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A husband wife team flew these honeybee balloons at the Albuquerque New Mexico Balloon Festival. Janet Shisler has a brother in Arizona that attends the event and she added they always take off facing each other. Photos from the balloon festival web site www.balloonfiesta.com
On April 5th Calvin Robinson and Janet Shisler paid a visit to Buddy Marterre's group in Forsyth County. Calvin did a presentation on keeping honeybees without chemicals and using natural comb without foundation.
Over 100 people showed up for the pot luck and presentation
Forsyth county meets monthly on Saturday evening. They always have a pot luck and it was a great spread!
After dinner everyone shifte their seats to hear Calvin's presentation
As if the huge dinner was not enough, the dessert table was great!
Calvin managed to finish his program in spite of his voice being almost gone before he finished.
Buncombe County should be proud that we have started a trend in beekeeping in NC. This topic was very well received and questions went on for about an hour after the presentation. Davie County representatives were there and invited Calvin to speak on this topic in October. He accepted the invitation. There were several other counties that were also represented and they also expressed interest.
Interest remained high for the whole program which started late due to technical difficulties. The presentation was approximately an hour.
Queen Marking
Gently pick up the queen by the wings by placing thumb and forefinger on each side and closing them together as you lift them. The wings will be caught between the finger and thumb. Then very gently hold her by the legs. Make sure you have at least two legs between your fingers. Do not squeeze too hard to avoid damage to pheromone glands in the legs. Do not worry, though she is capable of stinging, she will not.
Calvin marked this queen using a Testers paint pen. He lets her dry just a moment before putting her on the comb. This queen is the first grafting Calvin did this spring and is a very large speciman. This queen is laying a fantastic pattern. Red is the color for 2008, but use of a notebook will keep track of this queen regardless of color used.
Calvin has been using this pollen trap and finds it to work well and easy to use.
This frame is comb that was removed from a bee tree by Calvin and Steve Langfeld. The photo is taken one week after the comb was banded in and it is already attached with the bands already being removed by the bees.
This has been a VERY active swarm season and some really big ones have been reported. Remember, good management limits your swarm activity. Stay on top of those hives and split when you need to.
You should have been at the Swannanoa 4H center on April 12th for the scholarship hive give away. The truck was loaded with some very nice nucs and they were unloaded for distribution. Some other beekeepers received their orders at the same time.
May 10th Earthfare at Westgate Shopping Center
Janet teaches some curious visitors about beeswax
The observation hive makes it easy for Janet to explain a point about the structure of a hive.
Calvin takes a turn answering some questions about bees
Calvin is proud to make points about bees next to the handsom display that Deb Roberts donated to the club
Kids of all ages love honeybees and beekeepers love sharing a laugh with them.
Janet and Calvin say a great big thank you to everyone that came out to lend them a hand. You guys were awesome!
Janet's brood box filled with a maze of wax free structured comb was a big hit!
The Tulip Poplar is blooming great this year and a fantastic example was blooming right in the Earthfare parking lot!
Janet's solar wax melter was a big hit and Calvin got a chance to melt some of his wax to take home while doing nothing more than running his mouth!
Larry Sebren sent this photo of a hive that has been VERY productive this spring.
Darrell Steenwyk has been VERY busy removing bees this spring!
Lee Banks has assisted Darrell on several removals and is getting quite experienced at it also.
