WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 22, 2022
7:04 President Rich Farrier opened the meeting. He noted that the Asian Giant Hornet has been renamed the Northern Giant Hornet. The Washington State Department of Ag has developed a pheromone lure trap which is very effective. At this point in time, the NGH is still in northern Washington and there have been zero confirmed nest sightings in 2022.
Recently, Bee Culture posted an article, “DNA in Honey Reveals Honey Bee Health”. The link to the article provided.
Researchers in Israel have developed synthetic enzymes which allows humans to make honey from nectar without the help of honey bees. The website “bee-io.com” has more details.
The “Protectabee” entrance reducer is now available for purchase for a mere $59.
It is now legal to use Bacillus thuringensis subspecies azawai on drawn comb to prevent damage from wax moths. The brand name is Certan and available from most bee supply companies.
The Oregon State Beekeepers Association fall conference is October 28, 29, 30 at the event center in Florence, Oregon. The link to registration is here on the OSBA website. Everyone is encouraged to sign up to attend at least one day. In the past the club has donated money at the conference to the OSU Honey Bee Lab Research fund. In the past, this was matched by Glory Bee up to $500 per club. Rich will ask Laura the state of the club finances to see if we can afford to donate this year.
Paul J. In Newberg has some used equipment for sale, cheap. See Anna for contact info.
Questions:
Want to put up bat bat house. Will they eat the honey bees? It was pointed out that bees and bats work opposite shifts, so it should not be a problem.
Are bald-faced hornets a problem with honey bees? Not really.
Why are there so many drone cells in one particular colony? Sounds like a queen problem. Re-queen and feed heavily.
Elaine Timm handed out a price survey.
Our speaker for the evening was Ellen Topitzhofer from the OSU Honey Bee Research Lab. Her topic was brood diseases. She highlighted the following diseases:
- Chalkbrood
- Sacbrood
- European Foulbrood
- American Foulbrood
- Parasitic Mite Syndrome
Each time we inspect our colonies, we should be prepared with an inspection check list and a diagnostic kit. We should be looking at the pattern of the capped brood. It should be solid not spotty. There should not be perforated capping and there should be food in the corners of the frames.
Her talk was well received and hopefully our bees will benefit from our knowing more about potential problems.
Meeting was adjourned at 8:55pm
Respectfully submitted,
Anna Ashby, Secretary
WVBA
September 7, 2022