Mike Palmer convened the meeting at 9:25 AM and announced that this was the 121st consecutive meeting of the Vermont Beekeepers Association. The Recording Secretary counted 65—70 members in attendance.

Bill Mares urged everyone in attendance to take several copies of the VBA information packet and pass them around to others.

John Tardie gave the Treasurer’s report, but first showed a mite monitoring gizmo for everyone to check out. He informed us that ING Direct has changed their policy and now does business with non-profit groups. That makes VBA eligible for 5% interest in an ING Direct savings account. John recommended that we transfer some of the funds from our checking account into an ING savings account. After some discussion, a motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed, for VBA to set up an ING Direct savings account with $5000. After John gave details of the treasurer’s report, it was accepted unanimously.

Steve Parise then gave the Inspector’s report. There are 1687 registered beekeepers in Vermont, spread onto 2100 yards, with 10,100 hives (6 hives average per beekeeper, but of course the reality is that many beekeepers have just a few hives, while a small number have hundreds or thousands). Steve has looked into 1200 hives this season, finding chalkbrood in 71, sacbrood in 32, American Foulbrood (AFB) in 4, and European Foulbrood (EFB) in 2 (this is the first time EFB has been seen in Vermont; it showed up in overwintered hives in Addison County). As for Varroa, Steve has seen it in 87% of the hives he has checked, but individual levels tend to be fairly low. 17% of the hives he has checked had small hive beetle (SHB, most all from migratory operations), but in the past 6 weeks he hasn’t seen any at all. Mike Palmer mentioned that last year, when he pulled the covers on his mating nucs, he routinely saw 20 or more SHB, while this year he has seen maybe 2. Bill Mares corroborated Mike’s findings. Mike wondered if the strong winter was a reason. Kirk Webster said he has seen no difference this year compared to prior years. Steve went on to talk about Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). None has been found in Vermont. Some beekeepers have claimed that they have it, but Steve said winterkill, late winter queen failure, and neglecting to treat mites are confused by some beekeepers as being CCD. Overall, Steve said the honey crop is average to slightly above average statewide. He mentioned that he installed 6 packages from Betterbee in mid-April, while the weather was still wintry, and they now have 4 supers each. Packages that were installed in mid-April are doing well; those installed in mid-May are barely into 2 deeps, and those installed around June 1 are not building well at all. His advice for those installing packages: install them early, and feed, feed, feed, and don’t forget the Fumidil. The biggest management problem he has seen with hobbyists is their putting bees onto foundation and not feeding them, hence they couldn’t draw comb. Steve urged the membership to provide honey and hive products, and honey baked goods too, for the upcoming Addison Field Days, and also for the Champlain Valley Expo at the end of August. Mike Palmer mentioned that in spring he found AFB in a 3-deep hive, on just a few cells, but it didn’t seem to have the classic characteristics such as stringiness. A month later he returned, saw AFB again on just a few cells, and burned the hive. He wondered if it might have been parasitic mite syndrome. Steve opined that Mike would in all likelihood know AFB when he saw it, and he thought it probably was AFB that the bees had kept in check, and not PMS.

Bill Mares gave the Promotion Committee report, and said that Lynn Lang is working on a revision of the VBA cookbook, which presently shows sales of 1200—1500 per year.

Randy Potvin, our webmaster, spoke, saying that at the winter Barre meeting he had urged anyone who wishes to sell honey products on a retail basis to send him a note so the names can be added to the list on the website. He reiterated that urging. He showed 2 samples of bumper stickers for the membership to look at and see if we wanted to buy a bunch—what a good way to get our name out. His preference is to go with magnetized stickers. Adirondack Ad Specialties had sent Randy 2 designs, both of them 6” round stickers with the VBA name on them. Cost is $1.84 apiece, including shipping (for an order of 250 stickers). There was lots of good discussion about the designs Randy showed, and eventually a motion was made, seconded, and unanimously passed, for the purchase of 250 with a yellow background and simple design.

