Marathon County Beekeeper's Association

February Minutes

2011-02-13T08:21:00.001-06:00

Marathon County Beekeepers’ Association
Meeting: February 8, 2011. 7:00 p.m. U-W Extension

Nineteen beekeepers present for the meeting.

Bob Benes, president called the meeting to order. A treasurer’s report indicates that we have $351.18 in the treasury. This amount does not include the recently collected dues.

* Those present introduced themselves. Several new people were present for the discussion. It was indicated that those new to bee-keeping would appreciate a session on how to get started in bee-keeping. It was pointed out that materials (books and DVD’s) are available to be checked out for information.
* Bees will be ordered from Kohn’s by those who would like to order through the association. Bob should be called as soon as possible. Larger equipment such as extractors can be ordered in this way as well. Starting equipment is also available at Kohn’s, again Bob can be called.

Queens come from California, the variety of bees include, Italian, Carniolans , and Minnesota hygienic. Bees are in demand this year so should be ordered as soon as possible.

* Bruce Parquette reported on his presentation in Stevens Point for the Master Gardener’s organization. The presentation on beekeeping was very well received.
* Discussion on the making of “candy bars” for the bees included the following recipes.
o 15 pounds of sugar, 32 oz of Caro syrup, 4 cups of water. Bring to 240degrees and then cool
o 10 pounds of sugar, 1 quart of water. Bring to boil
o 13 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water. Bring to boil
o Recipe on page 50 of February , 2011 Bee Culture magazine.
o All recipes should be boiled at lower heat and to 238 degrees and then cooled.

Bruce reported on how he made a frame for the placement of candy bars. Other suggestions included the placement of the “candy bars” on the frames.

* Those present reported on the conditions of their hives. It seems that most hives have wintered quite well. Some people did report that they had lost a significant number but of 65 hives, only 15 were at this point not viable.
* When catching swarms, it seems lemongrass works well.
* The marking of queens can be done by the beekeeper but there might also be a possibility to have Kohn’s mark the queen when the bees are ordered. There is significant interest in this possibility.
* It was pointed out that Italians are good for beginners because of their gentle nature. The Minnesota hygienic might be more durable but are also more feisty and aggressive.
* The comment was made that bees can probably sense if a person is afraid in handling them. Suggestion was made that talking to the bees is not a bad idea. Having a good working relationship with them will enhance the ease with which one can handle them.

The meeting ended at 8:35 p.m.

Next meeting is scheduled for March 8. Members will be notified of time, place and date.

Respectfully submitted,
Helen Ackermann
Secretary

June 8, 2010 Meeting

2010-06-10T11:06:00.000-05:00

Call to order by President Benes at 7:05 pm.
Introduction of all members present and talked about hives, interests, status of their beekeeping "careers"
14 members present
1 visitor: Ms. Drake, Rib Mtn.

Discussion on Mason bees - good for cold but okay with pollination but not the best bee to go with

Moved discussion to Bumble bees and better pollination, use clay or plastic pots and insert styrofoam or sheep wool - will collect there and live

Visitor asked about difficulty of beekeeping - consensus from other members:
Beekeeping only as hard as one makes it.

Frame foundations - added 2 wires horizontal to foundationless frames (Benes) Sillars does it at diagonals.

Sharing of Materials - Benes went over all products
Wish to check out materials - contact Sue
Look at Blog in coming days to find listing of materials available.
Materials have a 1 month checkout period. Pick up at meetings - return to meetings
Materials used for presentations - contact Sue
Trading Cards for presentations and Fair - Members agree unanimously to purchase through Association. Cards are 1 per person with hopes of various places presenting and kids "trading" for ones they want.

Mite Treatments -
Formic Acid Pads - how to use - Benes explains
Powdering of Mites - type of sugar, how often (weekly), effectiveness? good results from those using it but not efficient for those with many hives - 1 or 2 hive keepers are best

Mites tend to be highest in Fall
Spring - bees strong, higher turn around with brood, less mites -
Fal - preparing for hibernation period, less turnaround, more time for mites to "gather"

Baur used gride board underneath and lots of mites at beginning but then went down as year went on (using powdering)

Asked about Russian Bees - anyone using them? no one had - agressive?
mite issue? hygenic but still watch over mites
stops laying when no nectar flow - mites can't "grow"

Aggressive Bee grid - Most to least: Buckfast, Minnesota Hygenic, Italian

Cline - Fair is coming up in August, will have sign up list at Picnic in July, looking for helpers to cover Fair.

