"Insulating Hives" & Winterizing 9/20 6:30PM |
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Photo above from Ty Carlson's Presentation "Insulating Hives" SnoKing Beekeepers September Meeting Time: Sep 20, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81852009042?pwd=U1VpdnJDVFFYTk5FcU91THUzakZxdz09 Meeting ID: 818 5200 9042 Passcode: 855555 One tap mobile +12532050468,,81852009042#,,,,*855555# US +12532158782,,81852009042#,,,,*855555# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location • +1 253 205 0468 US • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcMCz3nkyi |
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Hi, Beekeepers! We’re running out of summer! The focus is to evaluate and winterize, so that will be the topic of our monthly meeting this Wednesday. The feature presentation will be “Insulating Hives” by Master Beekeeper Ty Carlson. Ty will talk about the reasons for insulating hives and how several beekeepers have approached it. Then he will tell how he is doing it and how he used the data he gathered from his hives to fulfill the research component of his Master Beekeeper certification at the University of Montana. |
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HIVES: Hi, beekeepers! How are your hives? Here’s hoping that those longer summer days in the northern latitudes gave you all that temperate zone advantage and that it showed up in your harvest! We hope it was rewarding, and that starting the season with a cold damp spring was overcome with good results. Now, instead of comparing quantity and quality of hive products, we compare mite drops and other mite counts. If life happened and you missed the treatment window in which you hope to dose those mites, don’t give up. Apply asap if not already applying them. Only a few treatments (oxalic acid vaporization, Formic Pro/MAQS, hopguard, etc. can be used with supers of honey for human consumption on. Yes, any honey treated with the other varroacides can be fed back to the bees but is not intended for humans to eat. Be careful to mark the tops of the frames of miticide-contaminated honey so you don’t forget and accidentally harvest it in the spring! |
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While sealing up the Maltby club hives for OAV treatments before sunrise, yellow jackets were seen entering and leaving the hive entrances. They were taking advantage of the honey bee guards not being able to do their jobs at lower temperatures, temperatures that wasps can fly at. Also, those sneaky vespids were waiting in any gap between a screened bottom and its slideout board. I am not sure if they were waiting for the right moment to sneak in, or if they had overnighted in the gap. |
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Last OAV treatments are in progress at the Maltby club hives, and we are assessing strength of colonies and their queens. For example, there is quite a range in wintering fitness because we have overwintered queens, spring queens and summer queens, due to two rounds of queen rearing and the maintenance of brood factories. One colony with a new queen has 6 deep frames of capped brood, whereas another with another new queen has a much smaller broodnest. If there is not enough brood to overwinter each queen with her own colony in an 8-frame hive stack, queens will be overwintered with their colonies in double nucs, two 4-frame nucs on a divided 10-frame base. These double nucs overwintered successfully 2023. |
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QUEENS: In all hives, we hope you have completed merging small hives and any requeening by now. If you lose a queen this late in the season, consider merging a healthy queenless colony with a stronger queenright colony. Many beekeepers have just treated with formic acid or thymol at this time of year, but those 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. |
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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: Presentation “Insulating Hives” by Master Beekeeper Ty Carlson. Evergreen State Fair was a success! Fair Committee will meet in mid-October after WASBA conference. Email eliochel@snokingbka.org if you wish to join that meeting, or have comments or suggestions for the committee. Notes from the September 13 meeting will be sent out in the coming week. A fundraising committee may form, probably closely tied to the fair committee. |
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Thank you to the more than 30 volunteers who made our fair booth a success! Photo below is the 2023 Queen of the Fair in the fair observation hive. |
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CLASSES JOURNEYMAN: There is still room in Journeyman class for those earning the certificate and for those auditing for review. SnoKing offers an unusual member benefit: a member can audit a class for free for any level already achieved. In particular, some of you Journeymen might wish a review of academic material before applying for the new Master Beekeeper program expected to begin in 2024. This is of particular benefit to those who took classes pre-2019, before the major rewrite of the manuals. Any member who previously earned a certificate is welcome to join a current class for free and see that current level information. Journeyman is the most completely rewritten and improved of the course levels and of particular interest to experienced beekeepers. The newer print manuals can be purchased even if you have already earned Journeyman. The easiest way to join as an “alumni” is to email eliochel@snokingbka.org and ask to receive the weekly class emails with link, handouts and other information. |
