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2019 minutes

Beekeepers of the Bitterroot

February 2019 Meeting Minutes

Meeting was called to order at 9:00

9 – 9:30                    Club business

  • Welcome new people. Including FFA members.

  • Unchanged Financial Report Income $2,130

  • Expenses as of Jan. 30 -  June,  $1,215   Balance approx. $4,218.  

  • Vote for approval of $20 for Best Beekeeping prize at Ravalli Co. Fair - Bev made motion and Dianne seconded motion. No further discussion. Motion was voted on and passed unanimously.

  • Ask for volunteers for organizing a youth beekeeping program. Motion was made by Warren to form a committee for the program. Tim seconded motion. Discussion about the club owning the equipment and taking it back if kid didn’t want to do it anymore and or bees died and they didn’t replace them. Discussion about full scholarships maybe not being a good idea because kids would have less buy-in if they didn’t have to invest anything. Discussion about leaving it up to the committee to award full scholarship or not depending upon the kid and their situation and/or level of commitment. Other discussion mostly in favor of the program. Motion was voted on and passed unanimously.

  • Recognize pointer for us and Mosaic Church

  • WAS annual meeting 2020 and 2019. 2019 in Oregon. 2020 will be in Missoula.

  • Discussion about resources included in the email.

 

9:30 – 11:00    The fun stuff

Ordering bees

Here is a short list of sources for bees.  NOW is the time to order, so don't delay!

Some sources for buying bees – be positive they’re inspected and have their “papers” - According to Jaylene’s discussion with Alyssa Piccolomini (state apiculturist) all of these sources should be acceptable.

 

Packages (about 3 lbs of bees and a caged, mated queen)

  • Western Bee 

    • $130 with $20 non-refundable deposit for a total cost of $150

    • Can pick up in Polson or arrange with Western Bee to pick up at Fort Missoula

    • Taking orders now.  Call to get on list 406-883-2918.  As of Friday afternoon, 1/25/2019, Western Bee had received reservations for 150 of the 600 total packages they plan to sell.  AS of 2/7, 300 of the 600 are sold.  Don't be too late!

    • Pick up on last Friday in April

  • Murdoch’s

    • $139.99 due at time of order

    • In store pick up April/May.  24 hour notice

 

Nucs (4 or 5 frames of bees, brood, honey and a queen)

  • Sunrise Honey Company 509-999-2252 do not answer on Sundays

    • Queen in cage

    • Pick up in Clayton, WA in early April

    • Accepting orders now. $140

    • www.sunrisehoney.com

  • Outdoor Bee

  • Buzz's Bees

    • Pick up near Stevensville first week of May - ~1 week notice

    • $150

    • Contact Nicole at nicole@buzzsbees.com or call 530-532-4302

    • Payment in check ahead of time via mail

    • https://buzzsbees.com/products/bee-packages

    • Nucs are started with a queen cell.  Queens are mated and laying prior to pickup.  Mite treatment just after the queen starts laying.

 

  • Assembling and painting your woodenware - make sure that’s done and ready to go before your bees arrive.

  • Your colony survival situation - many in the valley had great losses this year. Mite-borne diseases are suspected in most cases

  • Examining your hives for dead outs, colony autopsies - unless your hive died from American Foul Brood, reuse your equipment.

Meeting ended at 11:15

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March 9, 2019

Beekeepers of the Bitterroot Meeting Minutes

Meeting Start: 9:06 am

Financial report: Unchanged from February meeting. Balance approximately $4, 780.

Expect a winter mortality questionnaire soon to an email near you.

One scholarship is available for 4H or Ag student interested in raising bees and fills out an application.

Order your bees now! Western Bee (406-883-2918) and Murdoch’s (murdochs.com) still have a few packages available. Nucs are available from Sunrise (509-999-2252), Outdoor Bee (outdoorbee.com/nucs) and Buzz’s bees (530-532-4302.)

Warren gave a tutorial in how to install packages and Nucs and tips for success. Question and answer session followed.

Meeting end: 10:30 am.

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April 2019

No minutes

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May 11, 2019

Meeting Minutes

Meeting called to order at approximately 09:15 on May 11, 2019 by President Loren Stormo.

He read the treasurer report as received from Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development which shows $4821.88 in our account.

