TTBook: The Hive Mind

a LINK for you from To the Best of our Knowledge - talks about bees...and ants - mainly - THE HIVE MIND.

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wosu/.artsmain/article/11/1172/1750633/Radio/TTBOOK.Hive.Mind.

listen!

ECWBA Newsletter - February 2011

Upcoming meetings.

February meeting: February 12, 2011, 9:30 am, Room O-104, Moraine Park Technical College, Fond du Lac, WI. March meeting: March 12, 2011, 9:30 am, at Ripon Public Library, Ripon, WI. May (or June) meeting: Field day. Denise Palkovich has agreed to host the field day in either May or June. She will make arrangements and notify us of the final details.

Meeting places.

The February meeting will be held at the Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC), 235 North National Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI. The meeting will be held in Room O-104. Parking is available in the parking lot off National Avenue north of Johnson Street. To get there from Johnson Street (Hwy. 23), turn north onto National Avenue. Turn right at the first roadway into the MPTC campus. Then turn left to the “O” parking lot. Enter the “O” building at the O-1 entrance. Room O-104 is located on the left just inside the entrance. The March meeting will be at the Ripon Public Library, 120 Jefferson Street, Ripon, WI. The meeting will be downstairs in the Silver Creek Room. The Ripon Library is located one block behind the Ripon City Hall.

Meeting topics.

At the February meeting, Craig Petros, one of Wisconsin’s state bee inspectors, will speak about the current state of bee health in Wisconsin and also answer questions about bee diseases. At the March meeting, Dean Lapp of Lapp’s Bee Supply will speak about the beekeeping supply industry, package bee sourcing, and be able to answer questions about beekeeping topics (this was originally schedule for January).

Officer Election Results.

The newly elected ECWBA Vice President is Denise Palkovich. In the absence of George Weigel, ECWBA Treasurer, he was given a unanimous vote of confidence. Subsequently, George has agreed to continue as the association’s treasurer. Congratulations to both Denise and George, and thank-you for serving the ECWBA organization.

Membership.

For 2011, the membership dues payment period will be the first two months of the year. After that, membership privileges (voting at meetings and receiving a newsletter) will be withheld until dues are paid. Dues will remain at $15.00 for a yearly membership. See OUR NEW "JOIN ECWBA " TAB at the top of this page!!!

Beekeeping notes.

Thanks to ECWBA member David Kraus for providing follow up information about a discussion topic at January’s meeting. He has provided the website address for information regarding the submission of bee samples for disease diagnosis at the USDA Laboratory in Beltsville, MD. The website address: http://www.ars.usda.gov/Services/docs.htm?docid=7472

It is once again that time of the year to think about ordering bees. Whether you are thinking about ordering package bees, nucleus colonies, or just queens, below are some local honey bee sources.

Lapp’s Bee Supply, Reeseville, WI, telephone 1-800-321-1960.

Honey Glow Farm, Owen, WI, telephone 1-866-950-4950.

Lee Heine at Dadant’s, Watertown, WI, telephone 920-261-5363.

Best of Beekeeping,

Jeff Champeau - President, ECWBA - Telephone: 715-330-9969

If you have any questions, please feel free to call me. Or e-mail me at jeff.champeau@yahoo.com.

New Tab!

Don't miss the "new tab" (OUR LIBRARY) I just placed at the top of the blog - it's a NEW PAGE - representing what's in our library - for members.

A Winter Visit to the Bee House

Grab a STETHOSCOPE and head out to check the hives in the bee house. Slide open a panel and quiet yourself - the sound travels through all the wood and you can hear the slightest creak in the structure.

Hold your breath and listen.....nice SOLID humming coming from 3 hives (worse case scenario - 3 out of 6 isn't too bad for this climate) Just because I couldn't hear the others - doesn't mean they're gone....they could be in another corner of the hive or very small.

It's interesting how each hive seems to have their OWN NOTE/frequency.

here's a pic from class

Beekeeping 101 TONIGHT!

