Wednesday, February 12
Please Note New Meeting Date & Place: 2nd Wednesdays in Washington Hall 103 at Centralia College
Survival Secrets of Wild Honey Bees
Speaker: Susanne Weil, Journeyman Beekeeper & LCBA Secretary
When: 6 to 6:30 pm, social time; speaker & Q&A, 6:30 to 7:30; break; followed by business meeting, 7:45 - 8:30
Where: Centralia College, Washington Hall 103, 701 W. Walnut, Centralia WA 98531
What: Why do honey bees in the wild live longer than managed colonies? Entomologist Tom Seeley has been tracking bees in the woods outside Ithaca, NY, since the 1970s: in his new book, The Lives of Bees: The Untold Story of Wild Honey Bees, he offers pre/post Varroa data showing that wild bees have significantly higher survival rates than managed bees. Seeley attributes this to the differences in how bees live in the wild, compares & contrasts how managed and wild bees live, and offers substantial suggestions for ways that we can improve our beekeeping by taking some hints from wild colonies. LCBA Secretary and WASBA Journeyman beekeeper Susanne Weil will summarize Seeley's provocative suggestions in an illustrated slideshow. Shortr business meeting & "Beekeeping Q&A" to follow, as well as updates on LCBA's 2020 bee sales, which will take place at our March 11 meeting.
Wednesday, March 11
Monthly Meeting & 2020 Bee Sales
LCBA traditionally negotiates discounted package and nuc bee prices for members, who purchase their bees at the March monthly meeting. We will have more details about prices, vendors, and dates at our February 12 meeting and in our February Newsletter. If you are planning to buy bees, bee sure to look at the next event: Apiary Registration!
April 1, 2020
Washington State Apiary Registration Deadline
Click here for the 2020 Apiary Registration form.
From WSDA: "All beekeepers, backyard or for a business, need to register their hives each year. All money collected helps fund research projects with the Washington State University and other entities. Registration is due by April 1 each year. Your current registration expires December 31. Registrations are meant to register the number of hives you actually have or the number of hives you intend to have. To avoid the minimal late fee, please submit your registration form and fee to the address at the top of the form. If you are late, no worries, the fee is easy to calculate. Fee owed times .015 times the number of months you are late. Add that number to the fee that is owed. For first time registrants, no late fee is owed as you may not have your bees yet or know how many. You are encouraged to register as soon as you have bees. Visit the information page for more information on beekeeping in your county or basic information on beekeeping in Washington." FYI, the information page contains the RCWs re: beekeeping in Washington State.
Above, picking up package bees in years past.
