The beekeepers from around the Golden Horseshoe area are one of the largest and liveliest groups in Ontario. We meet to discuss items of interest exchange best practices and current issues or problems beekeepers face. Often talks are given by individuals in the industry from the Ontario Tech-Transfer program or from other individuals in the beekeeping community. If you want to learn more about beekeeping, or share your experiences this is for you. Email me at gene@goldenhorseshoebeekeepers.ca if you have any questions, comments or additions to the website. Gene Have a Bee Swarm, don't know what to do? Call us!  It's that time of year when bees swarm. This is how honey bees reproduce. Please do not spray an insecticide on the swarm. This has been a very stressful year for bees and a very high percentage of beekeepers have experienced hive losses. Last year, GHBA members removed upwards of 30 urban swarms. "When a hive first swarms out they can be found in a cluster (usually about the size of a football or soccer ball) on tree branches; later in hollow cavities like tree trunks or often in urban places such as BBQ's or garages!" If you have a swarm, please take several pictures and email them to us. We will ask one of our members to visit and determine the best course of action to take. The picture is necessary because beekeepers are extremely busy this time of year and people often confuse bees with wasps or hornets. Thanks for your co-operation! Next Meeting Date: Thursday June 20th Marritt Hall Ancaster Fair Grounds 7:30pm. We will meet at the Fair Grounds then drive to Les' beehive yard to inspect his various hives. Once done, we'll return to the hall to complete the meeting. (The visit is weather dependent. If it is raining, the entire meeting will be held in the fair grounds.)  Last weekend's courses were a huge success, well attended and everyone had a great time learning about keeping bees healthy. Yes we had a little wind and rain but were prepared with tents to put over the bees and carried on regardless of the weather. The fairgrounds proved to be a very good location for this event, and the Tech Team always puts on a fantastic course. Thank you to John Van Alten and crew at Dutchman's Gold for supplying twelve perfect hives for the school. These hives were very strong, and still gentle in spite of the weather. The frames were all clean and relatively new and the bees were healthy and mite free. Any beekeeper would be proud to own these hives! My own hives , which were supposed to be used for the course were not nearly strong enough to be used, and I wasn't having much luck finding some that were. When I asked John If he could help me out, he didn't hesitate to offer some bees, delivered on site with a smile. In spite of a very busy season, and setting up operations in a new location, John still found the time to help new Ontario beekeepers learn the ropes! Thank you John! Jim Henderson Questionnaires for members of the GHBA One of the best ways to learn is from the experiences of others. If someone has found a better way to do things, we all benefit if this knowledge is shared. No need to re-invent the wheel, just use and benefit from it. With this in mind, I've posted two very short questionnaires for the members. Please take the time to fill in your answers (experiences). There is no personal data collected, you can not be identified. Thank you for helping out. Volunteers available - looking to help beekeepers - Mentors needed. You can only get so much from a book! We need to spread the word, knowledge and fun about bees and beekeeping. If you've got bee hives, please take the time to show some of our newer members what it's all about and give them some hands on experience. Several individuals have asked if they could help local beekeepers and learn about beekeeping at the same time. If you are interested in another body to help you out. Let Jim know. Golden Horseshoe Beekeepers with Brant County 4-H  The GHBA supplied the members of the Brant County 4-H with Beekeeper calenders from the Ontario Beekeepers Association. Looking in from the outside Ever wonder what goes on inside a bee hive??? |
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