Chilly morning and the bees are making a low hum in the hives. I imagine they’re pretty tightly clustered and vibrating their wing muscles just enough to keep the temperature right. From where I hear the sound they seem to be in the bottom deeps, and that’s where I’d hope they’d be at this point. So far 11 of the 11 hives are alive, with a long way to go. Not too many dead bees have accumulated outside of the hives and the entrance reducers show no signs of mouse gnawing. So far, so good. I never got around to an oxalic treatment in late fall but I’m considering a vapor treatment on Friday when the temperature is forecast to be near 50 degrees. Tomorrow would also be an opportunity, but the day job is in the way of that. I prefer to use a vapor treatment when the temperature is around 50 degrees so the cluster is looser and the acid can penetrate it better. All of the colonies have young queens going into winter. Six of the colonies swarmed and 5 requeened successfully, and the sixth requeened after being given a frame of eggs and brood. The other five colonies, which were packages and captured swarm colonies, superseded their queens in summer. How do I know this? Marking. I never marked queens before so I never really knew how old the queens were. This year I got a yellow paint marker and marked queens whenever I saw one. When I saw an unmarked queen in a colony that I had previously marked I knew there was a new queen. And in two colonies, when I saw a marked and unmarked queen, I knew there were two queens at work (these are huge colonies with two deeps and two mediums going into winter). (I already have a red paint pen for 2018.) I plan to make sugar discs today for when I put the winter covers on. Some beekeepers have done that already, but I prefer to wait until we’ve had cold temps for an extended period. Then on a “warm” (30 degrees or above, no wind) day, I remove the inner covers with the frost and put on dry winter covers with a sugar disc and pollen patty underneath, insulation board above. This usually happens in mid-December, before the calendar says it’s winter. But it always depends on the weather. I didn’t make yesterday’s meeting due to work responsibilities, but Patti and (5) others were able to. This was held at the Caestecker Library in Green Lake and Patti’s Meeting Minutes state we were welcomed with coffee and donuts. Pretty darn nice! It seems everyone likes the meeting area and Patti scheduled us to meet there December 16, and every third Saturday in 2018 as the membership had decided. Thank-you Linda DeNell, and Caestecker Library. I have attached Patti’s Minutes and there’s a couple of things to note. I may have stated it unclearly in the last newsletter about the UNC’s queen study, but it’s the queens the UNC tested that carried no nosema spores, all queens in the past had nosema spores. So today’s commercial queens were a step up from the past. Another thing has to do with pursuing 501(c)3 status with all that that involves, or continuing on as we have been. To become a 501(c)3 organization is going to involve becoming a more “formal” organization with a constitution, rules, recordkeeping, insurance, and reporting. This is an important split in the road and there are members in favor of “formalizing”, and members opposed. This will be our main discussion on December 16 so I hope that everyone shows up and adds their viewpoint to the discussion. Then on January 20 (I now know when the future meetings are) we will try to be ready to make a final decision by vote. Another item for discussion is whether the ECWBA wants to offer beekeeping classes. This was done in the past and could be picked up again if the membership decides to do it. I don’t know if the Caestecker Library would accommodate us for that, and if not we’d have to find a suitable facility. We will also discuss 2018 membership dues which will be due in January. Should we keep them at the same level or increase them? And finally, for this list anyway, I am waiting feedback from Shane concerning moving the extractor and decapping table to the Rushford Meadery and Winery. His FDA inspector has approved it being housed and used there, as long as Shane is not processing at the same time. It has occurred to Shane that he would be supplying hot water, electricity, etc., and would like some compensation. I am waiting to find out what he has in mind and hopefully I will have something by the December 16. So, December 16, Caestecker Library, Green Lake, 9:30 a.m. is on the calendar for the next ECWBA meeting, and in addition to the above topics, we’ll talk bees! Gerard And keep checking out our blog: http://ourbeeblog.blogspot.com/ Fred does a great job keeping us informed of what;s happening in the world of beekeeping. May every one of us have a happy and safe Thanksgiving! Gerard
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ECWBA NewsletterSince 2009 Archives
March 2019
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