# USF Botanical Gardens Beekeeping Workshops



## rlc5925

Gary
is there a website where you could get more info, Thanks


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## AmericasBeekeeper

I have two websites http://americasbeekeeper.com/ and http://americasbeekeeper.org/ USF Botanical Gardens is linked off my sites http://www.cas.usf.edu/garden/ they can be reached at 813-910-3274.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

USF Botanical Gradens likes to know how many to expect and plan for at every class. The only classes that I need prior notice are the hive building and populating classes. I am not a supplier of equipment or bees. I have to get all the hive kits and bees from somewhere in advance. So please let me know if you are coming to the March or April classes. Thank you

Gary VanCleef
[email protected]
americasbeekeeper.com
americasbeekeeper.org


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## rlc5925

Gary
I will be attenging both. Thanks


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## rlc5925

Gary
Just wanted to say thanks and let you know the Sat. workshop was great. Looking forward to March's workshop.
Dick


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you and to all who braved the cold last Saturday. I am so happy it warmed up enough for the bees to start flying and we could at least look in the top. I mentioned the lack of seating for everyone. The staff will correct and more closely monitor chairs for future workshops.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Remember to bring a hammer and white glue to the hive building workshop in March. Bring the hive you build and a ratchet strap to the April workshop. I added the hive equipment and bee information to the class information on
http://americasbeekeeper.com contact me here or [email protected] for more information or to confirm the workshop. Thank you


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## AmericasBeekeeper

I am off to Honduras Saturday, hopefully to work with COAPIHL. I will be back March 13 to catch up on my mail and getting ready for the hive building workshop. If you are interested COAPIHL is a cooperative of beekeepers in Honduras. They start new beekeepers with hives, assisted by Heifer Intl., and market the honey for the beekeepers. They make their woodenware at the office in Siguatepeque, Honduras. Many times it is the difference between starving, risking illegal and dangerous immigration through Mexico, and supporting a family.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

I am back from Honduras. The cooperative was not. I was supposed to meet a beekeeper in Honduras but did not get time. I have pictures of my trip at 
http://americasbeekeeper.com/Honduras.htm
The pictures have nothing to do with beekeeping, rather my primary purpose in Honduras every year.
The hive building workshop is coming fast. Please get in your orders as soon as possible. Thank you.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

All the hive kits are ready for Saturday. I am still waiting on suppliers for beekeeping tools. I picked up Cordovan bees and queens from David Miksa today and made 12 five frame nucs for the April class. We will still be making splits and package bees the April class. This is a necessary beekeeping skill. If you want to adopt a hive before the April class, please bring sugar syrup made with white sugar and do not boil the water or syrup. New splits should not be moved or molested for two weeks the same as requeening. Heavy feeding will stimulate comb production. Making the splits today gave these 12 hives a good head start and reduces the workload on me. Last year there was only one hive tool working on split day.


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## rlc5925

Gary
I have an unassembled 8 frame hive that I wanted to bring Sat. Will that be ok. I also would like to adopt one of the nucs/splits. What do I need to bring Sat. Thanks
Dick


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Bring your own, no problem, with a hammer and wood glue if you have it. If
you could mix up some sugar syrup for the hive you adopt we can feed them
after the building class. A glass jar with a metal lid would be nice too.
I have some mason jars if you do not have one. I bought a large pickle jar
on sale too. I have not eaten so many pickles in a long time. See you
Saturday!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

