Minutes of the VT State Beekeepers Meeting, January 29, 2008

Winter Meeting, Vermont Beekeepers Association

Barre, Vermont, January 29, 2008

 

At 9:30 VBA president Mike Palmer convened the meeting. The recording secretary noted over 75 people in attendance. More people arrived throughout the morning, and final attendance figures surpassed 80. That’s a lot of beekeepers to have in one place at the same time.

 

Mike began by bringing up a theme that is becoming more current and more important: Vermont beekeepers should be weaning themselves off Southern packages and queens. Summer-made nucs are a much more viable approach for us. To this end, Mike has been involved with the development of a website devoted to techniques for making summer nucs, which also includes videos on queen rearing. The website for the Northeast Bee Breeders Association will be up and running this week: nebba.org. Check it out. Mike is also trying to convene a meeting on queen rearing to be attended by all state groups with similar interests.

 

Anson Tebbetts, the Deputy Agriculture Commissioner spoke next, updating us on the many projects currently underway. The Seal of Quality program is again being “kick-started.” This will begin with Vermont sugar makers, and then percolate to different food producers, of which presumably, beekeepers will be included. Other themes currently being worked on include the Certified Vermont Made program and the continuation of the Buy Local program, which continues to be a big success. The Vermont Beef Producers have been using this program, and as a result, there are now $16 hamburgers for sale that are selling like crazy in ski areas around Stowe. The beef producers get 10—20% back on each burger. Can Vermont honey producers partner with another group (such as ski areas) to increase honey sales? Another program is the development of a mobile—and inspected—processing unit for poultry, that can go from farm to farm in order to slaughter and process turkeys, chickens, &c. The hope is to go live with this by June 1. To date, there are no inspectable mobile units in the country. On the Vermont dairy front, things look pretty good. The Chinese and the Aussies are buying lots of powdered whey. Milk prices are roughly $18--$19 per hundredweight. Not bad. But production costs are about $17/cwt. Stresses include high grain prices (ethanol influence?) and high fuel prices. Fair Trade milk is another project, which would insure that milk producers who are part of the program get a fair price for their project. (Secretary’s note: does that mean Vermont is just another third world country?)

Question: What’s happening with the animal ID program?

Answer: It’s strictly voluntary, and apparently the feds can’t force Vermont farmers to comply. Mostly this program is focused on cattle (due to the threats of mad cow disease).

 

Ross Conrad spoke next. NOFA-Vermont is meeting sometime this year to develop standards for organic honey production. He asks volunteers to attend the meeting(s). A list was available for interested people to sign; NOFA will contact the volunteers with the date of the meeting.

 

Gary Keogh of the USDA spoke next. To date, 25% of the agricultural surveys sent to farmers have been returned. He said that returning the surveys is mandatory for farmers, but not to worry about the February 4 deadline. The personal info received from the Animal ID program will not be shared with any governmental or private groups, and is exempt from the Freedom of Information Act. He informed us that if someone has $1000 in sales, he or she qualifies as being a farmer, and must fill out the questionnaire.

 

The business meeting began, with the Recording Secretary giving a report stating that he attended his first VBA Winter meeting in 1984, and from that day till now had never heard a recording secretary give a report, and that the only report he had to give was that he had no report to give. “Short and sweet” was what someone in the audience had to say.

 

John Tardie gave the Treasurer’s report. Interested readers can access that in its entirety on the VBA web site.

 

Diane Meyerhoff gave the Membership report. There are now 182 members in the Vermont Beekeepers Association! Eleven new members signed up on the day of today’s meeting!

 

Steve Parise gave the Inspector’s report. At the Farm Show, there were 17 entries in the Honey Contest. Robert Hedges, Mike King, and Bill Mares all won in their areas of submission, with Robert Hedges winning Best of Show. In the Honey Products contest, there were 17 entries. Gloria Miller won $100 for her honey apple pie. Steve reminded us that it’s mandatory, and free, to register hives with the State. And if someone is getting out of beekeeping, it’s a nice thing to let Steve know so he doesn’t show up to inspect something that’s no longer there. Steve brought a number of color photos, depicting good things like robust queens, creepy things like giant over-sized varroa mites about 5” across, and scary things like frames with American Foulbrood. He urged all new beekeepers to look carefully so they can identify any problems that might come up with their colonies.

