Great Gift Ideas For Your Beekeeper –
Honey Bee Charli, by Melissa Haskins Wilbanks. Published by Mascot Books. ISBN 978-1-63177-990-0. 10” x 8”, 32 pgs., hardcover, full color. $14.95.
Yes, that Wilbanks. Melissa Haskins Wilbanks is married to Reg Wilbanks, commercial beekeeper and queen producer, so it is no wonder this children’s book has bees as the characters of this story. The author has been a teacher for over 25 years, and has a strong relationship with the children she teaches. And this book is about children, and parents. The child is a honey bee of course, and Mom is the Queen. But this isn’t honey bee biology. It’s about Parenting, teaching, growing and learning. The illustrations are easy to look at and certainly make the story easy to read with a child. And everybody will enjoy the friendly bees, the flowers and the story in particular. – Kim Flottum
Visit www.mascotbooks.com
Bees Life Necklace –
This uniquely crafted necklace is a visual representation of the amount of honey a bee makes in its short life. A honey bee lives for four to six weeks and can produce 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey. This necklace bulb holds exactly that 1/12th amount. Use as a visual display in a classroom or proudly wear it to support a special creature we adore. Send to a special friend.
To purchase for $10/each go to www.ecobeebox.com or www.ecobox.net. Comes in a men’s cord or a lady chain.
Visit www.ecobeebox.com or www.ecobox.net
A Welsh Beekeeper from the UK has developed a “Virtually” sting proof suit called the
“Sentinel Pro 3D”
aimed at Beekeepers who suffer from Anaphylaxis and wish to continue with their hobby.
A beekeeper and farmer, Ian designed the suit when a colleague became seriously anaphylactic and was forced to give up beekeeping. Having found a suitable material in Europe the design went through several months of trialling and testing before launching in March 2018 at a prominent Beekeeping Convention in Wales.
The suit is made from a 3D breathable material and weighs under three lbs, its unique clear mesh is used in the Fencing Veil (a little deeper than most to prevent bees stinging your face) and Retro Hat which are interchangeable with each other on the suit, it also has lots of interesting features, two lined hive tool pockets one on each leg, zipped mobile phone breast pockets, strategically placed hip pockets, built in knee pads and even a little pocket on the sleeve for a queen marking pen, a torch or an EpiPen. The sentinel Pro has YKK Zips with ease of use ring pulls for the veils, hats and main body, and there are zips at the ankles to help put on and pull off the suit.
The suit is extremely light and comfy to wear, its very flexible and in the heat of the summer the 3D breathable material keeps you surprisingly cool. The material of the suit is is very strong and will not tear easily on brambles, thorns etc, its 3.5 mm thick and a bees sting is between 1.5 mm and 3 mm long, knowing this, your confidence is automatically boosted particularly if you suffer from an allergy, bearing in mind a traditional bee suit is after all just a set of cotton overalls. The suit also eliminates wearing lots of additional clothing for protection underneath.
To accompany the suit Old Castle Farm Hives have produced Sentinel Pro 3D Ventilated gloves and gauntlets to match and the suit comes in two colours a modern grey or traditional white. The suit is available in a variety of different sizes, and make “Custom” sizes also, it is machine-washable and dries quickly.
Visit www.oldcastlefarmhives.com
As with many creatures, Honey Bees have a communication system of their own. The question is, can we understand their language? Likely not, until now. Most beekeepers know colonies can hiss, queens can pipe & workers do their waggle dance. But did you know there are many other sounds that the colony can make in order to communicate? Colonies warble, wave, moan, crackle, plead, quibble and rip a quilt. The Bees are always communicating with each other. We just don’t know how to interpret their detailed communication system, until recently. What if we could “listen in on” their conversations? If we could “eves drop” in on the colony, I wonder what we’d learn? Does such a tool even exist?
Yes! It’s called the “Apivox Smart Monitor”. This is a multi-function “listening app”, able to interpret the colonies communication and then translate this information back to us, in the form of dials and graphs. Not found in traditional app stores. Custom written to your Android device; cell phone or tablet. Apple IOs is too restrictive for recording sounds, sorry. A 4gb download. Comes with a detailed Operators Manual. Using a Bluetooth ear piece, slipped into the porch opening, synced with your device and the Apivox app. Apivox is a standalone app, no need for internet connections.
Benefits are many; we get a three weeks heads up on swarming condition, before a queen cell ever appears. We can determine queen rightness, or absence. We’re able to determine if the bees are working on building honey reserves. In Winter we’re able to determine if CO2 levels are too high and the colony is stressed. We’re able to determine queen acceptance, or rejection. Able to determine a honey harvest is ready. Determines intense brood rearing or not. And much more!
If you’d like to learn more about the Apivox Smart Monitor, Cost is: $40 and can be ordered through ApivoxAuditor.com, Developers website: ApivoxAuditor.com.
Developers name: Serjio Glebskij.
Our website: www.littlecreekbeeranch.com/Apivox-Auditor.html
If you have further questions, you can reach me at: kadyscout@aol.com
or my cell phone 918-798-2251, if you text, please include your name.
Visit www.ApivoxAuditor.com
Beehive Awning – A NEW Beekeeper product by Old Greenwich Honey.
There are two key reasons to use the Beehive Awning:
1. Hive Circulation: If the front of the hive is blocked by any debris, snow or sleet, circulation would stop, moisture could build up on the inside cover and drop cold water, killing the bees.
2. Temperature Control, providing a lower temperature on the landing board helps lower and regulate the temperature within the hive. This relieves the bees from extensive temperature control fanning.
The Beehive Awning can simply be attached to a Langstroth Hive, eight or 10 frame, screwed to the hive deep, between the handle and the landing board entrance. The Beehive Awning will be secured by (2) two half-inch screws.
The Beehive Awning design consists of: 18-Gage cold rolled steel panel, 16.25in. x 4 in. (bent 10º at 1 in. from the top), Powder-Coated, sky white, (extra strength powder coating for outdoor use) and Stainless Steel (no. 8) – 1/2 inch screws (3)
Retail at $19; Wholesale at $9.50.
Shipped in Multiple fees of 25 units Shipping costs tbc.
Orders available December 1st, 2018.
For Orders Contact Joel Dawson, 203.554.7466 or 203.637.4980, Joel@oldgreenwichhoney.com
CORRECTION
In the New Products section in our printed November issue we left did not include the website for the Easy On Hive Covers. It is www.easyonhivecovers.com.
