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Updated 2018 Chapter email list;
new Membership Secretary;
“black jar” honey contest

Hello Chapter contacts. This is the first message sent through the
updated Chapters email list for 2018. We’re checking for any bad
addresses. No action from you is requested. If you have any questions
about the Chapter list and your role as the contact for your Chapter,
check out the Q&A posted on the NCSBA website at
https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/q-a-for-chapters .

Reminder: on January 1, Todd Walker became the new Membership Secretary.
He has also been the Membership Coordinator (processing membership
dues) since October, so it’s a great dove-tailing of responsibilities.
I’ve enjoyed my 2.5 years working with the Chapters. Thanks for helping
me with my various requests. I think we’ve come a long way in improving
the system and procedures. As for my plans, I’m continuing to serve the
NCSBA in a different role: I’ve been the acting-treasurer since August
and will continue for a few more months until we have a new Treasurer in
place.

One other thing: I hope to see many of you at the spring conference in
New Bern. I’m organizing something that I hope will be fun for many: a
“black jar” honey contest. More information will be posted on the
conference web page later. Bring honey to enter or be a judge!

Happy new year to all. Thanks for your continuing contributions to bees
and beekeeping in your local area and beyond.

Suzy Spencer
2017 NCSBA Membership Secretary
January 9 2018

MBP Quizzes and Games for JANUARY are up. Also NEW are suggestions for TOPICS for the Educational Portion of Chapter Meetings; added to the MBP section of the NCSBA website.
If you are receiving this as the designated contact for your Chapter, please share this information with your other officers and members. [Read more…] about MBP quizzes and games & TOPICS for CHAPTER MEETINGS

Updates for your Chapter contact’s email address and phone number

Dear Chapter contacts:

On November 17, I sent out a request through the Chapters email list asking for updated Chapter contacts’ email addresses and phone numbers for 2018. To date, I have received responses from only 21 of 79 Chapters. If yours has not responded, please take a moment to review the original message posted on the NCSBA website under “NCSBA Announcements” dated 11/17/17 and follow that procedure to respond as requested.

The link to the Q&A information mentioned in that announcement is https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/q-a-for-chapters/ . I’d like to get these updates by December 31 so we can start the year with an accurate Chapter email list.

Do not send your new list of officers now. That will be requested later.

 

Thanks. Suzy Spencer NCSBA Membership Secretary

MBP Quizzes and Games for DECEMBER will be FREQUENTLY MISSED QUESTIONS.
If you are receiving this as the designated contact for your Chapter, please share this information with your other officers and members. [Read more…] about MBP Quizzes and Games for DECEMBER will be FREQUENTLY MISSED QUESTIONS

NCSBA Spring Conference:

hotel deadline and advanced registration

If you are receiving this as the designated contact for your Chapter, please share this information with your other officers and members.

 

We hope many of your members are planning to attend the NCSBA spring conference in New Bern, NC March 1-3, 2018. The cut-off date for the discounted rate for most of the hotels is February 16. The conference webpage lists the hotels and rates as well as the schedule of events and speakers.
https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/education/statewide-conferences/2018-ncsba-spring-conference

Advance registration for the conference will be available through FEBRUARY 16. Advanced registrants will get a $10 discount. We encourage members to register and pay on-line, but they can also download a registration form and go through the mail-in process. To register at the lower member rate, individuals must have paid their 2018 NCSBA membership dues. That means received and fully-processed by the NCSBA, not just turned into the local Chapter. They can also pay dues directly to the NCSBA when they register for the meeting (this option will be presented during the on-line registration process).

Thanks for your help in promoting the conference and notifying your members about these deadlines and opportunities.

Todd Walker
Webmaster

Update your Chapter contact’s email address for 2018
Chapter contacts:

It’s time to start updating the NCSBA Chapter email list for 2018.
Please do the following to help this process run smoothly so we can have
the new list ready by the first week of January.

