February 2016

WVBA Meeting:  February 22, 2016

  1. General
    1. Erma wants book reviews for the library.  Each review only needs to be a few sentences.  
    2. New Meeting Site:
      1. There are not many rooms available for large groups for low cost.
      2. One possibility so far:  Pringle Hall, $34/hour.
      3. Suggestions:
        1. PGE Auditorium
        2. Permaculture Unitarian Church
        3. 4-H Center
        4. OSU Extension Center
        5. Independence Civic Center
        6. Salem Farm Bureau
    3. Polinator Conference
      1. WVBA will have a table at the conference if anyone wants to volunteer.
      2. Saturday, March 12 from 7:45 to 4:15 at the Holiday Inn in Albany.
      3. Conference is sponsored by the Master Gardeners.
      4. Speakers include:  Dr. Sujaya Rao, Beth Young, Rich Hatfield, and Rich Little.
      5. More information, visit:  http://extension.oregonstate.edu/mb/blog/beevent-pollinator-conference-albany-march-12-2016
    4. Aaron Lafond – Bee Equipment Supplier
      1. Boxes (8 and 10 frame):  $12
      2. Tops and Bottoms:  $10
      3. Phone:  (541) 401-1463
      4. Located between Lebanon and Sweet Home
    5. Brushy Mountain/Ruhl
      1. All of the stuff that Ruhl had that is not in the Brushy catalog will be going on clearance in the next few weeks.  
      2. If you cannot pick up equipment, we have a member that works at Brushy and will bring equipment to the meetings.  
    6. Bee Day!
      1. Saturday, April 16, 9am-1pm, Coffman Farm
      2. More information available closer to April.
      3. There will be opportunities to handle bees and open hives so bring a veil or suit.  
      4. If there are queens available, we may do a split or re-queening.
      5. Steven does not have any bees or queens for sale.
    7. NW Bee Supply – Mike Radford
      1. Packages for sale!  Carniolans or Italians
        1. 4lb:  $110
        2. 5lb:  $125
      2. Bees are local and queens are from Northern California.
      3. Pick up at Lowes in McMinnville after the 1st week of April at 5:00pm.
      4. Information and ordering online at:  http://store.northwestbeesupply.com/mcminnville/mcminnville
      5. Also order over phone:  (907) 360-8182
      6. Order as soon as possible.
    8. Terry Adams
      1. 28 nucs for sale in March
      2. $110 for bees and 5 frames.  You must provide your own box or buy a cardboard box from Terry for $7.
      3. Italian bees and Terry raised the queens.
      4. Also sells boxes (8 and 10 frame).  
        1. Deep:  $10
        2. Western:  $9
    9. Brushy Mountain Supply
      1. Plenty of packages available at Brushy.
      2. First pick up date for nucs is sold out but there will be two other dates for pick up.
    10. Oregon’s Agricultural Progress magazine
      1. Subscribe at:  http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/subscribe
      2. Free Article on Dr. Sagili’s work and bees at:  http://oregonprogress.oregonstate.edu/winter-2016/pollination-innovation
    11. Bee Culture magazine
      1. Articles at:  http://beeculture.com/
    12. More Than Honey – Good video on bee management
    13. Harris Queens
      1. Resistant to varroa.
      2. http://www.harrishoneybees.com/pages/queens.html
      3. Survivor stock and VSH (Varroa Sensitive Hygiene) are different.
        1. VSH smell mites in cells, uncap the cells, and remove the varroa.  This behavior is bred into the bees.
        2. Survivor Stock do not remove varroa, they are just more resistant to the damages and diseases associated with varroa.
    14. England is training bees for drug busts.
      1. Article:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/33195468/honey-bees-trained-to-detect-illegal-drugs
      2. New Video out.
      3. The military is also using bees for bomb sniffing.
  2. Randy Oliver Video:
    1. Youtube:  www.youtube.com/watch?v=pezlSTESXKc
  3. Spring Management
    1. Look for bees flying.
    2. Look through hive and inspect frames.
      1. Look for eggs in cells (if no eggs, most likely queenless)
      2. clean hives
      3. When inspecting frames, look through frames in order from one side of the box to the other.
      4. There should not be too much drone brood present.  If there is a lot, you either have  a laying worker or an old queen who is out of fertilized eggs.  Either way, you will need to re-queen.
      5. Evaluate the population size of bees and brood.
      6. Look for sufficient stores of honey and pollen, if not enough, you may want to be feeding. (Syrup with 1:1 sugar to water).  Careful not to feed too much, though, you may cause swarming.
      7. Check for varroa.
        1. Essential Oils can be effective for reducing varroa levels.
          1. Get a roll of blue shop towels, cut the roll in half then soak each half in a coffee can with coconut oil (or vegetable oil) and a few drops of essential oils (lemongrass, wintergreen, cinnamon all work well).
          2. Tear off one square of towel and place between boxes on a hive.  
          3. This is also a good indicator of whether you have more hygienic bees:  if they get rid of the shop towel, they are more hygienic.
    3. If you have 2+ hives, you can equalize.  Take frames from the strong hive and put them in the weak hive.  This will strengthen the weak hive, and prevent the strong hive from swarming.  
      1. Now is a good time for this.
      2. Commercial beekeepers do this in December and January.
    4. Rotate hive bodies:  
  4. Thank you to everyone who brought the amazing door prizes!