February Meeting
President, Mike Thornberry spoke about the upcoming Honeybee Festival in LaFayette on June 1st. Volunteers are needed for the Education Booth. If you are interested, please contact Larry Little.
March 5th – There will be a City Hall meeting about the Honeybee Festival. If you would like a booth to sell honey or crafts more information is available on their website. http://www.mycityoflafayettega.org/residents/events/honeybee_festival
Mike also spoke about giving a Beekeeper’s 101 course. Members voted to have the class in October and a sign-up sheet will be provided during the Honeybee Festival at our educational booth. If you would like to help with the Beekeeper 101 class, please contact Mike Thornberry or Sharon Starling.
Membership dues were collected at January’s meeting. If you have not already paid please contact treasurer, Steve Wilson.
The Georgia Beekeepers Association Spring Conference is Feb 15-16. http://www.gabeekeeping.com/ President Mike Thornberry is attending, and members voted to help him with gas expenses.
Question/Answer Session
One member had a massive number of bees to die in late January and she wanted to know what might have happened. It is possible that they froze but more than likely it was a natural course. The older bees died, and it has been too cold for the workers to leave and have not been able to clean out the hive. To keep dead bees and other debris from building up and blocking the opening of the entrance reducer it was suggested to turn the entrance reducer upside down with the opening on the top.
.How to prevent mold and moisture buildup? This moisture is caused by the condensation of the water vapor as it rises from the cluster and cools at the interface between the warmer and colder air. This is usually at the inner cover in most hives. Bees can be killed by moisture if it builds on the inner cover and rains down onto the bees when clustered. The bees can tolerate the cold but not when they are wet. Many beekeepers will place a moisture board to help absorb the condensation and keep bees dry. Place the moisture board on top of the Inner Cover. Moisture boards can be an empty hive body above the inner cover for added protection against the cold. Some beekeepers will place different substrates within the space above the inner cover to soak up the humidity such as compressed cardboard, hay, cedar shavings or newspaper. Depending on the material used in the moisture board you will need to be on the lookout for mold from items getting wet.
Upcoming Events
24th Annual Beginner & Newcomer Gardening Classes.
7th Annual Garden Expo