President Stormo talked of the time and energy spent by Scott Debnam in support of our club. 

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to send Scott an honorarium of $125.

The bee delivery process in Missoula had a glitch where, although the inventory appeared to be correct, there was a shortage and one intended recipient did not have a NUC available.  Scott Debnam graciously passed one of his NUCS to him. 

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to reimburse Scott $150 for the NUC he sacrificed from his order for that beekeeper.

President Stormo mentioned a smart phone app created by Jerry Bromenshank that can assisted in assessing the health of a bee colony.  Jerry has initiated a kickstarter crowd sourcing to begin distributing this app.  At this time he is a little over three quarters of the way to his goal.  Initial supporters with a $20 donation will receive a free copy of the app when the goal is reached.  Go to https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beehealthguru/bee-health-guru-a-smartphone-app-for-beekeepers?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=bee%20health%20guru for more information and to contribute.

Some of you may remember Karry Zimmerman, who suddenly passed away last year.  He was a wooden ware supplier and his widow has a considerable amount of wooden ware available for sale.  Call or message via our website for contact information.

A question was asked about a club owned hive scale.  At this time we do not have one.  Jaylene has one and Loren will talk to here and investigate the feasibility of obtaining one for the club.

President Stormo conducted a very interesting and informational presentation on raising queens – intentionally and unintentionally.  A Randy Oliver presentation on line at http://scientificbeekeeping.com/small-scale-queenrearing/ was the source of much of Loren’s presentation. Part of the presentation showed grafting cups and tools. 

A motion was made, seconded, and passed to purchase a number of grafting cups and grafting tools for distribution within the club.

Twenty persons signed into the meeting.  Four new members signed up and there were five renewals.  With the four new members we have a total membership of 47.

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JUNE 2019

No minutes

Special Special Special

Beekeepers of the Bitterroot are planning on holding a special monthly meeting on Saturday June 8th from 9-11 AM at the Tellar Apiary on Quast Lane just off the East side highway south of Cowpoke Ranch Supply.  Weather permitting we will do a hive inspection and discussion.  Scott Debnam from the University of Montana will be there to explain what we are seeing.  Bring your bee suits.

MEETING NOTES

The weather didn’t cooperate for our June meeting so we were unable to do the planned hive inspections at the Tellar Apiary.  However, Scott Debnam provided us a lot of information on hive inspections, swarming and swarm traps, and lots of other bee information.  Thank you Scott.  He is planning on coming again to the July meeting at the same place – hopefully with better weather.

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JULY 2019

No Minutes

Well the weather didn’t cooperate in June so the Beekeepers of the Bitterroot will again be holding the July meeting from 9-11 AM on July 13th at the Tellar Apiary on Quast Lane just off the Eastside Highway south of Cowpoke Ranch Supply.  We are planning on a hive inspection and Scott Debnam from the University of Montana will be there again to explain what we are seeing.

Bring your bee suits.

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AUGUST 2019

No Minutes

Beekeepers of the Bitterroot will be holding our regular monthly meeting on Saturday August 10th from 9-11 AM at the Mosaic Church at 206 W Main in Hamilton 2 doors west of the Naps Restaurant.  We will discuss Fair booth signup (that is a great way to talk to people interested in pollinators and honey bees in particular).  Scott Debnam from the University of Montana will be there to discuss winterizing hives and other bee topics.  Bring your questions and he'll provide his expertise and experience.

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SEPTEMBER 2019

No minutes

Beekeepers of the Bitterroot will be holding our regular monthly meeting on Saturday September 14th from 9-11 AM at the Mosaic Church at 206 W Main in Hamilton 2 doors west of the Naps Restaurant.  

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  • Extraction time is here.  The extractor is currently at the home of Loren and Joni Stormo which is east of Florence.  Call Loren at 406-544-3515 to schedule your extraction.  

  • Expert tips and advice for fall bee tasks and preparations for winter survival

  • Varroa counts among our membership

  • Tales of honey success and failure

  • Feeding sugar water

  • Nosema???

  • Robbing precautions

  • Yellow jacket warnings

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OCTOBER 2019

No minutes

We don't have a topic or speaker at this time so speak up - send us a suggestion from the comments link.  Meeting should be in our regular time and  location at Mosaic Church at 206 W Main in Hamilton 2 doors west of the Naps Restaurant.

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