1. Read the information titled “How the NCSBA communicates with
Chapters…” posted on the NCSBA website under “Chapters” (
https://www.ncbeekeepers.org/q-a-for-chapters ). That will answer
questions you may have about this important email list and who should be
your designated contact.

2. Do not “reply” directly to this email. Draft a separate email with
the name of your Chapter somewhere in the subject line and send it to
chapterupdates@ncbeekeepers.org . In the body of the email, provide
three things:

a. the Chapter contact email address for 2018 (some Chapters use a group
email address which is fine for our purposes)

b. the Chapter contact phone number (unless you prefer not to provide
one)

c. the name of the person providing the information

3. Ask the contact to check their spam folders the first few weeks of
January to make sure our emails are not landing there. Remember: you
can check what has been sent through the Chapters list by looking under
“NCSBA Announcements” on the NCSBA website.

If you will not know who the new contact will be until after January 1,
please still reply back so we know this. We will continue to use your
2017 contact information until you send in the update.

IMPORTANT: DO NOT SEND IN YOUR 2018 OFFICERS’ LIST NOW. That will be
requested later in 2018. However, now is a good time to check the 2017
Yellow Book to confirm that the information listed for your Chapter is
correct (the where/when for meetings, your website address, etc). Also
check the information posted on the NCSBA website under the “Find a
Chapter” feature. Send any corrections to me.

Questions? Email me at chapterupdates@ncbeekeepers.org.

Thanks…
Suzy Spencer
NCSBA Membership Secretary
chapter email sent out on November 17 2017

Posting Bee School Information on the NCSBA website
November 6 2017
Bee school season is rapidly approaching. Several clubs have already submitted their school’s information and it has been posted on the NCSBA website. The bee school listing page of the NCSBA website is the most visited page after the home page. If your club plans to host a bee school next year, I encourage you submit your information for inclusion on the
NCSBA website.

To ensure that I have all of the data I need, please complete the form on this page:

http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/members-only/chapter-resources/bee-school-submission

If the link above doesn’t work, cut and paste the entire URL into your browser address bar.

Thanks,

Todd

Bee Buzz request for photos
November 6 2017
This message is from Jody Moore, Bee Buzz co-editor.
Please share with your Chapter members and encourage them to send in photos for use in the Bee Buzz newsletter.
Hello, North Carolina Beekeepers!
Do you have any honey bee related photographs you would like to share?
The NC Bee Buzz is now a full-color magazine and we would like to highlight bee-related photographs from different parts of the state.
We welcome your submissions now and in the future. We will give you photo credits and bragging rights! It’s the photograph that’s important, but you can send in some extra information to help put it in context.
When submitting your photos, please include photographer’s name, a caption for the photo (optional – may be changed depending on content use), and any other relevant information you would like to include (e.g. “2017 State Fair ribbon winner”, “Hives in snow Ashe County 2016”, etc.).
When submitting your photos, please do not crop or resize them. Send us the full photo file whenever possible (preferably in .JPG, .TIF, or .PDF format). You can separately send a crop example if you like. Due to the changing needs of space, the photos may have to be cropped to “custom fit” the space needed.
So, go ahead and send them in now! Old or new, we welcome all submissions. Photos may or may not be used immediately, and might be “banked” until a future issue- depending upon need.
Photos can be emailed to beebuzzeditor@ncbeekeepers.org

WOLFPACK WAGGLE: October 28 2017

Hi everyone,
Greetings from the NC State Apiculture Program! You can now access our latest issue of the our program’s newsletter, the Wolfpack’s Waggle, which can also be found as usual through:
https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/apiculture/wolfpacks-waggle-newsletter/

The fall semester so far has been a whirlwind of activity. Our weekly lab meetings have been filled with everyone presenting the exciting findings from their respective summer field projects, which has been very stimulating and bodes well for some of the future papers that will be coming out of the lab in the coming years. Some of the main efforts these last few months has been to submit several grant proposals, including some that were entirely conceived and written in a collaborative effort by the grad students in the program.

