2 Cs and a Bee

Our Objectives: The advancement and improvement of the beekeeping industry and the state inspection. The eradication of diseases in all apiaries. The disbursement of knowledge regarding the value of the honeybee as a pollinating agent and the value of the honey as a food.

Announcements
May 19th, 2024 May Meeting of 2 Cs and a Bee will be held at Taddei's, Gallitzin, Pa. at 2:00 PM. For more information Contact our Secretary. Directions will be posted later.
Beekeeping Insights Articles by Dana Stahlman: View the current one (plus email notes) and the referenced 2021 article or see our Archives page for lots more.
PA State Apiary Inspection Program The State Apiary Inspectors have shut down for the season and will resume in the spring. In our area, Andy Jones (Email: andjones@pa.gov; Work cell phone: 223-322-1533) will cover Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Somerset counties. Bonnie Hall (Email: bonhall@pa.gov; Work cell phone: 717-956-8175) will cover Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland counties.
Beekeeper on Deck - Video Featuring Our (Previous) Vice-President View the YouTube video
Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Counties Expanded Again Click to view fullsize map The Spotted Lanternfly quarantine area has once again been expanded. Details at the PDA website. Further information for beekeepers and residents: Have You Seen a Spotted Lanternfly? Brief Summary of what the Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Means to You Best Management Practices for Beekeepers in the Quarantine Area Checklist for Residents of Quarantine Area Spotted Lanternfly Management Resources
FieldWatch Program FieldWatch is a free and voluntary online mapping tool that specialty crop growers and beekeepers can use to map the locations of their crops/hives. Pesticide applicators can use this to see the crops and hives near their application sites and plan accordingly. It is being offered in PA as a collaboration between the PA Dept. of Agriculture and Penn State Extension. Details
Foulbrood & Parasitic Mite Syndrome Information Parasitic Mite Syndrome Differences Between AFB-EFB-PMS American Foulbrood Information American Foulbrood Information (by Meghan Milbrath) For the health and safety of all of our honeybees, it is important that your hives be registered. It is also required by state law. Mail-In Registration Form Online Registration
Managing Varroa Mites A Varroa Management Decision Tool is available at the Honey Bee Health Coalition website.
Beescape Website Beescape provides a tool for beekeepers, gardeners, growers and land managers to assess the quality of their landscapes for supporting managed honey bees and wild bees." (Beescape is a partnership of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State University, Dickinson College, Purdue University, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, and University of California, Davis.) Visit Beescape.
Voluntary 'Best Management Practices' Document (Updated 2019) Best Management Practices
Pollen Foraging Study A pollen foraging study has just been completed in West Virginia through a Northeast SARE farmer grant endeavoring to determine which plants were being foraged through the months of July through October and which plants were contributing the most to the bees' diet. They looked at pollen collected by honey bees in five West Virginia locations, and pollen collected in one of the locations for three consecutive years. Many of the plants common in West Virginia are also common in parts of Pennsylvania. The project's outreach is complete, and the final report is available on the Northeast SARE website.
Dr. Samuel Ramsey's varroa research Dr. Samuel Ramsey spoke at the PSBA 2018 fall conference. View the video he did on the same subject for the Danish Beekeeper's Association. Dr. Ramsey previously won the international Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for his thesis 'Varroa destructor: The Curious Case of the Bee Mite's Bite' (Video introduces new ideas on varroa destructor).
"Why did my honey bees die?" Wondering what happened? Read the article at bee.informed.org
Plants for Honeybees Northern American nectar sources for honey bees
Pesticide Research Article: (January 2014) "Common crop pesticides kill honeybee larvae..." Read the article
Bee Swarms Article "The Secret Life of Bees": Article from Smithsonian.com about Thomas Seeley, biologist from Cornell University, and his study of bee swarming.
Honey Sale Laws Honey Sale And Labeling Act Guidelines for the Sanitary Operation of Honey Extracting Facilities Selling Honey in PA
Pesticide List A list of chemicals with detailed information is available in various formats: Pesticide List (Spreadsheet Format) Pesticide List (HTML Format)
Protecting Honey Bees from Chemical Pesticides If you are a grower, farmer, have honeybees pollinating your crops, or are a beekeeper, here is an article on protecting your bees from chemical pesticides. It is written by: Maryann Frazier Senior Extension Associate Penn State Protecting Honey Bees from Chemical Pesticides
Colony Collapse Disorder Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the name that has been given to the latest, and what seems to be the most serious, die-off of honey bee colonies across the country. It is characterized by, sudden colony death with a lack of adult bees in/in front of the dead-outs. Honey and bee bread are usually present and there is often evidence of recent brood rearing. In some cases, the queen and a small number of survivor bees may be present in the brood nest. It is also characterized by delayed robbing and slower than normal invasion by common pests such as wax moth and small hive beetles. (From the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture site) Research Article: (January 2012) "A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly..." Read the article Additional CCD information at Mid-Atlantic Apiculture

Announcements

May 19th, 2024

May Meeting of 2 Cs and a Bee will be held at Taddei's, Gallitzin, Pa. at 2:00 PM.
For more information Contact our Secretary. Directions will be posted later.