 

Steve said there are now 1693 registered beekeepers in the State (so about 10% of Vermont beekeepers are members of VBA), with a total of 10,314 hives in 2,135 locations. Steve went through 2100+ hives in 2007. Twenty-eight had AFB (this is fewer than the prior year), 26% had small hive beetle (almost all were in the western part of the State), and 90% had varroa. He reminded us that if you want to get nucs or packages—order early. Feed them on arrival, and ask for a health inspection certificate for in-state nucs or out-of-state packages. For those with established colonies, in February, if weather permits, crack a few lids and if necessary move some frames of honey closer to the cluster.

Question: what’s happening with CCD:

Answer: a few cases have been reported nationally, but there are no massive die-offs. And there have been no cases in Vermont. It seems that CCD is caused by a combination of pesticides, nosema, malnutrition, and mites. The best thing beekeepers can do is to maintain healthy colonies with vigorous queens in areas of diverse forage.

Mike Palmer: a beekeeper in Buffalo had 4,000 colonies, and lost all but 400 of them to CCD. He rebuilt his stocks, went to Florida with 4,000 colonies, and now is down to 300. So it’s still happening, although it’s no longer hot news with the media.

Bill Mraz: how are the SHB numbers? Steve: numbers are down, and they didn’t climb the way varroa did. SHB is still mainly confined to the Champlain Valley. Mike Palmer said he’s seen them in mating nucs in March—hence, they can over-winter in Vermont. However, one winter when it went to –20°F in February, it killed them all.

Steve mentioned that there have been more calls than ever about bears. Beekeepers who lose hives due to bear intrusion can get reimbursement from the State, but only if the hives are registered and the land where the hives are located is not posted.

 

Committee Reports

Bill Mares gave the Apiary Committee report. There will be another series of workshops this season, from April through September, at the Intervale and at the South Yard in West Fairlee. Steve Parise, Mike Palmer, and Bill Mares have been developing curricula for the workshops, and this year for the first time there will be two tiers offered at each workshop—one for beginners and another for those with some experience.

Bill stressed an important theme—those with even one year of experience know more than a total beginner, so please consider becoming a mentor (check the VBA site to find out how to sign up as a mentor).

 

Mike gave the Fair Committee report because Bob Eastman wasn’t present. The Tunbridge Fair turnout was great, and it’s a great place to sell your bee products. The booth at the Addison County Fair was busy, but as with all the fairs, we need more volunteers to man the booths.

 

Randy Potvin gave the Web Committee report. The web site is being redesigned by Randy, Mike, Bill, Diane, and Randy’s wife, with the goal being to make it more user-friendly.

Comment: two people spoke up, saying they were unable to log on to the VBA web site.

Randy: “hmmmm.” He was going to ask his wife to check into that.

Once the new website is complete, an email will go out to the membership.

Mike Palmer mentioned that one great source for beekeeping information is Beesource.com.

 

Mike gave the Promotions committee report, as Lynn Lang wasn’t present. The new edition of the Vermont Honey cookbook is now available for just $2.00. It’s a good thing to give as a small gift to people whose land you keep bees on. VBA magnets are now available to stick on your car, or wherever.

Maddie Sobel talked about the scholarship program. $700 was raised through the silent auction that was held in 2006. There are three schools in this first year trial program: The Long Trail School in Dorset; Champlain Valley Union High; and Essex Tech. High school students (not seniors) are eligible to enter. Interested students write an essay about beekeeping. The winner receives a starter bee kit including tools, a veil, bees, and membership in VBA. The winner also will be teamed up with a mentor.

Question: Can the essays be used by VBA? Answer: good point; this will be checked into.

Question: Why choose just three schools? Answer: committee member have contacts with those schools, the schools were eager, and beekeeping programs were already underway. The winner will be invited to give a presentation at the summer meeting, and send in a report for the winter meeting.

