
* The July meeting of the ACBA for 2016 was held on Thursday, July 14, 2016 at the Ashe County Cooperative Extension Office, Ashe County Center, 134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640.
* Meetings begin @ 7:00 PM, but there is generally a Q&A session that is held from 6:30 - 7:00 PM if persons wish to have a discussion regarding anything to do with beekeeping as a hobby or for any matters that may be of interest.
* Join us!
* Our guest speaker was Greg Fariss, regional Apiary Inspector for Ashe County. Greg has been a regular speaker for our ACBA monthly meetings and always provides a wealth of information about beekeeping. On July 14 Greg spoke on diseases of bees. There was also be an open Q&A session for member concerns, comments and questions to share!
* The June meeting of the ACBA for 2016 was held on Thursday, June 9, 2016 at the Ashe County Cooperative Extension Office, Ashe County Center, 134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640.
* The ACBA President, Randy Baldwin covered a variety of topics about hive management, including information on how to recognize and prevent chalk brood. See the attached photographs which show chalky debris that can appear on the landing board of a hive that is experiencing chalk brood - which is usually the result of too much moisture in a hive - and a box which Randy designed that contains wood shavings that can help reduce moisture.
Link to the meeting minutes to see additional information discussed at the meeting.
* The May meeting of the ACBA for 2016 was held on Thursday, May 12, 2016 at the Ashe County Cooperative Extension Office, Ashe County Center, 134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640.
* To start the meeting, ACBA President shared some slides depicting EFB (European Foul Brood) vs. (American Foul Brood) disease in hives and actions to take when a hive is infected.
* The main speaker for the evening was James Wilkes who shared information and slides on his travel and attendance at the international Apimondia meeting at the end of 2015 in Seoul, South Korea. He said the meeting was a fantastic experience and he'll be looking forward to the 2017 event in Istanbul, Turkey.
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* The first meeting of the ACBA for 2016 was held on Thursday, March 10, 2016 at the Ashe County Cooperative Extension Office, Ashe County Center, 134 Government Circle, Jefferson, NC 28640
* Check out our 2016 Slate of Officers.
* Planned meeting topics for 2016 include:
* March - discussion: Opening hives and what should I be feeding, plus a discussion on nuc installation...speakers will be James Wilkes and Randy Baldwin.
* April - refresher on hive splitting...Jim Miles is the planned speaker.
* May - James Wilkes will present information on his travel and attendance at the international Apimondia meeting at the end of 2015.
* June - mid-year round table...participants TBD.
* July - diseases...presenter Greg Fariss.
* August - program TBD.
* September - winter preparations.
* October = Greg Fariss will again be our speaker and will cover a variety of topics on beekeeping.
* November - plans are to combine the pot luck dinner with a voluntary bazaar.
* The regular meeting of the ACBA was held on August 13, 2015 at the Ashe County Agriculture Center in Jefferson, NC to a packed audience of 28 Ashe County beekeepers and guests.
* The evening program consisted of an exceptionally informative presentation by Greg Fariss, regional Apiary Inspector for Ashe County - as seen in the thumbnail picture to the right - covering a variety of topics including winter hive preparations, diseases and viruses associated with Varroa mites and treatment for Varroa mites.
* Minutes of the meeting can be read here: 8/13/15 Meeting Minutes
* As part of the presentation, Greg shared a handout dealing with sampling colonies for Varroa mites.
* A promising new treatment option for controlling Varroa mites was also discussed and the product data sheet for Oxylic acid dihydrate was handed out.
* The regular meeting of the ACBA was held on July 9, 2015 at the Ashe County Agriculture Center in Jefferson, NC.
* The evening program consisted of a panel discussion by ACBA President Randy Baldwin, Program Manager Joy Lewis and guest James Wilkes, owner of Faith Mountain Farms and developer of Hive Tracks.
* Minutes of the meeting can be read here: 7/9/15 Meeting Minutes
* Before the start of the meeting, Bob Cole had samples of several plants for demonstration that are pollen sources for bees. Scroll over the thumbnail photographs to the right to see:
- Basswood
- Bee balm
- Corkscrew willow
- Golden rain tree
- Kiwi vine with kiwis
- Korean dogwood
- Orchard mint with parasitic Dodder infestation
* The regular meeting of the ACBA was held on June 11, 2015 at the Ashe County Agriculture Center in Jefferson, NC.
* The evening program featured several YouTube videos dealing with hive swarming that were presented by Program Director, Joy Lewis.
* Minutes of the meeting can be read here: 6/11/15 Meeting Minutes.