JANUARY 3, 2008 NEWSLETTER

Reporter: Dick Counts

January Report

Thanks to all (48) who came to honor Mr. John Knight (100 years) and Mr. Ralph Johnson (88 years) both guys are longtime beekeepers and more important they are long time supporters of this club. So I say to you guys, this club loves you because you love us and you show it.

We also celebrated with our awards with Linda Pelham winning "BEEKEEPER OF THE YEAR" (see Linda’s THANK YOU elsewhere) Also our Honey tasting contest winners were; Jason LaPeyre first place winner, Tied for second was Stanford Brantley, Gloria Harmon, Karen Anderson. Third place tie was; Gene Bennett and Royce Pelham. Congratulations to all. I am glad you all won, but I am more pleased that you love our bees and you believe in our club. THANKS

The new year is building up fast, as you know Mr. Brantley and I are going to the national convention, January 8, held in Sacramento this year. When we get back I have a week to get ready for my first beginners class, I already have 11 students.

You must start thinking about feeding your bees, for years we have recommended to begin in late January or February and to feed a light 1:1 sugar water. I learned last year at the National Convention (hint) about commercial guys that feed a candy. Sugar, water and a pollen substitute, makes a fudge like candy. Royce and I mixed up some in late November and the bees really like it. It does several things for you, like makes sure your bees will not starve, provides pollen to help raise stronger bees, should help the hive to start building up faster. All in all means more honey for you..

We have a renewed effort to bring more programs next year and for February we have——————————————————

More and more farmers are aware of the loss of bees and how important they are to their crops. Have had several calls about pollination and believe the demand will be greater this year, which also means you can get more money for your hives. I have quoted $45—50 per hive. In recent years members have been charging $30-40 range. The opportunity is out there.

So far we have one application for our scholarship, 10 new students, and classes begin 1/19/08.

President's Letter

Well folks, I do hope y'all had a blessed Christmas , and survived all the rest of the holidays and are ready for a new year, cause ready or not here it is 2008. Gonna be a few weeks to get used to writing that. Did we make any new years resolutions this time? If I was to make any it would to be more diligent this year to get the bees in gear to be able to produce a decent honey crop this year. Thanks to Dick Counts for covering for me at the dinner, as there was a small fender bender on the way and I needed a tow home. Been checking my hives and am always amazed at how the hive that seems to me to be puny is the one that has eaten all the protein patty and syrup. We've had some pretty cold nights, but when the sun warms it up a bit they are pretty busy looking for stuff to eat. Now is the time to be thinking about if you need to get any supplies for the coming season. To all who do swarm calls this may be a good year, or it may not be. Ya just gotta be ready just in case. You know, hope for the best and be ready for the alternative. One guy said that "luck" is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. So as they say in the ol boy scouts " Be Prepared". We are needing to have a meeting of the officers B4 the next meeting, say about 6;00 PM on the 3rd. Hope to see all of your smiling faces again come January.

Thanks again Joe Moench.

The Buzz From Over Here

by Eddie Collins

Linda Pelham asked me to be sure and get this in this letter. " Thank you for honoring me as Beekeeper of this year 2007. To me East Texas Beekeepers Association means learning more about the honeybee, meeting friends, enjoying programs together, welcoming other beekeepers to our active, fun meetings and participating in many ways to promote beekeeping.

I am proud to be a member of ETBA and will continue to help either voluntarily or by railroad. (J

Each one of you is a special friend to me."

Bee friendly, Bee sweet, Bee cool

Linda Pelham

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Wax Rendering

Article by Jim Lathem

The following information was presented by David Ferguson at the 46th Annual Louisiana Beekeepers Association Convention in Baton Rouge, Louisiana November 30 – December 1, 2007.

While honey is the primary source of income for the beekeeper, beeswax has long been considered an important hive product. It is a secondary source of income for the beekeeper. Four pairs of epidermal wax producing glands on the ventral side of the honeybee produce beeswax. Honeybees use beeswax to produce honeycomb and capping. Beekeepers harvest beeswax from three major sources.

1.Wax cappings

2.Burr comb

3.Older combs ready to be recycled

The best grade of commercial beeswax comb comes from honey cappings. From 2,200 pounds of honey produces about 100 to 120 pounds of beeswax.

A variety of methods are used to uncap honey. Small producers use a bucket with a board across it that contains a nail to rest the frame on. The nail permits the beekeeper to pivot the frame once one side is uncapped. Since there are always some cappings missed during the uncapping process, use a scratchier to remove the cappings missed during the uncapping process.

It is important to separate honey from wax cappings. Putting the cappings in a centrifuge type device similar to a honey extractor (wax extractor). The wax extractor has a basket similar to the honey extractor. If the wax extractor has an electric motor, placing a timer similar to that used to turn on and off Christmas tree lights is most helpful. Let the cappings drip for eight hours then turn the wax extractor on for eight hours. The next day the cappings are dry. The honey goes to a collection tank and the cappings go to a wax melter.

There are three types of wax melter.

1.Water-jacketed wax melter.

2.Electric wax melter.

3.Solar wax melter.

Regardless of the melter used, wax will float to the top and honey will settle to the bottom. Also, there will be a residue left from the wax melting process – slum-gum.

Continued NEXT month