Our meeting date had to be changed to 1-6-17, Cornell cooperative extension building was closed on the 2nd.
Our topic for this month was American foulbrood. We chose this topic because AFB has been found in hives in Buffalo... not too far from us. Often an AFB outbreak is caused because a beekeeper does not know what to look for and does not have a good network to learn from. Beekeeping is becoming popular again, which is wonderful, but also means that we all need to educate ourselves on how to care for our hives correctly and responsibly.
Instead of writing down all the specifics I'm going to link here to the presentation that was showed at the meeting;
http://nybeewellness.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/American_Foulbrood_web2.pdf
This is a very comprehensive presentation with pictures of different brood diseases, virus, fungus and bacteria and the signs and symptoms of each. There is also a book called A Field Guide to Honey Bees and Their Maladies. It is a spiral bound book that is priceless for providing info while you are inspecting your hive.
Information about sending in samples to Beltsville was given. Here is a link to the page on the USDA's website about how to submit samples;
And lastly, Nucs are available through the club. We have 100 nucs available. Prices are $130 for a club member, $150 for non club member. With a $20 deposit on the boxes, the $20 deposit stayed the same because we had a 100% return last year. Please lets keep it that way!
Next meeting is February 6th. Nutrition for bees and planting for bees!
Peace out! see yall soon.
Beth