Wilson County Beekeepers

Meeting Minutes  – Monday, 2 April 2018

On Monday, April 2, 2018, seventy-eight members and guest attended the monthly meeting of Wilson County Beekeepers at the Ward Ag Center.  Carey Mitchell, President called the meeting to order.  The minutes from the March meeting were approved.

Old Business Discussed:

• The Swarm List is at the back table. Please make additions/corrections/deletions as necessary.  Remember you need to be a WCBA member in order to have your name on the list.
• The T-Shirt order form was available. Color choices:  Heather red with black lettering, Moss green with white lettering, Antique Jae with white lettering, and Tan with black lettering…cost is $10.00 per shirt…no matter the size.  Need 12 shirts per color in order to place the order
• A reminder to the newbees…be sure to reach out to a mentor. It’s not a mentor’s responsibility to check if you need help.
• Kent Williams’ Bee School—April 5-7—9 am to 5pm daily—580 State Route 385N, Wingo, KY  call 270-970-1307
• Farm Day for Wilson County is Wednesday, May 9 and Thursday, May 10. Jessica Dodds is in charge of the event, so sign in with her.
• Allen & Jennifer Ferguson are hosting Farm Day at their place on Saturday, April 28. There will be animals and games for the children and garden plants for sale.  Fun for all, and everyone is invited.  Allen has also offered up his bee yard for any newbee that wants to get into bees before getting their own.  Please call him to make arrangements.  (his number is in the book)
• New catalogs are in the closet for the taking…they not only have items for sale, but there is a wealth of beekeeping information in them.

New Business Discussed:

• Kim Walter sent word that since she has to attend monthly meetings at work that fall on the same day as WCBA meetings, she will not be able to attend. Therefore, as she is an alternate director, we will need to replace her.  Any volunteers?  Currently our alternates are Margaret Cantrell and David Thompson.  Dale McCleskey volunteered his services
• Received an email from Mike Studer regarding Field Watch (sensitive crop registry). Go to fieldwatch.com for more details.
• There was a game in the past newsletter to find the packet of seed to get a packet of see…only three responded. Does that mean only three of you read the newsletter?
• There was a request for winter kill count. With the details that came in, WCBA members when into winter with 356 hives and 221 survived…showing a 38% loss.
• Inspectors…If you do an inspection, PLEASE fill out the inspection report and turn it in so you can get reimbursed from the State. We need to utilize the funds they are providing; otherwise they will take it away.  Forms need to be turned in to Petra

Jessica’s monthly To Do’s

1. Hives should be bringing in lots of pollen, at least on warm days.
2. Check the egg laying pattern and your queen.
3. You may need to continue to feed weak hives during this weather transformation.
   Other wise get ready to add boxes cause it’s honey season y’all!
4. My monthly book recommendation is, Beekeeping for Dummies. Great book for “new bees”
5. ALSO IF YOU HAVE NETFLIX, they have a documentary series called, “Rotten” the first episode is about Honey. I recommend people watch it.
   .

Our own, Sterling Earhart had a most-informative program on making queens.  He offered to do this at his Field Day in May, if there was enough interest.

Announcements:

• May 7—Jay Williams—Bee Removal
• May 19—Field Day (May 25^th, Rain Day)

James Tams brought in five top feeders and one frame feeder to be given away.  We collected name tags for those interested and drew six names for the lucky winners.

As Jessica was not at the meeting, David Thompson helped hand out the evening’s door prizes to Nancy Flatt, Billy Springer, Julie Rouse, Jared Brasel, and Mark Goodrich.

The meeting adjourned at 8:20 for refreshments and fellowship.

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Respectfully submitted:  Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
April 4, 2018