Report from Young Harris

[tillie]

Well, we all decided that "what happens in Young Harris, stays in Young Harris" but I have to report that we all  had a great time and did well.  I passed the exam as did others and we are now Certified Beekeepers in Georgia.  It was also fun to get to know each other better face to face.

I did find some of the questions quite hard - they asked for two uses of the queen excluder.  Well, I don't use one and could only name one: to keep the queen from laying in the honey super, but I have no idea what the other was. 

There also was a multiple choice question:  Honey is a) fructose, b) glucose, or c) a combination of both.  Dadant's first lessons in Beekeeping says that honey is 15 - 20 % water, 40 % levulose or fruit sugar (is that the same as fructose??), 34 % dextrose or grape sugar and 2% sucrose or cane sugar.....  I made an 89 on that part of the test and I know I missed those two questions and obviously some others.  I was proud that I lit the smoker, and did OK on the practical exam - I made a 90 on that and mostly missed disease treatment since I don't know anything about Terramyacin, Fumacillin, etc.

The man who taught the section on equipment for the hive gave me a little trouble when I said that I waxed in starter strips and didn't use wire or plastic.  He said I was an anachronism!  Another speaker, Jim Quick, said that he hadn't had any varroa in his 43 hives for over six years and he doesn't use any chemicals.  He also doesn't use SBB and didn't acknowledge SC, but I wondered.

One of the best presenters was Bill Owens - I believe that he is the webmaster for BeeSource.  He is a bee removal guy and has all of his many, many hives on small cell and no Varroa mites.  He was also friendly, accessible, and patient - he was my tester while I was trying to light the #$%@$%@$ smoker with a cigarette lighter - which I never use, although I was finally successful with the thing.  It wasn't that I couldn't light the smoker - I couldn't light the lighter~ :shock:

Hope everyone has had as good a weekend as I did,

Linda T a Certified Beekeeper in the N GA Mountains

[ChickenWing]

Congradulations!   :-D   

I wonder what happend at Young Harris that has to stay at Young Harris ?    :-X :shock:     :-D

[pdmattox]

Congratulations Tillie, What an memorable experince it must have been.  Maybe next year I will have time to go.

[Understudy]

That is awesome Tillie. I am glad you had such a great time.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

[tillie]

The tests were thorough and hard - if I decide to go for the next level - Journeyman - I can't imagine.  Passing the Certificate is about like becoming a Tenderfoot Scout.  The next level only 3 out of the about 25 people who took the test passed it....so we'll see if I am courageous next year or maybe the next to try for that level :-\ :-\ :-\

Linda T in the mountains

[Kirk-o]

Hey Kid thats great.I think It is great you have a program in your state like that.
I think that program really promotes beekeeping.I think it shows how important beekeeping is in your enviroment.I can tell by reading your blog you are a good beekeeper
kirko

keeep going

[Cindi]

Linda, again I say, go, girl, go!!!  Excellent that you toook this course.  You are/will become a great beekeeper.   You have a love of the bees, that shines through.  Keep on learnin', you will do that, hands on and hands off.  Have a wonderful day, congrats to you.  Great health.  Cindi

[annette]

Linda,

I am so proud of you and I have no doubt that you could accomplish something like this. I read every thing that you post as I truly respect your commitment to beekeeping.

Guess what I will be doing next week??? I will be volunteering at the booth at the Sacramento State Fair. I sit at this booth and answer questions on beekeeping while showing an observation hive to the public. I am so excited as I used to visit this booth before I became a beekeeper, and now will be on the other end.

Keep us informed on your adventures, as you always do.

Oh Linda,

Remember that queen I introduced 3 weeks ago??? She was accepted, but when I returned from overseas I discovered that she might have been a drone layer, (whole bottom deep full of drone brood) but is now starting to lay worker brood. Guess she came unmated from the store where I purchased her, but since has become mated. So this hive has a setback and do not expect honey from this hive for me. Just want them to be healthy for now.

My other hive that was started from the split, has a queen to die for, and is making worker brood end to end on many frames with no spaces. I expect honey this summer from that hive.

This truly is an adventure with so many unexpected experiences.
Take care
Annette from Placerville

[Cindi]

Annette.  The situation with the queen laying drone brood, and then becoming mated and laying worker brood sounds really weird to me.  Wait for some responses from other forum members.  I have doubts that once a queen started laying (whether it be drone or worker) would go out on a mating flight again. 

If she was laying drone brood only ever, of course that would mean that there was no semen within her to fertilize eggs, and that would mean that she was an unmated queen.  Maybe, she herself, decided that she only wanted to lay drone brood.  The queen can command at will whether to lay fertilized or unfertilized eggs.  Maybe she thought that her colony was in need of many, many drones.  Then once this was completed, she began to lay worker eggs.  You will no doubt receive comments on this subject, mine are only junior speculation, I still have lots to learn, but that is my two cents worth.  Have a wonderful day, great that you are going to volunteer at the state fair, yeah!!!  Have some fun there.  Great health wishes for all.  Cindi

[annette]

Cindi,

I have a feeling you are correct with this. Perhaps she just wanted to lay drone eggs. In any case, this whole affair is a mystery to me, but she is laying worker brood now and I have high hopes for her. I found her walking around yesterday on the worker brood where she is laying, with all her attendents, so she is accepted and doing what she should be doing right now.

Thank you for the input, which I really appreciate.

Oh that state fair is actually a county fair. A little smaller, but I am sure I will have fun answering questions.

Have a wonderful day,
Sincerely,
Annette

[tillie]

Kirk-o and everyone,

Thanks for all the good knowledge you all have contributed to whatever I've learned so far about beekeeping! 

BTW, the Young Harris Institute had participants from Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee as well as Georgia.  I understand that Jamie Ellis is in the process of organizing a similar experience in Florida but it isn't off the ground yet.  But I do think it is special that we have Keith Delaplane in Georgia - this program is really his baby - going on 16 years now, I believe.

Linda T in Atlanta

[Michael Bush]

>One of the best presenters was Bill Owens - I believe that he is the webmaster for BeeSource. 

Barry Birkey is the webmaster for BeeSource.

Bill Owens is a moderator, as are several others including me.

[tillie]

Thanks, Michael.  One of the other presenters told me he was the webmaster so I am glad to know what his actual role is!  Bill is great guy and was helpful to everyone at the Institute - full of good information and gave it in a way that the receiver always felt valued - at least I did and it seemed like others as well.

Linda T