July Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association
Location: Jones Bee, 2586 West 500 South
July 19, 2007

The July meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held July 19, 2007 at Jones Bee in Salt Lake City. The meeting was conducted by Karen Dupaix, secretary, due to the absence of other presidency members. 11 people were in attendance.

The May 2007 meeting minutes were read by Karen Dupaix. They were approved by Joe Grange and seconded by Paul Dupaix.

The newsletter report was given by Paul Dupaix. 34 newsletters were emailed in May, and another 26 were mailed out.

Announcements included the upcoming picnic on August 25 and the observation beehive during the State fair. Also, there are new guidelines proposed by the Federal Drug and Food Administration. See their website for the details.

Colony Collapse Disorder was brought up and discussed. Mary Jane Grange sited several websites that reported heavy losses among large scale honey producers, including Utah’s Miller Honey.

Mary Jane Grange presented the program, which was about how a beekeeper can tell when it is time to harvest the honey. Beekeepers should look for frames full of 80-90% capped honey. When there is too much honey in a hive, brood will decrease and the bees will become aggressive. An early extraction is one way to deal with the problem of overcrowding. This also prevents the beekeeper from having to buy and store more supers.

When extracting, it is a good idea to let the honey drain out the bottom gate to prevent a build-up of honey that can slow down the spinning and cause frame damage. An idea for spinning out the wax cappings was given by Joe Grange, who has designed a basket the size and shape of a frame to fit inside the extractor and spin out the cappings.

There will be no August meeting, due to the combined picnic with the Utah County Beekeepers.

The meeting was adjourned until September 20, 2007.

Sincerely,
Karen Dupaix, Secretary
Wasatch Beekeepers Association

May Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association
Location: Jones Bee, 2586 West 500 South
May 17, 2007


The May meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held May 17, 2007 at Jones Bee in Salt Lake City. The meeting was conducted by Jim Brosius, Vice-President. 19 people were attended the meeting.

The April meeting minutes were read by the secretary, Karen Dupaix, after which the newsletter report was given by Paul Dupaix. 25 May newsletters were mailed out, and 30 were sent by email.

Jim Brosius gave the journal report on CCD, using information obtained from Wikipedia.com. He indicated that CCD may be linked to a disease called Nosema, a fungal parasite spread by fecal matter. CCD is a large term that encompasses many factors, some of which are controversial.

Byron Anderson, treasurer, gave the treasurer’s report. We have $424.00 in our account at Zion’s Bank. He was happy to report an influx of new members.

Our program director, Mary Jane Grange introduced our program, which began with Danielle Downey, SL county bee inspector, speaking about her inspector job. She handed out copies of registration forms, by-laws and the Inspector Act. She discussed various problems affecting honeybees, including varroa mites, stress and CCD. She asked all beekeepers to please register with their local inspector. Hive poaching using pheromones was briefly discussed.

Mary Jane next gave a beginning Beekeeper’s class, using posters to prompt discussion.

Maurice Cobo next presented his beekeeping methods. He doesn’t use hive bottoms, which allows mites to drop out of the hive, onto the ground. He showed various hive bottoms he has created, and the types of frame inserts he prefers.

Byron Anderson was the next presenter. He talked about how he cares for his hives, which is somewhat different because he will soon have 300 of them. Byron creates his own bottom boards and uses a hand truck a lot. He talked about the different products bees produce and the benefits of shallow supers (they’re lighter). He went over how to split a hive and how he uses a blow torch to light his smoker.

The very informative meeting was dismissed until June 21, at which time we will have a second beginning beekeeping class, where honeybee pests and diseases will be discussed.

Sincerely,
Karen Dupaix
Secretary, WBA

April Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association
Location: Jones Bee, 2586 West 500 South
April 19, 2007

The April meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held April 19, 2007 at Jones Bee in Salt Lake City. The meeting was conducted by Maurice Cobo. Sixteen members were in attendance.

Paul Dupaix read the minutes for the March meeting, due to Karen Dupaix’s absence. They were approved and seconded.

Paul Dupaix gave the newsletter report. 28 newsletters were mailed out, and about 25 more were email. Because there are no space limits, Emailed newsletters are more complete and contain pictures, whereas the mailed version are shaved down to fit on two pages. Blog site is www.wasatchbee.blogspot.com. It is up and running.

The treasurer’s report was given by Byron Anderson, treasurer. We have $364.84 in our Zion’s Bank account.

