July 16th Meeting Moments and Reminders

You may have missed last night's meeting and know that you were also missed!  We had an awesome display of how to extract bees from all sorts of locations.  There were many people with great stories of their dangerous and HOT extractions.  I am hoping to get some of these stories to share with those of you who were unable to be in attendance.

Sitting next to some older(25+) and wiser beekeepers, I was promised a story or two for our next newsletter out in August.  Please send me your stories, pictures and recipes to share with our readers!  I am so excited about all of the stuff happening in the AABA.

I would like to extend a very special THANK YOU to Emily Tankersley (her husband is the one who sells those delicious goat's milk soaps at the meetings) for volunteering to be the Area Chair for the Honey Queen Program.  This program mainly targets girls in the 14-24 age range who have a love of bees, beekeeping and a desire to educate the public concerning the newest advances in beekeeping as well as the tried and true methods passed down through the generations.

Stay tuned for the detailed information on September competition of Honey, Wax and Photography!  If you established beekeepers don't get your stuff together, those young whippersnapper scholarship winners are going to nab it out from under you!!!

Friends, I also ask that you keep the Bell Family in your prayers as Curtis Bell(father) returns to activity duty serving our nation and fighting to keep us safe and free.  Nathan, Joshua, and Alex are 2013 AABA Scholarship recipients.  Vonda and Curtis have served abroad in many capacities and recently moved stateside.  Please make sure you extend both prayers and a helping hand if you have the opportunity.



Again, I ask that you please share any news, stories, recipes or needs/wants in the beekeeping world to me and I can place them on here for us to become more unified and communicative.  Thank you and have a great rest of this beautiful month of JULY!!

Mimi

July 2013 Meeting Agenda

COME JOIN US FOR OUR JULY MEETING!!

Below you can find our agenda so you can prepare questions, bring items for the auction, bring food to share with your fellow members, and find out how you can win the honey, beeswax, and photo contest in September!!

Alamo Area Beekeepers Association

Next meeting:  Tuesday July 16, 2013 at 6:30 p.m.

At Helotes Independent Baptist Church

15335 Orange Tower Road

Helotes, TX 78023Map to location

MEETING AGENDA

Ø  President’s Welcome & Visitors Intro by Rick Fink (5 min)

Ø  Approval of the May 2013 meeting minutes (5 min)

Ø Treasurer & Membership Report, Richard Trevino (5 min)

Ø  Presentation – Rick Fink – Techniques, Equipment and Issues – Collection of bees from swarms, buildings

Ø  2013 Youth Scholarship Program – Hive Update from the Scholarship     Winners (2 minutes per Scholarship Recipient)

Ø Program intermission & potluck dinner

Ø AABA September 2013 Meeting-Honey, Beeswax and Picture Contest

Ø  Texas Beekeepers Summer Clinic – June 1, 2013 – Attendee Report

Ø AABA Newsletter – Blog Format – Mind Your OWN Bee’s Wax - Mimi Stricker (5 min)

Ø Question & Answer Session

Meeting Agenda – submitted by Don Fraser

Action Items:

R. Fink – review final agenda and action items; mail to both AABA and non-AABA members; reminder to members regarding pot-luck.  The AABA will provide the meat dish with members asked to bring side dish-vegetables, dessert, salads etc.

R. Fink – Discussion of Swarm and Beehive collection.  Topic to include techniques and equipment used to collect swarms. Issues and techniques associated with collection of established hives in buildings and other structures.  Discussion to include responsibilities of the home owner and beekeeper.  Additional topics to include: how to hive the swarms (and keep them in the hive); combining two different colonies of hives to improve the strength of a hive; hive health issues associated with swarm collection when introducing swarms to established healthy hives in your apiary; questions to ask the homeowner with respect to prior attempts to kill hives in buildings or trees with insecticides and risks associated with the potential for insecticides in honey and beeswax comb collected during extractions.  Discussion may also include legal issues that need to be addressed regarding extractions of bees from homes and other structures.

Action Item - AABA Bee Scholarship Winners - List of recipients (see below).  Expectations for scholarship winners – take care of the bees, work with mentors, come to AABA meetings and provide a 1-2 min overview of their beekeeping activities.  The use of pictures, poster boards etc is encouraged.  Parents are encouraged to help their children with their 1-2 minute presentations; it is a great opportunity to learn presentation skills before a friendly and supportive audience.

