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Monongalia County Beekeepers Association |
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Last updated 03/13/2012 |
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Welcome to the Monongalia County Beekeepers Association!
Interested in Beekeeping?
· Equipment needed for beekeeping · Principles of hive management · Harvesting honey · Control of bee pests and diseases · All facets of beekeeping |
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March Update
Beginning Beekeepers! 2012 Beekeepers Short Course starts this month and you can get the information and application on the events page or click Here. A great course for beginners and those with experience. I have also added the meeting minutes from February. Next meeting is Tuesday, April 3.
It has been a warm winter. I was in my hives doing spring cleaning and feeding as early as mid-February on a warm weekend and again this last weekend. All four of my hives had well over the recommended amount of honey stores going into the winter and are very light right now. I was even setting the hives up with “checker boarding”, the latest trend in swarm prevention and increasing production. Come to our meetings to find out what this is if you are not familiar with it. I do not know it has any more merit behind it than banging on metal pots to keep them from swarming, but after the trouble I had last year with swarms I am willing to give it a shot. If nothing else it will not be any more harmful than banging on pots so I figure all is good. At least I can be happy with 100% survival this year and they are all looking strong! I just need to keep them fed until the dandelion bloom. I have been taking pictures and video of a lot of activity at the hive entrances with them bringing in dull yellow pollen which I think is from the maples that are starting to bud here. I am hopeful for a good year.
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Letter from our President:
December 2011
Hello fellow beekeepers.
This is the time of year when much of our plans for winter have been resolved…. or not. Well, I wish I knew if my plans are what the bees really need if they could tell me. Is that 60 to 70 pounds of honey where they want it? Do I have enough winter bees with their reserves to last till winter; long way to dandelions. I worry about enough ventilation to keep the moisture low. Will mice get past entrance reducers; what a mess that could present three or four months from now. Well I can’t predict the weather, but I can watch it and catch up on bee magazine readings with my spare time. Oh yea, I forgot lots of bee boxes to repair in all that spare time. I’m hopeful spring 2012 will bring a bountiful nectar flow.
Mark Becilla
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