 

Russ Aceto gave a presentation entitled IPM Approach for Varroa Control. Russ uses no chemicals on his six colonies. This year’s yield was 450# of liquid honey, and over one pound of wax. His management techniques include using drone frames (painted green so they can be instantly identified), screened bottom boards (these are left open year round), yearly requeening, and powdered sugar dusting. To date, he’s not used Apiguard or Apilife Var. If he sees more than 10 mites per hundred drones, he considers it time to do a sugar dust. He noted that he pulls the drone comb when it is 70% full; if the comb is left in the hive too long, he could wind up with too many drones and too much varroa. For the sugar dusting, he puts an Imrie shim that is covered with fine screening on top of the brood chamber. He pours on 1—1 ½ cups of powdered sugar and uses a bee brush to sift it through the screen. The bees, coated with the sugar, then groom themselves and each other, which knocks many of the mites off and through the screened bottom board. He stressed the benefit of developing a schedule and sticking to it; for him, he does the sugar dust once a week for two weeks, and then pulls the drone comb on the third week. Russ does the sugar dusting even when honey supers are on his colonies, which seemed to surprise some of the beekeepers in attendance. For the scientifically minded, Mike Palmer defined “phoretic mites” as those that ride on the bees’ backs (they are not the mites living in the capped cells). They ride on a bee for five to seven days, then enter cells and raise young mites.

 

After Russ’s interesting presentation, time was devoted to Questions and Answers from the Membership.

Question: Are apitherapy topics covered in any of the workshops?

Answer: No. But they could be included in the summer meeting if anyone wants to commit to giving a talk.

Another question was asked about strategies for minimizing pesticide residue in foundation. Mike said you could buy a foundation roller for a bunch of thousands of dollars. Since this is not exactly an option for hobbyist beekeepers, some discussion followed about the possibility of using starter strips, or using plastic foundation that is brushed with beeswax that comes from one’s own bees, and is therefore known to be treated in a chemical-free manner.

 

Lunch followed, and it was as sumptuous as ever.

 

Mike re-convened the meeting at 1:20PM. He announced the Honey Cooking Contest winner: Mrs. Gene Parent won for her Honey Apricot Bread.

 

Next up was the afternoon’s guest speaker. Erin Forbes, of Portland, Maine, regaled us with a slide show and rather animated presentation about the 34 colonies she keeps on her property, all of them descriptively named. It’s clear that Erin likes colors, and her hives are brightly painted with lots of vivid colors, as if she took home all the paint chips from the store and chose her fifty favorites. She started with one hive, upped it to two, then leaped to 17, and in her third year catapulted up to 34. We should ask her to speak at the winter meeting in five years and take bets on her numbers. This woman has written a new chapter in the enthusiasm department.

 

After Erin’s talk, Bill Mares talked about the Master Beekeeper program. He, Steve Parise, and Mike Palmer are working together to develop a certification program for Vermont beekeepers. There are two motives for this work: 1) to ascertain what the desired basic level of beekeeping competence is across the State; and 2) to develop a program that may increase the number of beekeepers who feel confident to become mentors. Bill said that by the time the summer meeting comes around, there should be a 25-question test developed to gauge basic beekeeping competency.

 

The VBA Library was discussed next. Valerie Wilson manages it, but as she was not in attendance, Mike told us to check the VBA website to read the guidelines.

 

Similarly, one should check the site to find out more about the Mentoring program.  One of the most notable mentors in Vermont by far is Gib Geiger. He keeps his 25 hives in Waitsfield, but found the time to help 30 new beekeepers last spring alone. He will hopefully be a model for us all.

 

Bill Mares then named the four formal bee clubs currently operating in Vermont:

1. The Northshire Beekeepers Association in Manchester, headed up by Maddie Sobel;

2. The club in the Montpelier region with Kim Greenwood at the helm;

3. The club in Bennington that Jacob Esh oversees;

4. The Upper Valley club in West Fairlee that Bob Eastman is in charge of (this is also the site of the Southern Yard where the workshops are held).

As Bill said: “Support your local bee club!”

 

Rich Drutchess talked about a book he read called The Shamanic Way of the Bee, by Simon Buxton. The road begins with the drinking of a full bottle of mead, followed by some specific bee stings to various places around the face. Lots of good things follow this, but the volume of laughter made it hard for the recording secretary to figure out just what those things were. Someone wondered what would happen if two bottles of mead were drunk. Someone else wondered if you could just stop after drinking the mead. No plans were put into place to actually try any of this at the summer meeting. Which, by the way, will take place on July 26 at the Sharon Academy.

 

Respectfully submitted,

Jeffrey Hamelman

Hartland