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Skagit Valley Bee Keepers 
Seth Smith,  President                     360-770-0481    seth_smith@live.com

Elizabeth Pheonix-Agin, Vice President
401-603-6005
homesteadmaya@gmail.com

Rob Johnson,  Treasurer                 360-770-6170    rsjohnso2u@yahoo.com

Robert Preinesberger, News Editor    360-610-8091    pberger13@outlook.com 
 
Scott  Rhodes, Board                      
360-856-2652
scottrhodes@wavecable.com     

Alvin Forar,  Board
360-435-3316
alforar@hotmail.com                           

               
         
                                                                                         
  
The next meeting will held on Thursday November 14th, 7:00 pm, at the Burlington Library.  The address is 820 E Washington Ave, in Burlington.

 Almost Thanksgiving

  Wow, working on another year, almost in the books.  Seems like the older I get the faster they seem to go. Back to the cold and rain, although we have had some nice stretches of good weather. 
  The clincher for me is when they start messing with the clock and moving it around on us.  My friends cringe when they see me get started, so you guys are my captive audience. 
  Daylight Saving Time was first suggested by Benjamin Franklin in his essay "An economical project for diminishing the cost of light",  published in the Journal de Paris in April 1784.  It wasn't until WW1 that Germany and Austria,  followed by the rest of Europe and Great Brittan,  adopted daylight savings time, to save energy during the war effort.  It took a while before it contentiously  passed the US congress in 1918 and was adopted, with Woodrow Wilson signing it into law. The sides were Stock Brokers and Manufacturers for,  Farmers and the Railroads against.  After that, farmers and the railroad rallied against the change and were vetoed once by the president but the second time had enough votes in congress to override the veto and daylight savings time was over. 
  By this time it was a mess, some states had 10s of different time zones, depending on what policy the town adopted.  Iowa had 23 different time  zones and Minneapolis changed its clocks, two weeks before its sister city St. Paul. Finally, Franklin Roosevelt implemented year round daylight saving time for the war effort, it was changed in 1966, in the 70's and most recently by President Bush, extending Daylight Saving Time by 4 weeks...and its still contentious.
  I guess I shouldn't be too sour, another early advocate for Daylight Saving time was a etymologist from New Zealand, George Vernon Hudson, who wanted more light to spend time observing bugs.  He kind of sounds like he could be one of us.  My final thought on all of this, just leave it, one way or the other, I don't care, but please stop changing the time on me!
    


                                Tales From the Hive

  Club elections are coming up this month. From what I understand, Rob Johnson will stay on as our Treasure, assuming no one else wants to run for the Treasurers position.  Vice President, Elizabeth Phoenix- Agin,  will also stay on as long as no one wants to run.  The Presidents position is up for grabs,  the Secretary position needs to be filled and although the News Letter Editor is not a elected position, I would like to step down from this responsibility.

  Other than that, not much to report.  Remember, there will be a December meeting, same time, same place.

 
 


Things to do this Month
  •  Winter feeding.  I know it's not winter yet, but the time for feeding syrup is over.  I just went through my hive that died and found out the colony had starved to death.  There wasn't a drop of honey anywhere in the hive and a large number of bees perished with their heads buried into the comb, the rest were piled up in the bottom of the hive.  They were working so hard at the end of summer and there was what I thought, ample amounts of late blooms to feed on and assumed they had been storing away honey. Not the case.  Now there are a couple of things you can do.  First, take a look in your hives and see if they have stores.  If not, you can make some fondant patties and pollen patties.  Seth suggested adding some water to sugar and make a ball of sugar that you can introduce to the cluster, so they don't have to break cluster to forage for it.  Brush sugar into empty comb and place near the cluster, same thought, they don't have to break cluster to feed.  You can try mountain man style, placing some newspaper on the top bars and spreading out the sugar.  The bottom line is, if they don't have enough food to winter, do something to help them out.
  •  Mites.  As always, be on the lookout, if you haven't treated yet and you need to, do it.  We are also approaching the Winter Solstice,  December 21st.  This is a magical time of year when the bee hive should be broodless.  This is the best time to treat for mites because they are all exposed and wont be in capped brood waiting to emerge.  A good mite treatment at this time can set your colonies up for a mite free start to spring .
  • Hive ventilation.  As the temperature dips, the warm cluster of bees will create moisture, in the form of condensation in the hive. You all know the difference between being cold and being wet and cold.  The best thing you can do is make sure your hive has ventilation so that the air will circulate through the hive and the condensation has a place to escape.  In the past I have added burlap to the attic it the top of the hive and others add water absorbing material.  The problem is that if you don't stay on top of it, these materials soak up the condensation until they can't anymore, and then they release their stored water, dripping water on your colony.  According to Seth, the best thing you can do for your hive is to create 3/8'' gap in your lid and give the hive ventilation. Seth said he is going to bring a lid to the meeting that provides ventilation.
  • Start inventorying your hives, think about your beekeeping goals for this next year and start preparing what you need for this spring.  Think about Nuc's, Queens, gear and supplies.  Better to be ready than scrambling at the last minute to make it work. 
 

 


 
 

  
 
  



  

  
 
    

 



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skagitbeekeepers@gmail.com

 






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Skagit Valley Beekeepers · 2926 Schattig Ln · Oak Harbor, WA 98277 · USA

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