July Picnic - July 13 at 5:30 at Marathon County Park
Bring dish to pass, table setting and beverage
Assocation will provide meat, condiments and buns

Meeting Adjourned at 8:12 pm

May 11 Meeting

2010-06-10T10:55:00.000-05:00

May 11, 2010 Bee Meeting
Room 1 - UW-Extension

17 Members present; 2 guests

Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Bob Benes.
Visitor: Todd & Brandt Butler - Schofield; 3 hives

Larry - hives not doing good. gotten end of last month; queen failed or died in one hive.
Lapps had lots of complaints of queens; problems with mating of queens. queens came from CA.
Queen cells seemed to be started. suggested with stronger hive, with eggs and larva, remove bees and put frame into the "bad" hive.

Splitting one of the hives - question about this - tabled until later.

Reminder of starting of Mite season - use of treatments and to keep up on that. Benes starting up pads himself and could make extra pads for members who wish to have them. Needs to be at least 60 degrees -and must evaporate in hives.

Mite-away II - formic acid pad in bag with holes.
New treatment - little strip to lay on frames, once used up, bees will eat up strip and get rid of it. 7 day treatments - kills mites in every level and cells. not sure on pricing, still waiting to see about licensing.

Pads - 21 day treatment and then pull them off. ($38.95/10)

Teaching materials have been ordered and hasn't arrived yet. Will make list and hand out to all members at next meeting. Videos, need to figure out way to get it to members, contact Benes to bring to next meeting.

Main Topic: SPLITS
types of them, etc.

Walk-away split - take 2 deep hive boxes and equalize them up - could separate 1 deep from the other, the one without the queen will make a new one. One that doesn't have a queen will take about 30 days to make one.

Walk-away split but locate old queen, new box: introduce a new queen - doesn't have much of a lag time in the cycle - the two boxes would be pretty much equal.

One hive - split it to the point that a frame of eggs, a frame of capped brood and a frame of honey - minimal but have enough bees to cover brood. They will make a queen out of that -- 8 hives out of 1 -- wouldn't make any honey off of it - will use honey production, may be weaker.

Reasons:
More hives
Re-queen
Raising queens
Hives may be so full of bees that to help prevent swarming
Prevent of Swarming
Will have queen cells on it - take those frames and put it into a new hivebox queens would be open mated.
genetics go into halves when open mated

To get more production
cut down split
before nectar flow; take queen and all open brood and put into new split.
leave old hive in original spot - field bees will go back to original spot
leave one frame with old eggs; will raise a new queen - won't have any larvae to take care of but will make queen cells to get going….nothing other to do that to gather nectar and pollen.
When all done, keep new queen/get rid of old queen and put the 2 hives together.

Timing on making splits.
see drones present in hive before making splits
no drones = no mated queens

Drones congregation area - when you watch, can you find were they are? outside of hive and landing board - is it ready for splits - getting ready to go out and mate?
it's time - weather wise - after the nasty weather gets over with

question: doing combine - paper - bees would find the "new" hive - the hive left, bees will remember until they die out but will go to the new hive. Remove the old hive.
Move more than 2 feet but less than 2 miles. Put something where the old hive was.
flying to old spot but eventually go to new spot.

Spring Beekeeping Management:
tied to climate
microclimate where we are at
feeding the bees

watch for swarm control - bees have used up all their space and squeezing up brood area - bees want to reproduce but keepers don't - add honey supers, make splits; pull frames and put every other one as an empty frame; bees get idea - seem to do it anyway. Make a divide and take queen out and frames - give lot of room; put empty room and more space in the old hive - bees will have thought that they already swarmed.

supering for honey

??distance between the hives? it is important? how far away from original hive? put a branch in front of them. doesn't matter how far apart they are. ie: 5 way split - original hive - completely remove from area - 5 nuks - space like star around the spot. bees will circle around spot and equalize out. Can switch up boxes from weak to strong hive if there is a weak hive that you wish to make stronger.

