Minutes of the VT State Beekeepers Meeting, January 24, 2006
Mike Palmer called the meeting to order at 9:40 AM.
The recording secretary counted over 70 people in attendance.
Mike began by suggesting the meeting be changed to Saturdays to enable more people to attend. Lynn Lang said that if we separate ourselves from the Farm Show, we would become a commercial entity and would have to pay triple for the Farm Show booth. A motion was made to consider moving the meeting to Saturdays, from the perspective of costs and space availability. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously.
Mike announced that the summer meeting is scheduled for Saturday July 22, 2006 at the Long Trail School in Dorset. The guest speaker will be Larry Connor.
Mike mentioned that Africanized honey bees (AHB) are now confirmed in every southern state from California to Florida, with the possible exception of Georgia. As these are the states that produce almost all the queens and package bees sold in the U.S., it is more important than ever for Northern beekeepers to raise their own bees and queens.
John Tardie gave the Treasurer’s report. A synopsis of the report is the following:
- Checkbook balance on July 30, 2005 was $6355.89
- Checkbook balance on January 23, 2006 was $7179.84.
- Cookbook sales in this report total $3346.50.
- Total cash presently available is $8332.89.
John strongly urged that the Association tighten control over our bank account and accounting practices, which he and others consider to be a lax and porous system. He described the closed system used by the Knights of Columbus, for which organization he serves as recording secretary. John said that formerly, the Vermont Beekeepers Association was a small group, with a checkbook balance of $400—$600. Now, with a significantly greater amount of money in our organization, clarity and accountability are much more important. John said that in 2004 he received money totaling $2250 for members’ dues, which meant there were 148 members in VBA. In 2005, he received $1750 for members’ dues, which meant we were down to 115 members. John asked if VBA lost members, and did not know the answer.
John went on to suggest that we change our structure to a January to December method
of dues paying, with people who join VBA during the year paying on a pro-
John said that we have over $7000 in our checkbook that is “doing nothing.” He suggested that we use ING Direct for our bank account, as they pay 3.8% interest, which is much higher than we presently receive. Ross Conrad asked what companies ING invests in; John did not know. John motioned to have our funds put into ING Direct. The motion was seconded. Mike Palmer amended the motion, so that we keep $500 in our original account. The motion passed unanimously.
A motion was made to change our dues paying structure to January to December, with
new members paying on a pro-
Steve Parise gave the Inspector’s report. First though he gave the results of the Farm Show Honey Contest. There were 22 entries in six classes. Mike King won in five of the classes (including Best of Show for his creamed honey), and Bill Mares won in the comb honey class. In the Honey Products competition, there were 19 entries, with Gloria Miller winning the $100 prize. Steve said that three honey entries were rejected for having sour flavors. He wasn’t sure of the floral sources of the honeys, but thought they were from late blooms. Bill Mraz said that in the past 20 years, he has seen many more floral sources. Formerly, dandelion, clover, alfalfa, and goldenrod were about it. Now we have several new sources of invasive plants, such as Chinese honeysuckle, purple loosestrife, and Japanese knotweed.
Steve continued with his report, stating that last year there were 1579 registered beekeepers in the State, operating over 10,000 hives in 1984 apiaries. Steve inspected 2,500 hives last year. 68 of them (3%) had American Foulbrood. This number has been stable compared with other years. 136 had Chalkbrood. He checked 1605 for Varroa mites and found them in more than 91% of the checked hives. He found Small Hive beetle in 63% of the inspected hives.
Burning remains the normal treatment for AFB, but there is a new product, distributed by Mann Lake, called Tylin. It is used only when there is active AFB, not as a preventative treatment in the way Terramycin is used. Tylin is very stable, and can remain in the comb for over six months. Steve said he may recommend the use of Tylin if he discovers AFB at early stages in a strong colony, but if there is scale in the hive he still would recommend burning the hive.
Steve now has a new assistant in David Trembly.
Rick Drutchess asked if Steve had any plans for dealing with aggressive bees. Steve has bee samples with USDA, but has no results yet. He is always looking at what other states are doing for identifying AFB, and their methods for sampling, and protocols for requeening overly aggressive hives.
Steve said that Jones in Québec will have package bees this year, with a May 19 pick up scheduled in Swanton. Wilbanks and other companies from the Southern U.S. will also have packages for sale. Betterbee, Singing Cedar, and Charlie Andros (Alstead, NH) were mentioned as places to get nucs. Steve said that if you are buying nucs from out of state to ask for an inspector’s report, or to tell Steve directly. He is more concerned about the comb than about the bees.
Mike Palmer gave the Apiary report.
There will be a full slate of workshops again this year in the two bee yards.
Bob Eastman reported that $2255 was brought in from the Tunbridge Fair. Bob urged VBA members to bring bee products to him at the summer meeting, or get things to him, including honey, before the Fair, as it’s a good place to sell honey and bee products.
Sharon Zecchinelli gave the Web report.
She mentioned some of the resources on the web site, such as a place to sign up to
be part of the mentoring program, the marketplace section of the web site, and the
calendar of activities of the local bee clubs. The first electronic newsletter was
put up recently, and Sharon said it was simple. The next is due to be posted on the
web site in mid-
Mike Palmer said there will be an election of officers at the July meeting. The VBA bylaws say the President’s term runs for two years, and Mike has been President for three. Bill Mares praised Mike for his “wonderful influence,” his professional skills, commitment to the industry, and educational skill. Bill said Mike is an “incredible source of inspiration and energy” to fellow beekeepers. Many people seemed to favor changing the bylaws so Mike could remain President. (As Mike didn’t flee the room, perhaps he is not completely averse to the possibility—rec.secy’s comments)
Jeffrey Hamelman was nominated to be Recording Secretary. The nomination was seconded, and it passed almost unanimously, as Hamelman sort of raised his hand for the “all those opposed” part of the vote. After hours of scribbling notes at the meeting, and more hours typing them up, Hamelman wondered to himself if the Association would pay for any carpel tunnel surgery that might be required as a result of the incredibly dangerous work of the recording secretary.
Steve Parise began the Morning Session by talking about Spring Management. He talked
about aspects of a first quick check, usually in mid to late February, which varies
according to local climate and elevation. He looks to see if a colony is alive, where
the cluster is, and its food reserves, all in one to two minutes at most. A more
thorough check takes place in March or April, again depending upon climate and elevation.
At this time Steve looks for the presence of a queen, and tries to ascertain if she
is a drone layer, and what kind of brood pattern there is. He also assesses the hive
for its possible suitability for splitting, or for taking some frames to equalize
with other hives, and tries to determine whether or not to order queens. During this
inspection, Steve also checks disease status, rotates combs as needed, and may use
a mite treatment such as Apilife. If he intends to use pollen patties, they would
not go on until mid to late March, so as not to stimulate the colony too early in
the season. In a place like St. Johnsbury, pollen patties might not go on until mid-
Mike Palmer then talked about Record Keeping. In order to improve stock and select
for desired traits, he is attentive to record keeping so that he can get a good year-
Lunch followed Mike’s talk, and there was plenty of really good food. As always, the room was full with lots of conversations.
The first afternoon speaker was Dr. Jamie Strange from the Dyce Lab at Cornell University. His topic was Local Bees. . . Do They Exist? His presentation was quite interesting as well as quite scientific. The use of a power point presentation made it easy to follow along, as he spoke of his work in Southwestern France and Washington State.
After Jamie’s talk, Kirk Webster spoke about Raising Bees and Queens in the North.
The meeting adjourned at 3:30.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jeffrey Hamelman
