WVBA March 27th, 2023
Meeting called to order at 7:02
Rich announced that the only legal applications for OA are dribble and vapor. Extended release is NOT approved.
Bee Buddy Pod Program–A coastal beekeeping club divided up in 10 areas for beekeepers to get together/network on a smaller scale. Rich discussed having a similar program for our club.
Rich announced next month’s talk would be by Dewey. He will discuss mite control and swarming.
The PNW Honey Bee Survey was announced, as well as the Club Bee Day. The Bee Day will be Saturday April 22nd, at 9 AM in Dallas. It will be hosted by Steve Coffman at 2775 Ballard Rd, Dallas Oregon. There will be live bees and hands-on work in colonies, so bring your bee suit or whatever clothing you feel comfortable with. Will show brood stages, pass around frames, ID eggs, and break into smaller groups.
Rich discussed a “new” mite, native to China, the tropilaelaps mite.
Rich passed around the sugar list to be notified by Debby.
Rich passed around the attendance list and the swarm list.
The swarm list and sugar list are for members only, they are considered a perk of membership.
Laura recommended that if you are on the swarm call list, you try to get a picture of the swarm before you go out, to make sure it is a true swarm.
It was asked if it is ok to do a newspaper combine for a queenless colony this early in the season. Rich affirmed it would be fine.
Debby announced Thad Starr has nucs available for $190.00, she has a sign up sheet.
7:40 Break time
7:54 Anna highly recommends filling out Dewey’s survey, because there is good information that can help you make management decisions.
Go to Project Apis m for more information on the tropilaelaps mite, and listen to Samuel Ramsey’s talk.
Anna is collecting photos from the hive to develop a club photo library. Please email them to her at ashbyah@gmail.com. Landscape is better than portrait, the more information the better.
For information on mite treatments go to Honey bee Health Coalition home page, navigate to section on varroa tools, videos, resources. https://honeybeehealthcoalition.org/
She went through the varroa management decision tool to show how easy it is.
She discussed Formic Pro and how it is heat sensitive. As far as queen loss there is a hypothesis that formic pro is “hard” on queens because it disrupts the brood cycle and the workers may think that the queen is failing.
8:06 Anna began her presentation on how to read labels on pesticides.
After WWII factories began ramping up pesticide production with the slogan “Better living through chemistry.”
There are legitimate reasons to use pesticides–Get rid of worms in apples, reduce black spot on roses.
Try to use the most appropriate product for the job. County Master gardeners can help.
First, identify the problem. Start with the least harmful solution. Monitor the problem.
Use biological controls if possible.
If a chemical affects bees,the packaging should have a bee hazard icon, a honey bee inside a red icon.
If you see “toxic to bees or highly toxic” wait until all flowers fall to apply.
Signal words “foraging” or “visiting” means pesticide remains toxic for more than 8 hours.
“Actively foraging” or “actively visiting” means toxic for less than 8 hours.
A free download available from OSU entitled “How to reduce bee poisoning from pesticides” is a good guide. It is available at https://catalog.extension.oregonstate.edu/sites/catalog/files/project/pdf/pnw591.pdf
There is also a mobile phone app “Bee safety.”
8:36 Rich had a handout from Oxford about the efficacy of mite treatments.
Some treatments that have been determined to have resistance against them may work again after 2 years.
The link is https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/21/5/6/6372257
Anna reiterated using tools for varroa management
Todd pointed out that keeping mite levels low and not letting them spike is key.
Tropilaelaps mites are smaller than varroa mites, chinese using sublimated sulfur.
Varroa miticides are effective against tropilaelaps mites.
Tropilaelaps mites cannot be detected with alcohol wash.
Raffle was held at 8:55