Can't find the queen: sweep all bees into one hive; excluder - box to move set on top - put new frames on top and give bees time to get up into the upper box.

Question for next year: Can the queens be marked when getting them? Couldn't you mark them yourselves? You could use the number marker to glue onto them.

You can pick up a queen, generally doesn't sting you but hard to tell how hard to hold onto her.

Some places will clip one wing of the queen - but if she's wanting to swarm - she'll find a way.

Haun: article Queen/Queenless - split is like murder - Bee Culture May/June Issue? Commercials get rid of queen but need at least 24 hours to
laying workers ; tough to get workers to accept them;
take 2-3 frames out of drone brood - replace with worker brood - leave cork 4-5 days, the pheromones will be out of old worker and then be used to the new queen and will more likely to accept her.

Situation: didn't want new queens; let her out - they wanted to kill her; found that there were swarm cells; waited 5 days, let her out again; all was gone.

laying workers can't find way home.
laying worker = more than 1 egg per cell…look closely at cells - lay eggs on the side and is crooked.
laying workers only produced drones
Bad brood pattern, buckshot = laying worker

new queens - can get "excited" and lay more than one egg to the cell. Bees know that this is happening and workers will get rid of 1 of the eggs.

Carpenter had problems; Lapps would replace queen.

10 Commandments of Beekeeping -
www.bushfarms.com/beestencommandments.htm

discussion on first 5 commandments

do you invert hives in the spring? anyone else do that? Benes hasn't done it - didn't seem to make much of a difference

Teske: combined all into small cavity at first - added supers; has added honey supers
Sillars: McEvoy has small and then puts a Large on top
Benes: made all smalls - no large deeps
3 boxes of shallows and then put excluder on top if using it

checkerboarding - seems to work but labor intensive

Bring back of bee cages
Refunding at this point
Meeting adjourned 8:04 pm

Minutes for April 2010

2010-04-13T20:15:00.002-05:00

April 2010 Meeting
1. 15 members present - 5 visitors
2. Meeting ran by President Benes
3. Official time start was 7:05 pm
4. New visitors -
a. Ray/Stratford
b. Ron/
c. Larry & Marge Carpenter
d. Tim Rusnek's brother
5. email about boy scouts to re-instate beekeeping merit badge
a. looking for mentors to help boy scouts
i. think about it and come back to it
ii. help set up hive for boys and have them take care of it - they do the work
iii. a lot of questions to answer & see how to handle and go forward with it
6. last meeting - teaching materials and presentation
a. went over items
b. do we want to go ahead and get them - give a certain $ limit
c. discussion on getting materials
i. some at fair, presentations, own presentation
ii. all in favor - motion carried.
iii. discussion on amount to spend
1. suggestion is $300.00
2. Bee Biology book suggested - books will be well rounded for all levels
3. Find things to hand out to kids along with card
a. all in favor - motion carried.
7. Swarm list
a. Members willing to sign up
i. members to sign up in quadrants of the state
8. Yellow Jackets & Wasps
a. fall the traps is good.
b. raw chicken or hamburger in water - let it set for 1 day - in Spring
i. this is to get the queens and stop them from making nests
c. beelining to find nests
9. ?s
a. bottle for moths - vinegar/sugar & banana peel - will it hurt bees? - consensus is no.
b. plastic queen cage - similar to wooden one? - candy in tube and cap - pull cap off and suspend in hive
c. comment - had workers put wax on end of cage and wanted to start drawing out comb.
d. cleaning out of feeding jars - when to do it - often is suggested.
e. going away - very hungry bees - what to do? feeder bags, 2 gallon feeders, ziplock bags,
f. 1-1 ratio: 1 cup sugar & 1 cup water to help with feeding
g. 2 - 1 when it getting warmer - going 2 water to 1 sugar
h. in fall go back to 1-1.
i. very active bees - brining in pollen
j. feed sugar water - stimulates brood building
k. feed corn syrup - pack away in fall and better for over wintering
l. corn syrup straight - buy it from bee supplier - high fructose syrup
m. 25 cents/lb - corn syrup.
n. 55 centers/lb - sugar rate right now
o. heated to 100 degrees - corn syrup - produces a toxin -mildly poison with human but very toxic for bees
p. beet sugar vs. cane sugar - difference?
i. beets have been genetically altered?
ii. cane better?
iii. both sucrose?
q. nectar juice for hummingbirds
i. almond extract - bees will stay away
ii. fisher's bee quick
iii. get at beekeeping supplier
iv. put in mister and spray on
v. fisher's bee quick is used sometime in the fall to move bees away to work in harvesting hive, etc.
r. hornets?
i. try chicken trick?
s. Meeting topics:
i. May - splitting of hives is open
t. Ackermann- shared March Bee Culture - Ad - Nozovit - natural treatment for nosema serane -
i. claiming it is good
ii. lower price
iii. feeding in the spring - to focus on
u. bee supplier - not going to try something new without trying
i. doing a comparison on a small yard and a full year test
ii. need to treat - not an option NOT to.
10. Open up queen cage & queen leaves
a. leave hive open, stay in spot
b. after a bit, you can walk away
c. she will use you as visual cue
d. generally she will go back to hive.
11. Meeting Adjourned at 7:45 pm

