General Meeting (July 2022)

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

This meeting usually starts with a beginners/intermediate beekeeper corner 30 minutes before the regular club proceedings start around 7pm.

Agenda

6:30pm – New Beekeepers Corner (down stairs) – Carolyn H

7:00pm – Welcome Bill Fosdick

• Wonderful World of Willow Plants – Rosemary I
• Forage in July and August
• What Beekeepers are doing in July and August – Larry L
• Just so Ya know
  • Outyard Update
  • Membership has its benefits – Will C
  • Funding Request – Rinah K/Alanna M
  • Q&A – all

8:30pm – Social

9:00pm – Tidy-up and Lock up

Minutes

Bill F – Welcome!

Rosemary will be unable to attend due to COVID

1. Larry L – What to do in July & August
   • Shared an example of entrance cover to keep the yellow jackets out
   • July is a month with a lot of variables – dry, hot, wet, cold
   • Some move hives to higher grounds
   • Sugar syrup, feed as long as you’re growing foundation, the bees will consume what they need
   • Summer splits, can be made now
   • Plan for the fall markets and fairs
   • Add honey supers when bees are on 7 frames
   • 95% of swarms are because of congestion
   • Better to over super than it is to under super
2. Will C – membership update
   • Membership cards have been issued to everyone via email
   • A new one will be issued each year
   • Cowichan Bees offering 5% discount
   • Borden offering 5% discount
   • Buckerfields 10% discount (Langford & Keating Crossroads stores only)
   • Only applicable to bee keeping supplies
   • No discount on items already on sale
3. Heinz, mite control option
   • Constructed a box for mite treatment using heat
   • Bees can tolerate heat up to 45 degrees
   • Mites won’t survive 42 degrees
   • Heat for 2.5 hours
4. Bill F
   • Swarms, catch them early in the season (April, May, June)
   • Table discussions on “what causes swarms?”
   • Causes from the groups; crowding, failing queen, beekeeper in-experience (too many inspections), unhealthy conditions like mold, being ‘honey bound’, natural need to reproduce, lack of food or water, poor ventilation or drainage, not enough room for honey
   • If you find queen cells, and swarm is gone, save one or two queens cells depending on level of confidence the queen is healthy
   • How to catch a swarm; call the swarm line and let someone else do it, or you can earn your “swarm wrangler badge” by preparing a box into which you can sweep the mass of bees. Key to success is making sure the queen is in the box and allowing the rest of the swarm to follow her into the box. As various authors have suggested, swarms can be relatively docile, but it only takes a couple to sting you and make for a miserable day. Dress appropriately because you will typically be working in close quarters with the bees.
   • If the swarm is out of reach you can try raising a frame of drawn comb up to the swarm and see if they will move onto the frame before lowering it to the ground.
   • You can create a swarm vacuum by using an old handheld vacuum and a water jug with a mesh liner to catch the bees when they are sucked in. Alanna Morbin has a working model if anyone wants to make their own.
   • Swarm trap: a new home for the bees, 15ft off the ground, facing south west. The trap consists of 3 frames of drawn comb and 7 frames of foundation to give the new hive something to work on
   • If you set up a swarm trap in your yard, it will not cause a swarm.
   • Isolate any swarms that you catch until you know they are healthy, observe in a “hospital yard”
   • Box of swarmed bees can go into a new box, reduce the entry, move a pollen frame into the box and feed them.