Meeting Minutes – Monday, 1 April 2024
Wilson County Beekeepers met at the Ward Ag Center on Monday, April 1, 2024. There were 92 members and guests in attendance with two new members joining the group. This brings our membership count to 209 for currently paid members. President Carey Mitchell called the meeting to order. The minutes of the March meeting were approved with the checkbook balance standing at $xxxxx which includes the $400.00 grant from TBA to cover a portion of our speaker fees.
Carey reminded newbees to find a mentor (or two) so they have an idea who to contact should problems arise.
Old Business Discussed:
- When do bees get married? When they’ve found their honey!
- Kent Williams Bee School is scheduled for Thursday, April 18 at 8:00 am until Saturday, April 20 until 3:00 pm. Petra has the details, or you can google Kent Williams Bee School 2024.
- Petra is still taking topic suggestions for the 2025 programs.
New Business Discussed:
- WCBA was gifted a few items that we will be using to generate proceeds for our Picnic charity…New Leash on Life. Jimmy Morris gave us an observation hive that his father built, who was a WCBA member in the early to mid-80’s. Chances will be $1.00 each. Linda Twelves was a beekeeper in the 80’s at NABA. She has cleaned out some items and has given us a few pieces of jewelry. The item for June will be a beautiful stick pen with gemstones. John Hancock, our resident jeweler, stated that retail on this item is between $400 and $500. We will be doing chances on this for $5.00 each. Chances can be purchased from now until the picnic, and you do not have to be present to win. All proceeds will go to New Leash on Life.
- Petra has been in touch with HiveIQ regarding their polystyrene hives, by way of Riley Cox. They are providing one full hive to the club’s apiary. As we do not have one, the hive will go to Sterling, as his yard is the closest to a club apiary. It will be available for folks to take a look at it at the May Field Day. Riley brought his in for members to take a look and ask questions.
- Jessica Dodds-Davis will be once again chairing Farm Days again this year…and she will need volunteers. This is when all 2nd graders in Wilson County swarm onto the Fairgrounds to learn about agriculture. If you can and are willing to help, please sign up at the back table.
- Field Day at Sterling’s is Saturday, May 18 with May 25th set for the rain day. Start time is 10:00. The address is 560 Carver Lane in Mt. Juliet. Details are in your membership book with flyers on the back table.
Leonard’s Monthly To-Do
- Check for diseases and mites, or treat for mites if you don’t have honey supers on
- Strong hives may need room…add honey supers and check for brood congestion
- To produce a maximum honey crop, your hive should have around 60,000 worker bees
- Hives may be getting ready to swarm…check by raising the 2nd and 3rd box, if you have 3 brood chambers and look for queen cells on the bottom frames
- You can remove all queen cells to keep the hive from swarming, and you will have to look at every frame. They will create new ells and still swarm, unless you recheck for new cells every week.
- You could split the old queen and stop any further swarming attempts
- Remove entrance reducers from overwintered strong colonies.
What’s blooming at our house that the bees are working:
- Apples
- Blueberries
- Box Elder
- Cherries
- Crab apple
- Creeping Charlie
- Dandelion
- False nettles
- Flowering quince
- Greens
- Hardy Oranges
- Hellebores (Lenten Rose)
- Henbit
- Pears
- Peaches
- Redbuds
- Russian Olive
- Spicebush
- Willow
New Library Book: Bees and Their Keepers: From waggle-dancing to killer bees, from Aristotle to Winnie-the-Poo by Lotte Mӧller
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Program: John Benham had a wonderful presentation on A Bird’s Eye View of Nucs and How they Adapt
He also highly recommended checking out Honeybee Health Coalition
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Announcements:
- April 18-20—Kent Williams’ Bee School
- May 6—Dale McCleskey—Managing the Sex Lives of Honeybees
- May 7-8—Farm Days
- May 18—Field Day @ Sterling’s…start time 10:00 am—rain day: May 25
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The evening’s door prizes were handed out by Carey with the help from Jennifer Ferguson and Evie and Katie Wilson
Door Prizes:
$25.00 gift certificate from Lappe’s Bee Supply—Shawn O’Sullivan
Bee Brush—Deanie Yoest
Stick Pin (donated by Linda Twelves)—Riley Cox
Beetle Traps (donated by Ian Dawe—(Steve Brewer)
Patty Feeder—Chuck Benson
Book: Beekeepers Problem Solver—Tammy Eckel
Refrigerator Magnet—Vince Settle
Honey B Healthy—Mark Wilkerson
J Hook hive tool—John Hancock
Queen Catcher—Al Taylor
XL gloves—Katie Wilson
Items donated by Gina Sola:
Bee Necklace—Donnie Gleaves
Sun catcher—Rhonda Stansbury
Daffodil Bulbs—Tricia Davis, Al Dutton, and Jerry Wilson
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The meeting adjourned at 8:30 for refreshments & fellowship.
The Club’s current checkbook balance is $
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Respectfully submitted: Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
April 2, 2024
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