Thunder Bay Beekeepers' Association

Thunder Bay Beekeepers' Association Newsletter – July 2010

TBBA Public Presentation 7:00 - Tues., July 13th: Waverley Public Library Auditorium
(downstairs, past the Children's Section)
Honey and the Honey Bee, General Public Presentation
TBBA member Simon Hoad
(One of Health Unit's "Eat Local" series, there will be samples. More info. Catherine 625-5956)

Sunday, July 11 @ 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm
Rudy and Lois Kuchta, 2360 Oliver Road 684-9028
From Mapleward Rd approx 1 km going towards town, north side of the road.

Disclaimer: This is a working bee yard. There are always a fair amount of bees in the air going about their business. Bees sting. If you have concerns about being stung please discuss this with experienced TBBA members when you arrive. Light coloured clothing is always good. A black, fuzzy wool sweater sends the wrong message to a bee. If you believe you might be sensitive to bee stings, consult your doctor and consider purchasing an EPI-Pen.

Workshop: Hygienic Behaviour & Demonstration of How to Test
Brood Nest Basics
Making a Nuc & MORE
Free hardware cloth for varroa testing

Meetings are on the first Tuesday of every other month.: No meeting in January & February.
July meeting is dedicated to a workshop.
Day: 1. Do you want the meeting to be held on the first Tuesday of the month? yes__________ no____________
or the the second Tuesday of the month? yes__________no__________

2. List an alternate weeknight _______________________________
Location (Note: with some locations it will be our responsibility obtain keys for access, provide coffee etc and clean up.): 3. Are you happy with the Stanley Hotel? yes __________ no__________

4. List an alternate location _____________________________
Topics/Agenda/Format/Frequency: 5. Any suggestions for future topics at meetings?

6. Any additional suggestions for meetings?___________________________________________________________________
Please copy this survey, paste into a new e-mail, fill in your answers, and e-mail to Diana Bockus or, (Photo)copy this survey, fill in your answers and mail to your reply to Diana Bockus, R.R.#1 Nolalu ON P0T 2K0

Please remember our local Bee Inspectors.: Valerie - 767-0852 & Rob - 767-7806, Only a phone call away.

Any results for those who have one of Barry Tabour's mason bee condos? (Barry has held regular condo building parties this spring. Think tall bird house only it's a 4"x 4" block with 12 or more 3/8" holes. More than 200 have been distributed.)
One at Sunshine/on Ellis Road-Dawson Road Lots was filled last week in May.
Little clay plugs help explain the name 'mason bee'. In town, N. Court St near Blvd Lake nothing, JoAnne H. on Gus Worli Rd also has had no visitors.
Update - June 28th two holes cleaned out. Woodpeckers ? I had added a looped cover of 1/2" hardware cloth to discourage birds snacking on the mason bees larvae & pupae.

African Elephants are Afraid of BEES & they tell other elephants!: Lucy King, of Oxford University, has been working with rural Kenya farmers to protect their crops from elephants. Ordinary fences are a joke to animals that can stand more than 3.6 metres tall at the shoulders, weigh more than 5,000 kg & travel in herds.
Enter the African honey bee, (Apis mellifera scutellata) the continent's adapted form of honey bees.
Known for their capacity to 'pile-on' at any disturbance around the hive with 3 to 4 times the hive defence of European bees, African bees are also unique for their guard bees following an intruder for 1/2 kilometre or more.
While elephants have a thick skin 5 to 10 cm thick, their trunks and eyes are vulnerable.
Imagine your nose is two metres long and someone has put a handful of angry bees up it. Baby elephants are especially at danger from a mass stinging. Within 10 to 30 seconds of hearing a hive's buzzing elephants will stop, put their heads up and position their ears out. The dominant female will give a unique signal, a low ultra-sonic rumble at 100 - 130 htz before running. All others in the herd follow. Distant elephants also hear this alarm call and move away. In effect the elephants have a "word" that means danger – bees. The Kenya farmers are now experimenting with a living fence, – linked bee hives, positioned ~10 meters apart around their fields.

Tuesday, September 14^th

(Moved back a week due to Labour Day)>
Location To Be Announced>
Please answer survey, above and best / most numerous site suggested wins.>

Two sites with superior honey bee photos:

www.beetography.com/: Biologist Zachary Huang is interested in a range of nature subjects. His award winning photos are for sale and all marked down to 1/3 of original price.
www.thehoneygatherers.com/html/index_en.html: The Bee Photgrapher, Eric Tourneret, lives up to his title.
These are superior close-ups, filled with a sense of the bees living their lives, while we peek into their world.