Letter From the President

Continued Greetings to All,

As the bees have been inactive through the winter, so have we as a club.  But as the bees are now longing for spring and beginning their early flights, again are we as a club.  We had a wonderfully informative meeting this past Thursday, Feb. 16, at which Joe Kovaleski spoke about Queen Rearing, the rational, the technique, and the benefits.  We were mesmerized with his knowledge and insight.

As a club, we are moving ahead to foster the honey bee and the importance of pollination in the community.  Through the efforts of our member Said Leghlid, we have developed an association with the West Virginia Northern Community College Culinary School.  Under the leadership if Chef Gene Evans, the culinary school is developing sources of ingredients, initially in the formation of vegetable gardens to provide fresh produce.  Seeing the opportunity to expand to honey production, Said, who is also on the faculty at Northern, has worked to form an alliance.  We will provide mentors to assist in beekeeping, and in return they have offered to house our novice program in their beautiful culinary department.  We have also heard rumors of the students’ desire to create honey h’orderves for newbees.  How much better can it get?

In our preparation for the spring we have been lining up some wonderful speakers and I urge to attend the monthly meetings for the speakers offer a treasure of information to assist to in keeping healthy bees.  By now I think that you have realized that the information on the internet is not the sole source of guidance to you and without the knowledge of seasoned beekeepers you are at high risk of losing your colonies, or at least experiencing limited production.

Of special interest may be the West Virginia Beekeepers Association Spring meeting held on April 14 in Clarksburg.  The guest speakers include Randy Oliver.  Randy has just completed a multiple installment series in the American Bee Journal on diseases of the honeybee.  It was extremely informative and I am sure that his presentations will be power packed.  He will be speaking on Honey Bee Nutrition and Keeping You Bees Alive Throughout the Year.  Other speakers include Debbie Delaney from the University of Delaware speaking on feral bees and bee genetics and Grant Gillard from Jackson, Missouri speaking on Production Issues and Graftless Queen Rearing.  The program is of value to beekeepers of all levels of experience.  Please try to attend. 

You can find information on line at:   http://www.wvbeekeepers.org/LocalInfoandAnnouncements.html.

Or write to:
Connie Wolfinger
Rt. 1 Box 541 Clarksburg, WV 26301

Or call:
Steve Hamrick
304-622-9827

Finally, dues were collected at the February meeting.  If you are unable to attend the March meeting, please consider sending in your check for id="mce_marker"0.00 made out to:

TriState Beekeepers Association
c/o Steve Roth
162 Whites Lane
Wheeling, WV 26003

Thanks so much for your assistance and please consider attending the spring meeting in Clarksburg.

Steve