WILLAMETTE VALLEY BEEKEEPERS ASSOCIATION
MEETING MINUTES
NOVEMBER 28, 2022
7:10 President Rich Farrier opened the meeting with greetings and Merry Christmas since we do not meet in December.
We are 3 weeks from the winter solstice when the queens start laying again. Between now and New Years is the time for oxalic acid treatment for Varroa mites. Use either the dribble method or vapor method. Details can be found on the Honey Bee Coalition website, “Varroa Resources”.
Several people have signed up to help with bee school which will happen in February. Sign-up and packet handouts will be at the January 23rd meeting. We will then meet on consecutive Mondays, February 6, 13, 20. The February meeting is February 27th. The precise meeting room will be determined closer to the event. We will also have an in-hive bee day sometime in April. Place and time TBD.
Rich mentioned that wax moth larvae eat plastic in addition to eating through beeswax combs.
There is some research showing that honey bee viruses affect the queens ovaries and shrivel them. This might be the reason they are not living as long as they used to do.
Terry told us that Oregon State Bee lab and the pollinator health program will soon have custom bee license plate for pre-order. They need to get 3000 pre-orders before the plates are made. The funds from the plates will be divided between the honey bee lab and the pollinator health program.
Anna gave a summary of the recent state bee conference. She urged more people to attend next year. Jeremy from Flying Bee Ranch is the new OSRBA vice-president, and Nathan is our regional representative.
Honey crop is dependent on location and honey production used to be much higher in the Willamette Valley than it is now.
Elaine and Todd gave a demonstration on preparing sugar boards for winter feed. Todd gave 3 reasons for using them. 1. It’s an insurance policy against starving in a cold spring. 2. It absorbs moisture in the hive. 3. We have access to free sugar, which he termed “Blando Bling”. For complete details go to his website, www.bigwooly.com/docs.
Rich then spoke on grafting queens. The recommended equipment follows:
Good glasses or headband lighted magnifier
Good light – LED
Easel for leaning frame upon
Paper towels
Cloake Board
Royal jelly which is not from China (purchase from Life Science)
Rich has been requested to teach a hands-on class in June as many members are interested.
Randy Oliver’s website “Scientific Beekeeping” details a similar method to what Rich outlined called, “Queens for Pennies”. Read this in preparation for Rich’s potential workshop. And we can be gathering our supplies.
We then had a raffle with meeting adjourned at 9:20.
Respectfully submitted,
Anna Ashby, Secretary
WVBA
December 15, 2022