Member Information
COBA General Meeting - August 17, 2011
Franklin Park Conservatory
By Price Smith of West COBA. Price is a retired professor and researcher. His presentation was on selection criteria and research on the breeding of queens. Price discussed the Frisch-Lindauer approach to animal research, based upon detailed observations. Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter of the University of Minnesota are following this approach in their research on hygienic behavior of bees, which is associated with low rates of chalkbrood and varroa mites in the hives. Critical factors for queen breeding include the following hygienic behaviors observed in hygienic hives: mite chewing, self grooming, a grooming “dance,” and removal of affected brood. Some bees appear to be able to detect varroa mites in the brood and remove them, and research is now assessing what percent of affected brood are removed by the bees in 24 hours. Various research and observation methods were discussed, including the frozen brood test and the pin test. The University of Minnesota has now identified breeders of hygienic queens.
Price showed several video clips of various hygienic behaviors in bees. Many thanks to Price for traveling from West COBA to make this presentation, and to Dwight Wells for his support in arranging this presentation.
General Meeting
President's Awards for August were presented:
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Mike Jones, for his queen grafting skills in the queen rearing class, with the highest survival rate for grafted queens
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Dwight Wells, for his many contributions to COBA
The recent Queen Class members were recognized by COBA for a job well done.
Treasurer's report:
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Queens sales and hives sales reported
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5000 brochures about beekeeping printed, and have been handed out at events such as the Ohio State Fair
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The club has recently purchased a microscope for club use.
Important Announcement re: September meeting: Different date and location
The COBA September Meeting will be held in conjunction with
East COBA (ECOBA), and the date and location are therefore different than usual. The COBA meeting in September will be on Thursday, September 15, at 6:30 pm, at the East COBA meeting site, Jacksontown Methodist Church, 9350 Jacksontown Rd. 43030.
Directions were distributed and are as follows: take 70 east to exit 132 to Route 13 North (turn left at bottom of ramp). Follow Route 13 north for one mile to the United Methodist Church on the left, just before the traffic signal. The meeting location is about 30 minutes or 24 miles from the intersection of I-270 and I-70 eastbound.
The meeting starts at 6:30 pm, with Kim Flottum speaking at 7:00 pm. Kim is an excellent speaker and the Editor of Bee Culture Magazine.
Preparation of hives for winter was discussed, with the importance of feeding sugar water and pollen patties emphasized. Re-queening can be helpful for winter survival but must be done early enough prior to fall. It is important for beekeepers to continue checking for mites, hive beetles (bad this year), wax moths, and other diseases.
Other announcements:
Upcoming Lithopolis Honey Festival on 9-10-11. COBA and OSBA will have a booth. Members are urged to attend.
Banquet:
Wednesday November 16. The banquet will be held at Der Dutchman in Plain City which offers a good meal for a very reasonable prices. Members are urged to put the date for the banquet on their calendars.
The Scholarship winners presented to COBA on the status of their hives from April to August. Presenting were Nathan Sexten, Grant Geiger, and Sierra Robison. Hannah Somerlot was unable to be present. Nice job, scholarship winners!
A roundtable question and answer session followed. Topics: finding queens, hive beetles, written notices, question and answers on Web site, suggestion about name tags for meetings, types of honey depending upon forage available at the time (there is a forage map available on line)
