WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES
AUGUST 23, 2021
Once again we met in the Blando’s horse arena. We are very fortunate to have this resource put at our disposal for meetings.
President Rich Farrier opened the meeting at 7:09 pm. He mentioned that he has come across articles recently in which the authors are stating that the proliferation of honey bees is a bad thing since they are in competition with native bees. Just know that there are some people that are not enamored with honey bees. Forewarned is forearmed with diplomatic answers for discussions.
A Christy O’Brien wants to host bees on her 100 acres which is somewhere along the Willamette River. Contact Rich for more info.
Rich passed around a hummingbird feeder which is supposed to be “bee-proof”. I didn’t even know that such a thing existed. So one can feed hummingbirds and not the bees.
We still do not know whether or not we will be able to meet at Chemeketa Community College.
We then had a tips and tricks session.
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Use an old-fashioned steel oil can to fill division board feeders.
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Use burlap squares to act as spark arresters in smokers.
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Use a dry scoop for sugar and dry pollen.
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One beekeeper has been using Randy Oliver’s extended oxalic acid release method using Swedish cellulose sponges with good results. Note, this is not yet legal.
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When combining 2 colonies, combine 2 weaker ones rather than foisting a weak colony on a stronger colony.
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Use a queen introduction cage when doing late season re-queening.
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It is time to feed sugar syrup either 1:1 or 2:1 or even 1.5 to 1:1. Do not use attractive additives such as Honey-B-Healthy. Don’t want to encourage robbing. We typically can feed liquid feed until mid-October.
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It is time to feed pollen substitute patties.
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Oregon State Fair booth sign-ups are not open. The fair starts August 25 and runs thru September 6th (Labor Day).
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Meeting Adjourned 8:50.
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Respectfully submitted,
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Anna Ashby, Secretary WVBA
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September 4, 2021