Prairie State Beekeepers - December 7, 2023
There will be a Christmas gathering at Richardson's Clubhouse in Buffalo Hart. Start time will be at 6 PM for a social hour and dinner and meeting (brief meeting) at 7 PM.
The address is 7282 Buffalo Hart Road, Buffalo, Illinois.
Dave Tebrugge is organizing the event.
Please RSVP to Dave at dmlrt1983@gmail.com if you are planning to attend.
No Zoom link for December. . Zoom should resume in January
There will be a Christmas gathering at Richardson's Clubhouse in Buffalo Hart. Start time will be at 6 PM for a social hour and dinner and meeting (brief meeting) at 7 PM.
The address is 7282 Buffalo Hart Road, Buffalo, Illinois.
Dave Tebrugge is organizing the event.
Please RSVP to Dave at dmlrt1983@gmail.com if you are planning to attend.
- The Main dish, Italian Beef and Smoked Pork (By Rick and Kathy Kaesebier - Kaesebier Farms) will be provided by PSBA as well as water, tea and lemonade and eating utensils.
- Please bring a covered dish or dessert to share.
- Attendees also asked (but not required) to bring a small gift or knick/knack to donate as a door prize. Does not need to be beekeeping related
- If you know of someone interested in becoming a Beekeeper please ask them to attend. Family members are more than welcome. Hope to see you there.
No Zoom link for December. . Zoom should resume in January
Tentative Agenda
Items to check in /November/December
- Business items to attend to (max time is 15 minutes).
- ISBA Annual Fall Meeting - November 4, 2023 - Springfield, IL
- Discussion on how to make no cook sugar bricks also discuss all the aspects (pros and cons) of the different winter feed methods
- Topics of interest such as the discussion and Q&A in the meeting indicate.
- February 15 - March 21, 2024 - Introduction to Beekeeping - Springfield, Illinois (see Summary of Events Page)
- 2024 is a Leap Year.... making it a great year to leap into beekeeping!!!
Items to check in /November/December
- Make sure you have metal mouse guards to put on the entrance of your colonies before winter. Mice will chew through the wooden entrance reducers.
- Periodically clean debris and dead bees from the entrance and mouse guard
- Windbreaks (natural or man made) will help colonies.
- Thermal breaks either on top of outer cover or under the outer cover.
- Ventilation is key to a honey bee colony in winter. Be sure to ventilate with shims or other method to allow the heated air rising to the top of the colony to escape.
- If all brood is in upper box, then reverse the boxes so the brood box is now the lower most box. Take this opportunity to clean off your bottom board or exchange the existing bottom board with a cleaned replacement bottom board
- Check the status of your Small Hive Beetle traps
- It is suggested you remove the oil type SHB traps when freezing night time temps start to occur. The oil congeals in cold and freezing temps and is not effective. Also removal of the traps will provide better flow of air through the hive
- Do the lift test by grasping the rear hand hold on the bottom box with 2 fingers. If you can easily lift it even a tad, the colony is light and you should begin feeding a heavy syrup as long as the fall weather permits.
- Feed thick syrup (if sugar syrup, 2 parts sugar to 1 part water - measure by weight). Feed until night time temperatures no longer permit.
- Winter feed insurance policies consist of sugar bricks/cakes.. either home made or purchased (such as commercial winter patties.
- Mountain camp method is another excellent method of winter feeding, but do not put on the colony until freezing temps (will explain at meeting)
- November and December are the ideal times to treat colonies with the Oxalic Acid Vapor treatment as most colonies in our area will be broodless then and you should find little or no eggs, larva or sealed brood
- It is normal for most queens to cease laying eggs completely and will not resume laying until some tine in late January. Queens with Carniolan genetics (referred to as carnies) will cease laying eggs immediately after nectar and pollen cease being foraged (usually after the first good frost and definitely after a hard freeze).
- Wondering where the bees are finding the pollen they are bringing in? Check the pollen sources by time of year on the documents page of our website
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2024 PSBA Membership dues:
Give your membership renewal or new membership form and payment to the Membership Secretary. The Membership Secretary will process it forward the payment to the Treasurer for deposit. New member applications will be reviewed by the officers before the membership is approved. You can mail in your renewal to Steve Petrilli (membership secretary), his contact information is below so you can email or call him to obtain his mailing address. It has also been posted on the Prairie State Google Group. |
Our thanks to Jefferies Orchard
for their continued support of Prairie State Beekeepers 
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Your membership entitles you to a discounted subscription rate for the American Bee Journal magazine. Bee Culture is also an excellent publication, but it does not offer a discounted subscription.
Contact Information & Officers:
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Prairie State Apparel Committee Chairperson
Melissa Gerard Athens, IL 217.691.2223 melmels1999@yahoo.com |
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ISBA Vice President
Steve Petrilli Mechanicsburg, IL 217.638.7891 spetrilli45@gmail.com |
ISBA Legislative Liaison
Rich Ramsey Rochester, IL 217.691.9354 rramsey2@gmail.com |
State of Illinois Dept. of Agriculture Apiary Inspector
Illinois Bees and Apiaries Program
Arvin Pierce
Waverly, IL
217.638.6371
rvnpirc51@gmail.com
Illinois Bees and Apiaries Program
Arvin Pierce
Waverly, IL
217.638.6371
rvnpirc51@gmail.com