The winter snows that cancelled our February meeting seem like a long time ago and yet the outside temperature and the small clumps of remaining white stuff remind me that it is not over yet! (Yep. Typical Canadian. Gotta talk about the weather first.)
Listening to the CBC this morning, I learned of Jeff Lee’s loss of over 400 hives due to wasps. Jeff, a beekeeper in Abbotsford, is on the board of the BCHPA and provides pollination services to major growers of blueberries. A mortgage on his home and a huge shipment of bees from the southern hemisphere will be needed to get back into business when the fruit growers need his services this spring. Suddenly my loss of a few hives seems insignificant and the prospect of splits and a couple of purchased nucs to get back up to speed seems not so bad. My thoughts are with all beekeepers who have lost hives due to wasps, the cold weather or other reasons and trust that we can all carry on and ultimately have a better season this year.
On March 14th , it’s our annual general meeting and I want to thank everyone who has made our year as a club so successful. We all lead busy lives and those that are able to carve out a few minutes to help with educating others and to making the club run well deserve our applause. The business portion of our meeting is actually quite short because the heavy lifting of a new constitution and by-laws is behind us and our financial state is secure.
David MacDonald, our local apiary inspector will further the discussion on winter losses as we head into the start of the beekeeping season. We will combine our new beekeeper corner with our regular meeting and begin Dave’s presentation and 6:30pm.
Perhaps by the time you read this, the arctic front will have retreated and the expectation of spring will return with willows and dandelions leading the way. If your bees have remained snugly in their hives this far then the end to their hibernation is in sight and we can set the stage for new brood and new foraging.
REMEMBER WE ARE STARTING OUR PRESENTATION AT 6:30PM.