SnoKing Beekeepers Monthly Meeting Time: Aug 16, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89047672409?pwd=S0IyblNRN2pqOTErdTQ2NWJLQ3VaZz09 Meeting ID: 890 4767 2409 Passcode: 908865 One tap mobile +12532158782,,89047672409#,,,,*908865# US (Tacoma) +12532050468,,89047672409#,,,,*908865# US Dial by your location • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) • +1 253 205 0468 US |
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"State of the Hive" & the Fair 8/16 6:30PM |
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MEETING TOPIC: ‘State of the Hive’! Hi, beekeepers! Western Washingtonians, do you feel as if you are living in a greenhouse? While we are sweating it out, our bees are “lovin’ it!” 70s to 90s F with high humidity day after day makes Apis mellifera feel like it’s back home in the tropics. The longer days of our northern latitudes are giving them time to lay up those surplus stores that are putting many beekeepers on track for record-breaking honey harvests. This greenhouse weather extended the blackberry flow in many areas, making the flow longer and less intense than in other years, but still resulting in stores buildup. This Western Washington phenomenon of in late summer/early fall rain extends the blooming period of some plants and reduces the stress of late summer dearth. Sometimes our cool, damp springs give way to these summers of great honey production. Longer days at this time of year in the northern latitudes gives us an advantage not seen in regions farther south in the States. If the knotweed flow supplies our bees in the same extended way, fall honey harvest will be good. Reports are already coming in of the first knotweed blooming. |
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So come and feel free to let us know how well you are doing, or not, if the start of the season was too difficult in your hives to take advantage of this prime beekeeping time. We will celebrate or sympathize, accordingly. With either outcome, we are into serious Varroa control time. It’s time to prepare for the Varroa population explosion that happens in most hives in late summer. While we may be lucky enough to be measuring gallons or pounds of product, we should already have those treatments planned and on hand, to apply asap if we are not already applying them. Many treatments require honey for human consumption be removed before application, so feel free to come to the meeting and talk strategy on how to balance that. |
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Also at the meeting, we can discuss the seasonal nemesis: hornets and wasps. The yellow jackets were at the hive entrances early this year. In other areas, some of you are experiencing the MIA queens (missing in action) we associate with that late summer dearth. In addition, many of us are starting to question the quality of queens we can obtain commercially. This is reason enough to continue to explore raising our own queens and overwintering some for next spring. Round 2 of the Queen Rearing project is ending but it was actually only the first phase (grafting, mating and proofing of queens) of the club Queen Project. Right after the fair in Phase 2, we will overwinter some mated queens in double nucs, which was successful last winter, and possibly attempt overwintering caged queens in a double deep queen bank, using an Oregon State University method. |
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For discussion of all this and whatever else you beekeepers want to discuss, we will see you 6:30PM Wed. “Let’s talk bees!” Bring your favorite ideas or concerns and have your pictures ready. Remember we can screen share one person at a time on Zoom, so have your pictures ready. |
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CONTENTS: Meeting agenda: “State of the Hive” Evergreen State Fair Online classes start 9/11 Queen project update Evergreen State Fair 8/24-8/29, 8/31-9/4 (Labor Day) Online classes Yellow Jackets & Robbing Screens Club apiaries Queen Project Extractors for use by club members |
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EVERGREEN STATE FAIR 8/24-8/29, 8/31-9/4 (Labor Day), Monroe Fair chair: Walt Filson waltfilson@gmail.com FAIR COUNTDOWN: 8 days from meeting on the 16th until first day of fair (August 24) For the most complete fair information, here’s the link for last week’s newsletter: https://shoutout.wix.com/so/7dOdXPk2D?languageTag=en Or get updated at this Wednesday’s club meeting. FAIR VOLUNTEERS: Email eliochel@snokingbka.org whether you want your parking passes and admission tickets mailed or if you will pick up at the Granite Falls location or at the Maltby apiary. |
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A number of short, informal outdoor presentation opportunities will be available under the Ag Display canopy near our booth. This is a great chance to present anything bee-related: how to light a smoker, how bees waggle dance, how bees fly, the 3 castes of bees, what tools and equipment beekeepers use, etc. You are welcome to sign up for time slots 12:30PM to late afternoon/early evening and talk for 30 minutes on topic of your choice. Even just Q & A or talking about being a beekeeper would be great. Your audience is usually small but wants to hear a real, live beekeeper talk. Let Walt or Eli know. If you need props or material, we can probably find it for you and have it at the fair. |
