North Central Washington Beekeepers Association
March Business & Education Meeting
March 16, 2014
Chelan County PUD

In Attendance: Jerry & Tandy, Tim & Gina, Mike & Carrie, Naomi, Tim, Dylan, Cliff, David & Cirri, Jane & Stan, Alix, James & Kriss, Amy, Andy, Craig, Mike, Felix, Jeff & Heidi, Michelle, Daryn, Marc, Daniel & Venessa

Next Bee Chat scheduled for: April 10^th @ El Agave 6pm
Next Bee Meeting scheduled for: April 27^th @ Chelan County PUD

Treasurer’s Report
$915 minus current expenses of $300= $600 (estimate)

Bee Packages ordered through Steve will be arriving on or around April 20^th, pick up will be at the Crilly’s house (along with a hiving demonstration) 1311 Pershing St. Wenatchee…contact 664-3278…Time and confirmation on date to be announced!

Outreach Events:

• April 5^th 10-2pm at Valley Feed Store in Wenatchee (Kriss Crilly, Amy Cummings) Contact Amy or Kriss if you are interested in helping
• April 27^th Leavenworth Earth Day
• September Chelan County Fair
• September Douglas County Fair—possibility

 Misc.

• Coastal Farm & Ranch gives NCWBA members a 10% discount and is working closely with our club to stock items that we use most often.
• Club voted to allow use of funds for copies, fliers, etc. not to exceed $100 in the next 6 months.
• Logos – Naomi said she would lead this us, Kriss has a friend in the embroidery business.
• Steve mentioned the Citizen Science programs: Budburst project and the Great Sunflower Project.
• Maria has an observation hive that the club can use at workshops, demonstrations, and other events.
• Jerry G. brought up an idea to work w/H.S. Biology Students in the future.
• Naomi asked if we had fundraising in place to raise funds for extracting supplies, the answer was no, but Tim J. suggested we have a 50/50 raffle at each meeting, charging $2/ticket. The club voted to do so starting at the April meeting.
• Goal for having Extraction equipment for the club members is July or August
• Mead Making Day—Jeff Hampton is willing to teach…September/October time frame. James Crilly offered to host event.

 Educational Topic: Spring Management of Apiary and Hives

• Think about timing, weather, water, temps, bloom times, general plans (financial, gear needs, swarm gear, etc.)
• Plan ahead-buy gear ASAP-things go fast this time of year!
• Premier One-offers a fence for beekeepers to keep animals out.
• Look at Dead outs and try to figure out why the bees died?
• What happened over winter?
• Clean boxes, frames, bottom boards, etc.
• Paint and/or fix gear.
• This is a good time to sugar dust for mites (they should be low numbers now).
• If you’ll be using Hopguard this is a good time to do it b/f you have brood.
• Look at individual hives to see if they need supplemental feeding.
• Steve recommends a 1:1 sugar:water ratio. Protein patties are good to help w/Nosema.

Amy Cummings, Secretary