The list of scholarship recipients include:

Parents	Children
Vonda and Curtis Bell	Nathan, Joshua and Alex (family award)
Laura Day	Jacob Boubel
Jenni Wilson	Nathan Wilson
Richard Lynn and Joni Lea Huber	Brenton Huber
Kelli and Stephen McKinney	Mayce, Ryland, Cadyn and Eyslie (family award)
Michael and Sue Laprise	Luke Laprise
Ricka Mueller	Abby Mueller
Mimi and Thadd Stricker	Chloe

Action Item - Mimi Stricker – print out 3-4 copies of the newsletter/blog for distribution at the meeting; discuss the type of things that the blog will contain e.g. meeting schedule, agenda of AABA meetings and events, interesting stories that relate to beekeeping from AABA members and state, national beekeeping organizations; links to beekeeping-related articles on bee health, marketing of products and services.  Remind AABA members how to access the blog web site.

Blog: Mind Your OWN Bee's Wax
Post: Alamo Area Beekeeper's July 2013 Newsletter
Link: http://aabanewsletter.blogspot.com/2013/07/alamo-area-beekeepers-july-2013.html

Action Item – TBD – 5 minute overview of events at the June 2013 TBA Meeting. 

TBA Summer Clinic http://www.texasbeekeepers.org/

Thursday, 16 May 2013 20:13 | Date: Saturday, June 1, 2013 Registration: begins at 10:30am Cost: $15 adults, $8 children (includes lunch) RSVP to Jimmy Oakley at info@wcaba.org by May 28, 2013 Location: Walker Honey Farm / Dancing Bee Winery 8060 E US Hwy 190, Rogers, TX 76569 o     Agenda : Walker Honey Farm and Dancing Bee Winery Tour o     Apiary Tour – hive inspections o     Palletized Langstroth Hives: hive treatments (protein, sucrose, Eos etc) o     Kenyan Top-bar hives used in Swaziland Beekeeper Training Program o     Honey Production Facility – extracting, comb storage, equipment: box dipping, standard operating equipment used at WHF o     Wine Production – fermentation, bottling and aging

2013 Events

Jan 15	Meeting *
Feb 2	Bottling Party 9am-1pm Pearsall, TX
Feb 2	AABA San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Booth Set-up
Feb 7-24	San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo Come meet us at our booth
March 19	Meeting *
April 13	Field Day  Majestic Ranch, Boerne TX
May 21	Meeting *
July 16	Meeting *
Sep 17	Meeting * Honey, wax and photo contests
Nov 19	Meeting * Thanksgiving Dinner

Bi-monthly meetings are held 7-9 PM on the 3rd Tuesday 
of the ODD numbered months (Jan-March-May-July-Sept-Nov)
at Helotes Independent Baptist Church 15335 Bandera Rd
Helotes, TX 78023

Alamo Area Beekeeper's Association Newsletter---July 2013

Mind Your OWN Bee's Wax

 

Whether you are new to beekeeping or a professional, this newsletter is here to support you and also to make you smile!

Feed The Bees

An equal parts sugar and water with essential oils (http://www.gardenfork.tv/essential-oil-recipe-for-honeybees) and protein powder or patties will help sustain your bees during the lull in the wildflower season.  We have been experiencing rain (YIPEE!), which also makes the bees stay home and they will benefit greatly from the extra food you supply for them.  Both Mann Lake and Dadant have products available for purchase geared specifically for bees.

2013 AABA Scholarship Recipients

Nathan, Joshua and Alex Bell

Jacob Boubel

Nathan Wilson

Brenton Huber

Mayce, Ryland, Cadyn and Eyslie McKinney

Luke Laprise

Abby Mueller

Chloe Stricker

The AABA Scholarships are awarded on an ongoing basis.  You are invited to CLICK HERE to access our scholarship forms or visit our website at alamobees.org to access the forms for applying for a scholarship.

2013 Field Day at Majestic Ranch in Boerne, Saturday, April 13, 2013

We enjoyed question and answer sessions with Ed Priest who presented on splitting a hive, Africanized bees  and how to manage a hot hive, and keeping a hive healthy.  Daniel Weaver from BeeWeaver Apiaries gave us an update on Beekeeping.  The hot topic of agricultural exemptions was presented by Joe and Lolita Bader and Beni Dryden.  There are many ins and outs of ag exemptions, but the most important information shared was to be informed.   Also important is to remember it is easier to “get more bees (flies) with honey than vinegar.” 