We also, for the first time, have started to sell jars of our Wolfpack Honey at the NC State farmer’s market on the Brickyard of main campus every Wednesday.

Our lab group has grown substantially in size these last few months as well, with the addition of several new excellent undergraduate researchers and especially the addition of our new office manager, Sharon Munger, who we very much look forward to working with in various elements of our program particularly the Queen & Disease Clinic.

Also be sure to check out the featured article, written by Master Beekeeper David Bridgers on his NCSU-collaborative research project for the partial fulfillment of his Master Craftsman requirements. The results should be of interest to all beekeepers, and I hope this to serve as an example for all future endeavors.

I hope everyone is getting their bees ready for winter, and may they all survive happy and healthy through next spring!

Sincerely, David

******************************
David R. Tarpy
Professor and Extension Apiculturist
Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology
Campus Box 7613
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7613
TEL: (919) 515-1660
FAX: (919) 515-7746
LAB: (919) 513-7702
WEB: http://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/profile/david-tarpy/
EMAIL: david_tarpy@ncsu.edu

2018 NCSBA MEMBERSHIP FORM, CHANGES, CONTACT

Subject: 2018 membership form and card-return policy; new Membership Coordinator, phone number and address
Date: 22.10.2017 15:20
From: chapterupdates@ncbeekeepers.org
To: chapters@ncbeekeepers.org

Chapter contacts, please share this with your officers and members, especially if your Chapter helps with the collection of NCSBA membership dues. This message will also be posted in our new “Announcements” section on the NCSBA website for reference.

*Updated NCSBA membership form for 2018*

The updated membership application form is attached. It is also posted on the NCSBA website at http://www.ncbeekeepers.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/NCSBA_Membership_Application_12-18-2017.pdf . The primary change from 2017 is the option to receive a hard-copy of the membership letter/card (the default now is by email). Other changes are the addition of a link to the membership-number-recovery website page and the contact information for the new Membership Coordinator. Please remind your members to provide their NCSBA membership number and a current email address on the form as well as update the other requested information. After a membership number is assigned to a person, it does not change, even if there is a lapse in active membership.

*Membership cards are now sent by email*

The default for receiving the annual NCSBA membership letter/card is by email unless the hard-copy option is checked on the application form (or indicated on the spreadsheet or other form devised by the Chapter to convey the membership information to the Membership Coordinator). If the Chapter submits the forms and the hard-copy option is selected, hard copies will be returned to the Chapter for distribution – they will not be individually mailed back to the members. Sending the letter/cards by email will relieve the Chapters of that responsibility and ensure that every member has an opportunity to see and verify their contact information and preferences. We have been told by Chapters that members often do not pick up these cards after they are returned to the Chapters – that they end up in the Treasurer’s file, undelivered.

*New Membership Coordinator, mailing address, and phone number**

*Our new interim Membership Coordinator is Todd Walker. Laurie Shaw resigned effective Oct. 10 after ten years of service to the NCSBA. Todd has been our database manager and webmaster for the past two years as well as a Piedmont Regional Director. Continue to use membership@ncbeekeepers.org as the contact email address for Membership Services.. The new phone number and mailing address are (336) 933-1917 and P.O. Box 99, Hurdle Mills, NC 27541, respectively. The new contact information is listed at the bottom of the updated membership form. Many of you interacted with Ms. Shaw over the past ten years as she processed dues and handled conference registrations. If you would like to send her your good wishes, contact her at lshaw@tyler-carter.com .

Thank you so much for assisting with the collection of NCSBA membership dues. We have over 4700 members now. Without your help, it would be a much more expensive and time-consuming process.

Suzy Spencer
NCSBA Membership Secretary
chapterupdates@ncbeekeepers.org

Hi everyone,

With uncertain track of hurricane Irma, there are some important considerations for beekeepers who may be affected by the heavy rain and winds. Please further disseminate to your local network of beekeepers.