Minutes for March 2010

2010-04-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

March 2010 Meeting
1. 17 Members present
2. Meeting ran by President Benes
3. Official time start was 7:05 pm
4. Began meeting with paying for bee packages and membership dues
5. Sharing of items for beekeeping library - looked at ideas and gave feedback
6. Ackermann talked about honey bill and the marking of the jars of honey to sell.
7. Sillars will contact Liz at the State level to get more information on who & how to sell honey - especially at farmer's market.
8. Sharing of Treasure report - $633.28 - all approved
9. Discussion on Cane sugar vs. Corn syrup
a. Kohn's liquid sucrose - bee build up brood - spring time
b. more corn syrup in fall - packs 50/50 blend
10. Packaged bees - spray with sugar water when received.
a. feed sugar water asap in feeder
11. Discussion on Teaching materials - will relook at during next meeting
12. Discussion on how hives were doing
a. most people did okay, lost near half of colonies
b. discussion about nosema and when to treat - spring & fall
13. Formic Acid - Baur has
a. temperature dependent (50-70 degrees)
b. good for tracial mites
c. bottom entrance wide open
d. 60% solution
e. put on top of frames
14. Discussion on commercial keepers and their loss.
a. est. McEvoy's lost 2400 out of 3000 hives
b. Almond pollination down and were wanting 1000 more hives if possible
15. Sugar syrup from spoiling
a. Vitamin C
b. PH 6.0
c. Honey is pH 3.20-4.5
16. Discussion carried on queen genetics
a. queen mating nuks
17. Discussion about Committees
a. Cline will help Ag Adventure Tent committee for August County Fair
Meeting adjourned at 8:05

Minutes for February 2010

2010-04-13T20:13:00.000-05:00

February 2010 Meeting

Social was held at Benes Residence
6 members plus spouses were present
A good time was had by all with socializing and sharing bee stories!

Minutes for January

2010-04-13T20:11:00.000-05:00

No minutes available at this time.

December Meeting

2009-12-09T16:53:00.002-06:00

December 8, 2009

Meeting canceled due to weather.

Next meeting is January 12, 2010.

November Meeting

2009-12-09T16:09:00.002-06:00

November 10, 2009

Meeting brought to order by Bob Benes.
Minutes taken by Member Helen Ackermann. Secretary Susan Benes not in attendance.

12 members, 3 guests

Member Jim Richards will no longer be keeping bees and is "retiring" as a beekeeper. He is stepping down from the Association.

Question about finding honeybees heads severed. Could it be Yellow Jackets? YJ is a problem.

