9/28/15 – WVBA Meeting Minutes
- General Minutes
- Meetings will no longer be held in Room 34. In future we will be in Building 9, room 111 or 115. These two rooms don’t have enough room for meetings when 120-130 people attend. If you know of a room that holds 120-130 people in Salem that we could hold meetings in for free, please let Rich or an officer know.
- Don’t forget to sign the Chemeketa form at the bottom.
- Ruhl Bee has officially moved to Wilsonville. Their address is: 29600 SW Seely Ave. Suite B, Wilsonville, OR 97070. There are only small signs as you wind in through the industrial buildings. Parking is much better.
- More young beekeepers are needed in this industry!
- It seems, to many people, that the varroa mite population is very high right now.
- It is suggested that you should already have checked the number of mites you have and you should be treating them.
- Check the number of mites you have after treatment to make sure the treatment worked. Don’t wait, check right now!
- It is almost too late to begin treatment now, depending on the weather.
- The sticky board isn’t a good measurement tool. Apivar should be in for 42 days and make sure it is taken out after the 42 days. Apivar will not save a hive with a really serious mite problem.
- If you still have mites after this, treat with a different chemical like formic acid. It is perfect weather for formic acid right now.
- If you break the brood cycle of the bees, you can significantly lower the population of mites. This happens somewhat naturally during the winter, but you will not totally eradicate them.
- You should probably be feeding. Liquid sugar will be good while the weather is dry. Make sure to keep the feeder full. If you feed syrup, make sure to take it out when they quit taking it. Fondant or dry sugar should be fed after about mid-October. They will take pollen until mid-October. 1:1 syrup can promote the queen laying.
- Rich asked if anyone had caught any swarms recently. He warns that swarms now will be covered in a huge population of mites. He figures it is not worth contaminating your apiary with the mite numbers that will be on these swarms.
- The Golden Screw Gun Award and plaque was given to Fred Mann for all his amazing volunteer help at the Oregon State Fair! Todd Bartlem, Dewey Caron, and Bunny Carter also sung ‘Ode to Fred Mann’.
- All the many volunteers that helped at the Oregon State Fair were thanked and asked to stand. It can’t be done without all the amazing people who put in their time!
- Presentation on beeswax candles, lotion and lip balm by Laura Evans.
- Pros and cons to using bleached beeswax.
- Recipes were handed out (and attached to these minutes).
- To clean beeswax:
- Drain honey from cappings or wax.
- Put in pan with one inch of water in the bottom. Heat slowly. (WARNING, wax is highly flammable; never leave the wax while it is heating!!) Stir until wax is melted.
- Take wax off the heat and let harden. You will then have three layers; wax, honey and scum.
- You may want to repeat the process.
- Do NOT use nylon stockings, expensive paper towels or strainers as filters.
- Do use paint filters or cheap paper towels to filter.
- Many choices of molds and many places to buy them (Ruhl, Glory Bee, etc.). Can use many everyday things as molds: cups, muffin tins, pipe, or Pringles containers. There are lip balm molds sold at Ruhl Bee Supply.
- For oils in the lotion, can use any oil: coconut, almond oil, olive oil, or sunflower oil. Cooking oils don’t smell as nice but can still be used.
- Have to watch shea butter as it can get grainy.
- Can use a cheese grater or a peeler to break up wax, or simply chop into blocks using a knife.
- Have fun!
- Contact Mona Kanner if you want to join in on a candle making session.
(NOTE: if you click on the images, they will enlarge, and you will be able to see them better.)
