May 2025 | Package Installation

Sante once again welcomed us to his fantastic beeyard. He also experienced quite a few deadouts over the winter and showed us how he installs a package of bees. One particularly interesting feature is the setup in front of the hive — after shaking most of the bees into the box, he places the package in front of the entrance so the remaining bees can walk in on their own. The advantage: dead bees are left behind.

We also took a close look at the Flow Hives with great interest — maybe there’ll be a meeting one day where we get to see the Flow Hive in action…

Winter 2024 | Winter prep, storage, bee stuff

The final meetings are taking place: Do the bees have enough winter stores? What’s the mite count? Do I need to treat? Should I add insulation? — So many questions, especially if you’re new to beekeeping.

Sante is a very experienced beekeeper. He showed us how he insulates the hives using the inner cover, and how he treats with oxalic acid. Feeding is still done with syrup; when it gets colder, he switches to fondant or sugar dough.

As a general guideline: oxalic acid treatment is typically done around Thanksgiving, once the first night frosts have hit and the queen has stopped laying (ideally).

Also attached is an idea for storing honey supers: I froze them for 2–3 days and then sealed them in vacuum bags. Over the winter, it’s a good idea to check on them occasionally to make sure everything is still okay.

On a warm winter day, feel free to set out some water for the bees — they’ll gladly take it.

Now it’s slowly time to turn the wax into candles or creams — and who knows, maybe someone’s up for making a batch of honey liqueur?

2024 | September – What’s next after honey harvest?

After the honey harvest, the season’s over? Well, not quite — the winter prep season is just beginning: the bees need to be fed, treated for mites, and protected from robbing (that’s what the little square at the entrance is for). Good thing if you already let them clean out the empty honeycombs earlier — it would be tricky to do that now.
Meeting in Hartsdale at Julie’s, NY.

2024 | April Meeting – Hive Split

We had a wonderful in-person meeting on April 27. Sante invited us to participate in a hive split at his apiary. There were two beekeepers present who were 9 and 10 years old, great job!

Unfortunately, the participants were not able to follow the meeting online, as the reception was simply too poor. What was left of the data is attached with a revision and additional information.

Beekeepers are having a very busy time at the moment. The swarming season has just started. Please check your colonies weekly for swarm cells (usually at the bottom of the frames). Give the colonies space so that they can have other things on their minds than looking for a new place to stay…

Here is a useful link if you want to report a swarm and need assistance https://nocobees.org/report-swarm/ .

2024 | February and March Meetings – Online

Since the bee season had not yet started, we met digitally in 2 online workshops in February and March and brought our knowledge together.

Winter prep

The final treatment against Varroa around Thanksgiving seems to be particularly important for the survival of bees in winter, as is feeding.

If you want to take an academic approach, weigh your equipment – I have also started doing this and will add my work-in-progress-list in the photo galery.

If the bees consumed around 6.6pd per month, you should feed 5.2gal from August to October. On warm winter days, you can use the weight check (tilt check) to determine how much feed has been consumed and feed more if it is really necessary.

Perhaps there is someone who would like to do this with me next winter. I’ll keep you posted.

Spring Clean-Up

Last but not least we talked about spring clean-up, especially removing old dark combs and varroa control with drone frames.

To do this, place an empty frame with a bar in the middle in position 3 (see picture) in the hive. This division will allow you to cut out the more developed comb sooner. Remember that mites prefer drone brood for egg laying. Forgetting to cut out the drone combs can significantly increase the Varroa population.

Feed bees in late summer and fall for winter.

Indication of what bees might consume during winter.

January 2024 survey: results and upcoming February meeting

Thanks to everyone who took part in our survey!

The next meeting in February 2024 will take place online and will be dedicated to the topics of emergency feeding and the bee calendar/ planning your 2024 bee season as a collaborative digital workshop.

We will comply with the request not to hold the upcoming meeting in February on a weekend in order to reach as many of you as possible.

By the way, there are several volunteers who can imagine mentoring “newbees”. Please “newbees” and mentors, get in touch with us and we will connect you.

Another pleasing point is that, according to the survey, we have a very balanced ratio of women to men. More information in our next newsletter (sign up here for the newsletter).

Enclosed is a survey for the topic of the next March meeting – what would you like to discuss in March – you can vote for it.

Link to survey: What are you up to in March 2024? (survey closed)

Thanks for your input!

Happy New Year, beekeepers!

You can have a say in what we will talk about in February.

As we embark on a new chapter with fresh leadership, we are eager to strengthen our connection with each of you.

To facilitate this, we’ve designed a survey covering diverse topics that could shape the structure of future meetings, workshops, or introduce new discussion themes for the upcoming year(s). We’re enthusiastic about uncovering the wealth of expertise within our community (which is one of the largest in NY state!) and warmly invite those willing to share their knowledge. Please take a minute to share your input with us.

January survey

Please, don’t be shy – your support is vital to keeping our meetings vibrant.
Your insights play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of our club.

Survey results will be highlighted in our next newsletter. Thank you for your active participation, and let’s collectively shape the future of HVNB together!

This survey will be closed by end of January 2024.

Schedule for 2024

We’re hoping that you will join us for our meetings in 2024, please click here to receive our monthly newsletter.

Below you will find a rough schedule of our upcoming gatherings. These are suggestions that can be changed and directed by you. If you want to host a meeting do not hesitate to contact us here.

Your involvement makes our bee community thrive! Looking forward to another buzzing year!

January: Mead Workshop

February: Our community has voted to hold an online meeting about emergency feeding and the bee calendar. We look forward to seeing you there! More information in our newsletter

March: online meeting

April: Hive Split, in person meeting

May: Hive inspection, swarming signs, hive split (on the go)

June: Hive inspection, mite check demo

July: Honey extraction with Eric

August: Hive inspection, dead out, mite treatment Gabriella

September: Winter hive preparation: one or two brood boxes, feeding, inspection, alcohol wash, mite treatment

October: Winter hive preparation, discussion

November: Oxalic Acid Treatment

December: Year end get together