Wilson County Beekeepers

Meeting Minutes – Monday, 1 May 2023

President Carey Mitchell called the May 1, 2023 meeting of the Wilson County Beekeepers to order at the Ward Ag Center with 63 members and guests in attendance.  The minutes of the April meeting were approved with the checkbook balance reported at $xxxx.  Our current membership count stands at 190.

Carey reminded newbees, that if they need help, they are responsible for contacting their mentors.

Old Business Discussed:

• The Queen Rearing class with Kent Williams is scheduled for Saturday, May 6 in Mt. Juliet. This is for those that have already signed up.  All 40 seats are taken.  Be sure to bring your clean protective gear, your lunch, and a lawn chair.  Water will be available.  If we have rain, we will reschedule for May 13^th.  The address is 560 Carver Lane in Mt. Juliet.  Start time is 10:00 am and should finish up around 2:00 pm.
• Jessica is still looking for volunteers for Farm Day—May 9 and 10^th
• Field Day is Saturday, May 20 with the rain date being May 27^th. It will be at the same location as the Queen Rearing Class.  Clean protective gear is required.

New Business Discussed:     

• TBA South and North Middle Region Education Day is scheduled for Saturday, June 17. Emails were sent with details and a copy of the flier is on Petra’s table
• The June Picnic is scheduled for June 5. Petra will need to know by June 3 how many will be in attendance.  This is for members’ immediate family members.  The club will provide the barbeque and the drinks.  Each family is asked to bring a covered dish, AND a dessert.  We will be collecting donations from the heart for Wounded Warrior Project which was voted on at the last November meeting.

Leonard’s Monthly To-Do

• Most important thing if you are trying to produce honey is to add supers. When they are ½ to 2/3 full, add another super.
• You can move drawn frames up into foundation to encourage bees to move up
• Continue to check for swarm cells every 7-14 days. If you run two deeps, check the bottom on the second deep.  If you are using only one deep, check the bottom of the first super.
• If you find queen cells, not cups, they ARE going to swarm.
• Split, artificially swarm, or watch for swarms.
• If you have capped queen cells, you have probably missed a swarm
• Remove and extract capped supers if you need more super equipment.

What’s blooming YOUR house that the bees are working:    (club interaction)

• Blackberries
• clover
• Cucumber tree
• Dandelion
• Holly
• Tulip Poplar
• Yellow wood

 Leonard Walker demonstrated a new German Hive that he recently purchased.

John Kitchen, new beekeeper, explained the problem he was having with bees building comb and laying brood in the bottom of his feeder.  Turns out there is too much room under the feeder.  The box needs to be cut down so it is barely touching the frames below.  Bees will draw comb anytime there is too much space.  Another reason to watch your bee space.

Program:  Our own member, Carey Mitchell, discussed the process for extracting honey with many good questions from the floor.  

Announcements:

• May 6—Queen Rearing Class with Kent Williams—for those that preregistered
• May 9 & 10—Farm Day
• May 13—Queen Rearing Class (rain day)
• May 20—Field Day at Sterling’s
• May 27—Field Day (rain day)
• June 3—RSVP for Picnic to Petra
• June 5—Picnic
•  

The winner of the Extractor is Sean O’Sullivan with a bid of $200.00.  Proceeds will be forwarded to the original owner, Brenda Aiken.

Door Prizes:

Cloth Helmet—Leonard Walker

• J-Hook Hive Tool—Caryn Boles
• Sedum—Trish Aud and Chuck Benson
• Honey Candy—Philip Chapman
• TBA Mug & Decal—Dwayne Smith
• Capping Scratcher—Norma Jean Stroup
• Smoker—Sterling Earhart
• WCBA T-Shirt—Laurie Karr
  .

The meeting adjourned at 8:38 for refreshments & fellowship.       

The Club’s current checkbook balance is $xxxx

 —
Respectfully submitted:  Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
May 2, 2023

.
wcba