is a great course that covers basic bee biology, hive management, queen bee purchasing, honey extraction, candle-making and more. Hands-on sessions include assembling hives, opening and examining colonies, as well as honey tasting. Taught by Bob Hughes and Tim Schuler. The cost of the course is $150. NJBA members receive a 10% discount on the fee (as do master gardeners), which includes breakfast and lunch on Thursday and Friday. Online registration is availalbe; see website. For mail or fax registration and to receive the NJBA-member discount, call 732 932-9271.



• Beyond the Basics: Practical Hive Management Tools for Beekeepers - June 18-19, 2010 at the Snyder Research Farm in Pittstown, NJ (Hunterdon County). This two-day, hands-on course is tailored to beekeepers who have kept a hive of bees for a full year and will include IPM (Integrated Pest Management), how to move hives, how to feed, how to harvest honey and small-scale queen and nuc production. It will not cover beekeeping fundamentals. Taught by Bob Hughes and Tim Schuler, class size is limited to 40. The course if $185 prior to June 4, 2010 or $195 after that date. Course fee includes breakfast. Box lunches are available for $10 per day. Click here for details and and online registration.



• June 19 , 2010 - Summer Organic Beekeeping - The Pfeiffer Center, Chestnut Ridge, NY, with Ross Conrad. Focuses on seasonal tasks including working with swarms and preparing for the honey harvest, 9 am to 6 pm, $185 ($225 with optional beginners session at 2 pm Friday). 845 352-5020 ext. 20. For details, click here.
  
  

• Delaware Valley College Summer Beekeeping Course - will present the annual summer Beekeeping short-course July 16, 17 and 18 (9:00 am to 4:00 pm, daily). Suitable for beginners or as a refresher for more experienced beekeepers, this course will cover honey bee biology, communication, equipment, obtaining bees and hives, how honey is made, important nectar plants, harvesting and processing honey, summer splits, seasonal management and overwintering nucs. Taught by Dr. Vincent Aloyo (40 years beekeeping experience) and Assistant Professor of Biology Dr. Christopher Tipping. Cost is $160. To register or obtain more information, call the Department of Continuing Education at 215-489-4848 or email ContEd@delval.edu. Website.

• Eastern Apiculture Society (EAS) Annual Conference - Every summer EAS conducts its Annual Conference consisting of lectures, workshops, vendor displays, short courses for beginning and advanced beekeepers, and annual business meeting in one of its 26 member states or provinces in the Eastern United States and Canada. Over 400 people generally attend the conference each year. EAS 2010 will be held August 2-6, 2010 in Boone, NC.

• Apimondia 2011 a biennial, international beekeeping congress to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina in September.
  

Video Library for NJBA Members

• The NJBA maintains a library of video tapes and CD's for members to borrow. Managed by member Pat Ricci, you can arrange with him to pick tapes up at any CJBA or State meeting if you contact him in advance. They can also be mailed to you for the cost of postage. For details and a list of available tapes, click here.

Marketing Materials

• Bees on the Move - Swarming is how honey bees reproduce. During swarming, honey bees are at their gentlest, but the buzzing and sheer numbers can be intimidating to the general public. There were many more swarms than usual in the spring of 2008 due mainly to cool, rainy weather conditions. New beekeepers Pier Guidi and Liz Nelson were inspired at a state NJBA meeting by long-term member Tom Fuscaldo who for years has handed out a typed page on swarms to the public whenever he has retrieved a swarm. Please feel free to print out this brochure and hand it out whenever you're collecting a swarm, giving a talk on bees or manning the booth at a fair. Electronically, you can provide people with a link. Kudos to new members Pier and Liz for rolling up their sleeves and acting on their idea to update Tom's hard copy and get it on the web and accessible! Click here for a two-sided version.

• NJBA Trifold Brochure - This brochure can be downloaded and printed to be used as a promotional piece at fairs or to give to prospective members. If you would like to change it to have it customized with your branch contact, please send the changes to Curtis Crowell, and the modified brochure will be posted here.


• NJBA Decal - Seventeen months in the making, the educational NJBA decal is available! The New Jersey state insect since 1974, urbanization in the state is limiting opportunities for beekeepers. With several New Jersey towns passing ordinances against keeping bees, the decal was created to educate the public about the benefits of the honeybee and what a honeybee actually looks like so they do not get mistaken for the less beneficial stinging yellow jackets, wasps and hornets. NJBA members should be displaying their decals in the windows of their vehicles and homes and distributing them at roadside stands, farm markets, annual agricultural convention and county fairs. If you have not received your decals, contact your branch secretary.

Topics of Interest

• Swarms? Honey bees reproduce by "casting swarms" in the spring. Hives that are healthy and strong will produce new queens in the early spring. When the new queen emerges, the old queen leaves with about half of the hive population. The swarm will usually settle in a bush or tree and form a large solid cluster while scout bees search for a new home. At this time, with full honey stomachs and no brood or hive to defend, these swarming bees are not typically agressive. In a few hours or a day or two they will fly off to a new home. Click here for pictures of honey bee swarms. Have a swarm within reach on your property? Send the location of the swarm, address, how long it has been there and contact information to swarms@njbeekeepers.org, or click here for a list of beekeepers in the New Jersey that you can contact directly for swarm removal.

  A swarm in May - is worth a load of hay.

  A swarm in June - is worth a silver spoon.

  A swarm in July - isn't worth a fly.