1. Welcome to the February CCBA Meeting More sunlight Queen just started laying Wind Cold coming

2. Agenda Introduction: Keith Jardine – President (chief drone) Walt Talunas – Vice President Sharon Jardine – Secretary Jack McMichael – Treasurer

3. Agenda continued… Beginner Lead: Michael Langer Mentor Lead: Charlie Hall Vidya – thank you for the newsletter and cookies Beginner beekeeping options

4. Agenda continued.. Meadows – Anne Coleman and Don Coates. Warren Graham – Swarm List, cost of a nucleus hive and swarm collection Ray Walker will be giving a short talk on the new electronic hive scale Will Houtz from Brushy Mountain: 10% discount with free shipping over $150.

7. CCBA Grants We received a total of 5 applications, and though they were all good and the decision making process was tough, we reached a unanimous decision on two which we thought best supported the mission of the club, and merited support. Although it was not a requirement, the 2 that are receiving our recommendations come from CCBA members, and both offer a direct benefit to our membership. The first is from Coats Bee Laboratory. A guide will be produced showing microscopic photos of several pollens, along with a description of the plant sources and their local significance to our honey. I have also confirmed that pics and descriptions of the blooms/plants will accompany this pollen guide, so that average beekeepers can go out and identify these pollen/nectar sources. Our recommendation is for a $300 award to support this project. The second is from Tesla Bee Supply. A queen rearing system will be established raising local stock to be made available to local beekeepers. Five queens will be offered free-of-charge to CCBA members, selected by a lottery system. Our recommendation is for a $300 award to support this project as well. Each of these projects is receiving a partial award, but it has been confirmed that each will be able to complete their projects with this level of support. As per the agreement in the grant application, the CCBA will distribute funds in March. We will also require a report from each of the recipients, either as a presentation at a future meeting, or as a newsletter article.

8. A truly amazing fact has enlightened us about feeding of our bees during winter from the ‘Bee Informed’ survey. "Only two methods of feeding showed statistically significant differences: candy boards and honey frames. Candy boards showed a positive effect and honey frames showed a negative effect" "In every case, feeding honeybees frames of honey increases their chance of death". This is so counter intuitive, but we cannot ignore a survey with over 550 000 hive results.

9. Winter Project – Nucleus box Half inch plywood Less than $6 Very easy to make

10. Winter Projects 4 way mating Queen castle Plywood Bushkill

11. Nucleus Hive from Forest Hill $ if 100 purchased Nucleus Hive beekeeping

12. Trees and Plants Ordered for week of April 20 th DESCRIPTION AGE SZE No. Order PRICE TotPR CCBA 1 W RHUS TYPHINA 1-1 6-12" 25 25 1.170 29.25 $1 2 W ROBINIA PSEUDOACAC. 1-0 2-3' 25 25 2.400 60.00 $3 3 W TILIA CORDATA 2-0 2-3' 50 50 1.840 92.00 $2 4 W TILIA CORDATA 2-2 3-4' 10 10 4.400 44.00 $6

13. Bee Fun

14. Packaged Bee Failures 68% failure in 2014 Queens often die Queen supersedure after introduction Swarming after introduction Drone laying queens We need to emphasize local queens and nucs

15. Oxalic Blast 35 g mixed with one liter of 1:1 sugar water 5ml per seam of bees 50ml total for large colony 30ml total for small colony Wear gloves, eye protection and keep water at hand in case of splashes.