Beekeeping 101 tonight. On the agenda is a 2 hour - powerpoint backed and graphic packed presentation of BEEKEEPING.....the HOW to get into's (resources) - the WHO's in the hive (the caste and function of the hive) - the WHY's of beekeeping (everything we get from the hive) - and the BEEKEEPING CALENDAR (your function as keeper - and your time commitment throughout the year)

This is the "WE'RE GONNA PUMP YOU UP" about beekeeping class :)

Beekeeping Courses

Dates announced. (3) Beginner courses: Jan 26, Feb 9, Feb 23 and (2) Intermediate courses: Mar 16, Mar 30.

Classes will be held at the UW-Fond du Lac campus again -2nd floor "extension" classroom. 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Beginner courses will cover everything to GET STARTED - getting acquainted with bees, terminology, equipment, resources, purchasing bees, etc....over THREE class nights. They're held at this time of year so that you have time to build hives and order bees.

Intermediate courses will cover THE SECOND YEAR HIVE and BEYOND. Now that you have a year or so under your belt - we can discuss keeping the bees HEALTHY and IN THE BOX (swarming), etc. The second class, we'll be sharing some "advanced" topics....splits, nucs, requeening, queen rearing, etc.

Contact: UWFDL Extension: 920-929-3171. Pre-registration by Jan 18 - Registration limited to 40!

Cost: (3) BEGINNING classes - $36/person; $54/couple; $8/highschool or college student (materials)

(2) INTERMEDIATE classes - $24/person; $36/couple; $5/highschool or college student (materials)

Hope to see you there!

latest bee-related find

my RECENT bee-related FIND at a local antique mall. This mall is a DESTINATION...for those of you who love doing this sort of thing... http://www.columbusantiquemall.com/

you can EASILY spend an ENTIRE DAY.

i think this is a candy jar - because it's missing the cut-out for the dipper.

i was surprised with the AMOUNT of items - that i didn't find more....found a honey pot too.

ECWBA Newsletter - January 2011

Happy New Year to all of the ECWBA members!!!

1. Meeting Dates: Here is the list of meeting dates for the new year, 2011:

• January meeting: January 15, 2011, 9:30 am, at Ripon Public Library, Ripon, WI.

• February meeting: February 12, 2011, 9:30 am, Room O-104, Moraine Park Technical College, Fond du Lac, WI.

• March meeting: March 12, 2011, 9:30 am, at Ripon Public Library, Ripon, WI.

• May (or June) meeting: Field day. Date, time, and place are yet to be determined. Some members have requested that the field day be moved to the middle of June in order to observe colonies that have already transitioned to the honey production phase.

2. Meeting locations:

The January and March meetings will be at the Ripon Public Library, 120 Jefferson Street, Ripon, WI. The meetings will be downstairs in the Silver Creek Room. The Ripon Library is located one block behind the Ripon City Hall.

The February meeting will be held at the Moraine Park Technical College (MPTC), 235 North National Avenue, Fond du Lac, WI. The meeting will be held in Room O-104. Parking is available in the parking lot on National Avenue north of Johnson Street.

3. Meeting topics: The topics for the first few meetings have been established. At the January meeting, Dean Lapp of Lapp’s Bee Supply will speak about the beekeeping supply industry, package bee sourcing, and be able to answer questions about beekeeping topics. At the February meeting, Craig Petros, one of Wisconsin’s state bee inspectors, will speak about the current state of bee health in Wisconsin and also answer questions about bee diseases.

4. Officer elections: At the January, 2011, meeting, the offices of vice-president and treasurer will be up for election. The positions are currently held by Don Palkovich as Vice President and George Weigel as Treasurer. Both, Don and George, have done a great job as ECWBA officers for the past two years. Here’s an opportunity to be come directly involved with the ECWBA. Please consider running for either of these offices -- a little “electoral competition” would be great to see. If you have any questions about the election or about becoming an officer, please contact Jeff Champeau by phone or e-mail.

5. Membership: For 2011, the membership dues payment period will be the first two months of the year. After that, membership privileges (voting at meetings and receiving a newsletter) will be withheld until dues are paid. Dues will remain at $15.00 for a yearly membership. See next page for more information.

Happy New Year and Best of Beekeeping,

Jeff Champeau - President, ECWBA - Telephone: 715-330-9969 - jeff.champeau@yahoo.com