Beekeeping Insights

Articles by Dana Stahlman: View the current one (plus email notes) and the referenced 2021 article or see our Archives page for lots more.

PA State Apiary Inspection Program

The State Apiary Inspectors have shut down for the season and will resume in the spring. In our area, Andy Jones
(Email: andjones@pa.gov; Work cell phone: 223-322-1533)
will cover Bedford, Blair, Cambria, Centre, Clearfield, Fulton, Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, and Somerset counties.

Bonnie Hall
(Email: bonhall@pa.gov; Work cell phone: 717-956-8175)
will cover Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington, Westmoreland counties.

Beekeeper on Deck - Video Featuring Our (Previous) Vice-President

View the YouTube video

Spotted Lanternfly Quarantine Counties Expanded Again

Click to view fullsize map

The Spotted Lanternfly quarantine area has once again been expanded. Details at the PDA website.

Further information for beekeepers and residents:

FieldWatch Program

FieldWatch is a free and voluntary online mapping tool that specialty crop growers and beekeepers can use to map the locations of their crops/hives. Pesticide applicators can use this to see the crops and hives near their application sites and plan accordingly. It is being offered in PA as a collaboration between the PA Dept. of Agriculture and Penn State Extension. Details

Foulbrood & Parasitic Mite Syndrome Information

Parasitic Mite Syndrome
Differences Between AFB-EFB-PMS
American Foulbrood Information
American Foulbrood Information (by Meghan Milbrath)

For the health and safety of all of our honeybees, it is important that your hives be registered. It is also required by state law. Mail-In Registration Form Online Registration

Managing Varroa Mites

A Varroa Management Decision Tool is available at the Honey Bee Health Coalition website.

Beescape Website

Beescape provides a tool for beekeepers, gardeners, growers and land managers to assess the quality of their landscapes for supporting managed honey bees and wild bees." (Beescape is a partnership of the Center for Pollinator Research at Penn State University, Dickinson College, Purdue University, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, University of Minnesota, and University of California, Davis.) Visit Beescape.

Voluntary 'Best Management Practices' Document (Updated 2019)

Best Management Practices

Pollen Foraging Study

A pollen foraging study has just been completed in West Virginia through a Northeast SARE farmer grant endeavoring to determine which plants were being foraged through the months of July through October and which plants were contributing the most to the bees' diet. They looked at pollen collected by honey bees in five West Virginia locations, and pollen collected in one of the locations for three consecutive years. Many of the plants common in West Virginia are also common in parts of Pennsylvania. The project's outreach is complete, and the final report is available on the Northeast SARE website.

Dr. Samuel Ramsey's varroa research

Dr. Samuel Ramsey spoke at the PSBA 2018 fall conference. View the video he did on the same subject for the Danish Beekeeper's Association. Dr. Ramsey previously won the international Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for his thesis 'Varroa destructor: The Curious Case of the Bee Mite's Bite' (Video introduces new ideas on varroa destructor).

"Why did my honey bees die?"

Wondering what happened? Read the article at bee.informed.org

Plants for Honeybees

Northern American nectar sources for honey bees

Pesticide Research Article: (January 2014)

"Common crop pesticides kill honeybee larvae..." Read the article

Bee Swarms Article

"The Secret Life of Bees": Article from Smithsonian.com about Thomas Seeley, biologist from Cornell University, and his study of bee swarming.

Honey Sale Laws

Honey Sale And Labeling Act Guidelines for the Sanitary Operation of Honey Extracting Facilities Selling Honey in PA

Pesticide List

A list of chemicals with detailed information is available in various formats:
Pesticide List (Spreadsheet Format)
Pesticide List (HTML Format)

Protecting Honey Bees from Chemical Pesticides

If you are a grower, farmer, have honeybees pollinating your crops, or are a beekeeper, here is an article on protecting your bees from chemical pesticides.
It is written by:
Maryann Frazier
Senior Extension Associate
Penn State
Protecting Honey Bees from Chemical Pesticides

Colony Collapse Disorder

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) is the name that has been given to the latest, and what seems to be the most serious, die-off of honey bee colonies across the country. It is characterized by, sudden colony death with a lack of adult bees in/in front of the dead-outs. Honey and bee bread are usually present and there is often evidence of recent brood rearing. In some cases, the queen and a small number of survivor bees may be present in the brood nest. It is also characterized by delayed robbing and slower than normal invasion by common pests such as wax moth and small hive beetles. (From the Mid-Atlantic Apiculture site)

Research Article: (January 2012)
"A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly..." Read the article

Additional CCD information at Mid-Atlantic Apiculture