We are ready! Everything ordered came in, all the woodenware is on my truck, the Gardens is prepared, and the weather is perfect! Thank you to all who responded already. I will have some extra for anyone who shows up and did not reply already. Remember hammers, wood glue, and bee tools if you already have them!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you to all who attended the hive building class last Saturday. I appreciate your patience with the overwhelming attendance. I will get the pictures posted as soon as possible. More supplies are on order. I have Pierco black foundation for the medium super. You will need 7 sheets. I will bring building tools for any desiring to finish building hives the next class. The next workshop will begin with smoker practice. We will populate a hive with package bees and make splits for everyone that orders them. Please bring the hive you made last class and a ratchet strap or bungee cords to tie the hive together. Make sure it goes around the hive you built, the cover, bottom board and medium super. We will not need the deep super since the splits are on medium frames. For all future classes bring your beekeeping tools -- veil, hive tool and smoker.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Working the bees yesterday there is a slight change. There are 12 three frame splits, 8 five frame splits, and 4 six frame splits. If you wish to change a current order or make an order before the Sunday deadline, these splits will be first come first served because of the limited number. Several are already paid for. Please let me know even if you remain unchanged. Thank you
3 frame split $50 with marked queen
5 frame split $72 with marked queen
6 frame split $83 with marked queen
Package bees $65 with queen (not sure if marked)
We also have a Kenyan top bar hive for teaching thanks to Gene.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you to all who attended the last class. Did anyone get pictures? Would you mind sharing please? There were hives populated for 24 splits and 2 package bees. I was told there was a cloud of bees from all the hives and activity hovering over us. Hopefully I am once again the only one stung. I have orders in for more bees and supplies. If there is anything you need please let me know as soon as possible. All the future classes will start with a lecture, question and answer period and then practical experience. Please bring your tools - smoker, hive tool and veil, to all future workshops. We will be using both Langstroth hives for the practical and the Kenyan top bar at the end of the workshop. It will be a learning adventure for all.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

We have pictures from the swarms, splits and package bees workshop thanks to one of the beekeeper. http://americasbeekeeper.com/2010_Gallery.htm


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## AmericasBeekeeper

I am picking up more bees on Friday for those that missed out last class. Please make some pictures and a note of your experiences as a new beekeeper. I will be at the Gardens all Friday morning from 0930 until noon or 1300. The Hillsborough area State Apiary Inspector will be our guest for the next workshop on hive inspection.


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## rlc5925

Gary
What do we need to bring Friday. Thanks


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Always bring your tools - smoker, hive tool and veil. If you reserved bees bring your hive and a ratchet strap to hold it together on the way home.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Schedule for the rest of the year --
May 22nd Inspecting the beehive (Florida Apiary Inspector as guest speaker)
Jun 12th What should and should not be in the hive 
July 17th Diseases, pests and parasites 
August 21st Integrated Pest Management, Best Management Practices, Controlling Diseases Pests Parasites 
September 18th Honey extraction and products of the hive (bring your frames of honey, supers and empty containers)
October 16th Queens and requeening 
November 20th Keeping the hive alive through Winter 
December 11th Preparing for Spring 
Everything is lecture, question and answer followed by practical hands-on experience, rain plan is meet inside at USFBG
University of South Florida Botanical Gardens, Tampa, FL, start at 10:00, $10 $8 for USFBG members


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## AmericasBeekeeper

One of our student's hive was lost to small hive beetles this week. The hive had just been inspected by the state and it was healthy on Monday. We will share some small hive beetle prevention in the inspection workshop next Saturday. One method is to get your hive strong fast. If your hive is not drawn out to 7 or 8 frames, you might consider adding a feeding patty which I will have a case of for class. The case of smokers is still on back order. Everything else will be there for Saturday.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

I will do one more round of splits this Saturday. We need to move on to learning how to keep these hives alive!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you to all who attended and assisted at the USFBG Inspecting bee workshop. There are new pictures posted at americasbeekeeper 2010_Gallery. The Garden hives and most of the students' hives are filling their honey supers. The student hives were just started in April. We used a mix of queens for splits this month - Cordovan, Caucasian and Buckfast from Canada. David Miksa supplies all the hives and queens for our workshops.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

We are going to swap the August and September classes. The new schedule is 
August 21st Honey extraction and products of the hive (bring your frames of honey, supers and empty containers)
September 18th Integrated Pest Management, Best Management Practices, Controlling Diseases Pests Parasites 
There will be other opportunities before Winter to extract your honey. The Garden hives are ready now. Honey is sold by the Gardens in the gift shop.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

It is a good year for the USFBG hives. To update there are two hives from last year. Each of the old hives has two deep honey supers, one fully capped and the seconds nearly capped. There are also two hives made from splits last month. These are for new beekeepers. Each of the new hives is ready for a honey super also. The two old hives are Cordovan and the two new hives are Buckfast from Canada. Those girls chase down small hive beetles like you can't imagine.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Our bee workshops made the local Fox news "Good Morning Tampa Bay" Sorry it starts with the commercial break.
http://www.clipsyndicate.com/video/play/1510211/are_honey_bees_in_danger?cpt=8&wpid=1277


