General Meeting of the Willamette Valley Beekeeping Association
November 27, 2017
Chemeketa Community College Bldg. 8 Rm 201
The November meeting was called to order by President Richard Ferrier at 7:10 PM.
Announcements
The next meeting of WVBA will be held on January 22, 2018 Bldg 8 Rm 201 starting at 7PM. This is our annual Pizza feed ending with a drawing for lots of door prizes. This will be our meeting room for all of 2018. Richard asked members to jot down programs ideas for next year.
Richard announced the dates for Bee School. The dates are February 13, 15, 20, 22 and 26 from 7pm to 9pm, Chemeketa Community College, Salem Bldg 8 Rm 201. The cost is $45.00 which includes the book “The Beekeepers Handbook” and $35.00 without the book. Bee School covers equipment, personal equipment, spring management, package and nuc installations, medications, diseases ending with a hands on Bee day in mid-April.
Richard discussed the effects of our warm season thus far, stating that the bees are still flying which suggests that mites could be a big problem, not to mention that the bees are eating more honey when they are active.
A discussion of Neonicotinoid Pesticides ensued. If you find dead bees with their tongues hanging out that is a sign of pesticide death, but if you find bees with their butts in the cells, that is a sign of starvation.
Anna Ashby gave a presentation on sugar boards and an oxalic acid wash with a hands on display. There are two ways to do a sugar board, one is a fondant with regular sugar which is cooked on a stovetop or a no cook candy board with superfine sugar in which you use 1 tablespoon of water per pound of sugar. Let harden before putting on your hive. There are several recipes and demonstrations on these methods on the internet. You can also give them whole candy canes after Christmas.
Sugar prices: Cash n Carry–50 lb $26.45
Fred Meyer—25 lb $11.29
Fred Meyer–50 lb$23.50
Anna demonstrated how to do the oxalic acid drench in which you treat your bees in December. A couple of dry days is the best as you want your bees in a cluster. A syringe is filled with 50cc oxalic acid mixture (Brushy Mountain carries) per 10 frames of bees. Mix the acid with sugar water following package directions and syringe over your bee cluster. Members could try dispersing the syringe with Anna’s excellent props.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Shelley Gowell, Secretary