Below is an updated schedule. The orginal dates are those in our catalog. The 1st date move indicates the change that occurred back in early March. The Current Date is the date you should come for your packages.

October 11, 2005

August 1, 2005

Betterbee held our 2nd annual open house on July 16th. The day kicked off with with lectures from our three guest speakers, Reggie Wilbanks - Wilbanks Apiary, Aaron Morris - local sideliner, and Jeff Pettis - USDA Beltsville Bee Lab. After lunch, which was provided by the local Boy Scouts, we went into the hives for hands on demonstrations.

• Reggie Wilbanks took everyone through a typical year at Wilbanks Apiary. It was extremely interesting to hear how one of the largest package bee suppliers and queen breeders produces such a quality product, as Wilbanks always does. In the afternoon, Reggie demonstrated the process of producing a package of bees. He certainly impressed everyone with the speed at which he found the queen, and his "estimation" of the package weight which was dead on. If it weren't for his short sleeve shirt, I would have thought he had a queen up is his sleeve.

  Of particular interest are the problems beekeepers are having with the U.S. Post Office. Betterbee, Wilbanks, and many others ship queens and packages through the mail. Over the past few years, the post office has become more and more reluctant to ship bees. This year, half way through the season, many shipments were turned away without motice. The explanation I received was because of airline contracts, but I think a more realistic explanation is the post office is lossing money. The shipments are late, the bees are dead, and they have to refund the money. Next season should be interesting!

• Are you thinking of becoming a sideline beekeeper? Aaron Morris had some great tips for people. Aaron has been a beekeeper for more than 20 years and keeps around 150 colonies. He willingly shared his hard lessons which he has learned over the years. Things which are taken for granted as a hobbyist, need to be considered as a sideliner, such as travel mileage and buying in bulk.

In the afternoon workshops, Aaron drew a large crowd as he stepped people through the process of working a hive. Regardless of experience or how long you have been keeping bees, it is always interesting to see how others do things.

• Right up front Jeff Pettis stated there is no silver bullet when it comes to bee diseases and pests. With resistance to Apistan and Checkmite widespread, he stressed the importance of testing your colonies for resistance. There is no sense treating if the treatment will not work. Ultimately, an integrated approach is what will work best. Again, he cautioned that what works for one person in one region, might not work for another person in another region. An integrated management pest management strategy must be taylored to region and beekeeper to be effective.

  Pictured to the right is Jeff blasting a drone frame to flush out the pupae and mites. The water sheers the caps off, and flushes both the drone pupae and mites out of the cells. The longer the frame is washed the more mites get flushed out. After a thorough washing, shake the excess water off and put it right back in the hive. You save the bees time and energy by cleaning the frame for them, and your significant other won't send you to the dog house for putting a sticky frame in the freezer.

June 27, 2005

We are hosting our 2nd annual open house on July 16th from 9:00 A.M.- 5:00 P.M. It is free to existing customers, but pre-registration is required and space is limited.

Speakers

• Reggie Wilbanks: Reggie is the owner of Wilbanks Apiary in Claxton, Georgia. Wilbanks is a major supplier of packaged bees. Reggie will give us an overview of his operation and discuss the bee industry.
• Aaron Morris: Aaron has been keeping bees for more than 20 years. Over that time he has accumulated a wealth of knowledge ans is very active in the industry. He is now a sideliner and will be talking about his business.
• Jeff Pettis: Jeff is a research entomologist at the USDA Beltsville Bee Laboratory. His work has focused on various bee diseases and pests, and their different treatment and control strategies. He will be discussing various options for varroa control.

Schedule of Events

• 9:00 - Welcome and introductions
• 9:15 - Reggie Wilbanks - Package bee industry
• 10:00 - Coffee Break
• 10:30 - Aaron Morris - The business of a sideliner
• 10:30 - Candlemaking Workshop (runs until 12:00)
• 11:15 - Jeff Pettis - Options for varroa control
• 12:00 - Lunch - Brought to you by the local Boy Scouts
• 1:00 - Concurrent Workshops - Bring your veils
1. How your package is made
2. Working a hive and inspection
3. Options for varroa control
4. Candlemaking
• 3:00 - Break
• 3:30 - Panel Discussion and wrap up
• 5:00 - Departure

Don't miss our Bargain Barn and Display Tent. There will be lots of deals and plenty to look at.