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## Barry

I was going to hit the "like" button, but then realized this isn't Facebook. So I'll give you the :thumbsup:'s up for being willing to talk with a news person that doesn't know what in the world she is dealing with.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you. Bees and people who want to learn the truth about bees need to hear the message. The workshops certainly do not need the publicity. The classes grow every month. We built over 100 hives this year and populated over half in class. Extracting all the supers already on those new hives is the next challenge. New beekeepers from last year are taking an active part helping teach new beekeepers this year. Hopefully they will take on a greater role next year. We are currently looking for a large trailer or building to build a honey room onsite. Most of the beeks become members of the local Tampa Bay Beekeepers Association. Except for depleting the suppliers stocks - everyone wins!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

The next USF workshop is honey extraction. If you wish to extract your personal honey, bring it from supers to single frames. Bring clean containers for your liquid treasure too. The class is broken into two groups this year due to overwhelming attendance. Reservations are first come-first serve and the morning is nearly full already. The teaching hives have several supers so there will be plenty to experience if you just come to learn and enjoy.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

The americasbeekeeper.com website is wrong again. Honey extraction and products of the hive is next Saturday. I bought a dozen queens from Miksa. This is the last batch of the season. We experienced insecticide poisoning from the local mosquito control. All the teaching hive queens will be replaced on Saturday and three hives split for next year.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

The hive products and honey extraction workshop went well. Several new beekeepers brought in supers from their hives started at the April workshop. One teaching hive brought in 5 gallons. We made a real mess of the science lab. There was honey everywhere by the time everyone cut or scraped cappings and took a turn at the extractor. 
The USF apiary was hit hard with mosquito spraying. One hive died and the queens were noticeably injured in the others. All the hives were requeened Saturday morning and two were strong enough to split. Thank you to Miksa Honey Farms once again.
There were a few first time attendees that are hooked now. If you do not remember your first extraction experience, why are you keeping bees? The director had to chase people out at the end of the day. As for me, I will answer questions and mentor beekeepers until the sun goes down.


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## Pilgarlic56

My wife and I were first-timers at this workshop and found it to be immensely helpful to us. We are newcomers to beekeeping and we are pursuing it as an enriching hobby with one hive so far in a residential subdivision environment. I was able to ask many questions that have been "buzzing" around in my head for some time and found the answers to be straightforward, to-the-point and useful. I hadn't expected the "hands-on" part of the instruction which was, of course, particularly helpful. Thanks for a valuable, interesting experience.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

This Saturday we will be discovering Integrated Pest Management and Best Management Practices - how to keep the hive alive! BMP IPM takes knowledge of diseases, pests and parasites learned this Summer and determining thresholds, and best methods of bee management. We will be checking the hives split or requeened last workshop that were impacted by the mosquito spraying.


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## Pilgarlic56

The calendar on the USFBG website says the IPM BPM workshop is 9/18. Is that correct?


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## AmericasBeekeeper

The 18th is correct. I am just over-enthusiastic with two weekends in a row this month. The Honey Tasting bee day is even grander the following week with live jazz, food and activities.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Well it may not be the best time of year, but October's workshop is requeening. We will talk about when to, why should you, and how do you re-queen. How do you select queens. For the adventurous and steady of hand we will attempt grafting. Everyone can look at the stages of egg and larvae for future reference. The grafts will be maintained at USF by one of our most experienced second-year beekeepers. This is his first time so please a little encouragement. If he can get them out of the finishing hive before there is only one left, he will make mating nucs. If they survive the Winter, they will be available for next years workshops.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Saturday, November 20th is Keeping the hive alive through Winter at USF 
In addition to talking about the steps to keep your hives alive overwinter, and hands-on inspections, we will be moving a feral colony from an owl box to the top bar hive. I know many have been waiting and asking about the process of moving feral colonies. They will have plenty of drawn comb from the other teaching hives to start their new life. We put top bars in the teaching hives last month. They are already drawn with stores and brood.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you to all who attended and helped at today's Bee Workshop. The bees are happily moved from their old bird house to the Kenyan top bar hive. I will get pictures posted as soon as I receive them. 
The next workshop will include a thank you pot luck dinner hosted by the USFBG Director. Please bring a side dish to share next class. There were so many questions today. I hope everyone caught the major points to keep the hive alive through the Winter - feed, reduce entrance, ventilation, disease/pest/parasite control, stay out of the hive below 50 degrees, limit space/supers to actual need, etc.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

