New Year Brings New Members

Our January Meeting had a good turn out of 33 people.  We had 4 brand new members and we want to say a hardy welcome to them. Clint Ready, Greg Weeks and Allen Huckabee are three of them and I did not get the other Gentleman's name. Mae Coupa! Anyway, we always like to have new folks join us.  

    Our meeting got started by Hazel reading the minutes of the December meeting and it was all approved. 

    Steve Nofs spoke about the up coming Georgia Beekeepers Assn meeting to be held on 18 Feb at the Coweta County Fairgrounds and Conference Center in Newnan, Ga. I really want to encourage everyone to attend.  The education is worth it. To register, log on to the Georgia Beekeepers web site. Furthermore, we discussed the GBA newsletter had a password (shhhhh; it's "beenews2011") The schedule and directions  for the meeting follow this report.    

    Another piece of business that had to happen was the re-election of the club officers.  Everyone present voted to retain the current administration for another year. Just as a reminder; President, Bear Kelley ;Vice President Danny Green ; Secretary, Hazel McCurdy ;Treasurer, Kelly Hillis .Thank you for the confidence in all of us.    

     We collected annual dues from 22 members ($12)  and we request the old members who join us next month pay as well.  

We moved into our theme for the evening and that was what to do with your bees during the winter. Some of the things discussed were..

* Feed them.  Your mixture should be 2:1 on sugar water! 

* Make sure the hive has adequate ventilation. Don't let moisture build up inside. (screen bottoms are just fine down here year round)

* Don't break the cluster and don't open your hives if the outside temp is rainy or below 45 degrees. 

* Jessie said if you are going to use medicines, do it soon. 

* This is a good time to feed protein patties. Don't feed medicines and protein patties for a few weeks prior to installing honey supers. 

* Her highness, the Queen will start laying a bunch of eggs in late January to build up the colony for the spring.

 And Finally don't forget..........."Bees have survived a lot of Stupid Beekeepers"; so don't be afraid to try something different. !

We broke at about 8 pm and had a pretty good raffle. Thanks to all who brought something for the table. 

Thank you all for your support, assistance and confidence.

Bear

Coweta County Fairgrounds & Conference Center

275 Pine Road

Newnan, Georgia 30263

8:00am      Registration

9:00am      Welcome

Pledge to the Flag

                  President Address

9:15am      Jerry Edwards, President Coweta Beekeepers Assoc. and Vice President

                   Georgia Beekeepers Assoc.

Having a Successful Local Bee Club

10:00am    Key Note Speaker

                   Dr. Malcolm Sanford,  Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Florida

The World of GMO’s – How it Relates to Beekeeping

10:45am    BREAK

11:15am    Oscar Garrison, Consumer Protection Division Director, Georgia Dept. of Agriculture and Natalie Adan, Consumer Protection Division Manager

New GADOA Honey House Inspections Rules & Fees

12:00 Noon  - Lunch

                   Web Site Ad Auction

1:00pm      John Pluta, GeorgiaBees.com, Milledgeville, Georgia

You Can be a Beekeeping Star on YouTube

1:30pm      Local Farm Markets – Panel Discussion

                    Brian Higgins, Home Town Honey, Kennesaw, GA

                   Lynn & Wally Batchelor, Newnan, GA

                   Mike Elliott, Alpharetta, GA 

2:15pm      TBA

2:45pm      BREAK – Door Prizes

3:15pm      Dr. Malcolm Sanford, Professor Emeritus, Univ. of Florida

Florida Beekeeping Protection Bill

3:45pm      Paul Vonk, Commercial Beekeeper, Clayton, GA

                   Electronic Surveillance of Honeybees

4:30pm      Have a Safe Trip Honey

Directions From Atlanta: 

Take I-85 south to Exit 41 (Moreland/Hwy. 29) and take a right off the ramp. Go past Waffle House to the first road on the left, Pine Road. Take Pine Road for approximately ½ mile over the railroad tracks. The entrance to the facility is on the left. 

Directions From Columbus: 

Take I-85 north to Exit 41 (Moreland/Hwy. 29) and take a left off the ramp. Go past Waffle House to the first road on the left, Pine Road. Take Pine Road for approximately ½ mile over the railroad tracks. The entrance to the facility is on the left.

