February 22, 2024 Meeting Newsletter

Location: Rotary Room of the Bennington Free Library, 101 Silver Street, Bennington VT

Upcoming Events 

• “Swarm the Statehouse” Tuesday, February 27 10:30am—12pm at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. 

Organized by Franklin County Beekeepers’ Club. Bring your veils & jackets and draw attention to H.706, the anti-nicotinoid bill, as it hopefully passes from committee. For more information on H.706: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.706 . 

Find your representative at https://legislature.vermont.gov/people , and call them to find out if they support H.706 

Bennington County Reps: 

Bennington-1: Nelson Brownell (Pownal) 

Bennington-2: Timothy Corcoran (Bennington) 

Bennington-2: Dane Whitman (N Bennington) 

Bennington-3: David Durfee (Shaftsbury) 

Bennington-4: Kathleen James (Manchester Ctr) 

Bennington-4: Seth Bongartz (Manchester Ctr) 

Bennington-5: James Carroll (Bennington) 

Bennington-5: Mary Morrissey (Bennington) 

Windham-Windsor-Bennington: Kelly Pajala (S Londonderry) 

Bennington-Rutland: Mike Rice (Dorset) 

Windham-2: Laura Sibilia (W Dover) 

• BennBee Microscopy Workshop: Tentatively on Saturday, March 2 in North Adams at MCLA 

 Registration not required, but welcome (details to come) 

Sydney Miller of Vermont Bee Lab will teach workshop about pests & pathogens 

• SABA Spring Seminar: March 23 ($45/$60). Speakers include Grai St. Clair Rice, Larry Connor, & Paul Kelly. Also have vendors, raffle, and networking. Must register online: sababees.org 

• Vermont Bee Lab: Community Science Project on pesticide residues present in bee-collected pollen. To participate, need a pollen trap (can buy from VBL at $55/trap, or use your own). Pesticide residue screening is free of charge. Must register by filling out the form: https://www.vermontbeekeepers.org/index.php?option=com_acym&ctrl=fronturl&task=click& urlid=634&userid=10771&mailid=319 . 

• Vermont Bee Lab: submit samples from live colonies or deadouts free of charge (see information on table)

 Vermont Beekeepers’ Association news 

 March 7, from 7—8:30pm via Zoom: “Prospective Beekeeper Workshop: Stop Here Before you Buy!”, a workshop for learning the basics of housing and managing your first colonies. For new beekeepers. Speakers are Robin Foldesy, Fred Putnam, and others. Must register; see VBA website for details. 

• VBA is promoting the sale of Vermont Honey via a searchable directory of VT honey producers; to opt-in and be listed, please see the VBA website 

• Advisors wanted for “new beekeepers helpline”, see VBA website for details. 

• Honey Bee Health Coalition has released its latest comprehensive ‘Honey Bee Nutrition Guide’, a guide to honeybee nutrition for those who provide their colonies with supplemental feed: https://www.vermontbeekeepers.org/files/94/Workshop-Files/140/HBHC-Honey-BeeNutrition-Supplemental-FeedingGuid.HBHC%20Honey%20Bee%20Nutrition%20Supplemental%20Feeding%20Guide . 

In the Apiary… 

• Do not ‘fully’ open a hive in cold weather---don’t pull frames, don’t look for queens---if you have to get in at all, then just get in and get out quickly! 

Why might you have to get in? 

Are they out of food? 

That is one of a very-very few good reasons 

• How do you know how your bees are doing?  

Don’t “trust” the piles of dead in front of the hive: do a “knock check”  

Try to lift the hive: is it heavy, or light? (Indicates how much food they’ve gone through)  

Is the cluster at the top? (peek in very quickly on a warm afternoon to look) 

• If hive is light and cluster is at top, it is an emergency and you need to feed them 

Solid feed only, like sugar bricks, loose sugar (sprayed with water on the surface and allowed to dry), winter patties or fondant (both available commercially)  

Opening the hive when it’s cold may kill your bees, but starvation will kill your bees 

Pollen patties are probably best for later in season: encourages brood rearing Club events and discussion items 

• In lieu of offering our own short course this year, we encourage you to join the short course offered by the nearby Northern Berkshire Beekeepers' Association, which will take place in North Adams on Thursday nights from February 29 to March 28th from 7-8:30 PM. The course will cover basic beekeeping principles, honeybee biology and health. Attendees will receive a course book and each class will be preceded with reading assignments. The cost of the course is $55 which includes the text and a one year membership in the Northern Berkshire Beekeepers Association. To sign up or for more information contact Jeanne at northernberkshirebeekeepers@gmail.com . 

• BennBee’s own Short Course: Looking ahead to 2025---seeking volunteers to form a committee to standardize curriculum and materials. Will meet less than once per month. Sign up by e-mailing benningtonbees@gmail.com . 

• Mentor and mentee program: Matching up mentors with mentees, and sending a monthly newsletter of questions asked/answered, topical to-do and to-ask lists that mentors & mentees can review together, etc. Seeking volunteers to help organize the program, and seeking mentors/mentees. Sign up by e-mailing benningtonbees@gmail.com . 

• Website and social media presence---also seeking volunteers to meet infrequently and discuss best strategies for revamping and maintaining our web presence. Sign up by e-mailing benningtonbees@gmail.com . 

• Swarm and Cutout list: a publicly viewable list of members who are available to collect swarms and do cutouts. First priority for Club officers and committee members. Sign up by e-mailing benningtonbees@gmail.com .