A Note from the President by Rich Farrier

Willamette Valley Beekeepers Association Established in 1967.

I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year!  Hopefully this year we can reflect on gratitude.  Those that have gratitude seem to be happier.  Instead of “What did you get?”  Bob Purcell prefers to ask others “What did you give?”  It doesn’t have to be expensive or something to do with money.  Giving can be kind words, visiting someone, lifting another’s spirits, lifting another’s burdens, an act of service, or a physical gift.

Our daylight time will become a little longer each day now.  We are past the winter solstice.

We will start off January with a new meeting room.  We will now be in Building 8, Room 201.  I looked at it and it’s a very nice room.  It has large round tables with chairs around them.  The room holds 100 plus people.  Unfortunately they have stopped giving out any keys.  Someone will have to get there 30 minutes before the meeting and call campus security to unlock the door.  It could take up too 30 minutes for them to get there (so they say).

At our January 23, 2017 meeting, we will have our pizza feed, election of officers, and our big prize giveaways.

Bee School will take place on February 16,21,23, and 27, 2017.  It’s $45 including the book and $35 without the book.  The School will be held in Building 8, Room 201 at Chemeketa C. C.

Our special guest for the February 27th meeting is going to be Ross Conrad.  His presentation is: Natural Beekeeping in the Age of Neonicotinoid Pesticides and Colony Collapse Disorder.  He is the author of Natural Beekeeping: Organic Approaches To Modern Apiculture, 2nd Edition.

For those who knew Franz Yordy, he passed on November 8, 2016.  He ran Snow Peak Apiaries where he made wooden bee equipment.

Karen Finley and Tad Buford are selling Nucs this coming year.  You can check out their website [queenbeeapiaries.com].

Cheers, Rich