Hi All,
Thanks for joining us last night! We had 2 presentations. Kim showed us all how to assemble a frame and wire beeswax into it. He had all sorts of equipment and I wish I could explain it all to you but... I'm hopelessly a girl and don't really know all the details, so in this case....If you have questions call Kim and he can walk you through it!!! Sorry ;)
Next up Alan brought in some swarm traps that he built last year. He put 4 traps out and caught 4 swarms. He showed video of the bees marching into the hive at transfer and described the 'fanning' that the bees will use to let the rest know to come in.
Questions about when to split hives came up and it was suggested that when the dandelions are in full bloom and the pupa are purple eyed is usually the best timing. Elwood brought in a homemade pollen feeder that you can hang out in a tree and the pollen wont get wet. He also brought in an orange blossom that smelled incredible! Mark Fiegl almost got arrested dashing across 104 to grab some aspen branches to bring in to us all. Thankfully the cop was a former student of his so all's well that ends well!!!
It was also suggested to reduce disease and pesticides in your hive to rotate out 1/3 of your comb each year. So that in a 3 year cycle you have replaced all of your comb.
I just want to thank everyone that comes to the meeting and ask questions, presents what they are doing and what they are learning. It can be hard to get up there as a newbee and share, especially when there are others who have been keeping bees for 30 + years, but we are all in this to learn. Plus, I also think that it encourages and energizes the folks that have been keeping for a long time. The excitement of learning and sharing is catchy to all of us!