Promoting beekeeping in Door County
December 16, 2018 – The December meeting of the Door County Beekeepers Club will be held at the Crossroads in Sturgeon Bay at 6:30pm on Tuesday, December 18th.
On the agenda:
• Pot Luck Social! Bring a dish to pass and enjoy fellow beekeepers company!
• Max Martin will demonstrate how to make bee candy for the winter to feed your bees. Recipes will available.
• 2019 Meeting Calendar copies will be hot off the press and available!
November 24, 2018 – This month’s Door County Beekeepers Club Meeting will be held at the Crossroads in Sturgeon Bay at 6:30pm on Tuesday, November 27th.
Topic: Varroa mite life cycle and control caution using oxalic acid
Presenter: Kevin O’Donnell (DCBC club member)
Case Study: Negative behavioral effects from Oxalic Acid Vaporization on honey bee colony, vitality, brood and honey production. This study was done by Kevin as a field study experiment for the University of Montana Master Beekeeping Course.
October 18, 2018 – The October DCBC meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 23 at 6:30pm at the Door County Library, 107 S. 4th Ave, Sturgeon Bay, in the Downstairs Meeting Room.
Topic: Marketing Your Honey Products
Presenters: Heather Spetz, Door County Beekeeper and producer of ‘MotherSun’ honey products. Heather will share her experience in marketing her products:
• Labeling – what is required, what is attractive
• Selling – word of mouth, road side stand, stores, and Farmers Markets, etc..
Group input from others and their marketing products and experiences. Bring your labels and products to show and tell (Lip balm, Facial creams, Soaps, Cutting board finishes, Pollen, Propilis, Candles)! If you have recipes to share, bring them along.
September 20, 2018 – Our next Door County Beekeepers Club Meeting will be held at the Crossroads in Sturgeon Bay at 6:30pm on Tuesday, September 25th.
Topic and Presenters : Maintain and store your beekeeper’s equipment (boxes, frames, tools etc.) once the honey extraction season has ended. Local beekeepers will share steps that have been effective for them.
Honey Tasting Social: Let’s share a taste of our bounty! Feel free to bring a sample of your honey or a sample of someone else’s to share. And/or if you’d like to bring a treat made with honey, please do. Crackers, paper plates, forks, and napkins will be supplied.
Door County Beekeepers Club Mentoring Program
The unique thing about beekeeping is that there are no firm rules, and every hive contains new experiences and adventures. Continuing education is always beneficial, and there are no better resources than fellow beekeepers and club members.
The Door County Beekeepers Club is dedicated to helping new beekeepers, seasoned beekeepers, and everyone in between. Many members have asked about establishing a mentoring program to provide answers and connect fellow beekeepers with both resources and solutions. Several members have volunteered to serve as mentors and they are listed below. The location of each beekeeper mentor is also listed to guide members in selecting someone near their apiary. As more volunteers step forward, the list will be updated.
Bill and Barb Meyer
Sister Bay
920-388-9010
bmeyer1010@gmail.com
Kevin O’Donnel
Clay Banks / Forestville
920-473-4244
fadoauthor@gmail.com
Mark Lentz
Brussels / Southern Door
920-948-0090
mclentz55@gmail.com
Max Martin
Sturgeon Bay
920-495-8457
mwmarti1@wisc.edu
Jave Hughes
Peninsula Center
920-421-2094
doortiles@gmail.com
John Rybski
Algoma
920-362-4038
silvercreekfarm@wizunwired.net
Max’s Minute – Archives provides helpful insights and tips for managing your beekeeping throughout the year, as well as a look into the monthly activities of the Door County Beekeepers Club. These posts are provided by Max Martin, co-president of the DCBC, and initially appear on the Home page for timely aid during the various beekeeping seasons. Visit our Home page often to see the latest Max’s Minute.
2019/2020 DCBC Winter Hive Loss Survey
All About Bees by HalloweenCostumes.com
Bee Biology and Physiology – Presentation by Bill Meyer, providing an overview of the various body parts and functions of the bees, including the influence of hormones and other chemicals on bee behavior.
Bee Check – BeeCheck is a voluntary communication tool that enables beekeepers and pesticide applicators to work together to protect apiaries through use of the BeeCheck mapping program.
Negative behavioral effects from Oxalic Acid Vaporization – Study completed by DCBC member Kevin O’Donnell for UM Master Beekeeping Course.
PowerPoint Presentation Slides (PDF)
Scientific Beekeeping – Beekeeping Through the Eyes of a Biologist.
Sturgeon Bay Beekeeping Ordinance – Final version of the City of Sturgeon Bay beekeeping ordinance.
University of Minnesota Bee Lab – Research and education for promoting healthy bees.
Wisconsin Honey Producers – Resources for everything honey in Wisconsin.
WI DATCP – Wisconsin Department of Agriculture – Bees & Honey.
The Xerces Society – Protecting wildlife through the conservation of invertebrates and their habitat.
August 15, 2018 – Bee keepers, it is almost the end of August. It is time to pull your honey off your hives and start to raise some fat bees for the winter.
I will pull all my honey off at the first of September, do a mite check and treat if necessary. I’ll check my queens for age it they are marked and if they are older than 2 years, or doing poorly, I will requeen the hive with new queens after my mite treatment. I will add a half a pollen substitute paddy and start to feed them heavy sugar water. Weak hives will be combined.
See you on August 28th for the Hive Dive at the Crossroads Flow Hive. We’ll meet at 5:30 PM. This is the club hive located along the trails at Crossroads, just south of the Collins Learning Center. I will be checking the hive and demonstrating how honey is harvested from a flow hive. Following the honey harvest, I will demonstrate a powder sugar roll test for mites.
Our 6:30 PM Club Meeting will be at the Collins Learning Center at Crossroads.
July 24, 2018 – When you check your hives, be sure that your second brood box is not filled with honey, and that there is space for the Queen to lay eggs.
See you at the meeting tonight (July 24th) at Cross Roads. 5:30 hive dive, 6:30 meeting, all at Cross Roads.