Bill Mares and Bob Eastman gave the Workshop reports. Bill said that at the North Yard at the Intervale, the number of attendees has been increasing, with 30 people attending the last meeting. The Intervale people “love us,” and have allowed us to use their barn on days of inclement weather. The success of the increased attendance also offers us a challenge, said Bill. Specifically, there are people with very varying degrees of experience in attendance, and it doesn’t seem fair or sustainable to expect someone with 5—10 years of experience to be satisfied at beginners’ meetings. Consequently, there is discussion underway about having both a beginners and an intermediate workshop on each workshop day. Bill asked the membership to consider taking on a teaching commitment. Steve Parise said he’d be willing to help, either by giving beginners workshops, or by doing a training session for VBA members who are considering teaching the beginners workshops. Diane Meyerhoff said that anyone interested in becoming a teacher should email her at dianemeyerhoff@cs.com and she will keep a list of names. Someone in attendance, new to beekeeping, said that she often gets conflicting information. At this, the room erupted in laughter! Peter Grant has so far videoed 3 of the workshops (as well as the meeting), and asked what should become of these videos? Bill said that he’d like to see a VBA library, but that would require someone taking on the role of librarian. Valarie Wilson of Monkton has volunteered to be our librarian. Bob Eastman reported on the South Yard (W. Fairlee) workshops. They got off to a good start in spring with Steve Parise giving the first workshop. Bob has led the rest of them, and all have been taught in a hands-on mode, something that has created good interest. At the next meeting (August 4), there will be 2 groups for the first time.

Bob then gave the Fair Committee report. He said we need 11 more volunteers for our booth at the Addison County Fair (August 7—11). For those with honey products for sale, Tim Davis said to give him an invoice showing what you are supplying and the price. This makes rectifying things much easier at the end of the fair. For the Tunbridge Fair (September 13—16), we have all the volunteers necessary.

For the Scholarship Committee, Maddie Sobel said that we launched an essay competition last year, based on the format used by the Southern Adirondack Beekeepers Association. The hope is to get news of the contest into as many Vermont schools as possible, with the award of a beekeeping set-up to be given out next spring.

Diane Meyerhoff gave the Membership report. We presently have 192 active members. There was a question about changing things so an individual membership would continue to cost $15 per year, but a family membership could be purchased at a cost of $25 per year. Ross Conrad said we used to do that, and wondered if we would wind up losing money if we made the change. Diane thought we’d actually bring in more money if we offered a family membership. After more discussion, a motion was made to offer family memberships at $25 per year; it was seconded and unanimously passed.

Next came the election of officers. Other than Valarie Wilson, our new librarian, no one volunteered to run for any offices. The existing slate of officers was therefore nominated (once again), and all were unanimously re-elected.

Bill Mraz gave a presentation on the use of formic acid (Mite Away II) in the control of tracheal and varroa mites. He stressed that formic acid is highly corrosive, and anyone using it should have a proper respirator with a charcoal filter (not the flimsy paper ones from the hardware store) and should wear approved gloves. Using formic acid involves putting an 8” X 8” pad that is saturated with 250 ml of liquid formic acid above the frames, after honey supers have been removed (no later than the end of August). The formic acid gradually evaporates, and in the process kills the mites. Effectiveness, in Bill’s experience, is very variable, inconsistent, and it is by no mean a cure-all for mites. In spring, Bill gives a second application: he takes the original pads, puts them into one-gallon Ziploc bags, and adds 150 ml liquid formic acid. He does not recommend this technique for hobbyists, but instead advises just using a new pad. It is important, when using in the spring, to wait until it is warm enough for the bees to break cluster and ventilate the hive; otherwise, effectiveness is greatly reduced. Bill has used ApiLife Var on his nucs, and found that if the weather hit 90°F the queen would stop laying (but resume when the weather cooled). Mike Palmer said that formic acid should be used only when there are young bees in spring. He uses it at dandelion time, and that’s OK, as the nectar from the dandelion flow will all go into the food chain for the bees, and not into honey supers. Someone mentioned that you should not use two pads at once, as if it gets hot, the bees will simply leave the hive. Other things to consider for full effectiveness when using formic acid pads: make sure the hive is tight and free of cracks (the round holes many beekeepers drill in brood chambers are OK, as they are entrances for the bees), and that there is a solid (not screened) bottom board. Steve Parise, who all too often sees beekeepers blithely disregarding directions when using chemical treatments on bees, urged everyone to follow label directions.