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If you would rather work at the indoor honey booth, you can text or email Tim Ade at sign up at Tim Ade’s website: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20f054baea728a5f85-honey/69627346#/ |
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EXTRACTORS are available for use by club members. Get more information at meeting or contact the Club Apiary managers: Ron and Eli |
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CLASSES start online after Labor Day. All classes include manual and online testing and certificate e upon course completion. JOURNEYMAN starts Monday September 11. Registration and more information can be found at www.snokingbka.org/journeymanapplication Questions? Call or text 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snokingbka.org. BEGINNER starts Thursday September 14. Registration and more information at www.snokingbka.org/beginnerapplication APPRENTICE starts Tuesday October 17. Registration and more information at www.snokingbka.org/apprenticeapplication Questions? Call or text 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snokingbka.org. |
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Journeyman candidates, keep logging your service hours. We encourage any beekeeper approaching 3 years of beekeeping to pursue Journeyman. For many of you, mentoring, teaching, volunteering in your local bee club, presenting about bees and pollinators, staffing booths at fairs and community events and more! is what you do without expecting compensation. However, recognizing that service is part of Journeyman, and service after earning the Apprentice certificate can be counted towards the required 35 service credits. Also, keep up your hive logs/journals to meet that 2 years requirement for the certificate Consider scheduling your hive practical before completely closing up your apiary for winter. |
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TROPHALLAXIS - a JOURNEYMAN level discussion and networking group forming this Fall SnoKing Beekeepers will start 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. |
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YELLOW JACKETS: Trap! Reduce entrances! Deploy robbing screens! Open hives as little as possible. ROBBING SCREENS Also, some of our hives need protection from each other! Bees are efficiency experts not moralists. Robbing is more efficient than searches for enough nectar to feed a peak hive population, particularly if there is even partial dearth of nectar. QUEEN PROJECT Update will be given at meeting. |
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QUEENS – Requeening or merging? Last minute requeening?If you lose a queen this late in the season, think of winter prep and consider merging smaller queenless colonies with stronger queenright colonies. However, formic & thymol can cause supersedure cells to appear. Formic is rumored to be harder on older queens (2nd year or older) than new. One strategy is to treat before merging hives for overwintering, thereby risking a queen when you can afford to lose one. Before requeening, be sure that your colony is queenless. Do The Ultimate Queen Test* while flow is on or you are feeding. There are 3 possible outcomes; know what they mean! Remember that a queen has only 3 duties: to lay eggs, to emit pheromones and to hide from the beekeeper. That last duty is the one that causes beekeepers, particularly beginners, the most worry. |
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*The Ultimate Queen Test is to offer just hatched worker brood eggs to a colony in order to test for presence of a queen. The beekeeper is giving the colony the opportunity to produce a queen by building emergency cells around those very young larvae. |
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CLUB APIARIES: Last scheduled apiary opening is this Saturday 1PM to 3PM. However, Ron is already offering some opportunity to do bees at Granite Falls after the fair (after Labor Day), so contact him to find out what times he can talk bees, DIY beekeeping, winterization and more. ASAP because the weather will turn cold any time after Labor Day. Maltby - Eli - eliochel@snokingbka.org 206-859-7392 Granite Falls - Ron - beebuddy.skba@gmail.com 206-719-3604 |
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The mission of the SKBA, a 501c3 member club of WASBA, is to provide educational opportunities, networking and support to beekeepers and people interested in honey bees, particularly those involved in small-scale beekeeping in Washington State west of the Cascades. |
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Thank you for reading this newsletter. We hope to talk bees with you at the SnoKing Beekeepers Meeting 6:30PM Wednesday August 16, 2023. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89047672409?pwd=S0IyblNRN2pqOTErdTQ2NWJLQ3VaZz09 Meeting ID: 890 4767 2409 Passcode: 908865 One tap mobile +12532158782,,89047672409#,,,,*908865# US (Tacoma) +12532050468,,89047672409#,,,,*908865# US Dial by your location • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) • +1 253 205 0468 US |
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"We talk bees!" at SnoKing Beekeepers Association. |
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