March 18, 2019 Beepistle: Workshop Saturday, April 27@ 1-4 PM, rain or shine, 3-brood Nucleus colonies $175, New World Carniolan Queens $37, Paraffinned Woodenware and Equipment, Honey, Pollen, Propolis, Beeswax available
Dear Beekeeper,
Happy almost Spring! I hope you are doing well. My shoulder is quite improved after my August 25 accident.
I arrived at my house on the 15th and was checking the bees that afternoon! The weather was glorious, but it was much cooler the next day when I finished checking. The result: 45 of 47 hives survived, 96%, with most in good-excellent condition! After hearing about the Polar Vortex and prolonged cold spells, I was thrilled! There was about 9" of snow here on the Ridge. In contrast, it was a hot summer in Brasil. There is considerable division over the new president!
If you haven't been receiving my beepistles and emails, be sure lindenapm@gmail.com, lindenapim@gmail.com, lindenamel@gmail.com, lindenamc@gmail.com,and lindenap@gmail.com are in your Safe Senders List, contacts, or address book, to avoid them being rejected as Spam! Or you may have to go find the email in the Spambox and mark it not Spam. To be removed, please reply with “remove” in subject. Some of my previous accounts have been shut down by Google due to people marking my emails as Spam. Please inform me of email address changes!
Soon there will be some pollen coming in from early bulbs such as Eranthis hyemalis (winter aconite,) as well as Galanthus nivalis (snowdrops), and Leucojum vernum (snowflakes), which can inspire the bees to forage as low as 33 degrees F.! Other early bulbs are Chionadoxa luciliae (glory of the snow), and Scilla siberica (Siberian squill). Soon Acer saccharinum (silver maple: nectar/pollen), Alnus spp. (alders: pollen), Populus spp. (poplars: pollen), and Salix spp. (willows: in this order of bloom (Salix nigra (black), S. caprea (goat), S. discolor (pussy), S. alba (white)), and mid-late April: Acer rubrum (red maple: nectar/pollen) and American Elm (Ulmus americana:pollen.)
I’m offering nuclei with 3 deep wooden Langstroth frames, (no junk comb or frames!) well-filled with mostly-sealed brood and +/-3# of bees from my Walpole colonies, and a laying, clipped and marked, hygienic, mite resistant, winter-hardy, gentle, 2019 New World Carniolan queen for starting colonies, to be picked up at my residence. I shall start installing nucs in your boxes in mid-May. Let me know ASAP if you want to order nucs and how many (see about queens below). Price is $175, and nucs will be installed in your equipment, with no frame exchange. To place an order, send $175 for each nucleus desired. I don’t accept credit or debit cards. Make the check or money order to my name and send to:
Charles F. Andros
POB 165
Walpole, NH 03608
Ask the post office person to be sure there is a legible date stamp on the envelope. Your pickup date depends upon posting date of letter. First sent, first served. If I don't have your home phone, address, and phone, I'll need it. There is a $5 per order cancellation fee. Booking dates given are approximate, as I’m at the mercy of Nature. I book conservatively, so often get ahead of schedule.
Nuclei develop 5-6 weeks ahead of packages with much less supersedure problems due to population age imbalances before brood starts to hatch. Packages that lose queens can develop laying workers in a hurry!
I have the equipment to get you started if you don’t. I sell pre-paraffinned woodenware, which prevents warping, checking, and rot. You never need to paint, and it is non-toxic! Frames are not waxed, however. Let me know what you need ASAP. I’ll soon be revising my pricelist and ordering more equipment. Price list is available on request for the full array of equipment that I sell.
I shall have laying, clipped and marked white, hygienic, winter-hardy, gentle, New World Carniolan queen bees available starting April 25. Price will be $37, shipped for $42. For additional queens to bee shipped, please add $38 per queen. Let me know ASAP when you need queens. Shipment is after receipt of your check and when available. I need your mailing address and home, work, and cell phone numbers to ship queens. Let your postmaster know that you are expecting queens, and that you don’t want to receive them in your roadside mailbox! Check to see that your queen is alive at the PO, if not, register the loss with the Postmaster. Included with the queen are detailed introduction instructions. If you are going to pick up queens, bring a quart-size container with a lid, such as for yogurt. I can put your caged queens in, add bees and candy outside the cages, and put on the lid, in which I’ll poke holes for air.
I put on 4 Beekeeping Workshops per season, at $35 each, children under 18 free when accompanied by parent. I have 46 seasons of extensive apicultural experience which I like to pass on! All held at my home from 1-4 PM. Look for the "BEE" sign on the south side of Walpole Valley Road (18 MacLean Road, Alstead, NH 03602: follow my directions at bottom!) Bring a veil, if you have one, as we shall be opening some colonies. Water and sunscreen are also a plus. We'll be inside if it is a rainy day. Registration required. Email: lindenap@gmail.com or call 603-756-9056.
Put these on your calendar now:
"Charles Andros, former NH/VT Apiary Inspector, will hold a beekeeping workshop from 1-4 PM on Saturday, April 27. Topics of discussion will be early spring management: locating apiaries, equipment, handling bees, feeding syrup and supplements, making nuclei, reversing, and requeening."
"Charles Andros, former NH/VT Apiary Inspector, will hold a beekeeping workshop from 1-4 PM on Saturday, May 18. Topics of discussion: finding queens, requeening and 2-queen colonies, pollen collection, swarm control, supering, and bee venom therapy."
"Beekeepers must take timely steps to control American Foulbrood and Varroa mites to SAVE THE BEES! Charles Andros, former NH/VT Apiary Inspector, will hold a beekeeping workshop from 1-4 PM on Saturday, July 13. The topics of discussion will be taking off and extracting honey, wax processing, queen assessment and requeening, treatment of mites and foulbrood, and making propolis tincture."
