This article is not Virginia specific, but contains a lot of good information. Supplied to us by John Davis:
Category: Educational
2019 Beginning Beekeeping Class
VA Beekeeper Limits of Liability
Interesting blog, with a free self-verification and record keeping checklist.
https://www.backfortybees.com/blog/virginias-beekeeper-limits-of-liability
WEBINAR: Feeding Honeybees
Join us for our April webinar at 9AM Eastern on April 15th, 2015
Kim Flottum, author and editor of Bee Culture Magazine, will discuss what foods honey bees need, how much they need, and what beekeepers can do to make sure their bees are well fed.
It’s said that good nutrition is the strongest medicine, and the best insurance beekeepers can use to keep their bees healthy and productive. Moreover, managing nutrition correctly can make your bees even more productive with appropriate timing and diet. Find out more about honey bee nutrition – enough good food, all of the time, for every bee in the bunch.
All webinars are free, and registration is not required. Webinars run from 9:00AM to 10:00AM Eastern.
To join the webinar, follow the link below and LOG IN AS A GUEST at about 8:55 the day of the event: http://go.osu.edu/theOSUbuzz
To access via iPad, iPhone or Android device, download the Adobe Connect app.
All webinars will be recorded and archived on the Bee Lab website: https://u.osu.edu/beelab/courses/
Hope to “see” you this month!
Denise
Denise Ellsworth
Ohio State Extension, Department of Entomology
ellsworth.2@osu.edu
The Beauty of Pollination
Thanks to Gene D. and Dee F. for sending this in.
TED Talk: Why bees are disappearing
Quacking and Piping Queens
Just wanted to share. I had several swarm cells in my observation hive. Since I can get really close without bothering them, I can record them. The attached sound file is a virgin queen piping. I had a few of these in there, so they were doing it off and on all day.

There are two recordings from my observation hive. When it comes to virgin queens, they make a couple sounds. This hive had more than one, and so you can here one “quacking” and it’s what it sounds like, a quack type sound over and over. Then, you can hear the piping sound, which has a sound that kind of ramps up, and then repeats. It sounds like a tiny, tiny kazoo trumpet like sound. Supposedly, the queen will quack while still in the cell, and startpiping right before and after she emerges. There are some theories as to why they do this, but I’ll let you look those up. 🙂
~Rob Wokaty