Happy New Year, y'all!

I think winter is here. 
It took long enough. 

I hope everyone buttoned up their bee activities, feeding, treating.. what ever you do. And to think, these quiet freezing afternoons are spent cleaning frames, planning and strategizing the upcoming season. 

But - to club business... 

1) There was not a video made for YouTube.

 

2) Here the club minutes from December 2024's Club meeting/Holiday Banquet are in this folder. 

 

3) For the foreseeable future, I can no longer serve as the club's secretary. I've had some family issues pop up that will not be resolved in any forseeable future and I have to focus on my family. I want to take this moment to thank everyone for their patience and support while I learned the bee club's ways and how to be a good secretary, including streamlining the job. I hope someone can step up, take minutes, contact members for the new meetings & to this blog.

 

Winter is coming!

Winter wraps and wind break

I know. I'm a GoT fan. Sorry. 

But the sentiment is true. Cold weather is on the way, and your bees have got to be ready. We talked about all the various items that have to just right to ensure winter survival at our last meeting. (Here is the You Tube link, but read this first!) You can help them:

1) is the colony up to weight?  

2) are there enough bees? Is the colony big enough?

3) Have you treated for VM? Are you?

4) Are you going to wrap or insulate your hives? 

As a beekeeper, just because the cold sets in and your bees aren't flying everyday doesn't mean your chores are done. There is woodenware maintenance to be done, new frames to be assembled/wired/whatever, new woodenware to be built. Ground/support management. Is your extractor  clean? Uncapping tools? 

Lots to do. 

And of course, learning. Just as everything in life, this endeavor is changing. We build on the old ways and embrace the new things - when appropriate. So, ask Santa for a good book on Bees, (there are tons), watch some good You Tubes or take an online course. The University of Arkansas has some great courses. And I think they are free!

Lots to learn.

Dog Days of summer are mean to bees!

 Summer has come and nearly gone. 

Now is the time to monitor your hive closely and carefully with an eye towards their survival this coming winter. Do they have enough food put away in their pantry? Are they inundated with pests? 

Have a plan! Make it happen.

Here are the meeting minutes from August 20, 2024 meeting where we welcomed Jacob Bates the Northern AR State Inspector. 

August Meeting Minutes

Spring has sprung right out of the picture! (boing!)

 (cuz its a spring! Get it?)

Anyway, we've been busy as bees keeping our individual apiaries going, and we have a lot of new members. 

If you aren't mentoring, why? If you are a new beekeeper, and have no idea why and how... all you have to do is ask. The club as members who mentor and will. All you have to do is ask. 

Spring has sprung and new 'beeks' are getting their bees.

 

Mentor-ship is important in any endeavor that you care about, getting good information and hands on training from a successful person is vitally important!

Did you know the Five Rivers Bee Club has an official mentorship program? I certainly didn't!

An experienced beekeeper will actually help you in times of trouble and when you question if you are likely to kill your bees. But be sure you all get along! And actually liking each other helps. So, before you ask for help or a mentor, make sure they are keeping bees (successfully) in the manner you prefer!

Link for mentor-ship agreement

(Please note, the "initial point of contacts" found on the second page partially out of date, please contact Lonnie P, Bill K, or Dawn S.)

February Meeting: Election results

 

Hello fellow Beekeepers! 

Finally! Here is the roster for this year's club officers:

President: Lonnie Perry (He says this is his LAST YEAR)

Vice President: Adam Taitano

Member at Large: Susy Beaman

Treasurer: Bill Kaebler

Secretary: Dawn Snow

Community Outreach/Sargent at Arms: David Rosenberg

The Video of February's meeting is up on YouTube here. The video has been edited for clarity and time and acts as the official meeting minutes.

No Meeting in January

Due to the severe weather forecast, there will be no meeting on Jan 16. We will resume February 20. Stay warm! & we will see you then.

Call for Officer Nominations

Prepping for January's elections.

Where has the time gone? It seems that we just had elections last month! What a year! And a great successful one at that. We have decided to take nominations for next year's officers online. Send any nominations by the end of December to fiverbc@gmail.com.

President

Vice President

Secretary

Treasurer

Member at Large

Sargent at Arms

New position: Public Affairs officer (to act as club liaison for Fairs and the like.)

 

And here is last month's meeting minutes.

Dec 2023 Meeting MInutes 

 

Bee Photo Contest Winners

 

Hello fellow beeks!

We had a spectacular meeting last night with our annual Christmas Potluck. (And a big shout out to everyone who "followed the rules" and made things that were Gluten Free! You know who you are and you absolutely rock!)

We had 6 entries for the 1st Annual Photo Contest. 

The 1st place winner was taken by Bill Sandridge with the featured photo at the top of this post. The 2nd place winner was taken by Suzy Beaman and is featured below! 

They each won our admiration and a vintage 5RBC coffee mug!

Stay tuned .. more bee things and bee "adjacent" things in the works.