November Bee Workshop pictures are posted to http://americasbeekeeper.com/USFBG_2010_Gallery.htm


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## AmericasBeekeeper

We are already well into planning next year’s schedule. There are stacks of hives cut, bees and queens ordered and other supplies coming in or ready to order. 
If you are able to help in any way next year or have suggestions for the classes, please get them in quickly. We can always use help checking people in, passing out handouts and hive kits, etc. This year we will split into groups for inspections (practicals) with experience in each group. 
If you would like to present a topic, the first few should be no longer than a few minutes, ten minutes at the most. If you are not comfortable with questions, we can hold questions to the end. If you really want to learn, research a topic, take questions at the end of your topic. As you see and probably remember, the first of the year is hectic with so much just to get a hive so there is limited time per topic.
The format will be nearly identical with an in depth instruction in the afternoon following the practical. We are expanding the instruction to someday support a regular college course of study. Next year will be the prelude to develop the curriculum to the appropriate level and still entertain people just interested in learning the fundamentals. 
For those desiring in depth study, after the practical hive work, there will be advanced topics, quizzes starting the second class and requirements typical of freshman science. The new format should increase your understanding and depth of knowledge as well as sharing your new adventure with others. Thank you for all your interest and help this past year, now it is time to share bees with others!
Draft schedule - - - -
January
What do bees bring to the table? (pollination)
Bee Friendly Garden (flowers, seasonal, diversity, native, be nice!)
Bee stings (difference, treatment, reactions)
Beekeeper mentoring program (What we offer)
What is a beehive? (where, size, comb, castes)
February
Beekeeping equipment and tools (hive, supers, frames, smoker, hive tools, veil)
Dress for success (veil, perfumes, swatting, do not trap bees in clothing)
Florida registration and inspection (how, who, when, why)
Beekeeper’s options (What can they get)
Honeybee biology (queen, drone, worker, egg, larvae, pupa, EHB, AHB)
Beehive inspection ( how, why, how often)
March
Building beehives (hammers, wood glue, hive kits)
April 
Swarms, splits and package bees (bring hive ready to fill with bees) 
May 
Diseases (AFB, EFB, chalkbrood, sacbrood, Nosema)
Pests (wax moth, small hive beetles, bears, skunks)
Parasites (Varroa mites, tracheal mites)
June
Florida Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Best Management Practices (BMP) (determining DPP thresholds and level of treatment)
July
Queens and requeening
August
Products of the hive (beeswax, comb, propolis, pollen, honey)
Honey extraction
September
October
Fall management (feeding, splits, IPM)
November
Winter management ( feeding, entrance reducer, ventilation, crowd supers)
December
Spring management (requeen, room for nectar flow, swarm control)


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Videos of the move from birdhouse to KTBH are at http://americasbeekeeper.com/USFBG_Videos.htm


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## AmericasBeekeeper

USF Bee Workshops in 2011 will be on the third Saturday of every month, except March. March is a hive building class. The class will be two identical sessions on the first and last Saturday of March. The Bee College and Master Beekeeper programs are in St. Augustine the second week of March and a queen rearing course the third week of March in Monticello. There are less than nine seats left for queen rearing. I am teaching a couple blocks in St. Augustine on AHB. USF Bee Workshops are filling fast so let the USFBG staff know as soon as possible. Thank you.


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## FloridaBee

Thank you so much for these great workshops! I've been able to attend 11 of this year's 12 weekend sessions at USF and every single workshop has been inspiring, informative and exceeded my expectations. My thanks to you and the girls!


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## AmericasBeekeeper

Thank you, hopefully next year will be even better.


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## AmericasBeekeeper

The USF BG Bee Workshops will post to http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=249157 from now. The classes are fair or foul weather so we are meeting today.


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