Cabell Wayne Beekeepers November 10th, 2008 Meeting

THIRTY_SIX MEMBERS & GUESTS attended the meeting and good fellowship was had by all. Minutes & Treasurer’s Report were approved. One members renewed their dues: BILL & SANDY LINCOLN. THANKS to all you renewing members! John Porter brought his son, John Porter, Jr., who is the new Kanawha County Extension Agent. WELCOME, John! We also had several guests: John Gibson brought his lovely family: his wife, Tara and his two daughters, Evelynne & Adalynne. Steve Sweeney came form Ashland. And Andy & Yolanda Williamson brought their grandson, Skylor Simpson. THANKS FOR COMING TO VISIT — WE HOPE YOU ALL COME BACK AGAIN!!!



Our sympathy to Ernest Neace on the passing of his grandson. It was great to see Bob Huron, Fr. Joseph and Dwight Coburn back for a meeting. Gabe & Wade both talked about how light winter stores were because of the drought. Gabe & Dan put newspaper down above the brood chamber & poured sugar into the hives as an emergency feed. Wade recommended putting old political signs under your screened bottom boards. Gabe reported on the Fall Meeting of the WVBA at Jackson’s Mill. Dr. Jim Amrine demonstrated formic acid treatment for mites. The Spring Meeting is Mar. 28, 2009 in Fairmont. CWBA will host the Spring 2010 Meeting at Heritage Farm. Commissioner Gus Douglass was re-elected and gave credit to beekeepers for helping him.
Margaret Reid gave a review of the new movie ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! Wade told of a good trick he learned form George Clutter: if you have 1/4 inch of snow on your hives and see one that is clear on top, the bees are already up there eating their stores and will soon be starving.
Gabe demonstrated how to nail together frames with an air nailer. He then showed how to get the old wax off your queen excluders with an iron. Rhonna commented how great is was to see a man with an iron in his hand! Edna Baker said you can get wax off old frames by running them through the dishwasher with hot water.
Gabe presented the Jack Dick Award to Gary Strickland and both told wonderful stories about Jack.

bee video

Here's a great video of the life cycle of the honeybee. It takes about 10 minutes to watch and you will enjoy it!

Cabell Wayne Beekeepers Meeting September 8th, 2008

THIRTY_EIGHT MEMBERS & GUESTS attended the meeting and good fellowship was had by all. Minutes & Treasurer’s Report were approved. Several members renewed their dues: TOM, ED & ERNEST NEACE. We also had several new members join: TIM FITZSIMMONS, AVERY HAYDEN [who has kept bees in Florida and North Carolina], RICK and PAUL HOWARD. WELCOME TO THE CLUB! And THANKS to all you renewing members! Willard Wallace brought his son, Daniel, who is also a beekeeper with 5 hives. WELCOME, DANIEL!
With so many new and returning members, our club is now up to 73 members! We have a few who haven’t renewed their membership or it would be even higher. We used our new name tags to help everyone get to know each other. Even with the name tags, I managed to get someone’s name wrong [sorry Rick & Paul!].
Everyone has taken off their honey, some had a great year, some just average. Next year, with the help of Gary Strickland, the Club will be helping anyone who wishes to take off their honey, extract, bottle and sell it [THANKS, GARY!]. We will be getting you LOCAL HONEY FOR SALE signs. Gabe discussed Fall Management of our bees using Apiguard for mite control — 2 treatments 14 days apart. At the same time, you can treat with 6.4 oz of terramycin in 2 pounds of powdered sugar for prevention of American Foulbrood [put a tablespoon on each end bar above the brood chamber]. Wade also uses shop towels soaked in menthol, patchouli and canola oil. He then puts the strips of towel into the hive and the bees remove them and spread the oils killing the mites. Apilife-VAR can also be used, but takes one extra treatment [3 total]. Tom Mullins said he has had great success with Apiguard compared to Apistan strips. Gabe showed off some of Tom’s excellent woodwork for sale to beekeepers. Tom makes many items for sale: nuc boxes, feeders, items to protect the honey supers you have taken off the hives. Tom make the excellent hives we used at the HAS conference at Marshall University this Summer.
I got so busy with everything that I forgot to take any pictures. So you’ll just have to look in the mirror to see a pretty face today!
Instead, here's some pictures from the WV State Beekeepers Fall 2008 Meeting at Jackson's Mill with a BEE TREE and some Fall wildflowers.