Jim Brosius, vice president, gave a journal report about CCD—Colony Collapse Disorder. The latest thinking is that it could be a combination of environmental stress and various diseases. The characteristics of the disorder are: no adult bees in the colony, capped brood, hive not robbed, wax moth and hive beetle are delayed. Utah beekeepers Miller and Cox had heavy losses this year, but the cause is unknown.

Mary Jane Grange presented our program. She discussed nuc creation, for requeening of hives. Nucs are created with a frame of uncapped brood, two other brood frames, one honey and pollen frame, and one empty frame. The colony needs to be fed 1-1 syrup.

Splits should be made early in the season. Hives have different goals the first three years. The first year is focused on survival and building up brood. The second year usually will show an increase in wax production, and the bees will focus more on food storage. The third year the bees are familiar with the seasons and will have full comb, with differentiation of products and heavy honey storage.

If you have a laying worker, take out frames and shake them out away from the hive. Regular workers will return to the hive; laying workers will not.

The meeting was adjourned until May 17, 2007.

Sincerely,
Karen Dupaix, Secretary

March Meeting Minutes

Minutes of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association Meeting
March 15, 2007

The March meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held March 15, 2007 at Jones Bee, 2586 West 500 South in Salt Lake City. The meeting was conducted by Jim Brosius, Vice President. Seven members were present.

Karen Dupaix read the minutes from the February meeting. They were approved by Mary Jane Grange and seconded by Richard Johnson.

The treasurer’s report was given by Byron Anderson. We have $286.23 in our account at Zion’s Bank. Byron reported that only 9 members have paid their dues. A comparison was made to the UT Co. Beekeepers Assn.’s meeting, at which they had 22 members in attendance.

The newsletter report was given by Karen Dupaix, in place of Paul Dupaix, who was not in attendance. 28 newsletters were mailed, and another 20 were emailed. Several members reported not receiving their emailed newsletters.

Jim Brosius gave the journal report on his own experience with Bee Pro, a pollen substitute. He reported that the bees readily consumed the patties and appeared robust and healthy. Bee Pro is available at Jones Bee for $1.98. Jim also mentioned media reports about Hive Decline Disorder. Apparently the bees immune systems are compromised, causing them to be more vulnerable to diseases. Cause of this disorder is still under investigation. Most Utah beekeepers report healthy hives, but Millers lost half of their hives. UT Co. Beekeepers Assn. is tracking the problem in Utah.

Dave from Jones Bee demonstrated a new hive bottom with a sliding board to trap and track mites in the hive. One hive bottom was raffled at the meeting. They are available at Jones Bee for $21.

The program was introduced by Mary Jane Grange and give by Lloyd Heflin. Lloyd showed a new system for raising queens, called the Nicot System, developed in France. The benefit of this system is that it is much easier and involves no grafting. Lloyd reported that last year he raised 24 queens using this method, and hopes to have more this year.

The meeting was dismissed until April 19, 2007.

Sincerely,

Karen Dupaix, Secretary
Wasatch Beekeepers Association

February Meeting Minutes

The February meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held on February 15, 2007 at Jones Bee, 2586 West 500 South in Salt Lake City. The meeting was conducted in the beginning by Karen Dupaix, due to the absence of other presidency members. When Maurice Cobo arrived a few minutes into the meeting, he commenced conducting the meeting. Nine members were in attendance.

Karen Dupaix read the minutes from February’s meeting. They were approved by Mary Jane Grange and seconded by Paul Dupaix. The treasurer’s report was given by Byron Anderson, and later by Maurice Cobo. We have $268.38 in our Zion’s Bank account. Arrangements were discussed to update the signature cards at the bank. The newsletter report was given by Paul Dupaix. 28 February newsletters were mailed out, and approximately 20 more were emailed to members. The journal report was not made because the vice-president, Jim Broseus, was not in attendance.

The program was presented by Mary Jane Grange and Maurice Cobo. Mary Jane discussed spring feeding of the bees, taking information from online sources at www.beeworks.com and www.beeclass.com. Various types of feeders were discussed, as were various types of feed. It was emphasized that once you start to feed the bees, you must continue until they have a good nectar source, such as dandelions. Pollen supplementation was also discussed, as were the pros and cons of the different pollen substitutes available.

Byron Anderson shared pictures of his bee yards, and California hives and orchards.

Mention was made of the new disorder causing hives to decline. Everyone is anxious for more information and knowledge of how to prevent this in our bee yards.

Maurice gave a report on equipment care, noting that this is the best time of year to maintain your equipment. He recommended looking over hive boxes and making repairs, plugging holes with drywall hole filler, using a good primer, and then painting with Latex paint that has been mis-mixed to save money. Hive tools can be cleaned in the dishwasher after either scraping them off, or using them in the garden to help clean them off.

