WVBA Picnic – General Minutes by Emily Cross

General Minutes 7/27/14

  1. The annual Bee Picnic was held at the OSU Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture in Corvallis. It was attended by both the members of the Willamette Valley Beekeepers Association and the Linn-Benton Beekeepers Association. Excellent food was brought by everyone, and the weather was great.
  2. Richard thanked Bunny Carter for organizing the food, Trevor Riches for organizing the State Fair volunteers, and the Linn-Benton group for joining us.
  3. Richard introduced the new “Bee Aware” flag.  The design is available from Richard in measurements of 2’x3′. It is made of nylon with polyester thread with black and yellow stripes. It was designed by the Mississippi Farm Bureau to create awareness of bees and to prevent aerial spraying over apiaries. More information is also available from Mississippi State: http://www.mississippi-crops.com/2014/01/30/cooperative-standards-for-the-coexistence-of-row-crop-farmers-and-beekeepers-adopted-in-mississippi/

Tour Groups

  1. Three groups were organized:
  • Ciera, an OSU graduate student in the bee department, led a group on American and European Foulbrood in the foulbrood lab area.
  • Richard led a group on Extracting, Mite Control, and Robbing Screens.
  • Self-guided tour of the experimental and display hives.

State Fair Volunteering

  1. Volunteers Needed!!
  2. Fair volunteers get a FREE parking pass and FREE entry tickets!!
  3. Sign up online at Oregon Beekeepers Association’s front page.
  4. Fair Dates:  August 22 – September 1
  5. Each day has 3 shifts: 10am-2pm, 2pm-6pm, and 6pm-10pm
  6. 4 people for each shift

Any problems or questions, call: 503-559-0191 or email Trevor: tlriches@gmail.com

Website

The website is now up and running!!  People are still working on it, so it may not be complete.