Wisconsin Honey Producers Convention - reported by President Bob Benes.
Queen, Bees, Genetics - Randy Oliver, Speaker

Reading queen - don't go for looks
Brook pattern, pest. resistance is more important
genetics are most important
well bred queen give off more pheramones
a queen can influence him regarding personality of hive
watcher weather of where queen is bred. - good weather = good queen.

Marla Spivak - Univ. of Minnesota

look for queens resistant to pesticides
USH and Russian queens are more resistant
queens can build up an immunity
surviving bees can be ones who are immune
RE: CCD - individually bees can cope but in a hive it is difficult.
Immunce system can handle only so much
Min. Hygenic Bees - seem to be good source. As succeedy queens all produced, they have less stronger genetically
need to have a good gentic bee queen
4 in PVC pipe - use liquid nitrogen in brorood, freeze it, unthaw, put back in - cleaned out
3 strains - that had good genetics: Minnesota Hybrid, Russian, USH: vero sensitive hygenic bee
Genetics is most important - commerical beekeepers all interested in honey production bot genetics necessarily

Sue Cally - speaker
is trying to bring in more genetics
caucasin from turkey, 2 italians, 26 sub species of honey bees
8 or 9 imported since 1922
In US genetics are lowered but she is workingon bringing in bees with better genetics

Marla Spivak - speaker

Researching propolis - how it helps bees/ people.
In a tree bees will coat entire space they live in with propolis. Which seems as an antibiotic for them - they collect it and use it.
70% alcohol mixed with propolis to fight against disease
mixing propolis with royal jelly can kill virus in brood.

fungus to kill varroa mites - fugus does not surive long enough to kill the mites
Tactic (Amatraz) will kill veroa mites
Garlic can be used in powdered surgar but dowals always work as it might.

Bob showed cards produced by Lapps Bee Supply that are trading cards could be used at fair or in other ways to produce interest in beekeeping.

Bob indicated he will be ordering queens from Minnesota Hygenics - perhaps we could order together. bob will also heck if you can get nukes or bees.

Pedigrees are not kept on bees because of of unknown drones.

Hygentic bees have tendency to clean out mites, ect. because they can detect problems.

Meeting adjourned.

October Meeting

2009-12-09T16:03:00.002-06:00

October 13, 2009

Meeting called to order at 7:05 pm by President Bob Benes.

Introduction of Officers. (11 members present, 5 guests)
Papers on Pesticides.
Donation from Antonia Urban Memorial.
Beelining Event - Meade Wildlife

4 hours
2 trees
found on high ground
found wild honey - small brown honeybee
Tom Meyer, Naturalist - supportive of event

YellowJackets

gound nesters
Vice President lost 4 hives; 1 by 1 to YJ
Member Lee calling down to Madison for more info
Lots of swarms

Mites -

Later in fall
large number
common
Formic Acid Pads - shortest treatment & relatively natural

CCD - ?CCD

Insulation of hives - discussion
Q&A time for guests

Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm

Beelining Event

2009-10-11T15:08:00.001-05:00

Sept. 26 - Held at Meade Wildlife Refuge.
3-4 Members participated in event.
2-3 trees were found with wild honeybees in them.
Fun day for those who participated. Look for more information at our October meeting!

September Meeting

2009-10-11T15:05:00.000-05:00

Called to order at 7:10 pm
Sharing: Fair Participation Thank you from Wausau Chamber. Hope to have us back next year.
Donations from Toni Urban Memorial. Ideas shared on use of donation/memorial.
Mite Treatments started - discussed.
Looking for new Secretary.
Need to send Thank You for donations.

Meeting adjourned at 7:30 pm.

August Meeting

2009-10-11T14:58:00.003-05:00

Call to order 7:10 pm
Members talked about their hive status. Discussion then focused on wintering the hives. George discussed his method of wintering hives. Meeting turned to skunk invasions of the hives and how to combat them. Finally, members talked about Mite treatments and what they are using.

Beelining was next on topic. Date was discussed for Sept. 26 or Oct. 3. Tabled until next month.
Meeting adjourned at 8:00 pm

July Meeting

2009-07-18T20:44:00.001-05:00

7-9-09
6:00 p.m.

