Due to my recent election as the President of the Ohio State Beekeepers Association, I have found it necessary to resign as President of COBA effective January 1st. I would like to thank all of you for the opportunity to serve as your president over the past two years. I feel that COBA has a fine group of leaders, including the new President Terry Eddy, and these leaders will carry on the work of the past two years quite well. COBA is my home club and I will continue to support and volunteer for COBA projects.

As the new president-elect of Ohio State Beekeepers Association, I have a vision to move OSBA forward. OSBA needs to develop the same “we” philosophy that COBA has. I extend a special thanks to all those volunteers who took time from their busy schedules last year to support the efforts of COBA. You are still special to me and just because I will be directing most of my energy toward a state-wide effort, I consider you my friends. Feel free to call me at any time, come over to visit, and share your ideas of what OSBA should be doing for beekeepers.

Outgoing President’s Corner: Thank You

January 2012 Volume 2, Number 1 Coming this month…

COBA Board Meeting January 9, at 7:00 pm Rothenbuhler Bee Lab, OSU Waterman Farms, 2501 Carmack Rd Columbus, OH 43210 All members are invited to attend. COBA All members Meeting, Wednesday January 18, 6:15 p.m, Franklin Park Conser-vatory . Presentation at 7:00 by Mark Cam-eron

Inside this issue:

Bee Dollar Auc-tion contributors

2

Honey Bee History and Species

2

November Banquet

3

November Banquet Photos

4

Contributed by Dana Stahlman

Smoker Signals

January COBA Members Meeting Don’t miss our All Members Meeting on Wednesday, January 18, 2012, at the Frank-lin Park Conservatory. The meeting starts at 6:15 with a roundtable discussion on topics of interest. At 7:00, Mark Cameron, one of COBA’s members, will present an

interesting session on Apitherapy.

APITHERAPY or bee therapy (from the Latin apis which means bee) is the medicinal use of products made by honeybees. Products of the honeybee include bee venom, honey, pollen, royal jelly, propolis, and beeswax. Some of the conditions treated (not in any special order) are: multiple sclerosis, arthritis, wounds, pain, gout, shingles, burns, tendonitis, and infections.

Therapies involving the honeybee have existed for thousands of years and some may be as old as human medicine itself. The ancient rock art of early hunter-gatherers depicts the honeybee as a source of natural medicine. Bee venom therapy was prac-ticed in ancient Egypt, Greece, and China three Great Civilizations known for their highly developed medical systems. Hippocrates, the Greek physician known as the Father of Medicine , recognized the healing virtues of bee venom for treating arthritis and other joint problems. Today, growing scientific evidence suggests that various bee products promote healing by improving circulation, decreasing inflammation, and stimulating a healthy immune response.

This is our first meeting of our new COBA year. We hope to see everyone

there. Please bring yearly dues payment to the meeting. ($10.00)

Page 2 Smoker

The members of COBA wish to thank the individuals and companies who contributed prizes and items for COBA’s annual Bee Dollar Auction in October 2011. This was the largest COBA Bee Dollar Auction ever, with a wide variety of items for novice and experienced beekeepers to bid on with their “bee dollars.”

COBA wishes to recognize the following individuals and companies for their contributions:

Dana Stahlman, Virginia Webb, Sue Daly, Dennis Lamb, Mel Sword, John and Kay George, Nina Bagley, Pat Chambers, Margaret Reid, Terry Eddy, Kim Flippen, and Patty DeMaria.

Companies: S & Bee Honey Containers, Paula Lee’s Honey Bees, Conrad Hive and Honey, Clay Guthrie from the Dadant Company, Collins Honey Bee Feeders.

This may not be an exhaustive list of our contributors and we do not wish to overlook anyone who made contri-butions to the success of the Bee Dollar Auction. Please contact the secretary if your name is not on this list and you contributed to the Bee Dollar Auction.

Contributors to COBA’s Bee Dollar Auction

We say the bees are domesticated and call ourselves beekeepers. Both are misnomers. Bees are not domesti-cated in the way other animals are dependent on us for their welfare, nor do we keep them. They are a “take it or leave it” creature. If what we provide suits them, they will make use of it, otherwise they will simply use the instincts mother nature instilled in them, and set up housekeeping wherever they find something more to their liking. Domesticated bees that have swarmed and set up housekeeping without the benefit of a nest provided by humans are called feral bees. Due to pesticides and CCD (colony collapse disorder), there are few feral colo-nies left.