If you would like to attend, please call 1-800-632-3379 or sent us an email with your name, address, and zip code so we can find you in our database.

June 23, 2005

Each year the Greenwich Chamber of Commerce organizes the Whipple City Festival. It is an all weekend event with crafts, music, and entertainment. The event is kicked off with a parade that has different theme each year. This year was Mardi Gras. Betterbee entered for the first time, but I'm sure it will become an annual event for us. We decorated our bee truck in Mardi Gras fashion and everyone dressed up as either bees or beekeepers. If you are wondering, yes we had drones, cleaning bees, guard bees, attendant bees, and unfortuately we even had a robber bee. You didn't know bees could play the saxophone, did you? It was great fun and everyone's effort paid off, Betterbee was award Best in Parade!

June 13, 2005

We just received word that MiteAway II can be shipped via the US Post Office. The details are still being worked out, but we will be able to ship it in time for the fall treatment. The folks at MiteAway II are working with UPS so we will be able to ship your complete orders through UPS. We will keep you posted.

April 22, 2005

Betterbee is now a distributor of Mite-Away II. Mite-Away II was approved for use in the U.S. at the end of March. It is currently listed for use in 9 states, with more being added daily. This gives beekeepers another alternative to the hard chemicals. In short, Mite-Away II is a formic acid treatment that is well suited for northern climates. It is applied by placing a formic impregnated pad on two sticks which are on the top bars. A 1-1/2" shim is required to prevent the cover from resting on the pad. The space created by the sticks and shim allow for proper air circulation. After the 21 days the spent pad is removed. More complete instructions are given on our Instructional Page. For more information about Mite-Away II, a PDF version of the complete press release is available by Clicking Here.

One major drawback to Mite-Away II is it must ship as a hazardous material through UPS or FedEx, essentially making it cost prohibitive to ship. We certainly can ship it to any registered state, but it would be best for people to pool orders either with friends or associations, and we can have a pallet drop shipped to you at an affordable rate. Call us for more information.

April 4, 2005

We received a call from Wilbanks Apiary in Georgia to inform us that the bees are running a little behind. Extensive rain coupled with tornado warnings, hale, and occasion snow has prevented the bees for foraging and kept the queens from mating. Not to mention the difficulties of getting to the bee yards through the flood waters. As a result, all but the April 16th May 21st pickup dates are pushed foward one week. The pickup dates are now as follows:

• April 16 is still April 16
• April 23 is moved to April 30
• May 7 is moved to May 14
• May 14 is moved to May21
• May 21 is still May 21

We regret any inconvenience this may cause, but Mother Nature sometimes throws us a curve ball. If you have any questions please contact us.

March 21, 2005

The weather seems to have broken and we have been getting out to our yards. So far our losses are about 10%, but it is still early and we have many to visit. Of particular note was the visit to our yard with Russian queens. The colonies were of good strength and all had plenty of honey reserves, traits typical of Russian queens. These queens were grafted from a Russian mother which was purchased from Charlie Harper. We will keep you posted as we continue to monitor their progress.

February 25, 2005

We often have items on sale in our show room. These items have either been discontinued or are blemished in some way. The merchandise might be an extractor with a small dent, or a hive body that has a slight crack. Merchandise that works and functions just fine but we can't ship to our customers without them being able to see what they are getting. So we have added our Bargain Barn. This way customers can come and see first hand what we have. If you're in the area and you want a deal, to come take a look.

February 10, 2005

For those of you that enjoy our website, we think you'll find it even better. Do you have a catalog and know just what you want? Use the new Quick Order form by simply typing in the product code. Remember how you had to email or fax us your information for printed labels? You can now submit that information with your order. We also have improved the functionality of the online order tracking, and we will soon be adding email notification with FedEx tracking numbers.

Not only have we made your shopping easier, we have also tried to answer any questions you might have. Over the years we have included many useful tips and tricks in our catalog, now this information, and much more , is part of the new Resource Section of our website. As you may already have noticed, we have included a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) where you will find most of the answers to your questions about beekeeping, equipment, and candlemaking. We have added a glossary, information about bee diseases and pests, and are constantly updating it with beekeeping news and events.

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