Announcements for July 8th through the rest of the summer. Next meeting will be July 19th but there is so much happening before then, that we need this extra newsletter.

CALENDAR & CONTENTS:

July 8, Saturday, noon to 2PM, HONEY EXTRACTION & HONEY TASTING, special event in Edmonds

Phone # CORRECTION 425-773-5326 (RSVP & directions)

July 8, Saturday, 1PM to 3PM, GRAFTING and mating nuc setup, Queen Rearing at Maltby Apiary. Continuing on Saturdays in July & August

July 9, Sunday 2PM to 4PM, GRAFTING and Queen Rearing at Granite Falls Apiary. Continuing on Sundays in July & August

July 10, Monday 7PM, BEGINNER class starts.

Register now!

July 13, Thursday 6PM, THE HIVE MIND meets online

July 22, Saturday 10-noon, GRAFTING CLASS, Maltby Apiary

July 29, Saturday 10-noon, CLASS at Maltby Apiary

How to apply the available Varroa treatments;

the dos and don'ts for each method.

August 5, Saturday 1PM to 3PM. Varroa class at Maltby Apiary repeated.

Evergreen State Fair, Monroe, SIGNUP

September ?? APPRENTICE 6:30 PM after Labor Day

September 11, Monday 6:30PM JOURNEYMAN starts

JOURNEYMAN LEVEL GROUP forming this Fall

Queen missing? 2023 NUC & PACKAGE SUPPLIER LIST

SPECIAL MEMBER EVENT

Honey Extraction & Honey Tasting at the Dietzels

Jo and Dennis Dietzel are hosting a special event at their Edmonds home, Saturday July 8th noon to 2PM. You are invited to come try your hand at spinning out the honey in a tangential extractor and join in tasting different types of honey. Bring samples to share, if you wish. The more, the merrier! RSVP for this event directly to the Dietzels by texting 425-773-5326.

THE HIVE MIND has started meeting online on 2nd Thursdays.

If you are interested in joining the group, particularly those of you beekeepers in your first years of beekeeping, contact Gina at ginacuff@gmail.com for more information and the Zoom link.

Message from Gina: "The Hive Mind is a group for beekeepers who want to share information, ask questions, and learn from each other throughout the beekeeping season. Feel free to bring videos and photos to share. We meet every second Thursday of the month at 6pm PT. In the meantime, feel free to reach out with any questions. 

See you there!"

Gina Cuff

Journeyman Candidate

SnoKing Beekeeper’s Association (SKBA)

It's not too late to register for:

BEGINNER class July 10, taught by Journeyman Candidate James Fuchs. Class includes manual, and WASBA certificate and 2023 WASBA dues gifted to the student upon completion of the course. More info at www.snokingbka.org/beginnerapplication . If you still have questions, call or text 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snokingbka.org.

Next APPRENTICE CLASS will start after Labor Day. Dates and times TBD. If interested, email eliochel@snokingbka.org to be placed on the email to-notify list.

Next JOURNEYMAN CLASS starts September 11, 2023. Registration is now open at www.snokingbka.org/journeymanapplication     

More information can be found below.

PAYMENT FOR CLASSES    Payment for all classes and for membership can be made by paypal to snokingba@gmail.com or by check to SnoKing Beekeepers, 15324 228th ST SE, Snohomish, WA 98296.

    If paying by paypal, the easiest way is to go to the Donate button in the heading of the snokingbka.org website. Find the Donate button shown below in the picture of our club website header.Then select from the wide range of payment options that Paypal accepts.

JOURNEYMAN SERVICE CREDITS UNITS:

Interested in continuing your beekeeping journey with WASBA Journeyman certification? If you have earned Apprentice and are doing club and community service this summer, don't forget to log service towards the Journeyman requirement. 

Class registration for JOURNEYMAN starting September 11, 2023 class registration is now open at www.snokingbka.or/journeymanapplication

Class includes manual, and WASBA certificate and 2023 WASBA dues gifted to the student upon completion of the course. Questions? Call or text 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snokingbka.org.

TROPHALLAXIS - a JOURNEYMAN level discussion and networking group starts this fall. Email eliochel@snokingbka.org to be placed on the to-notify list.

SnoKing Beekeepers will host an online Journeyman level discussion group/club this fall. Interested beekeepers in Western WA – Journeyman candidates, Journeymen or Masters – will be invited to an organizational meeting on Zoom in September, time and date to be announced. We are looking for a venue to encourage beekeeper communication, education and networking after completion of the WASBA Beginner and Apprentice level. The topic of the first meeting will be the desired format for such a group. Possibilities include a Facebook group, a website forum/blog allowing members to start posts, comment and share profile information, use of online chat session software similar to zoom, or continuing with regular Zoom meetings.

   Please watch for a time and date for this organizational meeting, and start thinking of how to set up and maintain communication for such a group. Ideas are welcome! Email eliochel@snokingbka.org if you have suggestions or questions.

