Prairie State Beekeepers - Meeting October 5, 2023
The October 5, 2023, Prairie State Beekeepers meeting will be at the Sangamon County Farm Bureau Building. Start time is 7 PM.
A map to the location of the Farm Bureau Building can be found on the Summary of Events Page.
A zoom link will be sent to all members via the Google Group forum for who cannot attend the meeting in person.
The October 5, 2023, Prairie State Beekeepers meeting will be at the Sangamon County Farm Bureau Building. Start time is 7 PM.
A map to the location of the Farm Bureau Building can be found on the Summary of Events Page.
A zoom link will be sent to all members via the Google Group forum for who cannot attend the meeting in person.
Tentative Agenda
Items to check in September/October
**** Follow the label instructions!
- Business items to attend to (max time is 15 minutes).
- ISBA Annual Fall Meeting - November 4, 2023 - Springfield, IL
- Different methods of controlling moisture during winter (ventilation)
- Discussion on how to make no cook sugar bricks
- Topics of interest such as the discussion and Q&A in the meeting indicate.
- Several digital refractometers will be available at the meeting to test honey moisture. Bring a sample if you want it tested.
- If you need an extractor, PSBA has several to loan to members. Contact Rich Ramsey to schedule.
- If your honey is "wet" (above 18.6% moisture), several members have honey dries which will safely dry down the hone to an acceptable level of moisture. If the moisture content is 20% or above, you need to get it dried down to 18.6% moisture or less.
- Just because all the cells on all of the frames of honey are capped is not a guarantee the moisture content is 18.6 % or less. Will discuss further at meeting.
Items to check in September/October
- Examine double brood box hives and ascertain where the bees and brood are (upper or lower box)
- 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
- If you see a massive swarm in September it is most likely a colony absconding.
- Check the status of your Small Hive Beetle traps
- Check the status of the supers and manipulate the frames as needed or add additional supers
- Check upper brood box to make sure it does not become honey bound
- Formic Acid and Formic Acid pro is the only varroa control permitted once honey supers are on****
- ApiVar or Apiguard be used for varroa control before you put honey supers on****
- If/when you need to extract honey, and you do not have an extractor, contact Rich Ramsey to schedule the use of one of the Prairie State extractors (all are manual)
- Do not remove full honey supers until you are ready extract (SHB eggs will hatch within 3 days). You can also put the frames of honey in a freezer for several days to ensure any SHB eggs are neutralized.
- 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
- Once you have removed your honey super(s) and queen excluder (if you used one) for the year, be prepared to feed colonies which are light on food stores. 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.
- Protect stored supers and brood boxes (which have built out wax comb) with Para Moth crystals or spray them with Certan ***
**** Follow the label instructions!
|
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 
|
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:
|
Prairie State Apparel Committee Chairperson
Melissa Gerard Athens, IL 217.691.2223 melmels1999@yahoo.com |
|
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