General Meeting (August 2017)

The Capital Regional Beekeepers Association (CRBA) meets on the second Thursday of every month.

This meeting usually starts with a beginner’s corner 30 minutes before the regular club proceedings start around 7pm.

Agenda

• 6:30pm – New Beekeeper Corner (lower meeting room) – Barry D: Inspections – Daily, Weekly, Monthly
• 7:00pm – Main meeting (upper hall)
  • Updates
  • What to do in August – Larry L
  • What’s in Bloom – Nairn H
  • Upcoming Fairs – Graham N
• 7:30pm – Adaptive Beekeeping for Changing Times – Iain Glass
  “What we are doing and learning from some past lessons in agriculture” and queen rearing and selection
• 8:30pm – Social

Minutes

Bill Fosdick called the meeting to order at 7:20 PM.

• Outyards
  Derek could not attend the meeting, Bill gave a short recap on what has been happening in the Outyard by China Beach. More beehives are appearing on the mountain with demand for the fireweed. More space is needed to meet the demands.
• Saanich Fair
  Irene spoke about the Saanich Fair entries in the honey section. Registration closes on Wednesday, August 16th. There is to be a honey tasting station at the fair and Irene is looking for donations of honey from the members.
  A call for volunteers to fill spaces that are vacant in the Saanich, Sooke and Luxton Fairs was made by Graeme Nye.
• Edan North, the BCHPA regional representative for the South Island, gave an up-date as to what the province is proposing for compensation for those who had losses of bees due to the wildfires in the interior of BC.
• What is bloom?
  Nairn gave an overview as to what is blooming in the garden. Herbs, hollyhocks, alliums, globe thistle, sunflowers, goldenrod, etc.
• Connecting with beekeepers in your area
  Bill Fosdick explained to the members that in the September meeting there will be a map in geographic areas in and around Victoria, and members can sign up with their emails to meet beekeepers in their area to have smaller meetings and to mentor each other.
• What to do this month in the hive?
  Larry spoke to the members on what they should be looking for and doing in the hive this month. Extract honey, queen will be slowing down laying, mite control, enter fairs, when the nectar slows the wasps will rob, so be prepared with wasp control.
• Guest Speaker – Iain Glass – Adaptive Beekeeping for Changing Times
  Iain gave an in depth talk on what his ideas and ideals in beekeeping.

Meeting adjourned – 9:00 PM for refreshments.

There was no formal August Executive Meeting. The only decision made (via email exchange) was to buy a second club extractor as a result of demand on the current one.