The Fall honey flow has begun just in time since some reported light hives. You need 45-60 pounds of honey to make it through the Winter in this area. Each frame of honey in a honey super weighs about 3 pounds; in an Illinois [medium] super, about 4 pounds, and in a deep about 6 pounds. You can feed you bees with 2-1 sugar water if they are light on stores for the winter.
You could also feed pollen or pollen substitute to the bees or as pollen patties. You want fat, healthy bees going into Winter.
Dan announced that the IRS has awarded the Club 501c3 tax-exempt status. This took a LOT of paperwork and time. However, it allows us to get grants that are restricted to only those groups which are recognized by the IRS.
Gabe announced that the WV State Beekeepers had awarded the 2010 State Meeting to us to put on in Huntington. It will be held at Heritage Farm Museum in Wayne County on April 10th, 2010. Gabe is seeking national speakers like Dr. Keith Deleplane and Dr. David Tarpy. If any Club member has a suggestion for speakers, please let Gabe know. Dan will be seeking further grants to help pay the costs of this meeting and help us to train hobby beekeepers to become more commercial in selling their honey and bee products.
This year the WV Beekeepers Fall Meeting is Sept. 19th and 20th at Jackson’s Mill. This is always a great meeting and Gabe urged all members to attend.
Rhonna Blatt was looking after her Mother, so she couldn’t make the meeting. It’s a good thing Otis Baker and George Godby knew how to make coffee! Thanks for helping out, fellows!
Everyone then went to the kitchen and tried the many varieties of local honey brought by our members on biscuits donated by Tudor’s and others [THANKS TO EVERYBODY!!!] It was DELICIOUS!!! Kolten Thompson, our youngest dues-paying member, attended and enjoyed his biscuit for sure! Door prizes were drawn using the new name badges and many prizes were awarded.
The next meeting will be Monday, November 10th at 7 pm at the Lavalette United Methodist Church. Gabe will show how to make & wax frames .BEE SURE to make plans to attend! Until then, have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Cabell Wayne Beekeepers July 14th, 2008 Meeting

FORTY-ONE MEMBERS & GUESTS attended the meeting and good fellowship was had by all. Minutes & Treasurer’s Report were approved. Several members renewed their dues: DANIEL LUCAS, BETHEL WALL AND CHARLES WELLMAN. We also had several new members join: BETH LUCAS, CLAY MITCHELL [Clay paid dues for TWO YEARS & donated $2 — THANKS, CLAY!!!], JEFF MAYNARD, JANICE MILLER [sorry I forgot to list you last month, Janice!], DENNIS PERRY and TERRI & MIKE WALDECK. WELCOME TO THE CLUB! And THANKS to all you renewing members!
With so many new and returning members, our club is now up to 72 members! So, we have decided to issue name tags to help everyone get to know each other. Just pick them up on your way in, pin them on, and toss them back in the box on your way out the door. Thanks!
Gabe discussed the HAS 2008 conference at Marshall University. Almost 350 beekeepers attended including many of our members. It was a great success and the evaluation sheets showed that many felt it was the best HAS ever. Fr. Joseph said it was great to be able to pick and choose between so many wonderful sessions. Edna Baker said Michael Bush, one of the instructors, was very interested in the queen she captured form her bee tree. Wade, Tom Mullins & Rhonna really made the beeyard shine with those beautiful hives all stenciled with the Thundering Herd buffaloes and We Are Marshall! The rooms were the right size. Marshall gave us great support.

The WV Dept. of Agriculture sent all of its Apiary staff for the entire 3 days. Plus Dep. Comm. Steve Hannah and Dir. Of Marketing Jean Smith attended the Opening Ceremony and read the Governor’s Proclamation of ‘Beekeeper Appreciation Week’. 20 vendors set up tables and many items were sold. 47 different speakers gave over 150 classes. The local news media gave excellent coverage to bees and beekeeping. Otis Baker and others volunteered to help.

