Brette Soucie

March 12th, 2019

We had a great turn out at the March meeting with over 50 people in attendance.  

The first half of the meeting was used to go over old business.  Here are some highlights from that:

• Some locally raised Nucs are still available.  5 frame deeps = $170  ,     5 frame mediums = $130 .  Contact us for more information.
• The club Co-op now has Pollen Substitute for sale for $4/lb as well as fondant and pollen patties.  This is a great way for small beekeepers to get there supplies for bulk pricing.  
• Lets Congratulate club member Lynn Moeller for winning with her Grizzly Bear Pie at the Tri County Beekeepers Spring Workshop.  To see a copy of her winning recipe click here.
• The Mead Class is coming up on March 16th from 1-4pm.  There are still 2 spots available so contact us if you want to attend.

In the second half of our meeting we welcomed our President, Mark Beougher, to speak about swarm trapping.    He covered not only why to catch swarms, challenges to doing so, and the dynamics of swarms but also showed club members how to build a good swarm trap, set it, and move the bees to your hives.   So get your swarm traps ready to go now as mid -April is coming fast! 

First off the meeting started off with a remembrance of one of our regular patrons, Jerry Ingram. A Memorial Service will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 16, 2019, at the Lighthouse Fellowship Church 817 N. Sugar St. Celina, Ohio, with Rev. Tony Richmond officiating.

Friends may call an hour before services Saturday at the Church. Memorial contributions may be made to Jane Wiley-Ingram to assist with funeral expenses. Friends may share condolences on-line at
LehmanDzendzelFH.com.

Next the club welcomed our newest members and briefly updated the group on how well the beginning beekeeper class went.  Around 28 people went through the class and now have the basic knowledge needed to start in on their own beekeeping adventures!  Great job to all the officers and club members that helped facilitate the event and special thanks to Dwight Wells for doing most of the instructing.

If anyone still has interest in Honey Bee Biology  book by Dewey Caron there are still a few available at a great price of $35.50.  This is a great resource for both beginner and experienced beekeepers.  Contact Mike Doseck for more information.

There will be an up and coming Mead Making Class on March 16th.  See Ty Shelby at the next meeting to see if there is any room available.

There is also an OSBA honey judging class March 8-9 in Columbus.  Click this link for more details:  www.ohiostatebeekeepers.org/classes

And for anyone in need of nucs this year there will be a limited number available locally.  If interested see Rich McNaughton at the next meeting.  Deposits will be $70.

After all this business we were lucky enough to hear from Tony Rekeweg of Rekeweg Honey Company.  He is a commercial beekeeper from Indiana with around 600 hives.  He not only talked a little about his operation and the trials of moving hives cross country, but then gave an informative talk about wax rendering.