General Meeting (May 2019)

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

• 6pm – Setup
• 6.30pm – Pre-meeting discussions
  • New beekeepers corner (downstairs/lower hall) – Don L
    • Now that you have a nuc, what are you going to do?
  • Intermediate beekeepers corner (upstairs/upper hall) – Bob L
• 7.15pm – Regular meeting
  • Inventions and contraptions
    • High-tech hive
    • What’s in my toolbox
    • More to come…
• 8pm – Club business
  • What’s in bloom? – Nairn H
  • What beekeepers are doing in May – Larry L
  • Just so you know – All
• 8.30pm – Social – Bring a travel mug for tea and coffee
• 9pm – Close of meeting

Come join us in June when Kirby Delaney provides insights to native pollinators.

Minutes

Bill Fosdick called the meeting to order.

Bill thanked Don Lambert and Bob Liptrot for their time in speaking to the Newbies and the Intermediate members.

Bill spoke on what the evening meeting would consist of: “Inventions and Contraptions” that the members have made and designed to help them in the tending to the bees.

Stan Reist spoke to the members on the upcoming “Day of the Honeybee” on the front lawn of the Legislature on May 29th. The Minister of Agriculture, Lana Popham, has asked the BCHPA to put on a display. It will run from 11am to about 1:30pm. There will be empty hives on display, an observation hive, Bill Fosdick will bring the extractor and there will be honey tasting.

Irene Tiampo, convenor for the Saanich Fair asked the members to sign up to volunteer to man the display at the Saanich Fair on the Labour Day Weekend.

Bill introduced Paul Peterson as the new South Island region rep for the BC Honey Producers Association.

Shirley Richardson gave a report on the survey she did on winter losses. 120 members responded as follows:

• over 20 hives – 76% were successful in wintering,
• 10-19 hives – 58% were successful,
• 5-9 hives – 43% successful,
• 1-4 hives – 32% successful.

Culprits were wasps and mites.

Outyards – This year the tags will be for sale at the June meeting at $7.50 per hive (max 5 per member). The colour this year will be green.

Inventions and Contraptions

• Heinz K – showed the members the observation hive he has made for the club.
• Suzanne Oriminton – showed her wasp trap. Fill a large tote half full with water and some liquid dish detergent, take a 2×4 and attach raw chicken (with bone) onto the board with a fence staple, balance upside down on the tote. The wasps will take a piece of the chicken and will fall into the water. It should be placed near the hive entrance.
• Larry Lindahl – “super horse” this is a stand that puts the boxes you are checking at a height where the beekeeper is not bending. He showed a triangle-shaped dowel he used to make sure he did not squish bees. He also showed how he used a fishing tackle flat box (drilled holes all over it) then put wax cappings in it and it is the size to go into the extractor.
• Paul Peterson – described to the members how he used drone cells as mite control.
• Bob Liptrot – showed his rectangle spacer he used for splitting hives.
• Don Lambert – showed his sugar water feeders made from plastic chicken waterers. Demonstrated the cloak board (how to trick the bees to make queens).
• Bill Fosdick showed the members what he had in his unique bee box tool box. (Duct tape, bee brush, vasoline, fish scale, ratchet straps (to keep the hive together), a washer to create air space between boxes and a pair of crab gloves (washable and cheap). Oxalic vaporizer and a Canadian Tire battery.

Nairn – What is in Bloom. Keep the garden watered during the heat. Arbutus, horse chestnuts, apples trees, saskatoon berries, Oregon grape, broom, clematis, cosmos, cat mint and some herbs.

Larry Lindahl – What to do in the bee yard in May – June. Keep the weeds down in front of the hive, harvest first crop of honey, check for mites, check for swarm cells. Check the laying pattern of the queen and make sure she has space to lay eggs. You may need to supplement food as there could be a dearth at the end of May.

Meeting adjourned at 8:30pm.