Wade talked about the end of the nectar flow — watch out for robbing, close down the size of the entrance. Be quick about removing the honey supers. It’s time to take off your honey supers and treat for mites. The Department will be distributing Apiguard to all registered beekeepers in WV.
Fall requeening — wait until the Fall flow. Sumac, goldenrod, knotweed & aster will be starting in mid-August . Separate your brood chambers with a queen excluder. Come back in a few days and see which box has eggs. Take off the other box and move it to your new location. Add a queen and make sure she gets released after 3 days.

It’s not too late to put out the hornet trap. It also traps yellow jackets, wax moths and gnats. 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, 1/2 cup white vinegar and a banana peel [Otis says add a 1/2 hot dog or lunch meat]. Hang in a large pop bottle with a hole ion the shoulder the size of a quarter.
Everyone then had a bowl of Austin’s local Honey Ice Cream and it was DELICIOUS!!!
The next meeting will be Monday, September 8th at 7 pm at the Lavalette United Methodist Church. This is our annual Honey Harvest Festival. PLEASE bring some of your honey to taste, and some biscuits if you can. Gabe will discuss Fall Management. BEE SURE to make plans to attend.

Cabell Wayne Beekeepers 2008 Annual Dinner

FORTY-EIGHT MEMBERS & GUESTS attended the meeting and good fellowship was had by all. Minutes & Treasurer’s Report were approved. Several members renewed their dues: Fr. Joseph, Frances Wriston, Dale Porter, Kolten Thompson, Terry Cremeans, Edna & Otis Baker, Eric Caldwell, John Copley, Willis & Eileen McComas, Ralph & Betty Midkiff, Gary Strickland [Gary paid dues for TWO YEARS & donated $2 — THANKS, GARY!!!], Mike Stickler, Mike & Kathy Taylor, N.F. Kitts, Wade Stiltner, Gabe & Rhonna Blatt and Dan O’Hanlon. We also had several new members join: Dale Porter, Kolten Thompson, Terry Cremeans, Janice Miller, Vern & Jolee McNeer, Cammie Nelson, William Chapman. WECOME TO THE CLUB, DALE, KOLTEN, TERRY, JANICE, VERN, JOLEE, CAMMIE & WILLIAM! And THANKS to all you renewing members!




Ralph Midkiff has captured 13 swarms so far — several others have hived numerous swarms. Wade says this is the Year of the Swarm!
HAS is coming up July 10-12 at Marshall University. BEE SURE to make plans to attend. The WV Honey Festival will be in Parkersburg August 23-24. Margaret Reid highly recommends attending this wonderful event.
Wade Discussed Summer Treatments. He said Apistan is not working as well as it once did. Apiguard varroa mite treatments will soon be provided FREE to all registered WV beekeepers. You can put on honey supers after treatment, but Wade recommends letting the hive air out for a little while first. So early July looks like a good time to treat this year AFTER the honey flow.
Dr. Jeff Pettis recommends using a sugar/water/fumagilin spray in July. Wade recommends getting your medication like fumagilin early since it might run out. Reid Apiaries & the vendors at HAS will have it, so you can order & save on shipping. Wade says, ‘Don’t forget to treat with menthol for tracheal mites!’ Powdered sugar and sucrocide both work well for varroa mites, but both take time.
In response to a question about bee magazines, Wade said the American Bee Journal is more scientific and technical. Bee Culture is aimed more towards the small hobby beekeeper. He said the latest figures from the US Department of Agriculture indicates that bees are responsible for $75 billion of economic activities.
Dan O’Hanlon is President and Gabe Blatt is Vice President of the newly-formed WV Queen Producers Association. Dan said their goal is to train WV beekeepers to raise their own queens for sale. This will let us keep more money in WV. It will also let us develop queens that do well here.
Wade and Gabe reported that commercial beekeepers, especially those involved in pollination work, have been hit hard by Colony Collapse Disorder [CCD] this year. The best information is that it is caused by Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus [IAPV], stress from moving the bees and other causes, poor nutrition, nosema ceranea, and mites.
The next meeting will be Monday, July 14th at 7 pm at the Lavalette United Methodist Church. This is right after HAS and Gabe will be talking about that event. BEE SURE to make plans to attend.