NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, TUES NOV. 10, 2009, 7 P.M.
Stanley Hotel, Stanley - Highway 588
Driving from Hgh 11/17 go to Stanley turn-off and approx. one kilometre by the Kam. River. (Early start 6:00 pm if you would like dinner - great burgers ! We appreciate the Stanley's hospitality!)
Agenda
1. Elections. Note: a new vice-president isneeded. Rest of executive is willing to stay on, but nominations for all positions are welcome.
2. Meeting Location(s)
3. Library talk, Intro to Beekeeping, Tues Feb 23, 2010, 7 - 9 pm - new location, Waverley Resource Library Auditorium
4. Treasurer's update
5. Bee inspectors' update
6. Mentoring - does it work for you?
5. Discussion: Overwintering your bees.
Assoc. Meeting Schedule
Meetings are on the first Tuesday of every other month. No meeting in January. July meeting is dedicated to a workshop.
Note from the TBBA Prez,
This month's newsletter is of necessity, short, as Simon, our dedicated scribe and newsletter source, has had to be out of town more than expected. In order to get this out in a timely manner, the prez, (me) is doing it. Trouble is, I gave Simon the list of agenda items and didin't keep one for myself! I think I also gave him the articles, so you will have to come to the meeting to hear about the resurgence of European Foulbrood. Kind of emphasizes the need to have a member who is willing to take on the vice-president's position vacated this summer by Herb Bax, who has moved to southern Ontario. There isn't a lot of work involved, but it does help to spread the workload that we have over a few more bodies! If you are willing to take this position on, please let one of the executive know. Believe me, you will hear tonnes about beekeeping - listening to the stories and opinions of the other members of the executive is a great way to become familiar with northern Ontario beekeeping.
If you have a suggestion for the creation of another executive position, please let us know! Thanks, JoAnne
Wintering in Buildings - Possible TBBA Workshop with Barry Tabor.
The workshop with Don Jackson has fallen through, as Jackson says he is too busy this fall to have a group come down. TBBA member Barry Tabor has constructed a wintering house with Don Jackson's help. He may be willing to have a meeting or workshop at his place once he has moved the bees indoors, possibly late November. We will keep you posted.
Thanks!
Thanks to the beekeepers who managed to supply the requested amount of honey for the fall order of the Silver Mountain Food Group, a local food buying group that has existed for over 25 years! Thanks to Rudy and Lois Kuchta, and Katrine and Fred Mueller,the SMFG did not have to purchase their honey from southern Ontario. In the past, Betty and Arnold Paradis supplied the group with honey twice a year.
TBBA T-Shirts
Still a few bright yellow t-shirts with TBBA logo on the front & "worker bee" on the back. Reasonably priced at-cost $15.
Dear Beekeeper,
This is your notice to renew your membership for 2010. It is important that we keep an up to date list of all beekeepers in the Thunder Bay area. Please indicate your choice - new membership, renewal, or not renew, on the form below when you fill it out.You can give or mail Jim a hard copy of your application, email jaheald@netscape.net or phone (473-9623).Please highlight any changes to your mailing address or e-mail.
THE BEES' KNEES - THE FACTS
New Internationalist September 2009 Issue 425
Bees are truly amazing creatures, found in just about every region of the world from the Arctic tundra to the towering peaks of the Himalayas. About three quarters of more than 240,000 of the world's flowering plants rely on them to reproduce.
There are more than 20,000 bee species in the world and, unlike the honeybee, most of them are solitary. They range in size from the 1.5 mm tropical stingless bee to the 40 mm long giant rock bee of Asia.
They include mining bees, mason bees, leaf-cutter bees, carpenter bees, carder bees, masked bees, sweat bees and bumblebees.
Most bees don't live in hives and are not communal. Instead, they nest in grassy hillocks, in burrows in the ground, under rock ledges, in trees and in rotten wood.
Plan Bee
ON Nature Autumn 2009
In the wake of the mysterious honeybee die-off, a renaissance in urban beekeeping has blossomed. As keepers attest, busy worker bees improve city biodiversity, pollinate our plants and produce the best honey you'll ever taste. In the beginning Honey was one of humankind's original sources of sugar, along with a handful of sweet fruits. The Egyptians started beekeeping as early as 5,000 to 6,000 years ago, building long, cylindrical hives of dung, mud and straw. Honey was harvested by either killing off the bees or driving them from the hive.
Honeybees are believed to have been brought to North America by European colonists in the 17th century. Native North Americans are said to have called the honeybee "the white man's fly."
Beekeeping as we know it today began in 1851, the year Reverend L.L. Langstroth invented the movable frame hive, which allowed apiarists to inspect the interior and remove honey without destroying the hive. Langstroth's invention has remained largely unchanged in size and shape.
Bees Protect Farm Crops by Scaring Away Caterpillars.
The Ontario Bee Journal April 2009
German researchers have discovered another reason for farmers to protect bees that visit their crops during the growing season. Not onIy do the bees prove to pollinate the Crops, they also keep away caterpillars that would otherwise live on the crop. BBC News reports the scientists say that caterpillars have learned to avoid the sound of buzzing predatory wasps looking for victims in which to lay their eggs. Since bees make a similar sound as they move from flower to flower, caterpillars react the same way to their presence. The experiment, described in the journal Current Biology, involved bell pepper and soybean plants, beet army worm caterpillars and honey bees. Bees were only permitted to visit plants in certain plots. The researchers found that bee activity reduced caterpillar damage by 60 percent. The researchers believe the caterpillars were sensing the bees' presence through the tiny hairs on their bodies which enable them to detect vibration in the air.