Ross Conrad has recently written a book, Natural Beekeeping, and he spoke thoughtfully and humbly about his 15 year’s evolution as a beekeeper, beginning when he worked for the great Charlie Mraz. He began with the bees just when the mites were beginning to decimate things, and saw beekeeping become saturated with chemicals. His book brings together in a single source the most current information on organic, natural beekeeping. He brought a good number of books with him, offered a discount for VBA members, and it appeared that sales were brisk.

Bill Mares gave a slide show entitled “Coffee and Bees,” which chronicled his visits to Central America. He has been to Panama (2005), Oaxaca (2006), and just recently to Nicaragua.

We broke at noon for lunch, and there was a wonderful abundance of really good food.

In the afternoon, our special guest speaker, Peter Borst, spoke about Chemical Free Beekeeping, but mostly he regaled us with his reminiscences of his start in beekeeping—lots of really entertaining anecdotes. Although the one about Roger Morse getting stung right in the eye didn’t evince too many laughs.

Mike Palmer spoke on the topic of “Making Honey without an Extractor” and detailed the techniques for making cut comb honey, from frame selection to appropriate type of foundation to use, to supering methods and to the actual harvest and packaging of cut comb honey.

Just before Mike spoke, the membership debated a resolution to be sent to the Vermont Congressional delegation in support of research into various aspects of honey bee (and native pollinator) pollination, ecology, disorders and diseases, and so on. Slight changes were made to the original resolution. After much discussion, the resolution was approved by the membership. It is printed in its revised form below.

Mike Palmer adjourned the meeting at 3:29 PM.

Respectfully submitted,
Jeffrey Hamelman, Recording Secretary
Hartland


RESOLUTION OF THE VERMONT BEEKEEPER’S ASSOCATION

     SUPPORT POLLINATION RESEARCH

Whereas,  the honey bee, Apis mellifera, and    
          numerous other pollinators are vital
         components of American agriculture

Whereas,   over 90 American agricultural crops and              nearly one-third of our food supply are
 dependent upon the work of these
   pollinators:

Whereas,   honey bee pollination adds over $15
 billion per year to American
 agricultural production;

Whereas,   beekeepers are a keystone to providing
  essential needs of farmers across the
 United States;

Whereas,   Colony Collapse Disorder, an as-yet-  
          unidentified malady is affecting                   colonies across the United States:

Whereas,   the U.S. Department of Agriculture   
          conducts research at five bee labora-
 tories across the country;

Whereas,   Vermont beekeepers are an important
 part of Vermont agriculture who  
 appreciate and support vital research
 conducted by these USDA laboratories, be
 it

Be It Resolved,  that the members of the Vermont
 Beekeepers Association, assembled at its
 summer meeting at Bridport, Vermont
          on July 28, 2007  
 respectfully request that Vermont’s  
 U.S. Senators and Representative support
 increased funding for the USDA  
 Agricultural Research Service bee
 laboratories (Apis and non-Apis bees)for           research in:
 1. honey bee disorders and diseases,
 including Colony Collapse Disorder,
 and diagnostic methods as well as
 safe and effective treatments;
 2. honey bee immunology, ecology and
 pollination biology;
 3. selective bee species   
          breeding programs
 4. the Africanized honey bee, its
 genetics, control and economic impact
 on U.S. agriculture, and
          5. the protection and maintenance
          of native pollinator populations.