Missouri Valley Beekeepers Association

Our October meeting was held on the 17th at the Union Library. Stephany gave the treasury report and state-of-the-club, after which the topic of preparing the colony for winter was addressed. Important considerations are:

1) checking to see if bees have sufficient amount of food to overwinter, and supplement feeding with sugar water (winter mix, heavy syrup);

2) checking for mites and treating

3) uniting weak colonies

4) putting in the entrance reducers

5) extracting the remaining honey crop

November is the time to wrap up the honey harvest, order new equipment for next season, start production of products using honey or beeswax (Stephany has recipes using honey and beeswax if anyone is interested), and take inventory of supplies and needs for the future. Remember that each company has their own schedule for being able to order next year's queens & bees!

Scott Mosher gave an excellent presentation on honeybee pests and diseases, and fielded questions on these subjects. Much information was learned from this talk and was well-received by the club.

The rollover 50/50 drawing was won by Jill Steuber, and Greg Aholt won the MVBA black polo shirt. The second shirt was raffled off and was won by Steve Almstedt.

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS----After 4 years, Stephany and David will be stepping down as officers as of the November meeting, Technically, all officers are supposed to be replaced yearly, so they have voluntarily served well beyond the call of duty. Nominations were accepted for candidates for all board positions, which are:

President, Vice-President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Librarian. The newsletter & website will continue to be handled by Gail.

There are 38 paid club members, and each paid member will have the opportunity to vote on officers. A voting ballot will be e-mailed or snail-mailed by Stephany before the November meeting. All members should print out this form, make their choices, and bring the form with them to the November 21st meeting at the Union Library, 7 pm. Members who submitted their names as candidates are: Steve Greer, Rodney Angell, Amber Ensor, and Calvin Brandt. There will be room on the ballot for write-in candidates as well. If you are interested in running for office, get in touch ASAP with Stephany (sasullivan55@yahoo.com) and she can add your name to the ballot before it is sent out. PLEASE DO NOT NEGLECT TO ATTEND THIS MEETING if you wish to have a voice in these elections! Mark your calendar now for this important November meeting!

Our December dinner banquet will be held again at the Union Library on a date to be announced (Gail will send members notification). Members are asked to bring a side dish or dessert, and the club provides the meat. One of the highlights of the banquet is the recipe contest. Members who want to enter the contest bring a dish that uses honey as a main ingredient (entree, side dish, dessert, or beverage) and a copy of their recipe. All members then taste and vote on their favorite contest dish. It's a nice way to end the beekeeping year and sample the fruit of the bee's labor .