Prairie State Beekeepers - Meeting February 2, 2023
The February 2, 2023, Prairie State Beekeepers meeting will be at the Sangamon County Farm Bureau Building. Start time is 7 PM.
The meeting Zoom Link was sent to all members via the Prairie State Google Group on January 30, 2023.
If it does not appear in your email inbox, check your spam or junk folders. If it is in your junk/spam folder, indicate to your email client (Gmail/Yahoo/Outlook, etc it is not spam/junk
For Gmail based users it may end up in the Forums tab or Promotions tab of your email instead of the inbox or primary folder. you will need to tell Gmail to send it to your inbox/primary folder by moving it from the Promotions or Forum folder to the inbox or primary folder.
The February 2, 2023, Prairie State Beekeepers meeting will be at the Sangamon County Farm Bureau Building. Start time is 7 PM.
The meeting Zoom Link was sent to all members via the Prairie State Google Group on January 30, 2023.
If it does not appear in your email inbox, check your spam or junk folders. If it is in your junk/spam folder, indicate to your email client (Gmail/Yahoo/Outlook, etc it is not spam/junk
For Gmail based users it may end up in the Forums tab or Promotions tab of your email instead of the inbox or primary folder. you will need to tell Gmail to send it to your inbox/primary folder by moving it from the Promotions or Forum folder to the inbox or primary folder.
Tentative Agenda
The sign up form for 2023 bee packages is online via Google Forms.
If you are interested in 1 or more bee packages, click on the below link to complete and submit your request.
Instructions and additional information are in the request form.
Link to 2023 Bee Package Request Form
Items to check in January and February
- Business items to attend to (max time is 15 minutes)
- Status of Winter Build Project ideas
- The registration for the Introduction to Beekeeping Class opened on January 3, 2023
- Rich Ramsey will give a working with beeswax presentation and others will also discuss what they make with wax
- Dave Tebrugge will discuss why and how to use the "queen hotels"
- Bill Budd will discuss items to try to make swarm traps more attractive to honey bees
- Other topics of interest such as the discussion and Q&A in the meeting indicate
The sign up form for 2023 bee packages is online via Google Forms.
If you are interested in 1 or more bee packages, click on the below link to complete and submit your request.
Instructions and additional information are in the request form.
Link to 2023 Bee Package Request Form
Items to check in January and February
- Check your winter feed at least once a week if possible and replenish/add to it as needed (be sure to veil up at a minimum when you do)
- Your winter feed can be in a variety of types of a solid form food source on top of uppermost brood box (Sugar brick/cake, candy board, mountain camp, Missouri Krabby patty or commercially available winter patty)
- Make sure the hive has adequate ventilation at the top of the hive.
- Provide a thermal break (barrier) at the top of the hive.
- Provide a windbreak for the North and West sides of the colony if a natural or other windbreak, such as a building does not exist.
- If you are using straw bales as the windbreak, place them 3 feet from the hive. Since the straw bales will be a draw to mice,place some mouse poison in a 1 foot length of 1 1/4" or larger PVC with one end capped. You can place it under your hive, presuming your hive is not sitting directly on the ground. You want to secure it under the hive or secure it in some other fashion to keep your pets from upsetting it to the point where the poison block will come out.
- Remove your mouse guard and clean out deed bees from the bottom board on a periodic basis and then replace the mouse guard
- After a heavy snow or ice storm, check to make sure the hive entrance is clear so to allow the bees to take cleansing flights as needed.
- Clear the area of snow in front of the hive down to the ground. This is to prevent vertigo of the bees leaving the hive to take cleansing flights. On a sunny day, the reflection of the sun off the snow is brighter than the sun itself (it can cause snow blindness in humans). The reflection/glare can cause the bees to turn upside down upon taking flight and nose dive into the snow.
- If you see bees rear ends sticking out of the snow in front of the hive entrance, it is most likely caused by the vertigo described in the previous bullet item above. Clearing the ground or putting a board or an old rug or mat down in front of the hive entrance should eliminate or at least alleviate the reflection off the snow and enable the bees to take flight and go up instead of down into the ground.
- Some queens will resume limited laying of eggs in mid to late January.
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2023 Dues Renewals need to take place by the close of the March 1, 2023 meeting. The March meeting will be on Wednesday instead of Thursday to avoid conflict with the 2023 Introduction to Beekeeping Class.
Membership dues:
The membership application/renewal form can be found on the Documents page tab of the website. Bring it to the next meeting you can attend. 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