The July meeting was held at the Marathon County Park in correlation to our Annual Social.

After enjoying a picnic potluck supper, the members visited with Rep. Donna Seidel. Discussion was held with Donna - She wanted to know more about honeybees. The association mentioned concerns with loss of colonies. Kudos were given to the spraying sign up and that phone calls are being made when spraying occurs. Members talked about concerns with spraying /pesticides and how it affects the honeybees. Donna asked about the hives each member had and will help the association by providing resources that the Association can turn to.

Discussion was held on the themes/topics for next year.

Social/meeting ended at 8:00.

Next Meeting - 7:00 p.m. UW-Extension - 2nd Tuesday of the Month.

HIVE SPLITTING WORKSHOP A SUCCESS!

2009-06-20T14:07:00.003-05:00

June 20th, 2009

Thanks for reading our blog! We try to put information about our meetings and agendas but every once in awhile, we have a special day that allows the members to get together and work with the bees. Today, the hive splitting workshop was held at the beeyard of President Bob Benes. A total of 13 members were in attendance of the workshop. A great turn out for a very warm day here in Central Wisconsin! At least the sun was out!

The beekeepers were able to get into Bob's yard and split roughly 4 hives. Bob shared information that he had either read or learned about when hive splitting. Each member received a handout to read and provide as a resource prior to going into the yard. Once in the yard, Bob was able to walk the other members through the process.

Members grouped into 4 teams and worked on hives together. While Bob assisted the members, the members were able to do hands on learning and teamwork in the yard. It was very exciting to see all the guys in there working in the hives and looking as if they had all gone to heaven!

Afterwards, members got a chance to look at a basswood beetree. Pictures will be posted as soon as possible. We were all amazed at how Nan climbed right up the ladder without any gear on to look into that tree stump! Especially after the bees had been gone through. Way to go, girl!

We will be looking at more workshops throughout the course of the year. If you are interested in attending a workshop, please contact us at benesfamily@charter.net - please write in the subject box - workshop interest.

Check back soon for pictures!
Sue

JUNE MINTUES

2009-06-20T13:54:00.002-05:00

6-9-09
Meeting called to order at 7:00 pm by Bob Benes. Modified to "Swarm" called to order by Bruce Paquette.

Farmer's Market - currently selling honey at $12.00 / qt. and $9.50/pint

400 Block Markets on Thursday - Matt's Mother-in-Law willing to run for Association

Sharing of presentations done at Rothschild Elementary - asked to bring in power point used to share with Members - August meeting?

Check into cost of honeysticks for Fair

Shared print out of Wisconsin Natural Acres selling cost of honey

Swarms - LOT MORE THIS YEAR! - any reason? theories but nothing concrete

Brochure - looked over - suggestions made - updated pictures, nutritional value to add, benefits of raw honey, explanation of swarms

FAIR Update: look into having brochures ready, have business cards to hand out

Pollen box - discussion

Different bee yards around county being noticed, talked about whose they might bee - concerns about spraying near them

BEE UPDATE of members hives - being very productive, busy - doing good, many good ideas among members on what they have been doing to help keep them productive

Reminder of Hive Splitting Workshop for June 20th, RSVP by June 19th, bring gear and equipment. Begins at 9:00 am - free for members. Flyers sent out to members.

Spraying letters - state website: kellysolutions.com, go to info & resources, map, state, region, county and then spraying information comes up.

Department of Ag - Pesticides, map & addresses

State Budget - tax on sugars? honey, maple syrup, sugar?

Contact State Reps. - email reps to voice concern over budget

Contact other associations and what they are doing about budget concerns, etc.

8:20 adjourned

MAY MINUTES

2009-06-20T13:44:00.002-05:00

7:00 pm - Meeting Called to Order by Sue Benes
7 members in attendance

Swarming activities - more this year - due to better wintering? Seems to be an increase in the number of swarm calls already this year - and early!