The meeting was concluded with brownies and milk, and a discussion about next month’s meeting in which Lloyd Hefflin will discuss queen rearing as a hobbyist beekeeper.

January's Meeting Minutes

The January meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held January 18, 2007, at Jones Bee, located at 2576 West 500 South in Salt Lake City, Utah. The meeting was conducted by our new president, Maurice Cobo. Four members were present: Maurice Cobo, Paul Dupaix, Karen Dupaix, and Mary Jane Grange.

Mary Jane, outgoing secretary, read the minutes from the December meeting. Due to the small number of attending members, approval of the December minutes was postponed until February’s meeting.

Maurice Cobo gave the treasurer’s report in place of Byron Anderson, who was absent. We have $297.68 in our account at Zion’s Bank.

Paul Dupaix, Public Relations/Newsletter chairman, gave the newsletter report. Unfortunately, the January newsletter was not sent out. There was a miscommunication about the president’s message, which was resolved. Paul wants to include beekeeping tips every month in the newsletters, and may find a logo for the newsletter too. President Maurice Cobo suggested that, to cut postage costs, the bulk of the newsletters be emailed, and only snail-mailed if a member does not have an email account. Mr. Cobo also suggested that by May, any non-dues paying members be dropped from the mailed-out newsletter list. A suggestion was also made to advertise our organization and its meetings in IFA stores.

The Journal Report was postponed until the February meeting due to low attendance, as was the program planned for this evening.

Mary Jane asked for ideas for programs for this year. The following tentative program schedule was outlined:

February: Equipment Upkeep
March: The Dupaix’s Tooele honey operation
April: Establishing new colonies
May: Soapmaking by Jones Bee
June: The Honey Flow
July: Summer Social
August: Harvesting the honey, or a picnic with Utah County Beekeepers Assn.
September: State Fair, no meeting
October: Cooking with honey recipe and food exchange & honey tasting
November: Christmas Party and Elections
December: No Meeting (State Beekeepers Convention Nov 30-Dec.1)

The meeting was adjourned until February 15, 2007.
Sincerely,
Karen B. Dupaix
Secretary, Wasatch Beekeepers Association

November's Meeting Minutes

The November meeting of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association was held November 16, 2006 at Jones Bee, located at 2586 West 500 South, in Salt Lake City, Utah. The meeting was conducted by our president, Joe Grange. Eleven members were present.

Mary Jane Grange read the minutes for October 2006. Maurice Cobo gave the treasurer's report. We have $297.68 in our account at Zions Bank. This is the smallest amount since 1993. Joe and mary Jane Grange felt that we can no longer take refreshment money out of our bank account. Karen Dupaix suggested that we take turns bringing refreshments. We can also put out the "kitty cup" like we used to do. Membership and attendance has declined drastically this year. We were encouraged to bring in new and older members.

The meeting was turned over to Larry Knowlden, program director. We had our yearly banquet of honey baked ham and pot luck items. After dinner, Joe was given an award for his two years of service as President of the Wasatch Beekeepers Association. He served in 2005 and 2006. He was given a belt buckle with a beehive on it. Joe thanked everyone for their assistance for two years.

We then began elections. Larry Knowlden nominated Maurice Cobo for president in 2007. This was seconded by Karen Dupaix. Nominations were closed by Jim Brosius and Joe Grange. All were in favor. Larry Knowlden nominatede Byron Anderson as treasurer. This motion was seconded by Paul Dupaix. Joe Grange made a motion that nominations for treasurer cease. Mary Grange Seconded. all were in favor. Larry Knowlden nominated Karen Dupaix as secretary. This was seconded by Maurice Cobo. Mary Jane Grange made a motion that nominations cease. This was seconded by Jim Brosius. All were in favor. Larry Knowlden nominated Paul Dupaix for Public Relations/Newsletter. This was seconded by Heather Trecker Smith. Jim Brosius closed this motion. All were in favor. Larry Knowlden nominated Mary Jane Grange for Program Director. This was seconded by Karen Dupaix. This motion was closed by Paul Dupaix.

Our officers for 2007 are:
Maruice Cobo - President
Jim Brosius - Vice President
Karen Dupaix - Secretary
Paul Dupaix - Public Relations/Newsletter
Mary Jane Grange - Program Director

We had a drawing for prizes. We then dismissed until January 18, 2007. Utah State Beekeepers convention will be held November 30 and December 1, 2006 at the State Agricultural Building.
Sincerely,
Mary Jane Grange,
Secretary, Wasatch Beekeepers Association.