Wilson County Beekeepers

Meeting Minutes – Monday, 29 July 2024

Wilson County Beekeepers met at the Ward Ag Center on Monday, July 29, 2024 with 60 members and guests in attendance.  President Carey Mitchell called the meeting to order.  The minutes of the July 1 meeting were approved with the checkbook balance standing at $xxxx.
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Old Business Discussed:

• What would bears be without bees? Just ears!
• Just a reminder…Be sure you register your hives. Now all registrations are done on line.  Just google Tennessee Apiary Registration
• The Wilson County/Tennessee State Fair is August 15-24. Entries for the Honey Show will be Saturday, August 10 from 10:00 to 3:00 in the Veteran’s Building.  Judging will follow directly afterwards.  Pre-registration is now open for those that are entering items.  It is not mandatory, but it will make the entry process easier.
• We are doing extracting demonstrations on the weekends and are in need of honey frames. If you are willing to donate one or two, please let Petra know…we need a total of 10.
• Anyone willing to do an observation hive for a night or two, we would like to have live bees each night.
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New Business Discussed:    

• For those that have signed up to work the Honey Show, Petra has fair schedules, passes and parking passes. Please pick them up before leaving tonight.
• It was announced that if you are a Wilson County resident, in order for you to enter the State Honey Show, you have to have the same item entered in the County show. If you do not reside in Wilson County, you can enter the State show without doing the County show.
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Leonard’s Monthly To-Do

• Continue extracting honey. Return the supers to the hives just before dark to prevent robbing.
• Remove the cleaned supers and treat for storage.
• Check for disease and mites. Mite population will increase in August and September as the hive starts reducing brood production
• Thank about treating if you have removed the honey that you are going to remove.
• You may want to requeen; do so before or after mite treatments.
• Install entrance reducers to prevent robbing.
• Reduce your hive size when possible; it will help in beetle control.
• Feed if needed, but it may cause robbing.

What’s blooming at our house that the bees are working:

• Catnip
• Crepe Mytle
• Devil’s Walking Stick
• Ironweed
• Magnolia
• Mimosa
• Mints
• Pagoda tree
• Partridge pee
• Porcelain vine
• Sedum
• Seven Sons
• Smartweed
• Virginia Creeper
• Vitex
• White Wingstem
• Yellow cup flower

No Book Report
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Program:  Jim Garrison was scheduled to speak tonight, but had a conflict so Ian Dawe stepped in to discuss Fall and Winter Management.  Excellent presentation with lots of valuable information.  Ian stated that Honeybee Health Coalition is a great resource for treatment information.
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Announcements:

• There is NO meeting in August due to the Fair
• August 10—Honey Entries taken in (10:00 am to 3:00 pm in the Veteran’s Building)
• August 15-24—Wilson County Fair/Tennessee State Fair
• August 25—Pick up entries (1:00-3:00 pm)…if you can’t make it, please let Petra know and she will move your entries to the closet until the next meeting.
• September 9—Kent Williams—Pest Management
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The evening’s door prizes were handed out by Carey with the help from Jennifer Ferguson

Door Prizes:

• Electric start smoker (donated by Randy Randall)—David Yoest
• Queen Catcher—Bryan Leu
• Frame Grip—Phillip Chapman
• Cold Uncapping Knife—Stephen Aud
• The Queen Must Die (Book)—Rhonda Stansberry
• Hive Tool—Kenny Birdwell
• WCBA Hat—Diane Leu
• Metal Entrance Reducer/Mouse Guard—Karen Cuen
• Hive Management (book) (donated by Ian Dawe)—Andrew Poteete

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The meeting adjourned at 8:18 for refreshments & fellowship.

The Club’s current checkbook balance is $                       .

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Respectfully submitted:  Petra Mitchell, Secretary/Treasurer
Wilson County Beekeepers Association
July 30, 2024

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