Shared Milwaukee - Waukesha Association website

Went through how members hives were doing:
Most members commented that their hives are doing good/fine. Seems to be a lot of brood already
Continuation of mite treatment

Matt will look into spraying letter addresses

Looked at old brochure, went through what needed to be changed.

Taste of Marathon County - put on by Wausau Chamber
Held at Park, 1/2 hour presentations, 2 days (Fri/Sat in June), Theme: Cooking with honey - create samples and then allow to share - approved/licensed kitchen available.
Consensus to not be involved in this year.

Fundraising idea: cookbook with local members honey recipes - sell at Farmer's Market? need to check into more.

Increase/decrease of Yellow Jackets/ Wasps this year? seems to be normal

June 20th - Hive splitting Workshop; 9-12 noon; bring gear and equipment - need RSVP

Jan - Hive building Workshop

July 14 - Annual meeting; Marathon County Park; 6pm

Sign up to help at Central Wisconsin Valley Fair - 1st week in August - booth at the Youth Ag. Adventure Tent. Set up is Monday -Fair runs from Tuesday through Sun. Sign up sheet at June meeting.

Check into Anti-fungals - does this harm bees?

Meeting adjourned at 7:50 pm.

MAY AGENDA

2009-05-09T19:40:00.003-05:00

Tentative Agenda for May 12, 2009 Meeting:

1) Many Swarm calls - activity on beekeeper's end?
2) Sharing of Milwaukee Beekeeping Site
3) Current status of bees, mite treatments, spraying letters
4) Update of brochure
5) Taste of Marathon County
6) Fundraiser ideas
7) Yellow jackets & wasps - occurrences?
8) Split Workshop - to be held June 20th - RSVP needed
9) Annual Meeting - July 14th, Marathon Park - time to be determined
10) Other items

MEETING REMINDER

2009-04-18T21:39:00.001-05:00

May meeting will take place on:

May 12, 2009
at 7:00 PM
UW-Extension Building
Room 1

April Meeting Minutes

2009-04-18T21:19:00.003-05:00

April Minutes

April 14, 2009

7:10 Meeting called to order by Bruce Paquette.

10 members present - new member added to listing.

Went off last agenda and updates

1) Selling at the CWV Fair - the booth is free or we could have a booth (that is over $1000) in order to sell honey, equipment, etc.
a) Suggestion to create business cards or flyers that list beekeepers who are willing to sell honey with contact information listed.
b) Informational sheet will need to be created to go along with anything that is sold. Can tweak brochure that has been used from before.

2) Promotions: a lot of bee information, etc has been on the news, radio, and even at the Capitol in Washington
DC concerning honeybees.
a) Hives are now being placed at the White House to help their Victory Gardens.
b) Side note: Buyer's Guide had 250 hives and equipment for sale in Ogema. Bruce called and was able to find out more information.
i) All items - 250 hives with all frames, foundations, inner/outer covers for $250.00 total - or pick and chose items for $2.00 each. Some deeps, shallows, free comb, factory & hand made items.
ii) High interest by all members - to be looked into more - thoughts of purchasing lot and then sharing amongst all the members - left overs could be sold at markets or in paper.
a) older products would need to be washed with 10% bleach solution - soaked and thoroughly rinsed.
b) Bob to look at on Saturday and get back to members.

3) Sue discussed the Boy Scout visit and that it went well - many parents and boys were there. High interest, lots of good questions and conversation that took place. A 1st grade presentation will be held on April 28 at Rothschild Elementary . Bruce commented on presentations that he had done years past and how students really enjoyed learning about the bees.

4) Bee purchases - Bruce - approx. $64.50 from Don Kohn. That is about average in this area. High price from bigger commerical companies.

5) Fructose over sugar solution was discussed - can be purchased for about 29 cents per pound

6) Bruce talked about the last big storm that hit and how he was called about a tree that was down and full of honeybees. When he got there the bees were gone with only a few dead around the area - old comb way up top for a honey tree for a pretty long time - figure that power company had taken about 3- 3 gallon pails full of comb and honey before Bruce could do anything about it.