Man has had a relationship with honey bees since ancient times. The earliest record is a wall carving in Spain, dated 6000 B.C. Honey has been found in the tombs of ancient Egyptian kings, dated 3000 years ago. In northern Israel, archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of a beekeeping operation complete with clay hives, honeycomb and wax, also 3000 years old. More recently, in 908 A.D., honey bees saved the city of Chester, England when the citizens of the town dropped the city’s bee hives on an army of invading Danes and Norwe-gians, driving them away.

Honey bees are not native to North America, and were referred to by Indians as “the white man’s fly.” They ar-rived in Virginia in 1691, sent by the Council of the Virginia Company in London. Prior to 1800, the European breeds taken to America were probably the European “dark bee,” also known as the German black bee (Apis mellifera mellifera) and the Spanish honey bee (Apis mellifera iberica). Honey became a common food in the English colonies by the end of the 17th century. Bees reached Massachusetts by 1640 and around 1800 reached and crossed the Appalachians. Bees arrived in Utah in 1848. There were approximately 2,000 colonies of bees in 1872 when the Deseret Bee Association was formed.

At the turn of the 19th century, a new European breed was imported from Italy, the Italian bee (Apis mellifera ligustica). The Italians, being very docile, were readily adopted by beekeepers, taking the place of other breeds. The genus Apis includes five species: Apis mellifera, the European (common) honey bee; Apis cerana, the East-ern honey bee; Apis florae, the small honey bee; Apis dorsata, the Asian (giant) honey bee; and Apis laboriosa, the Indian honey bee (formally a type of Apis dorsata, it was named a separate species in 1980). Among the four commonly-recognized species of Apis, only Apis cerana and Apis mellifera are kept commercially. Apis mellifera, the bee imported to North America, is divided into three distinct groups: the European (most studied), the Afri-can, and the Oriental (little known).

Historically, beekeeping has declined in the United States. In 1947, there were 5.9 million beehives. This number decreased steadily, leveling off at 4.1 million in the 1980s, but falling off again to a present level of 2.9 million. During the same period, the number of beekeepers also declined. An estimated 80% of the food we eat, or every third bite of food, comes from fruits and vegetables pollinated by bees or other insects. Honey bees produce around 200 million pounds of honey a year in the United States, or about 84 pounds of honey per colony.

Honey Bee History and Species contributed by Dan Wampler

Volume 1, Number 9 Page 3

COBA Banquet Is Huge Success

Thanks to our Banquet Chairman, Mike Hatter, for his efforts to make the November COBA Year-End Banquet the best ever. The Banquet was held for the first time at Der Dutchman, and almost 80 COBA members attended. Response from those attending was very positive, and everyone enjoyed a great meal and a very reasonable cost.

Following the meal, Carmen Conrad, COBA’s very own honey judge, presented the prizes to the winners of the COBA honey products contest. Winners included Nina Bagley, Kim Flippen, Mike Adkins, Shawn Rinehart, Mary Wampler, Lydia Voorhees, Andy Sponseller, and Mark Cameron. Nina Bagley won the “Best of Show” award. The club hopes to have more members participating next year.

Dana Stahlman recognized the following individuals for their support of COBA: retiring trustee Board Members Pat Chambers, Joy Voorhees, and Mike Hatter, as well as all Committee Chairs. Sue Hamrick was also recog-nized for her many contributions to the Bee Yard. Bill Tolliver, Beekeeper of the Year in 2010, presented the COBA Beekeeper of the Year Award for 2011 to Carmen Conrad. Dana announced his retirement as President of COBA effective January 1, 2012, and introduced Terry Eddy, Vice President, who will be assuming the Presi-dent’s role at COBA.

Honey Display

Dana Stahlman thanking Mike Hatter

for his work on the Banquet

Page 4 COBA Officers President Terry Eddy facilitymanagementsupport@hotmail.com Vice President [vacant] Past President Dana Stahlman stahlmanapiaries@aol.com Secretary Gail Walter gailwalter@columbus.rr.com Treasurer Barry Conrad barry@hiveandhoney.com Trustees through 2012 Nina Bagley ninabagley@me.com John George jkgeorge1@roadrunner.com Dan Wampler poppawamp@hotmail.com Trustees through 2013 Scott Taylor scott@beehavenacres.com Rod Pritchard rpritchard@coaaa.org Dwight Wells dwells85@woh.rr.com

Carmen Conrad is Beekeeper of the Year for 2011

Dana Stahlman announces his resignation as of January 1;

Vice President Terry Eddy will take over as President