WVBA
June 26 Meeting Minutes
7:08 Rich called the meeting to order and passed around attendance.
He thanked Terry for bringing refreshments.
There was an update regarding the Brownsville bee ban. There is a stay in place against the mandate.
The first batch of honey bee vaccine has been shipped out to Housner Apiaries in California. It was not specified but I believe this is for AFB.
Stop Varroa treatment jugs of spray for sale at stopvarroa.com It is not EPA approved and no one knows what is in the bottle, so be warned.
Rich says the swarm list is updated.
There is an article in the July American Bee Journal regarding varroa treatment, there are no new approved treatments coming to the United States.
7:20 Dinner time!!
8:11 Meeting Resumed
Rich said that there have not been nearly as many swarm calls this year as usual.
Rich announced that Lea from Carlton had a colony that did not have enough frames so it has a mess of comb. She is hoping that someone near Carlton could help her out. Rich suggested blowing the bees out of that box.
Flying Bee will be closed Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, so call ahead if you need supplies to make sure they are open.
Rich announced that Elaine has an article in the June issue of American Bee Journal.
Rich announced the guest speaker Tim Moran from Rapid City South Dakota.
Tim Moran
Beekeeping can be done a lot of different ways and is very local.
Black HIlls area Bee club can be found on Facebook, discussions, powerpoints and briefs are available in the members site.
Four beekeeping task focuses:
Mite Management
Supplemental feeding-Winters can last four to five months with subzero temperatures.
Queen management and rearing–club members graft and rear queens to produce local queens
Brood comb rotations–not known how residue in old comb affects brood bees.
In Tim’s local area there are a lot of variations due to microclimate and elevation changes.
In higher elevations there are shorter forage times and harsher winters.
Swarm season mid may through mid july, sometimes later. Earliest swarms Mid march.
They have low humidity year round
Tim asked about winter prep–Debbie says she uses candyboard and pollen patties. Rich says get mite counts down before winter.
They insulate with RF4 minimum insulation.
They do mite treatments in October
They use ventilation and quilt boards to mitigate humidity.
European method of mite control–they know every hive has mites and they don’t test. They treat on a regime, early spring, midsummer fall and some winter treatment. They frequently use Oxalic acid.
He recommended varying your treatment regime and tailoring your treatment to the brood cycle.
Lilac bushes blooming signal the start of their nectar flow.
Harvest honey in July and September
The club has a “honey hoe down” and they meet for a couple of days and extract together.
Alfalfa and clover are primary nectar crop for out of town bees.
Number one goal of the club is to be self sustaining. For example, rear queens, make their own nucs, even a woodworker to make hives.
9:07 Prize drawing