Mailing list for the Person County Beekeepers Association, Roxboro, NC

[Lynn S Wilson <wilsonls AT esinc.net>]

Person County Beekeepers meet on Thursday, February 19 at 7:00pm at the Person County Office Building at 304 South Morgan Street, Room 165 in Roxboro.   This meeting includes the Bee School class on "Getting Started", presented by Will Hicks, who is the NC Apiary Inspector for the region including Person County.

Come and meet the newest beekeepers.  Let them know if you're available to be a partner/mentor.    Thanks to Cecil White for bringing refreshments.

Whitney Barnes is PCBA's new VP responsible for bringing speakers and programs to PCBA.   If you would like to suggest a program, a good resource person, or present a program, please contact Whitney at spud1296 AT charter.net.   If you want to pursue Journeyman or Master Beekeeper status in NCSBA's Master Beekeeping program, take a look at the study guides now and ask for PCBA programs in the areas where you want help!

 

Bring dollars for hive raffle tickets plus $5 for your 2015 PCBA membership if you have not yet paid.   

The attached Minutes list folks who signed up for committees but new members are welcome!   Some committees still lack leaders.  

Treasurer Amanda Blanks prepared the attached annual financial report for 2014.   Committees may use this information to build your proposed budget for 2015 so we'll know how much money we need to raise to meet our goals.

Tim Harris and I (maybe other beekeepers) attended last night's public hearing on the proposed gypsy moth treatments in Hurdle Mills and Woodsdale.  The treatments will be around the first of June to coincide with emergence of moths from pupal stage to begin mating, beginning around 6 AM.  The US Forest Service will do the aerial drop and they will decide whether to use Hercon Disrupt II or Splat GM, both of which are mating disruptors.  Disrupt is a tiny non-biodegradable flake with a "sticker" to keep it in the tree tops where the moths are.  It works for one season with residual effects in the second year.  It's applied at the rate of 6 to 15 grams per acre along with approximately 1.2 to 4 tablespoons of "sticker".   Splat is like a cream and hardens when it dries.  The sticking agent is a mix of water, wax and vegetable oils and is biodegradable.  Chris Elder of NCAGR assures that neither product will harm honeybees or people, but I wish I'd read the product labels (Disrupt and Splat GM) BEFORE the meeting.  The answer to one organic farmer's question, about whether the application would jeopardize his certified organic status, was unknown.   Another organic farmer suggested that we need to look at whether better management for the health of the trees is part of a longer term solution.   Right now North Carolina is among states on the leading edge of the moth's spread coming from the northeast.    The last treatment in North Carolina was about 15 years ago.   While the moth's advance isn't being stopped, it has been slowed from 20 miles per year to 2 miles per year.  Persons who received the last mailing should also receive an additional mailing to let you know which product and which dates the "dusters" will be in the air.

Attachment: Minutes-Jan 15.doc
Description: MS-Word document

Attachment: PCBA Report-2014 Financial.xls
Description: MS-Excel spreadsheet

Report for PCBA--by Lynn Wilson

NC Zoo Bee Exhibit Volunteer Interpreter

--attachment to February 19, 2015 meeting notice

As part of their public service to earn journeyman status, Carol Carter and Lynn Wilson volunteered as interpreters at the NC Zoo Bee Exhibit in 2014 and enjoyed it so much we’ve signed up again for 2015.  

There are 214 days between 1. April and 31. October and 77% of those days were covered in 2014 by Beekeeper Volunteers.  This is the largest number of days covered in one season since the exhibit opened in June 2009.

 

Now for 2015:   NCSBA pays $10 annual dues so Bee Exhibit volunteers become part of the Zoo Volunteer Association. The NC Zoo gives its volunteers good discounts at food and gift shops.

  

The 2015 Training and Orientation for beekeepers interested in volunteering, will be on Saturday, March 21 beginning about 9:30 AM and ending to about 4:30 PM. Beekeepers interested in becoming a volunteer, need to contact both Judy Pick and Janno Lewis.

 

JimJudy AT aol.com

jannolewis AT gmail.com  

PCBA sponsorship for labels for plants in the Zoo Bee Exhibit.   This project is on hold because (1) the Zoo says labels go missing in just a week or two so a new sign might be designed instead; (2) NCSBA plans to plant an additional memory garden; and (3) Dr. Ambrose was the NCSBA liaison with the Zoo.

Inge, can you forward this e-mail to Bee School folks who are not PCBA members?   Thanks!  lsw