7) 2 Addresses were shared for sending out spraying letter - Spring Green Lawn Care in Wausau and TruGreen in Stevens Point
a) Matt is going to contact the UW Extension to see if there is a listing of spraying places (like a registry) that will be able to have and contact with the letters from the Association.
b) Looking at having Representatives Donna Seidel and Jerry Petrowski to come to meetings and hear our concerns about the spraying and decline of bee population.

8) Review of treasury records - current balance is $273.00
a) 3 more membership dues were paid
b) Will be using some of that money to pay for teaching frames

9) Reminder that anyone can blog to members who have posted and to share their concerns/questions/suggestions.

10) Opened up for other questions/concerns, etc.
a) When to switch super? - make sure there's plenty of food before doing so - otherwise any time.
b) Randy shared that he was having problems with pollen patties and used a dry pollen substitute just poured on an overturned 5 gal. pail. He used 5# in 3 days - for 6 hives. Said bees didn't take to patties - but went nuts over just the dry pollen
c) George shared that Brewer's yeast could be used as a pollen substitute - mix with syrup to make sticky and form into patty - place on top of frames. bees seemed to like it.

Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,
Sue Benes

April Meeting

2009-04-05T14:41:00.001-05:00

NEXT MEETING!

Join us for our April meeting!

When: April 14, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: UW-Extension Building
River Drive, Wausau, WI
Room: 1

AGENDA: TBD : Check back again.

March Events

2009-03-08T18:40:00.003-05:00

Monday, March 9th:
Boys Scout Meeting, Hatley Community Center
Beekeeping Presentation; 6:15 pm

Tuesday, March 10th:
Marathon County Beekeepers Association,
UW-Extension, Wausau
Monthly Meeting; 7:00 pm

Possible Agenda Items

2009-03-06T19:36:00.002-06:00

March Meeting Ideas/Suggestions:

Latest in colony collapse disorder
Making a live bee exhibit for fair.
Selling member honey at fair.
Nuc availability closer than Prairie Farms east of Bloomer.
Queen propagation.
Purchasing a set of teaching frames for presentations
Presentation information

Please bring ideas/questions/sharing with you!

Remember - We only cancel if you receive a phone call or when weather is severe.

NEXT MEETING!

2009-03-02T20:33:00.003-06:00

Join us for our March meeting!

When: March 10, 2009
Time: 7:00 pm
Where: UW-Extension Building
River Drive, Wausau, WI
Room: 1

AGENDA: TBD : Check back again.

February Agenda and Minutes

2009-03-02T20:10:00.002-06:00

Marathon County Bee Association
Bee Social at Bob and Sue Benes's

Agenda/Minutes for February 21, 2009

1:00 pm.

President: Bob Benes
Vice-President: Bruce Paquette
Secretary/Treasurer:Susan Benes

Opening: Welcome

Members and Guests

Minutes are underlined in addition to what was on the agenda.

Housekeeping Items:

Social Time: Foods on! Visit and eat!

Everyone started to arrive around 1p.m.

Bob welcomed all members and their spouses to the social.

Explained that it was going to be a question/answer time and that to enjoy all's
company.

New Business

A question and answer time between beekeepers.

Everyone brought a dish to pass.

All food was delicious!

Other Business:
Door prizes for:
10 foundationless frames donated by Bob Benes.
Bottle of homemade plum/pear wine donated by Bruce Paquette.

On the bottom of the paper plates were written the words: bees and wine.
Whoever had those plates one the prizes.

Congrats to Jim & Pat Haun for the homemade wine!

Congrats to Lee Sillars for the frames!

Wrap Up:

Take home leftovers!

Adjourn
Most members had left by 3:00. A wonderful time was had and members mentioned that they would like to do this again in the winter and in the summer.

Welcome!

2009-03-01T19:24:00.000-06:00

We are so pleased to have you visit our blog. We hope that as time goes on, we will post information that will help our fellow beekeepers.

We are located in Central Wisconsin. Our meetings start at 7:00 pm at the UW-Extension Building, 212 River Drive, Wausau, WI 54403. You may contact us at the UW-Extension (715) 261-1231 for more information.

We will be posting our agendas and meeting minutes on this site.
We love to hear from you!