Photo above shows Minh checking double mating nuc, oneof the types of mating nucs that we need help setting up this Saturday 7/8.

QUEEN REARING WORKSHOP at Maltby meets 1-3PM Saturdays or by appointment Saturday morning and Tuesdays & Wednesdays. We need your help and any level of beekeeping experience or inexperience is welcome. Don't worry; we will tell you what to do and explain the project.

Round 1 of the Queen Rearing Workshop ended with the distribution of mature, proven queens to those who have participated in the workshop, based on the number of hours volunteered to the project. 5 volunteer hours at the apiary earned a queen. Queens were picked up on a frame of their own brood to speed up the introduction process.

Round 2 started last Saturday July 1st with cell builder setup and continues the 8th with grafting. Participation this year and the earning of queens at 5 volunteer hours per queen continues to be on a drop-in basis. If you come, we explain the tasks of the day and show you where we are on the queen project timeline.

Here's the basic timeline for purposes of illustrating the depth of the Queen Rearing Workshop, but email eliochel@snokingbka.org for more details:

Basically, this takes 7 Saturdays:

#1 7/1 Set up Cell Builder (CB)

#2 7/8 Remove supersedure cells from CB. Graft larvae, and put in CB. Set up mating nucs.

#3 7/15 Remove supersedure cells from mating nucs and transfer capped Q cells to mating nucs.

#4 7/22 Check for emergence.

#5 7/29 Check that Q has clean empty brood cells to lay in and make sure there is pollen sub in every mating nuc.of

#6 8/5 Look for eggs and make sure Q has everything she needs to lay (see #5)

#7 8/12 Check eggs and brood pattern and distribute Qs to members who helped with project, or . . .

If you wish to participate but are not able to on Saturdays, weekday opportunities to participate are also available because project maintenance is necessary before and between these Saturdays. Make mid-week appointments with Eli to participate and contribute extra hours. 206-859-7392 eliochel@snokingbka.org.

If you only saw part of the process so far, come back for the sessions you missed, or all of them.
Additional Maltby Club Apiary classes:

    July 22nd will be an extra grafting day for those only interested in trying their hand at the actual grafting.

    July 29th we will run an additional 10 to noon session, demonstrating how to apply different Varroa treatments and the dos and don'ts for each method. We will repeat this on August 5th 1PM to 3PM.

Treatments pictured below.

QUEEN REARING PROJECT at Granite Falls Club Apiary

has started and continues on Sundays 2 to 4 PM. For details and to confirm dates and times, text or email

Ron - beebuddy.skba@gmail.com 206-719-3604.

Will be grafting cells for queen project and getting mating nucs prepared. Extra hands to help appreciated and what you need to know is explained. All levels beekeeping experience welcomed.

SIGNUP TO HELP AT THE EVERGREEN STATE FAIR in Monroe - Only 6 weeks away!

August 24-29, 31, and September 1st - Labor Day (Sept. 5th)

For fair questions and to ask what you can do, contact Walt Filson waltfilson@gmail.com

Signup at SKBA Volunteer: 2023 Evergreen State Fair - SKBA: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0f4daead2fa0fac07-2023#/ to sign up for a shift.

Also, when signing up for shifts, if you sign up for 2 or more, Becky Glaze will make a t shirt for you (pictured below), so text your first and last name and size to her at 903-931-1834. If you work more than 2 shifts, Becky will also make a vinyl decal for you! See below.

For every four hour shift, you also get an extra entry into the drawing for the handmade quilt pictured above as first prize and for a couple additional prizes.

FAIR T-SHIRTS

Here's the front and back of the 2023 design by Becky Glaze. Text your size to here asap even if you are not yet sure which shifts you can work at the fair, but can commit to 2 or more, because she handcrafts these for the club.

Here's the decal for you super volunteers:

Club Apiary Managers:

Granite Falls Branch Apiary

Ron - beebuddy.skba@gmail.com 206-719-3604

Maltby Club Apiary

Eli - eliochel@snokingbka.org  206-859-7392

Hiveside schedules constantly change and we will try to update the website calendar as needed. At this time:

Maltby Hivesides are open in Saturdays 1 PM to 3 PM in May, June, and July unless held at a member’s home.

Granite Falls Hivesides will will generally be 2PM to 4PM 1st and 3rd Sundays until further notice.

Email Hiveside Managers to confirm that there are no last minute changes to date and time, and to tell SnoKing how many are attending.

Picture below of 2023 Queen Project at Maltby.

BEES & REPLACEMENT QUEENS

if you need a queen, you might start with the 2023 NUC & PACKAGE SUPPLIER LIST on our home page www.snokingbka.org . At 9 pages, this list must be the most comprehensive Western Washington list of bee and queen suppliers available. However, your local bee club and beekeepers can still be the best sources for late season bees and replacement queens, so keep in touch with them. 

Here's hoping that June showers have brought July flowers and nectar flow!