Directions From Peachtree City/Fayetteville: 

Take Hwy. 54 through Peachtree City to Coweta County. Stay on Hwy. 54 at the 54/34 split. Go approximately 7 miles to the four-way stop at Hwy. 16. Go right on Hwy. 16 for approximately 9 miles until it dead ends at Hwy. 29. Go right and then take a quick left onto Pine Road. Go ½ mile over the railroad tracks and the entrance to the facility is on the left.

December meeting wraps up 2011

Happy New Year to Everyone; 

    Our December meeting was held on 20 December, 2011 at the Old Perry Court House as usual;  About 35 folks showed up for some brief remarks about 2011 and a query into some subjects for discussion for next year. Hazel read the minutes of the November meeting and it was reported that we have about $700.00 in the bee fund.  It was announced that the 2012 GBA Meeting would be 18 February (Saturday) around Newnan, Ga. More detailed info will follow. But it is rumored that this is going to be a one day event.  So many of you who usually can't attend will be available. So mark your calendars now, and reserve the day.

    We also discussed Honey bottle labeling and I promised that I would do some research.  This is the link to The National Honey Board list of rules.  Any other questions can be asked at the next meeting.
  

    We broke early so that we could enjoy a lot of food and goodies brought in by everyone. It was a great Christmas get together and a wonderful way to close out the year. Thanks to all who brought food and especially Danny Greene for bringing the drinks.  We also had our raffle; but this time; Good old Heidi brought in some of her fabulous cakes to add to the raffle table.  Thanks to all who brought raffle items. We raise a lot of money this way and are able to keep our dues to a minimum.  Speaking of dues; please plan to attend our January meeting on the 17th of January and plan to pay 12 green back dollars for the coming year's dues.

See you soon.   Bear

Great Turnout for November Meeting

Good Day to All;

    We had a lively meeting on Tuesday, 15 November as over 25 attended at the Old Perry Courthouse in beautiful downtown Perry, Ga.

As usual, Hazel McCurdy read the minutes of the Oct meeting and Kelly Hillis gave us a finance report of our on hand cash balance of $701.25. 

    We discussed everyone bringing some light finger foods for a Christmas Social for our next meeting on December 20.  Everyone agreed. So please plan to attend and bring some goodies to share.

     We also announced that the staff at Georgia Veterans State Park were taking such good care of their bees that they were able to harvest some honey and have already sold it all under the label of "Bee-29 Honey". As you all know, we sort of sponsored the park and started the bee keeping program there this year. Randall Meeks, the Park Manager, is planning on having public bee programs there soon.  As a side note, the SOWEGA Beekeepers have started a beekeeping program at Cheehaw park in Albany and it is reported that they are doing well.  After all the administrative stuff was taken care of, we moved into our program.

    "Tools of the trade" was the primary topic of this month's meeting. 

     I brought in a Refractometer and we discussed the use, importance of knowing the h20 content of your honey and demonstrated it for the group. We passed it around for everyone to see how it read the h20 level of the honey sample that was used.

    Kelly Hillis brought in a BeeVac and discussed its use when capturing a feral colony of bees. It certainly makes the it sooooooooooo much easier and safer when claiming "free bees".  

    Jessie McCurdy, who everyone knows builds his own hives from scratch, brought in some nails he has found in trees that will eat up any saw blade on the market. His point was to be very careful when milling raw wood. We are all trying to find ways to save dollars, but don't skip safety in your pursuit!

    Bill Tamboli, the "BeeVue" guy, brought in one of his BeeVues. It is actually a framed top with plexiglass to view the colony and their activities without opening the hive.  It comes with top feeders that keep the feed from freezing, robbing, keeps it on top of the cluster when they really need it. He also discussed "Hop-Guard" for mite treatment, and showed us how effective it was. It is available in the Mann Lake catalog.  

    At the end, we had our raffle as usual with about 5 or 6 prizes.  That really is a primary fund raiser for us, so please bring something each meeting to share.  Some more popular prizes were pies and cakes that don't seem to be there any more. Come back pies!

    Our next meeting will be 20 Dec..............Happy Thanksgiving!  Bear

Welsh Honey Show

It was so good to see you all at the last meeting, and if you were not able to be there, you missed a good one (and we missed you too!)