First, make sure hive equipment is secured to resist strong winds. A simple brick on the top lid is likely to be insufficient to keep the lid from flying off in winds above 50 mph. A lidless hive can cause problems for the bees by introducing moisture and letting heat escape. Strapping the lid down with ratchet straps or securing with duct tape might be in order, particularly for outlying yards. The same is true for hive boxes, particularly if they are relatively new (i.e., the bees have not yet propolized them together sufficiently). Also consider removing unnecessary boxes (e.g., top-hive feeders) to minimize the wind profile.

Second, be sure to have the hives on sturdy stands or level ground. Entire beehives can be blown over by strong winds, particularly when they are fairly tall with many honey supers or are otherwise top heavy. If the hives are on tall or insecure stands, you can move them onto (dry) level ground temporarily to lessen the chances that they topple. Importantly, if you’re using solid bottom boards, be sure to have your hives tilting forward so that rain water does not pool and collect on the floor of the hive.

Third, beware of falling trees and tree limbs. These can be particularly problematic for beehives since they can completely crush all equipment and kill the entire colony. It is also hard to prevent with some sort of barrier or cover because of the sheer weight of many trees, so if you apiary is in a wooded location you may need to move the hives temporarily.

Fourth, make sure the hives are not in low-lying areas or those prone to flooding. River banks can be useful apiary locations because of their proximity to fresh water, but in flooding conditions entire apiaries can be tragically swept away. Be sure to move any beehives in flood plains until the waters have subsided. Beehives on the ground but in recessed areas can cause water to flood the entrances and may even suffocate the bees if not given an upper entrance.

Finally, following heavy rains like hurricanes, various local and state agencies have traditionally sprayed regions with stagnant water to control mosquito outbreaks. While important for public health, such insecticides can be extremely problematic for honey bees. If you are registered through the NCDA&CS, you will be contacted directly if your beehives are in an area schedule to be sprayed. If you are not registered, however, the state has no means to notify you and your bees may be at risk to insecticide exposure. Please consult the Agricultural Chemical manual for information and advice about how to mitigate exposure to pesticides.

Hope your bees stay safe and dry! Sincerely, David

 

******************************
David R. Tarpy
Professor and Extension Apiculturist
Department of Entomology, Campus Box 7613
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7613
TEL: (919) 515-1660
FAX: (919) 515-7746
LAB: (919) 513-7702
WEB: http://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/profile/david-tarpy/
EMAIL: david_tarpy@ncsu.edu
************
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sent to Chapters September 7th 2017

WOLFPACK WAGGLE : JULY 20, 2017

Greetings from the NC State Apiculture Program! You can now access our latest issue of the our program’s newsletter, the Wolfpack’s Waggle, which can also be found as usual through:
https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/apiculture/wolfpacks-waggle-newsletter/
Summers are always a busy time of year, and this year is no different. James and Joe are busy with their first research seasons, both on the biology of queens; James is investigating how queens might learn to live together (or not), and Joe is testing the short- and long-term effects of pesticide exposure during queen rearing. Hannah and her team (including Claire, Erin, and Nathan) have again been busily sampling the native bee communities all across the state. We have also been hosting a MS student from East Carolina University, Starling Krentz, who has been seeing if there might be a way to “vaccinate” queens so that their offspring are less prone to a given pathogen. Jen has been juggling all of these efforts, especially the queen rearing, and keeping the bees happy. Esmaeil and Dan are busy with their projects at UNCG and UPenn, respectively, and Brad continues to expand the queen clinic in new directions. Perhaps the biggest news is that Hongmei is very soon to start her new position at Central State University in OH, so all the best and thanks!
I hope everyone is doing great during the heat of the summer!

Sincerely, David
Dr. David Tarpy, NCSU

Note: Chapter email was sent on July 20th 2017