    Pest Control continues to be a topic allof us can relate to and finding a balance in a constantly evolving market of chemical and organic solutions can be overwhelming.  Sam      Sitterle and Mary Wilson offered simple and real solutions for keeping your bees healthy.

During our delicious potluck lunch, we had a wonderful demonstration of beeswax lotions. Our expert also makes homemade soap and other bee related products.  Other dealers offering bees, queens and related products were BeeWeaver (Austin), D. Borntrager  (Beeville),  and M. Wolfshohl (Mico).  

Fruit Honey Crisp

6 cups fruit (berries work well)

¼ c honey

2 Tbsp lemon juice

1 ½ Tbsp instant tapioca

1 c oats

¾ c flour

¼ sugar

½ tsp salt

                                                                                    ½ c butter, cut in pieces

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a 2 quart baking dish, combine fruit, honey, lemon juice and tapioca.  Put the oats, flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and combine.  Add butter cubes to the mixture.  Spread the topping over the fruit.  It does not need to be terribly even.  Bake for approximately one hour or until the topping is browned and the filling bubbling.  Serve with fresh whipped cream or ice cream.  Note:  Tapioca is optional.

Texas Beekeeper’s Association Summer Clinic

Walker Honey Farm and Dancing Bee Winery sponsored the event by allowing the clinic to take place on their property.  The agenda included tours of the winery, hive inspections, palletized Langstroth hives, Kenyan Top-Bar hives, honey production and extraction and wine production.  The clinic took place on Saturday, June 1st, 2013.

The Honey Queen Program

The Texas Honey Queen shall represent the Texas Beekeeping Association as an official spokesperson in an endeavor to educate the public on and promote all aspects of the beekeeping industry. The Texas Honey Queen is a year-round public relations, promotion and advertising representative of the state’s honey and beekeeping industry. She will be promoting the use of honey, honey products and beekeeping to the general public and consumers through promotions at fairs, festivals, schools, conventions and media interviews. Information packets will be available at the next meeting or by requesting information through this blog.

AABA Meeting Agenda and Action Items

May 21, 2013 meeting

MEETING AGENDA

Ø  President’s Welcome & Visitors Intro by Rick Fink                        

Ø  Approval of the March 2013 meeting minutes

Ø  AABA Field Day Report, Don Fraser

Ø  Treasurer's Report, Richard Trevino (5 min)

Ø  Update on Bridgette Sharpe-Request for Club Secretary Volunteers

Ø  2013 Youth Scholarship Program, Rick Fink, Don Fraser, Richard Trevino.  Intro and Introduction of Scholarship Winners

Ø  Membership Report, Richard Trevino

Ø  Program intermission & potluck dinner

Ø  Texas Beekeepers Summer Clinic – June 1, 2013 - Announcement

Ø Queen/Princess Program Update

Ø Question & Answer Session

Action Items:

R. Fink – prepare final agenda and mail to both AABA and non-AABA members; reminder to members regarding pot-luck.  The AABA will provide the meat dish with members asked to bring side dish-vegetables, dessert, salads etc.

R. Fink/R.Tevino/D Fraser – $$$ from Rodeo – focus on education about bees and supporting initiatives to get the youth involved in beekeeping.  Hives, clothing, nucs etc. ordered and delivered to 8 scholarship winners in May 2013.  

List of recipients (see section above). Expectations for scholarship winners – take care of the bees, work with mentors, come to AABA meetings and provide a 1-2 min overview of their beekeeping activities that can include pictures and a note (helps the students with presentation skills before a friendly audience while the pictures and short note (update) is something for the AABA members to review if they are placed on a table for review as AABA members will come by and chat with them.

BeeWeaver Queens – thank you to Laura and Daniel Weaver for providing five (5) queen certificates to the AABA in May 2013.  The winners of the certificates are:

- Jon Trent, Terry Otto, Rachel Fessler, Zet Baer and Ben Pena Jr.

Coming Soon…

Our annual Honey, Bee’s Wax, and Photo competition is coming up in September.  Information on details regarding rules and guidelines will be in our August newsletter.  Don’t forget our July meeting on Tuesday the 16^th.  Make sure to bring a side dish or dessert for sharing and as always, bring questions and stories to share with your fellow members!  Also, don't forget our special Thanksgiving themed meeting November 19th where we all pitch in to make a tasty sampling of a honey flavored celebration.  How creative can you be??