If you would like to put your newly-found knowledge of “how to present your honey” to the test, the North Florida Fair is having a Welsh Honey show as part of their fair (for the 3^rd year I a row!!)  Submissions must be taken to the Tallahassee, Florida site on the morning of November 5^th—there are 12—yes—twelve—categories of the Honey Show. I enjoyed reading the ‘rules’ and still dream of winning something, sometime!!

If not interested in the competition, it might be fun to just read what they are expecting!!! (Everyone who has harvested their honey is eligible for the ‘black jar’ category!!) (Maybe I’ll get to work on that this week!! ;0)

Go to www.northfloridafair.com   then ‘exhibitor handbook’ then scroll down to Department 550 ‘Welsh Honey Show”

Hope to see you all November 10^th for our November meeting!

Thanks,

kb

Georgia Bee Letter

This is the link to UGA's Georgia Bee Letter

http://www.ent.uga.edu/bees/documents/GBL-Sept2011.pdf

September meeting highlights

Hey Folks,

Sorry this is so long in coming; but Mb and I have been out of town until recently.  

The September meeting seemed to be a success as about 30-35  attended our annual Honey Show.  Everyone there had the opportunity to select the "Best Honey"  for the year and it was Jack Floyd who now has bragging rights for the coming year.  Congratulations Jack! Your girls really came through. 

We will post his name on the website and show his winning jar at the Perry Fair at Jessie and Hazels Honey booth. 

Speaking of Jessie and Hazel; They really could use some volunteer help at the fair with their booth.  This is a great way to learn the retail side of the honey business and a darn nice thing to do for someone who gives us so much. Please contact Hazel at 478-808-1285 and coordinate when you can work. The fair runs from 6-16 Oct. It also earns you a free pass to the fair.  Mb and I always enjoy working with them and break away to check out the rest of the activities. Hope to see many of you there. 

    Our next meeting is 18 Oct.  We will have a guest speaker that night. She is Linda Tillman, a Master Beekeeper from Atlanta and she will be talking about the simplistic side of beekeeping. I saw her presentation at Young Harris this year as was quite impressed.  Please plan to be there, and you'll learn so much and learn how to save $$ while keeping bees.  

Until then, keep the buzz going..............Bear

August Meeting Recap

 Our August Meeting was on the 16th at 7pm at the Old Perry Court House.  There were 36 in attendance as they waited breathlessly for Fred Rossman to speak about Queen Rearing. But before he started, we plugged the up coming Georgia Beekeepers Association fall Meeting in McDonough, Ga on 10 and 11 September.  The Family registration is only $35 and the information obtained at the meeting will be "priceless".  I want to continue to encourage as many of you to attend as possible. The reason you joined the Beekeepers club is to learn more about the little creatures, and this event will certainly boost your Bee education.  You can go to the GBA website to sign up.  Hope to see you there. 

    We also discussed the HOG Beekeepers web site and how we have a new "Keeper of the site".  It improves every time I check it. Bookmark it as a favorite and stay informed.  

Our guest speaker was Mr. Fred Rossman, the owner of Rossman Apiaries. (that's the place we spend our extra money!).  Fred spent the evening educating us on proper Queen rearing. He went into great details about each stage of the process and showed us the proper tools and equipment necessary for producing a successful crop of queen bees. Many of our members  have shown an interest in taking on this task and hopefully they were convinced that it can be done at home. I did speak to several members who have decided that $20 is not too much to spend for a new queen when they need one due the work involved.  Whether you raise queens, workers or just like to watch them work, Fred's presentation was simple and   technical enough to educate and entertain us for the evening. 

    We also want to extend a welcome to David Rossman (Fred's son)  and his daughter Kendall. We hope you didn't come just to watch dear old Dad . We could use your experience and education in the bee business for the betterment of our club. You are always welcome.  Maybe Kendall can get stung like the rest of us.

  

    Our next meeting will be 20 September, same time, same place.  The theme of this meeting will be our annual Honey Show.  Bring an unmarked jar of your honey and everyone will have an opportunity to judge it.  The winner will be displayed at the Georgia National Fair in October at Jessie and Hazels Honey booth.  You'll have bragging rights for a year . Last year my honey won! I guess this is the last time I can brag about that.  It's been fun.

Until we meet again. Keep the buzz going.

Bear