WSBA Newsletter - April 2022
A collection of recent events, upcoming opportunities, informational articles, and points of discussion. You are receiving this newsletter compliments of the West Sound Beekeepers Association because we sincerely want to share our love of bees and useful information with you. For more information visit our website: http://www.westsoundbees.org/ or join the group's Facebook page at West Sound Beekeepers Association (WSBA) Group Page! Link to the Washington State Beekeepers Association newsletter: www.wasba.org. Feel free to share the newsletter or unsubscribe at any time. (Links at the bottom).
2022 Board Members & Appointed Positions
Treasurer: John Sasser, Treasurer@westsoundbees.org
Secretary & Newsletter Editor: Lauren Funk, Secretary@westsoundbees.org
Trustee A (-2024): Kirsten Johnston, TrusteeA@westsoundbees.org
Trustee B (-2022): Jason Sanko, TrusteeB@westsoundbees.org
Trustee C (-2023): Bob Finley, TrusteeC@westsoundbees.org
Apiary Director: David Leger, Apiary@westsoundbees.org
Education Director: Sandy Fanara, Education@westsoundbees.org
IT Director: Mike Stalnaker, Webmaster@westsoundbees.org
Volunteer & Mentorship Coordinator, Deborah Schmidt, Volunteer@westsoundbees.org
|
|
|
|
|
WSBA CALENDAR
UPCOMING CLASSES, MEETINGS, AND INFORMATION
- Tuesday, April 19th, 7pm - Monthly membership meeting. Virtual via Zoom.
- Saturday, April 30th - Package day at Stedman's. Call Stedman's (360-692-9453) for more information.
- Sunday, May 1st - Beginning Beekeeper course tests due to Sandy Fanara.
- Saturday, May 7th, 10am-12pm - Open Apiary day for WSBA members.
- Tuesday, May 10th - Deadline to register for Apprentice class. Register at westsoundbees.org.
- Wednesday, June 1st, 8th, and 15th, 6pm - Apprentice class meetings. $50. Virtual via Zoom. Meeting info is below.
|
|
|
|
Message from our President
Gordon Cromwell
April is a month of growth and colony size increase, in addition to an abundance of nectar and pollen resources. Big Leaf Maples, the prime spring nectar source are in full bloom, almost two weeks earlier than last year. Native white cherry trees, Indian plum, dandelions, many flowers and shrubs including rosemary are all in bloom. Note that this period of plenty is often followed by a relative dearth until Blackberries begin to flower.
Colony populations are rapidly expanding, and many will be thinking of swarming in the near future. For those with overwintered hives, and/or quickly growing nucs, be prepared with a plan to prevent swarming such as splitting hives, or other methods.
Under the guidance of our Education Director Sandra Fanara, and with the assistance of Journeymen and Apprentices, we competed two Saturdays of Beginner beekeeper Apiary training on April 2 and 8. In addition, Apiary Director David Leger conducted two hands on sessions where we built our own Long Langstroth hive boxes In March.
The April 19 WSBA meeting will be held on Zoom so that we can fully enjoy our world renowned speaker Randy Oliver. His talk will be of great value to beekeepers of all experience levels, so please take advantage of this opportunity.
|
|
|
This month's membership meeting is on Tuesday, April 19th at 7pm
This meeting will be virtual to accommodate our guest speaker.
Meeting Info:
Join Zoom meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81194874081?pwd=d3I5WjhYVG1jTktLdHZ5ZmJ2RmJpUT09
Meeting ID: 811 9487 4081
Password: 586348
This month's speaker is Randy Oliver
Randy Oliver is a world renowned speaker, educator, bee biologist, leading researcher, commercial beekeeper, and regular contributor to the American Beekeeping Journal. He is one of the premier beekeeping speakers in the U.S. and the owner/author of http://scientificbeekeeping.com.
Please email any questions before the meeting to apiary@westsoundbees.org. |
|
|
Apiary Report
David Leger, Apiary Director
We finished the apiary days for the beginner class and everyone had a great time playing with bees.
It was a rough year for overwintering bees and the club lost quite a few colonies, and so building back the apiary from the survivor colonies is a primary goal for this season.
May 7th at 10am will be the first open apiary day for West Sound beekeepers association members. We will be discussing swarm management.
We had a large amount of equipment donated to the apiary and plan to auction most of it off at the May meeting. Come to the apiary and see what's available.
Randy Oliver is our guest speaker this month, don't miss his presentation on handling bees.
|
|
|
|
Education Report
Sandy Fanara, Education Committee Chair
The education committee has been very busy in collaboration with the apiary staff this past month. The 2022 Beginning Beekeeping Class wrapped up with their final apiary classes held on April 2nd and 9th with over 75% of the 63 students participating. The BBC test is due to Sandy by May 1st and instructions for doing that have been emailed to the students.
The education and apiary staff also hosted a 2 hour Basic Beekeeping apiary class for all those who did not get registered for the Beginning class. We had 15 participants on April 2nd for the 2 hour hands-on class.
A huge thank you to all our Basic Beekeeping and Beginning Beekeeping instructors this year who have put in many volunteer hours to give all the student beekeepers an excellent start: Journeyman beekeepers David Leger, Gordon Cromwell, Bob Finley, Jason Sanko; and Apprentice beekeepers Mike Stalnaker, John Sasser, Tina Medieros, Deborah Schmidt, Drew Engelson, Seth Novak, Lauren Funk, Sam Dailey, Simon Douwes, Ariella George, and Betsy Brady; and Beginning beekeepers Marcos and Darcie Totemeier. If I missed anyone I am truly sorry.
NEW: 2022 Apprentice Class. The education committee is moving the yearly Apprentice class from October to June of each year. In order to join the Apprentice Class you need to have taken and received a Beginning Beekeeping Certificate at least one year before taking the Apprentice course. Therefore - this year's 2022 Apprentice Class needs to have a Beginning Beekeeping Certificate dated June 2021 or older to participate.
The 2022 Apprentice Class will be on Wednesdays June 1st, 8th, and 15th at 6PM via ZOOM. Register on our website by May 10th. Cost $50.
|
|
|
|
|
