50 Ashe County Beekeepers Association :News & Events
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The Beeman Program - 3rd Grade

April 25, 2018

The referenced North Carolina Farm Bureau, Ag in the Classroom program curriculum, which can be opened using the below, downloadable file, was provided by:

Micah Orfield

Extension Agent, Agriculture

N.C. Cooperative Extension

Ashe County Center

134 Government Circle, Suite 202

Jefferson, NC 28640

(336) 846-5850

(336) 846-5882 (fax)

ashe.ces.ncsu.edu

Link here to open/read the curriculum:

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Beginning Beekeeping Class

March 19, 2018

* There will be a Beginning Beekeeping class at Wilkes Community College/Ashe campus beginning this Monday (3-19) from 6-9 PM.

* Shelley Felder (The Honey Hole) is teaching the class every Monday for 6 weeks.

* Need more info?? Call 336-846-3900.

^top   Contact   Beekeeping Classes     < Prev   Current   Next >   of 140     Permalink   Posted: 03/17/18

Oxalic Treatments for Varroa Destructor

December 3, 2022

A message from Wayne Pitts,

Hello to all,

What's Happening?

On December 3rd between 3PM and 5PM (weather permitting, i.e., temps above 37 and not precipitating), We will be treating our bee hives with Oxalic Acid using our Varrox Eddy vaporizer and you are invited to participate.

What to bring?

Please bring your bee suit, goggles, gloves, and an adequate respirator (here's a blog that might help you decide which respirator specifications you favor). I use a NIOSH-approved, full face mask respirator with the acid gas cartridge plus the particulate filter similar to this one. I encourage you to do your own research. Without a respirator, you should not attend.

Why we favor oxalic acid sublimation as part of our Integrated Pest Management approach:

Perfect for applications when there is little to no brood in the hive.

It's not a chemical treatment. It’s an organic acid found just about everywhere in the environment including in plants and vegetables.

It's 90-99% effective at killing the mites with minimal damage to the bees and brood.

Sublimation is far better at reducing mite populations and showed no increase in bee mortality than trickle methods.

It's not as temperature sensitive as some other treatments.

Note: EPA regulations have shifted but we do not use oxalic acid when supers are on.

Directions: Our apiary is located at 462 Woods on New River Road in Lansing. We're in the neighborhood called Woods on the New River just off Woods on New River Road. When you turn off onto the gravel road go about 1/2 mile. We are located on the second drive on the right. You'll see a package box at the bottom. The bee yard is about 1/3 mile up.

Contact details: My cell number is 901-262-2325 if you need additional directions.I also text.

Incentive: We would be happy to loan out the Varrox Eddy to others who would like to use oxalic sublimation to treat their hives. This is an opportunity to learn more and try it out before you buy one.

Best regards,

Wayne Pitts

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ACBA will be at Christmas in July in West Jefferson July 2, 2022

ACBA will be at Christmas in July in West Jefferson

July 2, 2022

Hello to all,

It's official! Our application for the Christmas in July Festival was accepted on Friday.

WE NEED MORE VOLUNTEERS!

We need at least three people per two-hour shift. More is even better. Set up and clean-up are critically important slots. If you are not available to help, please stop by to say hello at the booth and refer others. We will be in Booth 52 and our load-in time is at 6AM at First Citizens Bank. Essentially, we need to unload, move our vehicles, and set up our booth as quickly as possible to allow other vendors to also set up (unloading time is 15 minutes).

Shift:

Volunteers

6AM-8AM, Set-up - Raven Crews

8AM-10AM - Ken Jenkins

10AM to Noon - Linda Katsoudas, Deborah and Craig Weinstein

Noon to 2PM - Louise Rascoe

2PM to 4PM - Jeff and Shirley Vestal

4PM-6PM, Clean-up - Raven Crews

Rovers (help at non-specific times) - Matt Rumfelt

Main objectives:

1. Educate the public about honeybees and beekeeping

2. Recruit new interest in the ACBA

3. Fundraise for the ACBA (t-shirt sales)

4. Create economic opportunities for beekeepers

Materials:

- Posters, handouts, etc. (Raven Crews)

- Cooler with Water & Ice (Wayne & Kim Pitts)

- Educational posters and demonstration hive (Jim Rash)

- T-shirts (Raven Crews)

- Honey and other products? So far, we do not have any. If you have something to sell, speak up.

- We will not have an observation hive – too stressful on the bees for a 10 hour outing in the summer heat. Feel free to refer learners to the Honey Hole to see Charlie and Shelley's hive.

This will be an important event for the ACBA - please help!

Best,

Wayne Pitts

ACBA President

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ACBA Meetings for 2022 Underway March 10, 2022
ACBA Meetings for 2022 Underway

ACBA Meetings for 2022 Underway

March 10, 2022

Photographs from the 1st meeting of the Ashe County Beekeeping Association are displayed here...

Visit the ACBA website regularly to keep abreast of Association activities for 2022.

The first gathering of the year attracted 23 active and interested beekeepers to the meeting at the Ashe County Agricultural Building in Jefferson, NC.

A presentation was made by master beekeeper and ACBA member Jim Rash (shown lower right) on "what to expect in your hives in March-April."

Thanks, Jim!

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ACBA Marks the End of Another Year with Our Annual Banquet November 11, 2021

ACBA Marks the End of Another Year with Our Annual Banquet

November 11, 2021

As seen by the beautifully decorated cake (right), our end of the season banquet was held with a great turnout of members who also enjoyed a scrumptious brisket smoked by Randy Baldwin, as well as numerous side dishes so that no one “left hungry!”

We now go into diapause - entomologically speaking for hibernation - until March of next year. But that doesn’t mean we don’t stay connected with any beekeeping issues, so if there are questions about what you should be doing to keep your hive(s) healthy, drop us a line here!

^top   Contact   Ashe County News     < Prev   Current   Next >   of 140     Permalink   Posted: 11/13/21

Local Beekeeper Video

From ACBA member Helen Baldwin: I'm sharing a beautiful video done by Maddee Burt, a rising senior at UNC Chapel Hill.

- Maddee, along with other students, coaches, and professors, arrived in Ashe County last month to document some local stories. Maddee chose beekeeping.

- The video features our own Jim Rash and Kim and Wayne Pitts, new (and very productive!) members of ACBA.

- My Bee’s Keeper is just under 4 minutes long. You’ll be sorry when it ends!

Click here to view My Bee's Keeper on Vimeo...

^top   Contact   Ashe County News     < Prev   Current   Next >   of 140     Permalink   Posted: 08/23/21