"Charles Andros, former NH/VT Apiary Inspector, will hold a beekeeping workshop from 1-4 PM on Saturday, September 7. Topics of discussion will include treatment of nosema and mites (including using oxalic acid), winter preparations, winter protein and carbohydrate supplements, and making beeswax hand creams."
I have honey at $24 per quart. Pollen is $30 per quart. Propolis is $17 for 2 oz. Beeswax for brushing on plastic foundation is $10/lb.
Be sure to register your bee locations with your state Entomologist to help control American Foulbrood and avoid losing bees during mosquito spraying! http://www.apiaryinspectors.org/members/states.html
Updates: Kim Skyrm, Ph.D., Kim.Skyrm@state.ma.us Chief Apiary Inspector/Apiary Program Coordinator, Massachusetts.
David Tremblay: David.tremblay@vermont.gov see state websites for other updates
Piera Siegert, State Entomologist
(603) 271-2561
email: piera.siegert@agr.nh.gov
http://www.agriculture.nh.gov/publications-forms/documents/apiary-registration.pdf
Have a great Spring!
Bee healthy!
Charles Frederic Andros
Linden Apiaries since 1973
603-756-9056, 413-308-0550 (Google number from Ludlow, MA)
Skype: charlesandros, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Linden-Apiaries-since-1973-451349315202730/
P. O. Box 165
Walpole, NH 03608-0165
Speaker, Eastern Apicultural Society Conference 2001, on Propolis and Pollen Production
NH/VT Apiary Inspector 1978-1989
Keeper of 48 colonies for nuclei, unheated honey, fresh-frozen pollen, propolis tincture, beeswax, candles, workshops, beekeeping supplies, apitherapy, consulting, pollination, and Bee Complex facial.
(Package delivery address (not for letters!): 18 MacLean Road, Alstead, NH 03602
Latitude 43̊ 04' 50.5" North, Longitude 72̊ 21' 12.25" West WGS 1984, Elevation 366 meters
"Learn, experiment, innovate, educate!"
(BEWARE INTERNET MAPS THAT SEND YOU ON WASHED OUT ROADS AND BRIDGES, AND NAVIGATORS THAT PUT ME A MILE UP MACLEAN ROAD!!)
http://maps.google.com/ or Google Maps or Earth: search "Linden Apiaries"
I am about 1 hour south of White River Junction, 40 minutes north from Brattleboro, and 20-25 minutes north of Keene.
From Walpole, NH: At the south end of Main Street, take Prospect Hill to top and bear left at the Golf Course, then immediately left between the ponds on Maple Grove Road. Just after Fletcher Farm, go right on March Hill Road to the "T" (2.8 miles), then right on Walpole Valley Road. After .3 miles take the first right on MacLean Road, and the first right is my driveway, just after MacLean turns to gravel. See Linden Apiaries sign on corner of Valley Road and at bottom of my driveway. If you miss MacLean Road, it's 1.4 miles all downhill to 12-A.
From Bellows Falls, VT (from north, take exit 6, I-91): Take NH Route 12 south from northern bridge 1.6 miles to Route 123, on the left. Proceed only 0.85 mile on 123, taking the second paved right on (Walpole) Valley Road. Continue for 4.75 miles, then take a right on MacLean Road, which is on the right 0.3 mile after March Hill Road. If you miss MacLean Road, it's 1.4 miles all downhill to 12-A. My house is the first on the right. See Linden Apiaries sign on corner of Valley and at bottom of my drive.
From Westminster Station, VT (from south, take exit 5, I-91): Take Route 123 east over the Connecticut River. Go right on Route 12, 0.6 mile. Take the first left to Main Street. Then follow directions from Walpole, NH.
From Keene, NH: Take NH Route 12 north 1.8 miles to Maple Avenue and go right on Route 12A exit ramp. Start measuring at end of ramp. Go right, then straight at circle on 12A. It is 8.5 miles from end of ramp until you come to paved uphill Walpole Valley Road on the left, just before a narrow bridge at the end of the valley, and 1.1 miles after the Gilsum Road. Take your first paved left which turns to gravel, just after the top of the hill, at 1.4 miles, which is MacLean Road. My house is first on right. See Linden Apiaries sign on corner of Valley Road and at bottom of my driveway.
From East Alstead: Starting at corner of Forest Road and Camp Brook Road. Take Camp Brook Road 1.8 mi. Turn right on Alstead Center Road (RT-12A). Go 50 yards to left on Pratt Road - go 3.0 mi. Turn left on Walpole Valley Road - go 0.7 mile. Take second right on MacLean Road, 0.3 mile after March Hill Road. If you miss MacLean Road, it's 1.4 miles downhill to 12-A. My house is first on right. See Linden Apiaries sign on corner of Valley Road and at bottom of my driveway.
From Concord via Sullivan shortcut: Continue on Route 9 past Route 123, then go
right at East Sullivan four corners. Proceed on Center Street 2.3 miles. Go right on Church Street. Go 0.3 miles to right turn on Gilsum Road. Go 3.3 miles to Route 10. Go south or left and through Gilsum, then go right on Surry Road 0.8 mile south of Gilsum at the National Historic Site (single span stone arch bridge.) Stay on asphalt 4.1 miles then turn right on 12 A and go 1.1 miles north to a left just before a small bridge and go steeply uphill on paved Walpole Valley Road. Go 1.4 miles (just after the crest of the hill), take your first paved left, which is MacLean Road. My house is the first on the right. See Linden Apiaries sign on corner of Valley Road and at bottom of my driveway.
From Newport, NH: Take NH 10 south to right on Surry Road 0.8 mile south of Gilsum over the stone arch bridge. See above directions from Gilsum.
