The officers of the club have received several questions from new beekeepers about removal of entrance reducers. They put the entrance reducers on when they installed their new bees, as they were instructed. Now they want to know when to remove them. Click here from more information.
At the May 2020 meeting of the club April Kustov, Wisconsin State Apiary Inspector joined our meeting via Zoom to present Mite Management. The video is over an hour long but is very comprehensive about mite management and treatments.
In the video April refers to different mite treatments and the Wisconsin recommended treatments. Here is the sheet to which she refers. If you would like the Power Point presentation click here. You will need Power Point to view the slides.
During one of the club’s virtual meetings about installing and feeding nucs and packages the question came up about feeding using a zip top bag. No one in the meeting had any feedback so Carl Fisher has done some internet research and come up with the following.
Join Brown County Beekeepers Association President Dave Elsen and Vice President Julie Mazzoleni as they demonstrate how to install a nuc and a package of new honey bees. They also take questions from club members on lots of related topics to include feeding the new bees. The presentation is an hour long but well worth it.
During the April 15, 2020 virtual club meeting the subject of performing a sugar roll to check mite load came up. The Minnesota Bee Squad does a lot of good work in the area of mite testing and controls. The only issue with this video, in the club’s opinion, is the person is only wearing head protection. She is not wearing gloves or arm protection. The club always recommends taking the level of personal protection you are comfortable with.
A survey was taken during the November 2019 club meeting asking members to prioritize the purchase of potential items by ranking up to five items from 1 (highest priority) to 5. There were eleven items suggested for potential purchase. The club also voted to allocate up to $1,000 to purchase the top ranked items.
We then added up all of the “votes” an item received and divided the sum by the number of votes. A combination of votes and average score resulted in the following rankings.
| RAnk | Item | Votes | Avg Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Infrared Camera | 12 | 2.08 |
| 2 | Honey Extracting Kit | 11 | 2.27 |
| 3 | Bee Education Posters | 9 | 3.33 |
| 4 | Hive Scale | 8 | 2.25 |
| 5 | Candle / Wax Molds | 8 | 3.88 |
| 6 | Frame Assembly Jig | 6 | 4.0 |
| 7 | Dovetail Jig | 5 | 4.0 |
| 8 | BCBA Medallions | 5 | 4.4 |
| 9 | Laptop Computer | 1 | 2.0 |
| 10 | Printer | 1 | 3.0 |
| 11 | Polariscope | 1 | 4.0 |
As of March 2020 the club has purchased the Infrared Camera and the Honey Extracting Kit items. Both are currently available to rent for club members.
Our March meeting was cancelled where the topic for discussion was going to be “Spring Management Before Dandelions Bloom”. Here is a 3 minute video by Dave Elsen on that subject.
Since Varroa mites were introduced into the United States in 1987 beekeepers have been searching for ways to eliminate them. The more one knows about mites the easier it is for the beekeeper to keep healthy hives. This article in Entomology Today talks about different controls one can use when following an Integrated Pest Management approach.
If you don’t have little kids, or it’s been a while, let’s break down for you why kids’ coughs can be a truly miserable problem that can drive you to madness.
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The Marathon County Beekeepers Association is presenting a full day of speakers in Wausau WI on the campus of North Central Technical College. Registration is now open. Cost is $49 until February 29, 2020 and then it is $59. NOTE: If you are over 62 years of age the cost is only $21.90. The discount is given at checkout. For more information or to register.
Last year 6 BCBA club members carpooled to Wausau. There are already 3 folks from BCBA have signed up and are planning to carpool again. If you would like to carpool contact the club P president, Dave Elsen.