The June 4th 2016 ECWBA Field Day has come and gone. The day started out with a little very light
rain, but things cleared up from starting time to when we adjourned. Highlights were:
1 We demonstrated use of MAQS and an oxalic
vaporizer. We were showing the” live
and let die” beekeepers how easy it is to treat for varroa mites. We also discussed the current recommendation to treat 2 to 3 times per season.
2 Our new President, Gerard, lead a team of new
beekeepers through standard hive inspection techniques. Things covered were looking for the presence
of a laying queen, how to determine if a hive has laying workers, the
difference in swarm and supercedure queen cells, release of a newly introduced
queen, and hive reversal.
3 Fred and Jon lead a second group through the process of raising
queens. Most of the attendees decided
it’s worth the money to purchase a queen rather than working through the queen
raising process.
4 The club’s new observation hive had its first
outing. The hive is only booked for 2
weekends so far this summer. Any club
member is welcome to use it. The only
caveat is that you must populate it with you own bees. We figure if you are using your own bees you
will be much more careful and not let the hive overheat or starve if the bees
are left in too long.
Attendance was about 20 beekeepers; split evenly between
club members and walk-ins.
Here are a few pictures.
The queen (marked with white dot) and her court
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