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Our thanks to Mann Lake who donated the single deep hive setup we used at the fair. It is one of the November volunteer/membership drawing prizes mentioned below. |
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FUTURE MEETING topics: October meeting presentation will be a summary and analysis of the WASBA October 7 & 8 Conference talks. Because the fair volunteer and membership drawing entry deadline is Nov. 10, we will be again doing the actual drawing live at the Nov. monthly meeting. Two of the largest prizes, all donated – the quilt and Mann Lake deep single box hive set – were displayed at the fair. More about the prizes in the October newsletter. |
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EXTRACTORS: Three extractors are available for use by club members. Get more information at the meeting or contact Ron or Eli. We owe a big thank you to James Cook who just donated the third one for loan, a 3-frame tangential on legs, plus additional beekeeping equipment! Donations are growing our club; thank you to all who donate equipment, money and time. |
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FAIR: Fair chair: Walt Filson waltfilson@gmail.com Mini presentations and explanations by volunteers at the fair included how to light a smoker with lavender and herbs, the parts of a hive, how bees waggle dance, how bees fly, what tools and equipment beekeepers use, etc. |
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HONEY JUDGING: Our club helped staff the indoor honey booth in Agricultural Display Building 500, and 2 of our Journeyman candidates, Heidi Goodgion and Tammy Korolis, learned to judge honey with experienced Honey Judge Wanda Booth. |
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CLASSES Online at SnoKing Beekeepers Assn.: All classes include manual, online testing, and certificate upon course completion. BEGINNER started September 14, Thursdays 6:30PM BEGINNER. Class presentations are recorded. Extra Q&A sessions are available; see “Ask a Beekeeper” below. APPRENTICE starts October 17, Tuesdays 6:30. |
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CLASSES (cont.): JOURNEYMAN started Mondays on September 11, 2023. Class registration is still open at www.snokingbka.org/journeymanapplication Class fee includes manual. Questions? Call or text 206-859-7392 or email eliochel@snokingbka.org. JOURNEYMAN CERTIFICATION: Although the academic course is only part of Journeyman certification, many Journeyman candidates find that it gives them knowledge and confidence to complete the other requirements: Club & community service hours Mentoring at least one other beekeeper Taking the Field Practical Maintaining hive logs/journals for 2 years 3 years beekeeping experience Note: Consider scheduling your hive practical before completely closing up your apiary for winter. This is a great time to meet with your mentor and discuss winterization and any other topic. |
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JOURNEYMAN LEVEL DISCUSSION GROUP starting October Also, an online discussion/networking group (Trophallaxis) starts this fall for Master Beekeepers, Journeymen and Journeyman candidates. An email in a couple weeks will contain the date and time of the first meeting to set goals and agenda for the group. |
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ASK A BEEKEEPER sessions on next 4 Tuesdays (Sept. 19 & 26, Oct. 3 &10): Because so many people registered for the current session of Beginning Beekeeping, and because so many can't stay later than 8pm to talk and ask questions, we are adding additional time to ask questions and talk bees on the next 4 Tuesdays 6:30PM to 8PM. I will be there for that hour and a half to "talk bees", even non-Beginner class topics such as winterization prep or varroa treatments needed right now. Those enrolled in the current Beginner class have priority! but usually such an extra Q & A session leaves time for others to ask questions or discuss whatever beekeeping issues, so other beekeepers are welcome as well. |
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CLUB APIARIES: Closed except by appointment Maltby - Eli - eliochel@snokingbka.org 206-859-7392 Granite Falls - Ron - beebuddy.skba@gmail.com 206-719-3604 |
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Thank you for reading this newsletter. Let's "talk bees" this Wednesday 6:30PM: "Insulating Hives" and Winterizing, SnoKing Beekeepers Time: Sep 20, 2023 06:30 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada) https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81852009042?pwd=U1VpdnJDVFFYTk5FcU91THUzakZxdz09 Meeting ID: 818 5200 9042 Passcode: 855555 One tap mobile +12532050468,,81852009042#,,,,*855555# US +12532158782,,81852009042#,,,,*855555# US (Tacoma) Dial by your location • +1 253 205 0468 US • +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcMCz3nkyi |
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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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"We talk bees!" at SnoKing Beekeepers Association. |
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