Willamette Valley Beekeepers Association (WVBA) ESTABLISHED IN 1967
Hope you are all enjoying the unusually warm and beautiful weather. The bees are making the most of it.
Forty five students attended this years WVBA Bee School. All the students were very eager to get started. They were all very attentive. Thanks to all that helped with bee school. Thanks Laura, Bunny, and Emily. Just a reminder that WVBA Bee Day will be held on April 11 at 9:00 am. It will be held at Steven Coffman’s Farm near Monmouth.
Bring your popcorn! We will be showing the movie More Than Honey by Markus Imhoof at the meeting on Monday 23 rd. We don’t often show a movie, but this is a good one. They show how they keep bees in Switzerland. They show the mating of queens. You’ll get to hear the queens piping. This film won several awards including Switzerland’s 2013 Best Foreign Film Academy Award.
Local vendors, Nectar Bee Supply and Ruhl Bee Supply will be attending the meeting. I don’t have a conformation from Glorybee Foods. If you put in an order prior to Monday’s meeting, they will deliver it to the meeting with free shipping. They will both be bringing various beekeeping items that will be for sale.
Former WVBA members, Robert and Donna Delikat of Woodland Lavender Farms in Yamhill, hosted a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit photo session last summer. Apparently the model didn’t care for the bees that were working on the blooming lavender. Several bees landed on her and she swatted at them several times. Robert came to her rescue with a smoker. He did his best to smoke them away from the immediate area.
Now is a good time to put up yellow jacket traps. Hopefully you can catch the queen yellow jackets and stop them from starting a nest.
Cheers, Rich Farrier